A team of monster hunters will return to Cameron Lake on Vancouver island next month to search for a creature that locals have swapped stories about for years.

The B.C. Scientific Cryptozoology Club first visited the area last September after an invitation from Oceanside Tourism to probe for evidence of the Cameron Lake monster.

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The team will be at Cameron Lake Sept. 13-15.

The club says it has received reports about a creature in Cameron Lake since 2004.

Whether you believe in the myths or not, it sure is fun to wonder what lays beneath the surface of Cameron Lake, just a short drive away from Nanaimo. To find out what the experts think, you can read Monster hunters to continue search for Ogopogo-like creature in Vancouver Island lake on the Times Colonist website.

For more information on day trip ideas from Nanaimo, visit Tourism Nanaimo’s Driving Adventures page!

This fair isn’t just about agriculture, check out their website (www.viex.ca) for a complete listing of events from August 20-22. Event highlights include the all new family friendly Midway by Shooting Stars Amusement, musical talents including Steve Palmer, Johnny Inappropriate, and Aaron Prichett, tractor pulls, horse shows, skateboard demos, and the spookiest haunted house in town!

About the 8th Annual Harbour City Half-Marathon:

The 2010 Harbour City Half Marathon will be held on the Sunday of the long weekend of September, Sunday September 5th. The race is adopting a brand new theme which holds some very interesting history for Nanaimo. The theme [...] is a “PIRATE” theme and all finishers of the race will receive a souvenir coin from the Harbour City Half treasure chest after they cross the finish line.

The new start/finish of the race is in Maffeo Sutton Park which [is] the perfect venue for Canada’s largest PIRATE PARTY!

Finishers will be greeted with after-event refreshments and music!

Our goal as a community is to make the 2010 Harbour City Half Marathon the most successful year yet!

And of course, Tourism Nanaimo and our friends at Tourism Vancouver Island and Destination Nanaimo just knew we had to be a part of the event! Meet Team Tourism:

From Left to Right: Jennifer Ford (DN), Katie Ferland (City of Nanaimo), Liz Williams (City of Nanaimo), Chelsea Barr (DN), Kara Walsh (TVI), Amanda Evoy (TN) Missing: Heather Maycock (TVI) and Jody Young (TVI)

Kara Booth Kara is a casual runner, running Westwood Lake (6km) between 2 and 3 times a week. “I love running but I do it mostly for the social aspect. I have been running on and off my whole life, but have never participated in a major running event. My goal is to have fun, feel strong throughout the run, and hopefully accomplish the 10km in less than 60min.”

Jennifer Ford Jennifer has been a casual runner for many years, and enjoys running the trails and logging roads near her home.  She most often runs solo with her dog Billi, and frequent sightings of black bear ensure her & Billi keep up with a good mix of stop, walk and sprint.  This will be the first time Jennifer participates in an organized race, and she looks forward trying the experience of running with other people!

Heather Maycock In the past, Heather was a frequent runner completing 5 km, 10 km and even a half marathon races. These days, she has tried to diversity her training and now enjoys playing tennis and going to boot-camp. She is still unsure if she will run of walk the Harbour City 10km it will depend on her summer training schedule. Her goal for the Harbour City 10km is to support her fellow tourism colleagues, enjoy the excitement of the race and most of all have fun!

Elizabeth Williams “Rather than join a gym I enter races, it’s my version of a gym membership. The bonus is I have a lot of t-shirts!”  She may not be a fast runner but she always finishes the race.

Chelsea Barr Just back from maternity leave, she is really looking forward to get back into shape. “This is the thing I needed to motivate to get moving again”. While Chelsea enjoys a lot of different sports, she doesn’t have extensive running experience. But she’ll take one for the team.

Katie Ferland Katie took the Learn to Run clinic through the Running Room in 2005 and has enjoyed jogging around Westwood Lake ever since.  Lately she has been pushing herself a little harder, to help build my cardio for her latest adventures in mountaineering.

Jody Young Jody is not an avid runner but keeps active by going to bootcamp and hiking regularly. She has never trained for a 10k race but is always up for a good challenge! By training for the Harbour City 10k Jody looks forward to completing her first 10k race and supporting her Team Tourism team mates by motivating them to reach their individual race goals! Long term Jody hopes that this experience will motivate her to add running to her regular workout schedule.

Amanda Evoy After taking two back to back 10km Running Room clinics in 2008, successfully running in two 10km races and a sprint triathlon Amanda learned to really enjoy running and have fun with it. She has kept up her running routine with 2-3 weekly runs around Westwood Lake and is ready again to put that extra effort in to challenger herself to complete this race. “My goal is always to have fun and do my best.”

So wish Team Tourism all the luck in the upcoming Half-Marathon! If you’re interested in participating in or volunteering for the event you can find out more on the Official Harbour City Half-Marathon Website.

Looking to explore some of the great hikes in the Nanaimo area? The Island Adventurer blog has a great round-up of many of the most popular hikes in and around Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.

Nanaimo is a fantastic place to be on Vancouver Island for hiking. Being central it’s easy to get anywhere on the island within in a reasonable about of time. Just outside the cities boundaries are loads of trails waiting to be found. Below is a list of just some of the best trails and mountains we play on around Nanaimo.

The hikes included are:

• Ammonite Falls (which we visited last year!)
• Mount Benson
• Green Mountain
• Haslem Creek
• Mount De Cosmos
• Bonnell Creek Falls

That’s sure to keep hikers of any level busy! So what are you waiting for? Go read Island Adventurer‘s blog post on Hiking near Nanaimo, grab your backpack and hit the trail!

You can also find out more about Hiking and other Outdoor Recreation opportunities on our website.

Your self-guided exploration of super-cultural British Columbia begins here! Browse August-long events, such as music, theatre and dance performances, visual arts, festivals, museum and heritage exhibitions, culinary arts, community art walks and more. A self-guided tour of community-initiated events, Nanaimo’s contribution to the BC Cultural Crawl includes local farm tours, musical entertainment, festivals and fairs, and cultural experience tours. For more information on everything Nanaimo has to offer in August You can visit the Official BC Cultural Crawl Website and download a PDF specific to Nanaimo!

Thanks to Tide Rip Tours, Tourism Nanaimo was invited up to the small community of Telegraph Cove to experience a one-of-a-kind opportunity: Grizzy Bear Watching. Like Whale Watching, Grizzly Bear Watching is one of the most exciting tourist attractions on Vancouver Island. So, comfortably aboard a two of Tide Rip Tours‘ boats, we left Telegraph Cove at 7:00am and spent the next nine hours enjoying the beauty of Vancouver Island. Along the way, we ran into dolphins, deer, cormorants, orca whales and, of course, grizzly bears!

Wanting to share a glimpse of what we saw, we brought along a camera and took a whole bunch of photos!

Courtenay, Amy, Heather and Amanda were more than happy to drive up the island and take in the sights at Telegraph Cover.

Telegraph Cove. It was quiet in the morning, but when we arrived back in the afternoon, it was an absolutely bustling little village, full of locals and travellers, alike!

After a two hour boat ride, we arrived at a floating dock and transferred into two separate herring skiffs. They’re the perfect way to travel through the many estuaries of Knight Inlet.

Baby animals everywhere!

Our awesome guide, Lindsey, took us into water so shallow that he was able to pull the skiff himself! On the shoreline we found grizzly bear prints, left behind when one of the bears came down to the shore to look for salmon!

Mama Bear and her three cubs.

On the way home we were met by a pod of 40 or 50 dolphins. They trailed along beside us for about ten minutes, playing in our boats wake and jumping high out of the water!

Fed by glaciers, the water in Knight Inlet is an amazing turquoise colour.

Courtenay, our Manager of Visitor Services, gives Tide Rip Tours a big thumbs up!

Tide Rip Tours also has a great video about their service:

It was a wonderful adventure, and we’re very grateful that our hosts invited us to experience the grizzly bears and other animals of Telegraph Cove and Knight Inlet! For more information on Tide Rip Tours you can visit their website or find them on Facebook.

All photos © Aidan Moher, 2010.

For over two decades, the Nanaimo Silly Boat Regata has been one of the most fun-filled and highly anticipated events of the year. This year was no different. Teams from all over the Nanaimo area gathered together, built the silliest boats they could think of and ran hilarious races for a wonderful cause. The 26th Annual Nanaimo Silly Boat Regatta raised over $80,000 for the Childhood Development Centre. Way to go Nanaimo!

Not wanting to miss out on the fun, we headed down to Swy-a-lana Lagoon and joined the thousands of other locals and visitors who watched the race. We brought a camera along.

Teams preparing for the race

The first heat is about to begin!

Eager fans, waiting for the races to begin

*Bang* And they're off!

Traffic Jam!

The Mid-Island Co-Op Boat, winner of Super Silliest Boat!

Some were more functional than others!

A lot of people came out to watch the races!

The famous Nanaimo Pickle Boats!

At the finish line!

First to ring the bell wins!

Even if you weren't enjoying the races, there was sunshine, food and activities galore

The results:

• First Overall The VIEX Kountry Kritters
• Super Silliest Boat The Mid-Island Co-Op
• Super Silliest Sailors The Buccaneer Inn
• Super Silliest Costumes Nanaimo Realty/Royal LePage
• Best Team Spirit The Royal Bank
• First to Sink Carmichael Enterprises (What a dubious, but fun, honour!)

In all, it was another extremely successful year for the Nanaimo Silly Boat Regatta. We already can’t wait for next year!

Do you have any photos of the 26th Annual Nanaimo Silly Boat Regatta? If you do, email them to aidan@tourismnanaimo.com and we’ll post them here!

So what’s up next for Nanaimo? This weekend, again at Maffeo-Suttan Park on Sunday, July 18th, is the 26th Annual Silly Boat Regatta. Teams made up from different businesses and families have just a few of hours to build their boats (using only recycled material!) and then the race begins! The creative designs that some people come up with will blow you away, someone always gets wet and laughs are guaranteed. During the boat building there are interactive games and activities for children, including the opportunity for them to build their own Silly Boat.

Last year, Team Tourism Nanaimo had an absolute blast in the race!

All proceeds from this event go to the Child Development Centre here in Nanaimo. The CDC is a wonderful organization that provides child development services to families all over Vancouver Island. It is a great cause and is always a fun event. For more information on this year’s Silly Boat Regatta out their website: http://www.sillyboat.com/home.php.

Whether you’re a visitor or a resident, Nanaimo’s an easy city to love. This video showcases some of the best aspects of our great city, and shows why it’s one of Vancouver Island’s most exciting and diverse travel destinations!

Looking for something to do this weekend? Why not head downtown on July 9th, 10th and 11th to take in the Dragon Boat Festival. Recognized as Nanaimo’s most spectacular summer festival, the 8th annual Save On Foods Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival will be a true celebration of our diverse and beautiful city, attracting over 50,000 people and more than 80 dragon boat teams from across North America.

Beginning on Friday afternoon with the colourful Awakening of the Dragon Ceremony and Chinese Lion Dance, the Festival will continue with two more days of non-stop entertainment on the Main Stage, fabulous food and shopping, and of course, Dragon Boat racing of the highest calibre. Admission is free to the general public so what’s stopping you? Come on down to the waters of Nanaimo Harbour and celebrate with us!

• 3 Days of Unique Culture & Sport with Something for Everyone!
• Thrilling Dragon Boat Races
• Live Main Stage Entertainment Friday, Saturday and Sunday
• Mini Show ‘n Shine with members of the Smokin’ Oldies and Nanaimo T-Bird Club
• Shriner’s Pancake Breakfast
• Labatt’s Beer Garden
• Activities for the little ones in the Little Dragon’s Fun Zone

This is truly one of Nanaimo’s finest festivals, paddlers united in the fight to beat cancer. For details, visit: www.nanaimodragonboat.com/.

Thank you to the event sponsors: Alberni Outpost, Snuneymuxw First Nation and Nanaimo Harbour Ferries.

While kayaking, Amanda saw several Eagles, an endless array of Jellyfish and Starfish, and even a pair of Blonde Raccoons!

This is just the beginning of another wonderful Vancouver Island summer!

My spouse and I finally discovered Nanaimo and we are truly glad we did as it was a wonderful experience.

We have visited many cities throughout the world and met many friendly people in those cities but none as friendly as those in Nanaimo.

And, even cooler, they had great things to say about their encounter with our Beban Visitor Centre and Gayle, one of our volunteers:

Prior to departing home, we contacted the Nanaimo Visitor Centre and spoke with Gayle. We appreciate the information she provided us and we were impressed with the enthusiasm she displayed when telling us about her city.

We have found in the past that when someone loves her city as much as Gayle, it is definitely the place to visit. After that telephone conversation, we [...] knew we had to visit Nanaimo.

Way to go, Gayle!

The Package includes:

We’ll be back in 2011 with an even bigger and better Passport to your City promotion, and you’ll have another great opportunity to explore the great Harbour City of Nanaimo!

Nanaimo was recently mentioned on a travel blog called Travelling Mamas.

This group travel blog concept was created by travel writer Shannon Hurst Lane to inspire women to get out there and explore the world — whether that means vacations with the kids, “soul-oh” trips, girlfriend getaways or romantic escapes. The blog is syndicated in national online outlets and has won numerous awards, but our overall goal is to assist consumers in making educated travel planning decisions. Traveling Mamas is on the 2009 Nielsen Power Moms list of the 50 most influential mom blogs.

Read the Traveling Mama’s Article on Nanaimo!

The second blog is getawaybc.com, a terrific resource run by Editor, Cheryl MacKinnon. It’s home to more than 3,000 articles about British Columbia and offers weekly features on best British Columbia getaways and plenty of information on British Columbia’s best fishing, hiking, SCUBA diving, dining and so much more!

Read Discover The Summer Side of Nanaimo, British Columbia!