PARKSVILLE & QUALICUM BEACH, BC | Visiting Beaches + Provincial Parks on Vancouver Island

Come join us for a rainy travel day on Vancouver Island, BC as we continue our road trip to Parksville and Qualicum Beach to visit Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park and Englishman River Falls Provincial Park.

After a quick stop at Qualicum Beach, we drove towards Rathtrevor Beach, which is a provincial park located in the east end of Parksville. This spot is known for its wide sandy beaches - especially during low tide when the water recedes almost a kilometre from shore! It was pretty cool to see.

And now: bunnies! Just as we were leaving the park we spotted what we thought was one lone black rabbit looking out of place, but as we rounded the corner, we discovered it was a whole colony! They were very cute.

Then it was onwards to Englishman River Regional Park where we went in search of the two waterfalls. Well, I’m not sure we took the right trail since we never did find them, but who can complain about wandering the wrong way in a forest when you’re surrounded by towering cedars, Douglas firs, and ferns all around.

After a wet and rainy day of exploring we built up a big appetite so we ended up frying up some cod in butter and serving it with sweet potatoes and carrots along with some delicious wine from Chile.

We hope you enjoyed our BC road trip episode to Parksville and Qualicum Beach. Stay tuned as we have three more episodes from our Vancouver Island, BC series left with adventures from Campbell River, Nanaimo and Victoria coming your way.

GEAR WE USE
Panasonic GH5: http://amzn.to/2yqTUyi
Canon G7X ii: http://amzn.to/2yqtM6B
Rode Video Micro: http://amzn.to/2wTguTM
Joby Gorilla Pod: http://amzn.to/1PgoY5F
SanDisk 16GB Extreme Pro: http://amzn.to/25KEErs

* * *

SOCIAL MEDIA & TRAVEL BLOGS

AUDREY:
blog: http://thatbackpacker.com/
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatbackpacker/
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thatbackpacker
twitter: https://twitter.com/ThatBackpacker

SAMUEL:
blog: http://nomadicsamuel.com/
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nomadicsamuel
twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadicSamuel
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nomadicsamuel/

* * *

PARKSVILLE & QUALICUM BEACH, BC | Visiting Beaches + Provincial Parks on Vancouver Island:

Come join us for an epic road trip to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada where partner with Trover to cover the island from the south all the way up to the north. Unlike most Vancouver Island road trips and travel series which focus on the triangle of Vancouver, Nanaimo and Tofino, we branch off and visit lesser-known places such as Gold River, Port Alice and Malcolm Island just to name a few.

Our trip to Vancouver Island starts off with a flight from Toronto to Vancouver, followed by the shortest flight of our lives from Vancouver to Victoria. From Victoria, we head to our base of Mount Washington in the central part of the island, where highlights include spotting black bears, hiking in Mount Washington and visiting vineyards in Comox.

Our journey then continues to Gold River, Sam's hometown, where we board the Uchuck III en route to Friendly Cove. We also go to nearby Campbell River where we walk along a beautiful fishing dock, tour a hatchery and come across a black bear, and hike in Elk Falls which was our favourite hike on this entire journey.

Heading to northern Vancouver Island, we base ourselves in Port Alice and visit the nearby towns of Port McNeill, Port Hardy and Telegraph Cove. For separate day trips, we take the ferry to Malcolm Island where we visit the former Finnish Community of Sointula and take another ferry to Alert Bay where we have the opportunity to appreciate First Nations totem poles, artwork and museums.

Our Vancouver Island road trip concludes with visits to Parksville, Nanaimo and Victoria. Overall, it was one of the best road trips we've ever done focusing mostly on nature, outdoor adventure, wildlife spotting and visiting off-the-beaten-path villages and communities that have a lot to offer but aren't that well known.

If you are thinking of doing a Canada road trip, Vancouver Island should be at the top of your list. For more information and tips on all the places we visited on Vancouver Island, you can check out this Trover list: https://www.trover.com/l/6aKkU

Music We Use: http://bit.ly/SamAudreyMusic