Kidding Around Vancouver Island

One of the awesome tree tapping experts at the Forest Discovery Centre in Duncan 5th Annual West Coast Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival It’s that time of year again – a whole day devoted to Maple Syrup.  Taste maple syrup from Vancouver Island at the Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival at The BC Forest Discovery Centre in Duncan. [...]

That beautiful May long weekend we just had got us out for a picnic up in Qualicum Beach, which then got us thinking about some of our favourite picnic spots in Oceanside. Of course we have to start with the beaches.  At Qualicum Beach our picnic place of choice is the grassy area next to [...]

It was such a lovely holiday Monday, we thought why not drive off and explore the phenomenon of micro-climates.  Ok, it didn’t quite go down that way, it was more like, ‘hey let’s find this cool new beach we heard about near Bowser.” So we’re motoring up the island highway past Parksville, then Qualicum Beach, [...]

When I was little we had a canary that loved to escape and fly around the house.  I couldn’t imagine over 700 birds having the run of the place, but that’s what you’ll find at the World Parrot Refuge in Coombs.  Two giant wings of the building – if you’ll pardon the expression – allow [...]

We gave Grace and Ella a choice this past weekend – watch paint dry or watch cheese being made. They opted for the cheese, but, as the folks at Little Qualicum Cheeseworks are fonding of joking, there’s not a lot of difference. However, seeing all the animals at the cheeseworks and hearing about how the [...]

The Regional District of Nanaimo is in the middle of its second annual Golden Shoe Hunt at parks in the Parksville area. On until May 23, all you have to do is check for a new location and clue each Friday online at http://www.rdn.bc.ca. If you’re one of the first 5 people to return with [...]

Things got a bit awkward as we stood in line at Nanaimo North Town Centre the other day for the requisite picture with Santa. Our six year old was observing that Santa seemed to be in a lot of places at one time these days and isn’t that odd. As we desparately thought of a [...]

We did a story some time back about the Via Rail train between Victoria and Courtenay. We described traveling from Nanaimo down to Victoria, but to keep it a day trip, you’ll need someone to pick you up in Victoria. That prompted a note from reader Kate Britton, who really knows her Via Rail schedule! [...]

You can’t say we didn’t try, but with noses running and hands as red as beets, we had to admit that our trip to the local playground was the last of the season (save those occasional sunny bursts we get). It’s time to playbernate – to find indoor playgrounds. One place to start is fast [...]