This past week staff members of Tourism Nanaimo joined forces with our neighbouring tourism regions on the island to get a taste of they have to offer. We started off day one in the harbour city and took the group on a walking tour of downtown Nanaimo and the harbour front. Everyone was quite surprised at what Nanaimo had to offer and impressed with all the changes that have taken place over the recent past. Our next destination for the day was the Parksville/Qualicum area. Did you know the Qualicum Museum houses over 10,000 fossils? Some of them even dating back to the time of the dinosaurs! We took a quick tour of North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre; and no trip to Oceanside is complete without checking out the beaches! Public day parking is now free at Rathtrevor Provincial Park and Parksville’s Community Park hosts enough festivals and events throughout the whole summer to keep everyone busy throughout the season!
On day two we had a lot of ground to cover. We started the day at Port Alberni’s brand new information centre. The highlight of Port Alberni was visiting the Coulson Flying Tankards on Sprout Lake and taking a tour of the inside of a waterbomber. The museum will open for the summer in the beginning of July. Another great tip we learned about Port Alberni is one of the Seven Wonders of the Alberni Valley; at low tide, head down to the harbour front and you are sure to see black bears across the river channel as they scrounge for mussels and other food. From Port Alberni we headed to the Comox Valley where we toured through the quaint town of Cumberland and learned about everything Mount Washington has to offer. As most of you will know already, Mount Washington received record snow falls this year and because of the large snow pack will be offering summertime skiing for Father’s Day weekend! Comox Valley has so much to offer and we had so little time to take it all in. The last stop on our itinerary was Blue Moon Estates winery in Courtenay, who create the most delicious wines using berries and fruit from their own gardens and the island.
We encourage you to take a tour of the island see and what our local communities have to offer. People come from all over the world to visit Vancouver Island, so why not get out and enjoy the sights and activities for yourself! Stop by our information centres and we’ll be happy to set you up with a few day trips tailored to you and your family!