Category: Parksville

The Errington Farmers’ Market is held every Saturday from 10 AM to 1 PM.  It is about a 10-minute drive from downtown Parksville.  Errington is a spot in the woods away from the main Island Highway.  The market itself was a quiet affair due to the pandemic.  If you are wanting really fresh produce, and you are at the beginning of your self-catering trip, this would be a good place to start. The fair is held in a playing field, next to a walking trail.  I imagine parking is interesting at busier times, so keep your wits about you. There […]

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When on vacation, I often like to look in on different shops and galleries because for a change I’m shopping for fun, not necessity. One place worth popping into is Robert Held Art Glass. It’s in Parksville on the main 19A highway and is near Rathtrevor Beach and the local bowling alley, Sunset Lanes. There are demos of the art of glass blowing and, as the images show, his capturing of flowers in glass is evocative of impressionism. It’s definitely a spot to go for unique gifts for friends and family. He was working in the back on the day […]

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When on vacation, sometimes you get a moment to read. When shopping in places, I love looking for small bookstores. Occasionally you find a good book. Coombs BC is about 9 km from Parksville. In Coombs there’s a bookstore called Cozy Corner Books that’s got a lot of stuff but over time it’s gotten more disorganized over time. The owner knows tons but I literally tripped over a pile of books and was trapped for a couple of minutes. It’s always fun to look around but ton find anything is tough. Meanwhile in Parksville, at Fireside Books, the place is […]

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Englishman River Falls Provincial Park is located in Errington BC, which is about 6 km from Parksville. It’s my kind of hike (more of a walk, really) because it’s short (3 km) is easy and the scenery is spectacular. There are two falls (upper and lower) that have wonderful views. The lower falls ends in a pool in which thick-blooded individuals were splashing about. The water comes from a mountain and I expect it would be a tad chilly. The park is fairly busy, given there’s a campground attached and is easy access to day trippers as well. But you […]

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What small resort town that has two mini golf places would be complete without a bowling alley? Sunset Lanes in Parksville is at the south end of town and is a small bowling alley that is fun, as a bowling alley should be. We enjoyed 2 frames of 5-pin bowling. If you are with younger kids, they can put up the deflector rails so that newbies don’t get too discouraged by gutter balls. We went on cosmic bowling night, which means you bowl under the glow of black light and look very funny if you’re wearing a lot of white. […]

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For three days and two nights, I was invited to visit my good friend’s family as they spent the last remaining weeks of summer in Parksville on Vancouver Island. I was beyond excited because not only had I not seen my friend in forever (well at least, it felt like that to me) but I had never been to Parksville! I left on a week day, meaning no ride to Horseshoe Bay for me! I took the 257 Horseshoe Bay express bus to the ferry terminal and jumped on the next boat to Nanaimo. It was about an hour and […]

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The family decision was to ride horses. Of the four of us, I the eldest, last rode a horse in the early 1990s a couple of years before our trail guide was born. I didn’t feel old at all, no sir. The rest of the gang was equally out of practice or inexperienced. Errington is near Coombs and only 10 minutes from Parksville. Tiger Lilly Farm is a left off of Highway 4A on Errington Road. Tiger Lilly Farm offers trail rides and a farm petting zoo. This part is perfect for younger children, especially those with limited exposure to […]

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On 403 Lowrys Rd, Parksville you will find the Morningstar Farm, which is home to two businesses: the Mooberry Winery and the Little Qualicum Cheeseworks. The Morningstar Log Cabin that greets you. The whimsical and comic layout of both these businesses is to be admired. And it’s refreshing to find because on Lowry’s Road there’s creeping urban development and a Save-On Foods, which I suspect would never stock their products, is a mere 2.3 km away. It’s easy to find your way around the farm. The wines are all fruit wines ranging from apple (close to apple cider but not […]

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In Parksville on Resort drive is Riptide Lagoon Adventure Golf, with two mini golf courses that easily serve tourists who stay at the resorts. This summer I stayed with my family at Ocean Trails Resort, one of the places on Resort Drive for about the fifth time in a row. Due to the fact we’ve been staying so long the mini golf has worked its way into becoming a family tradition. They have several attractions on their grounds, bumper cars, arcade, ice cream, and of course the mini golf. Actually playing mini golf is a bit like playing in a […]

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Lefty’s is a yummy restaurant in Parksville, B.C. Their menu has many choices with a lot variety, as it is not a “we-only-have-one-focus-that-we-take-way-out-of-proportion” restaurant. Lefty’s has everything from pastas to burritos, literally, when I visited I had a burrito. When I went it was at an odd time, before dinner but after lunch so there were very few people in the restaurant. The waitress came right away with menus and drink orders (I had a Shirley Temple) so no complaints there. However, once we’d decided what we wanted to eat and ordered it took a rather long time for the […]

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