1 of 9
Mike Thompson Impact Digital Photography
Vancouver Island - Canada’s Mediterranean?
Neck Point Park
2 of 9
Picasa
Vancouver Island - Canada’s Mediterranean?
Living Forest drone shot
3 of 9
Picasa
Vancouver Island - Canada’s Mediterranean?
Maffeo Sutton Park (aka Nanaimo Harbourfront Walkway Park)
4 of 9
Picasa
Vancouver Island - Canada’s Mediterranean?
Maffeo Sutton Park (aka Nanaimo Harbourfront Walkway Park)
5 of 9
Picasa
Vancouver Island - Canada’s Mediterranean?
Newcastle low tide, Nanaimo
6 of 9
Scott Littlejohn
Vancouver Island - Canada’s Mediterranean?
Pipers Park aerial
7 of 9
Picasa
Vancouver Island - Canada’s Mediterranean?
Pipers Park snowbirds hike
8 of 9
Scott Littlejohn photos
Vancouver Island - Canada’s Mediterranean?
Rebecca Spit Marine Provincial Park, Quadra Island
9 of 9
Picasa
Vancouver Island - Canada’s Mediterranean?
Westwood Lake Park
Story & photos by Scott Littlejohn
You’ve done it, you bought the sexiest RV you can afford and you’re planning your first winter in a rolling home. The movie in your head included palm trees, sunscreen and cheap gasoline, right? Then the cost of travel health insurance, fuel to drive south and back, and the big new kicker- the dollar exchange, shakes you awake. But there’s an exciting and sensible option … Canada’s Mediterranean, Vancouver Island!
It does take a bit of a brain reset to put your long pants and jacket back on, but until you’ve spent a winter on the Island, you won’t really understand why thousands of Canadian Snowbirds keep their rigs and wallets on our Super Natural Island when the leaves fall off the trees at home.
October thru April is the quiet and affordable season for Island RV’ers. 20 years ago, our family built Living Forest Oceanside Campground & RV Park in Nanaimo, and we’ve seen our Snowbirds grow into a flock, migrating back to the Island each winter.
Being Canada’s warmest winter destination is what draws RV’ers here, but the Nanaimo lifestyle is what makes so many return. It’s all about size and location. Greater Nanaimo has grown to well over 100,000-- big enough to have great restaurants, theatres, hospital, all manner of shopping, sporting events, rec facilities and 200 local parks. And just jump on a ferry or a 15 minute floatplane or helijet and you can day trip to Vancouver without your car. Our Island ‘big city’ of Victoria is just over an hour’s drive south. Everything in town is less than 15 minutes away- including all manner of natural recreation areas.
Living Forest’s 53 acre, 300 site, award winning slice of waterfront heaven is like a Provincial Park with full service premium facilities— but only 5 minutes from downtown. The quiet season monthly fee for our best oceanview site is $400, sharing your nature bubble with eagles, seals, otters and an annual salmon run right outside your RV. There’s also several other RV Parks on lakes, rivers and the ocean, within a 20 minute drive.
But the free outdoor scenery is the star of the show here - and these are our Snowbirds’ favourites to visit:
– Maffeo Sutton Park (aka Nanaimo Harbourfront Walkway Park) - Stroll shops, restaurants, crab pier, yacht marina, a man made lagoon with waterfalls, and 4 km of seawall walkway for feet and bicycles. Nanaimo’s jewel.
– Newcastle Island Provincial Marine Park - This historic Island park is a stone’s throw away from downtown and the size of Vancouver’s massive Stanley Park. A 10 minute harbour ferry takes you to a paradise of beaches, forests, trails, a pavilion and totems. Unforgettable.
– Neck Point Park - 50 acres of waterfront walking trails with viewing platforms to watch seals, sea lions, eagles, with multiple small beaches. A favourite with scuba divers too.
– Bowen Park - this urban oasis in the heart of the City, boasts a salmon river with waterfalls, spawning ponds, manicured trails and a rhododendron forest. Developed areas feature lawn bowling, outdoor pool, disc golf, horseshoe pits and tennis courts. The Bowen Park Seniors offer all manner of activities and classes too.
– Pipers Lagoon Park - Another stunning waterfront park, with trails through a forest of rare Garry Oaks and driftwood beaches.
– Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Provincial Park - En route to the Island’s West Coast, discover ancient towering trees. Gentle trails let you walk among the giants.
– Coombs Country Market - this rambling and whimsical collection of shops and galleries surround the Goats on the Roof market, where the arresting timber frame décor is only outdone by the foods for sale from around the world.
– Westwood Lake Park - the 6km trail around the manmade lake and a location only minutes from downtown make this one of the most popular walks and running trails with locals, and the starting point for an extensive mountain bike trail network. Great place to catch trout too, with its quiet no motors boat policy.
– Colliery Dams Park - these two small urban lakes were created for washing the coal back in Nanaimo’s mining era. Now stocked with trout, shore fishing is a dream and the spillway’s waterfalls and tall tree trails make for picturesque strolling.
– Englishman River Falls Provincial Park - Rapids thunder down a sheer cliff into a deep spray covered canyon with a viewing bridge high above, steps from the parking area. A forested loop trail along the cliff tops leads to a second waterfall and bridge downstream before entering crystal clear green pools. Mesmerizing.
I’m truly only scratching the surface. Enjoying an Island winter means daily discoveries with nearby displays of nature found nowhere else in such variety. And the lifestyle amenities that Nanaimo offers may even make you forget about the suntan you didn’t get. Choose adventure, winter on the Island with Canadian dollars, it’s hardly a sacrifice!
Visit our YouTube channel, Living Forest TV, or LivingForest.com to watch aerial videos of most of these parks. --Warning! Island life is quite habit forming!
-Scott Littlejohn has celebrated Island life for nearly 50 years, camps all over the Island, and travels with a GoPro and a drone in a classic Class A Safari Serengeti (mileage doesn’t matter as much if you don’t travel far.) In addition to being the Social engagement and marketing coordinator for Living Forest, he’s also served on the board for Tourism Nanaimo and Tourism Vancouver Island.