|
July 29, 2011
Discovering B.C. by the sea
Province’s shoreline shows off beauty, luxury and sustainability.
BAILA LAZARUS
“Just 11 minutes to magic.” Those mysterious words were uttered to me by a waiter as I sat in the restaurant at the Beach Club Resort settling my bill. He nodded his head toward the water.
The Beach Club, a relatively new resort in downtown Parksville, stretches along a sandy shoreline and boardwalk about 30 minutes north of Nanaimo. The little bay it’s in happens to face just slightly west and, within a dozen minutes of the waiter’s cryptic message, I was treated to a breathtaking sunset.
Views are just one of the perks at the Beach Club. The new resort (and condos) offers high-end accommodations that are right downtown but are also right on the beach, providing the best of both worlds.
Coastal connections
I found out about the Beach Club in an interesting way. Attending a travel bloggers conference here (yes, they do exist, and this one had 600 registrants!), I came across a B.C. Ferries Vacations display. This is a relatively little-known, one-year-old venture for the Crown corporation.
Acting like a travel agency, B.C. Ferries Vacations can help you plan a complete holiday, from an overnight stay in Victoria to an eight-night tour that includes a trip up Discovery Coast Passage to Bella Coola. Accommodations are included in the package prices and are made with partner hotels, such as Harbor House Hotel on Salt Spring Island, Poet’s Cove Resort on Pender Island and the Beach Club in Parksville. The trips all connect with B.C. Ferries routes.
Among the reasons I wanted to visit the Beach Club is the fact that it’s been given a Green Key rating of five (the highest), recognizing excellence in sustainable practices in the hospitality industry.
Last year, the hotel launched the Footprints Towards Sustainability project, which promotes the benefits of recycling, the reduction of energy consumption and ecosystem conservation.
“We encourage beach-goers not to take anything, like shells and sand dollars,” said general manager Shawna Broekhuizen in an interview in the hotel restaurant. The hotel even offers “eco-scooter” rentals: an electric-powered Moped or a biofuel-powered 49 cc scooter, with a top speed of 70 kilometres per hour. (Rentals: $35 to $149 an hour.)
Secret garden
Driving up the coast a bit toward Qualicum Bay, a great on-the-water destination is Milner Gardens. Unlike groomed and path-heavy botanical gardens, Milner is a bit on the wild side, with dirt paths meandering through historic forests of rhododendrons amid 70 acres of gardens overlooking the Georgia Straight.
You can have afternoon tea in the Camellia Room, where guests such as Queen Elizbeth, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and Princess Diana have dined. Or you can book a wedding in the teahouse garden with a view to the water.
Voted one of the 10 best public gardens in Canada by Canadian Geographic Travel, Milner Gardens was originally a retreat for businessman and philanthropist Ray Milner of New Brunswick. The garden has been worked on since the 1930s, and was gifted to Vancouver Island University in 1986. You can read more about its fascinating history on its website.
The pampering place
After a stroll through the rhodos at Milner, I headed to another B.C. Ferries partner hotel on Vancouver Island – the Kingfisher Resort and Spa. Well known for its accommodations, stunning view and excellent cuisine, the Kingfisher is just over an hour north of Nanaimo.
Stepping into a room that is bigger than my apartment, I could see why this getaway is a destination resort for pampering. I had barely enough time to settle in, experience the view and take a few photos before I was off to experience the hydropath spa.
The Kingfisher has a full-service spa with the expected fare of massages and body wraps, but the resort has also created a unique experience that rivals even Tigh-Na-Mara’s grotto further south. The Pacific Myst Hydropath is a series of eight stations through which guests can walk. Starting with a massage rinse in a mineral massage pool and proceeding through a progression of hot and cold showers, a steam room and mineral baths, it’s a bit like walking through a haunted house – but much more pleasurable. A staff person comes in to give you a fresh glass of water between each station and to explain what’s next. It’s definitely unlike anything I’ve experienced. You should allow one hour, plus about 10 minutes, to relax in the ocean-view lounge.
Being close to the Comox Valley, the Kingfisher is a great location to have as a base for day trips to the various vineyards, adventure tours, golf courses and the Courtenay Music Festival.
Adventure awaits
As part of B.C. Ferries’ five-night Coastal Circle Tour, you can hop a ferry in Powell River and head over to Comox. Never being one to follow directions, I headed in the opposite direction from Vancouver Island to the Sunshine Coast, passing through Earl’s Cove and landing in the stunning shoreline of the West Coast Wilderness Lodge.
Built 14 years ago by Paul and Patti Hansen, the lodge offers beautiful rooms, fabulous food and eco/adventure tourism. With their own guide, boats and equipment, they can take tourists on Zodiac trips down the Skookumchuk rapids, just minutes away, or on an overnight camping trip on an island in the straight. On a dark night, if the weather’s good, you can head out on a midnight kayak ride to see bioluminescent plankton light up as your paddle moves through the black water.
With a background in event planning for groups, Paul Hansen naturally set his lodge up to accommodate special meetings and occasions, with a deck large enough to hold 400. He’s generally booked solid through the summer, but try him last minute, he says. You never know when you can land a great deal.
On your way down the Sunshine Coast Highway, leave an hour or so for a stopover at the Iris Griffith Field Studies and Interpretive Centre. The 2,500-square-foot centre near Ruby Lake Lagoon was built in 2005 and is run in collaboration with the Lagoon Society. It offers educational programs, workshops, tours and slide shows for schools and the general community.
For more information on B.C. Ferries Vacations packages or the destinations mentioned, visit bcferriesvacations.com, beachclubbc.com, milnergardens.org, kingfisherspa.com, wcwl.com and lagoonsociety.com.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, painter and photographer. Her work can be seen at orchiddesigns.net.
^TOP
|
