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

To Beach >> Seal Bay Nature Park

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.

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I don't really want to go to Hogwarts, but I still hope it exists

I had never seen grapes on the vine before and I was very excited about it

40 Knots winery

The beach at Seal Bay

Some seals chilling at the marina

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.

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