Vacations Blog

Black Frank's bronze statue in Nanaimo Harbor, Canada

In the previous post on Nanaimo, I mentioned that I had seriously considered moving to Nanaimo. From that viewpoint, and if you don’t feel like enriching the cafe owners, then you need to find some things to keep you busy.

The Go Nanaimo Blog has created just such a guide, with 7 delightful and detailed self-guided tours, all inside a 50 km radius of the City. The tours are ostensibly meant for residents as a staycation guide, and include two walking tours within Nanaimo and five driving and bicycling tours to nearby mid-island destinations.

First, there’s the Waterfront walking tour. A healthy stroll along Nanaimo’s waterfront walkway with excellent views of Newcastle and Protection islands will take you past a lot of the city’s heritage including Maffeo-Sutton Park, the 123 year old Coast Bastion Inn and the bronze statue of former Mayor Frank Ney. Apparently Black Frank was the kind of stand-up pirate who wouldn’t have thought twice about selling his own grandma to real estate developers if it was worth an extra dime in his pocket.

The Downtown walking tour has the goods on all the visit-worthy attractions including the Vancouver Island Conference Center which houses Nanaimo Museum, a neo-gothic Church, and then there’s also the Old City Quarter with late 19th and early 20th century wooden buildings, and there’s also listings of the trendy cafes and boutiques along the way.

Gabriola Island

Moving further afield, we have the North Nanaimo driving/bicycling tour – a 37 km circular path starting and ending at the Departure Bay Ferry terminal, with lots of parks and other attractions in between.

The 64 km South Nanaimo driving tour takes you past Cedar, Yellow Point and Cassidy, with plenty of oppurtunies for hiking, flightseeing and bungy jumping.

The last three tours would more likely qualify as day trips. There’s a 79 km driving tour to Ladysmith, Chemainus and Thetis Island. Next is the spectacular and scenic 49 km Gabriola Island tour.

In fact, there’s different variations for tours of Gabriola Island, so you won’t be short of options any time soon. And lastly, there’s the 111 km Oceanside Route driving tour, which looks to me to be the most beautiful of them all.

Photos by Kam’s World and pentaboxes via flickr.

Had the Democrats lost this election, I was seriously considering moving to Canada. The concept is now moot, but I did do some travel research about the best cities in Canada which would be ideal for an extended stay for a recuperating ‘liberal-in-shock’.

After mulling over the options, I plumped down on Nanaimo, a harbor city on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Nanaimo is about 111 km from Victoria and just across the Georgia Strait from Vancouver, with car ferries plying the scenic routes from Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay, and Duke Point to Tsawwassen.

Nanaimo Harbor

Moderate weather all year long, a long coastal shoreline with a mountain backdrop, laid back vibe and friendly people, quaint culture and lots of entertainment and outdoorsy activities. But nothing very strenous. Nanaimo is a whole lot cheaper than Victoria or Vancouver, and is accesible by road, rail, sea and air. What’s not to like? If you want the American equivalent, think about Staten Island, NY or Wilmington, DE as compared to New York City.

The thing about Nanaimo is that its a town on the cusp of becoming a city. Meaning that on the one hand, it still retains a distinct small town feel with plenty of baby boomers about to retire, sleepy bookstores, quaint shops and cafes in the Old City Quarter, where you can just sit and watch the world go by. And they’re very proud of their Nanaimo Bars and the Silly Boat Regatta.

On the other hand, there’s also a lot of enthusiasm, new developments, young City Councillors and a very happening and revitalized downtown as the younger generation seeks to push Nanaimo out of its lethargy.

Departure Bay ferry

Obviously, its moving toward becoming a major city, but that’s still some way off, and right now Nanaimo offers the best of both worlds. The Go Nanaimo Blog calls it Canada’s ‘Best Little City’, a description which neatly brackets the past and the future of Nanaimo.

Tourist attractions and things to do include the Nananimo District Museum, a Heritage walking tour, Port Theater, Great Canadian Casino, boat charters, day trips to Gabriola Island, Victoria, Vancouver and the Cowichan Valley, and skiing and snowboarding on Mount Washington Alpine Resort in the winter.

Places to stay incude The Buccaneer Inn, Coast Bastion Inn, Best Western Dorchester Hotel, and The Grand hotel Nanaimo. The Coast Bastion and the Dorchester are waterfront hotels with excellent views of the harbor.

Photos by Kam’s_World and sillygwailo via flickr (creative commons).