It has been a busy summer so far! With the temperatures finally cooling a bit now at home, I’ve decided to share some of my favourite photos from my summer travels. Just revisiting these pictures makes me long for another getaway. Hope you enjoy them as much as I had fun taking them.
Gollum with fish
Rapunzel’s tower
Princess and frog
My favourite perennial getaway this summer was definitely Vancouver Island, primarily around the Parksville and Qualicum Beach areas. Boarding our ferry at Horseshoe Bay, we were blessed with a stretch of excellent warm weather and beautiful blue skies. With a good dose of ocean air in our lungs after the journey, we made our way up island towards Parksville where the annual sand sculpting competition had just wound up its formal judging stage. The projects this year were fashioned around a Fairy Tales theme and were (again) totally astonishing in detail. My favourites were the Frog Princess, Rapunzel, a Gollum-type figure from the Hobbit, and a facial profile of Hans Christian Andersen. One quite large display of a distressed maiden with flowing locks and little creatures climbing up her back was very impressive even if I didn’t make the fairy-tale connection.
Hans Christian Andersen
Distressed maiden
Lefty’s restaurant – yummy!
Giant globe thistles
Beach at Parksville
Back at Qualicum Beach, lazy morning coffees/breakfasts in the town centre at Lefty’s were a real treat. The French toast with bananas and maple syrup was scrumptious! (As a bonus, if you could prove you were a legitimate “lefty”, as Hubby is, you were gifted with a discounted dinner entrée on your return – alright!) The remaining afternoons were spent either perusing the shops within Qualicum Beach or driving the short distance down the highway to Parksville. The real draw there was combing the shoreline for driftwood and leisurely strolls onto the expansive, sandy beach.
Stunt kites at Parksville
Giant fir at Englishman River Park
When a coolness to the air finally appeared, it was our signal to head towards the car park to witness the locals with their stunt kites performing on the open fields. Another stroll past the park gardens, and we discovered the most tremendous six-foot high thistles ever! Between the gathered driftwood, some shells and interesting rocks, the trunk of our car was beginning to smell somewhat aromatic. It was like being a kid again, re-discovering these joys of nature. So rejuvenating and carefree – loved it, loved it, loved it!
Upper Englishman’s Falls Park
Family enjoying Englishman River
A day trip to Englishman’s Falls Provincial Park gave us the pleasure of a rainforest, even though only a trace of rain had actually been recorded for almost a month. Hiking the trails with giant cedars and ferns at your feet was rewarding as we reached the Upper and then Lower falls. There were many locals enjoying the relief of the cool river, with a couple of extreme (aka idiot) swimmers jumping into the deep recesses from the rocky slopes. (One fellow later told me he couldn’t really feel his legs because of the icy temperature of the river – holy smokes!)
Sounds like a busy time so far, right? But wait, there’s more … we were only into the first two days of our Island getaway.
cubbyholewriter 
Posted on August 28, 2013
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