Our first RV Trip on Vancouver Island: Kalyniuk – Welta family
Parksville. British Columbia
By Carmen Welta - Kalyniuk
Part 1 of 3: Welcome to Paradise Island
Picture, if you will, trees that are so enormous you can walk inside, beaches and tidal flats that seemingly go for miles, crabs that nip at your heels, fruit and vegetables so fresh they were picked the morning of the day you bought them. For a prairie girl like me this is the stuff of fairy tales. And yet I experienced it, and more, during our family’s first Island RV trip.
Alas, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me back up a little.
In early August 2006 my husband, Todd, and our two children, Tomas (age 6) and Toria (age 4) crossed the Strait of Georgia in our Chevy Silverado 1-tonne dually truck. Behind us we towed our - home away from home – a 33 foot Cardinal fifth wheel trailer. We had said Sayonara to Edmonton and Hello to our new home in Victoria.
August was a hectic month of unpacking and by the end of August we were ready to explore Vancouver Island. We wanted a place where we could rest and relax as a family for a week prior to school starting. Parksville seemed like a good destination. Wow! I can’t say enough about what a great time we had. And fortunately, I’ve been given this forum to tell you all about it.
First off we stayed at the Surfside RV Resort. We were lucky enough to get a site that backed right onto the beach along the spectacular Strait of Georgia. Never mind that the site came with a wooden deck and you had to back your trailer alongside of it and yet not hit it. (Note to my darling husband: I had complete faith in you and not once did I think you were in danger of bumping it. Likewise, I am sure you also thought my backing-up directions were flawless.)
Once we were parked alongside the deck (within a few millimeters!) and the truck had been turned off the kids hopped out of the truck and we all stood in awe of such beauty. It made the stress of moving float away with the tide.
In fact, before we had even unlocked the trailer the kids were grabbing the sand buckets and shovels and pulling our hands. They were eager to explore the beach. We didn’t realize at the time but the tide was out, way out, and we walked for over an hour. I recently read that the tide in Parksville can go out for over one kilometre. Toria shrieked with delight as she ran across the sand chasing the crabs before they darted below ground to their hideaway homes in the sand.
For the rest of the week we took frequent walks along the beach. And by the end of the week, we had amassed an amazing collection of unique seashells. Tomas, typically more interested in Hot Wheels™ cars, not shells, was leading the search. Our favourite is a rock with three complete shells ‘glued’ to the rock. PLEASE be sure to take my advice and bleach then air dry the shells before packing them tightly in an airtight container. One word: P-YEW.
One of the first ‘touristy’ activities that we wanted to do was to visit the well-known sand castle competition. What isn’t as well-known (or at least, Ididn’t know) is that the sandcastle competition is only one part of the Parksville Beach Festival. The festival takes place over a 3-week period with the actual competition occurring at the beginning. However, the sandcastles (which are extraordinary sculptures in any medium let alone sand) remain for the entire festival. We spent an hour walking through the sculptures and wondering how someone could make such fantastic objects out of sand when we can’t even get the sand to come out of the bucket without collapsing into a lump.
There was nightly live entertainment and we happened to listen to a fantastic band on a sunny, warm, Sunday afternoon.
The Festival takes place at the Parksville Community Park, an enormous grassy area with a world-class play area. Tomas & Toria spent an entire afternoon playing and exploring the various play structures. There was an area for younger children and even a zip-line for the older kids. When we needed a refresher we made a quick dash through the sprinkler park. Or better yet we would enjoy an ice cream from the concession stand.
The kids and I spent one day hanging out in the park and walking along the beach while Todd was golfing at one of the many fantastic golf courses in the area. Todd came back talking about how great the golf course was and how much he had enjoyed golfing. I decided he was onto something so we loaded up the kids and headed to one of the nearby mini-golfs.
Now, we have spent 6-months traveling through the southern U.S. in our RV and not once, not ever, never, did we see mini-golfs as deluxe and fancy as what they have in Parksville. My favourite is the Paradise mini-golf which offers two 18-hole courses as well as bumper boats. As I type this Tomas is reminding me that I need to mention that he beat both his dad and his sister at mini-golf. That’s the great thing about mini-golf. Sure, there is some skill involved but more often than not everyone, regardless of age, has an equal chance.
We also had fun at RipTide Lagoon Mini Golf. In fact, it was at RipTide where Toria was the only one of the four of us to score a hole-in-one.
All that exercising (hey, mini-golfing is exercising) put me in the mood for a healthy meal and on the advice of a friend we headed to Lefty’s restaurant in Parksville. The food was delicious and nutritious; the server was cheerful and great with the kids. I’d sum it up by saying it has fresh food and great service. (I wrote that last paragraph for this article then I went to their website and learned their slogan is “Fresh Food. Great People.” I’d say it is completely accurate.
To read about the rest of our journey be sure to pick up the next two issues of the Island RV Guide.
