12/10/2016 0 Comments Staycation in Comox
Comox Valley may be my home for the year, but I had never been there before so a little exploring was required. From Cumberland to Courtenay and Comox, the Comox Valley is a vast area that offers beaches, nature parks, waterfalls, mountains and outdoor activities. Needless to say, there is something for everyone and numerous days of fun to be had.
For the weekend of October 9 and 10, I invited two of my friends who are on the same program as I am, but in different cities, to come and visit the valley with me. They both arrived on Friday night so we were ready for fun activities on Saturday morning. Day 1
No one says October without pumpkins! We started our day at a pumpkin patch a few minutes away from my apartment. It seems to be a local attraction since most of the city was there. Luckily, we got there early and were able to enjoy the different activities before it got too crowded. There was a corn maze, decorated pumpkins, pumpkin and cinnamon desserts, a huge pumpkin patch where we could choose between a dozen different kinds of pumpkins (I didn’t even know there was more than one) and Halloween decorations. Since Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, I had the best time looking at the pumpkins and going through the maze. The best part is, the sun came out just for us!
Our next stop was Goose Spit. It is a long arm of land that separates the strait of Georgia from the Comox harbor. It is also a long beach on one side and a bay on the other. The bay would be quite ordinary if it wasn’t for the Comox glacier behind it. The view is extraordinary! Our goal was to go on a paddleboard ride as neither of us had tried it before, but apparently it is too cold for that in October so we just took a little walk on the beach and some pictures. We also went to the marina to look at the seals and the boats. After a light lunch at my place, we went for a walk at Seal Bay Nature Park, which is a few minutes from where I live. The park has many trails, but my favorite is the one that leads to the beach. It is not a sandy beach or a large beach, but the view that you get of the mountains of the mainland on the other side of the strait of Georgia is absolutely gorgeous. The trees on Vancouver Island are as tall as the skyscrapers in NYC and the ones in Comox may not be the biggest ones on the island, but they are still huge. There were leaves bigger than my head. Before going back to my apartment, we made one last stop. 40 knots is a winery close to Seal Bay. I am not a wine connoisseur and I had never been at a winery, but I loved the experience. They made us taste all the different kinds of wine and explained the differences and when they were made. It was delicious and we were just a little bit tipsy when we left. Day 2
On the second day, I brought the girls to Cumberland, a small village about 15 minutes from Comox, inland. It is popular with snowboarders and skiers in the winter as it is close to the mountains and with mountain bikers in the summer. There is nothing much to do there, but I lived in the village for a few days when I first moved to the valley since it is home to the cheapest, but still great hostel of the area and I wanted to show them how different it was from Quebec City.
After a little walk on Dunsmuir avenue, we decided to visit Mount Washington. It is one of the two ski resorts on the island and it is absolutely enormous when compared to the ones we have in Quebec. I had visited it with my parents in September and had the chance to go all the way up to see the view, but the scenery was way different this time around as it had snowed! Do I need to remind you that the weekend before, I was on the beach in a bathing suit? I love it! The road to Mount Washington is quite long, but so worth it. You get a nice view of the glacier and the mountains all around and if you go on a clear day, apparently you can see the Pacific ocean from the top, but I couldn’t confirm nor deny it. I hope I get the chance to go skiing at least once or even to hike up the mountain before I leave the island. More articles that might interest you
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When I first announced I was moving to British Columbia, everyone told me: You have to go to Tofino! I had never heard of it before, but when I heard the words sand and beaches, I was officialy interested. I later learned that Tofino is a small village on the west coast of Vancouver island. It is a popular surfing and whale-watching destination. Close to the village is Long Beach, part of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, and the main attraction of the region… At least for us!
Day 1
Amy and I left my apartment at about 6:30 AM as we wanted to get to Tofino as early as possible and it is about a 3-hour drive from Comox. We made a quick stop in Port Alberni to get Emma and arrived in Tofino at about 10. Unfortunately for us, it was raining pretty heavily when we got there, but it was supposed to stop in the early afternoon so our day at the beach got pushed back a few hours and we decided to visit the village for a while. We took our time looking through the souvenir shops, the bookshop and an art gallery and ended up at a restaurant for lunch as the last few drops of rain fell.
The weekend that we were there was Queen of the Peaks, an all-women surf competition. As soon as we were done eating, we left the village for Cox Bay Beach to see some surfing. Neither of us had ever tried surfing so we were very impressed. The weather was finally with us and the sun even came out. We later went to Long Beach to see what it looks like and it is probably the longest and largest beach I have ever seen, except maybe for Venice in California. The water was clear and it was beautiful. When the sun set, we left the beach to go back to our Airbnb for dinner. We mostly stayed in our room that night, drinking some cider and talking. Day 2
On our second day in Tofino, we woke up early to go on a Hot Springs boat tour. These tours bring you by boat to a national park where you get to hike through the rainforest to hot springs for a nice soak. On the boat ride you also get to see whales, bears, eagles and seals. Seems pretty amazing, but we had made no reservation and the many different tours available in the city were all full because of the wonderful weather.
Since we couldn’t go on a tour, we bought a body board and rented some wetsuits and went for a swim at Cox Bay. We played in the waves for hours, took some pictures and got a view of the surf competition from the ocean. For Emma and Amy, it was the first time swimming in the Pacific ocean! At 3 PM, it was time to pack up our stuff, bring back the wetsuits and drive back to Port Alberni and Comox. Even though the weekend didn’t go as planned, we had the best time just looking at what Tofino has to offer. We’ll be back for a long weekend in the spring to try the hot springs, and we’ll make reservations this time! More articles that might interest you
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