Just 20 minutes by ferry and we are in Nanaimo, a cute downtown area is just a short walk away with lots of nice little shops, cafes and an attractive town square. A visit to this harbour city is a nice change of pace.
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Entertainment abounds both on and off Island this weekend. On Gabriola we had the Theater Festival, a three day extravaganza with eight superb plays, Street Art Artists Fair, Lions Pancake Breakfast, an Improv Workshop and dancers and musicians. At the same time in Nanaimo the Vancouver Island Exhibition took place at Beban Park. On Sunday we decided on a trip to the exhibition and enjoyed seeing all the animals and exhibits. There was a horse show, vintage cars and tractors, dog trials, home arts, a food fair and of course a midway – lots of fun!
We had the luxury of getting a week off this summer and we went to Hornby Island. Many people looked at us rather oddly when we said we were going to another Gulf Island for a holiday but we so wanted to spend some time in a quiet place where we were totally anonymous. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and headed to the lovely cottage we had arranged to rent for a week. The property was beautiful and equipped with a zipline in the backyard much to our 4 year old daughter’s delight. Hornby is a beautiful island which you can reach by taking a ferry from Buckley Bay on Vancouver Island to Denman Island and then driving across Denman to the Hornby Island ferry. The ferry ride to both islands are a short ten minute jump and the connections are quite good.
Hornby has a wonderful shopping area called the Ringside Market where there are 2 clothing stores, a coffee/ice cream stand with the best americanos, cafe, restaurant, book store, pottery store and of course the Hornby Co-op Grocery/Everything you need Store. While there we made trips to many of the local artist studios, beautiful beaches, farms, and of course the Cardboard House Bakery which has the best almond buns and cream puffs. It is also the home of Pizza Galore which beats any pizza place I have ever been to, fantastic!!!
Hornby is also home to two wineries and a meadery which we managed to visit without our kids thanks to our wonderful friends/travel companions. Middle Mountain Mead is an artisan honey winery combining the best of ancient and modern techniques to create small lots of premium handcrafted mead. We left with 3 bottles of Mead which we are eagerly awaiting to try. Visit their website at middlemountainmead.com.
We had such a fantastic and relaxing vacation that we will definitely be back next year anxiously awaiting anonymity and almond buns:)
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At the end of my week off I am happy with the time I spent with my family in the sun exploring. On Saturday we began the day on the 8:55 am ferry to Nanaimo for our eldest daughter’s dance classes. Afterwards we hopped in the car and took the parkway out to Coombs for lunch in the sun while admiring the goats on the roof. We enjoyed samosas, foccacia, smoked salmon and yummy dessert before heading to Errington to the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association to see the rehabilitated eagle release. We arrived early and wandered around the grounds seeing eagles, hawks, owls, ravens and many other birds much closer than ever before (alas we did not see the black bear). At 2 pm they released the eagle which was a spectacular event to watch. Then we were off for a quick play at the fabulous beach side playground in Parksville. After an energetic time of slides, swings, tires and tunnels we were heading back to Nanaimo in time to grab a quick dinner at Delicado’s in the Old City Quarter before heading home to Gabriola. All of this was done in a day and apart from 2 very exhausted girls we had a fantastic day trip that we will definitely do again!
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Robyn & Carly McMahon and unlicensed assistant Lesley McMahon, your Gabriola Island Real Estate Sales Team
Located at The Folklife Village, #1-575 North Road, Gabriola BC, Canada V0R 1X3
Toll Free 1.877.422.8455 or Local 247.2088 or email mcmahon@gabriolaproperty.com
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