Comox

I have always thought of this area as Courtenay-Comox, but I learned yesterday that most of what we had seen thus far had been Courtenay. 

After going for a long hike in the Seal Bay Nature Park in the morning, we were read to see downtown Comox.  It is a delightful little town with a variety of shops and thriving marina. 

We found an awesome “Almost New” bookstore and bought a few more titles to keep up with our holiday reading pace. Heather asked me last night how many I’ve burned through on this trip. I couldn’t tell her.

At first, we thought that most of the boats were inaccessible, but then we found Fisherman’s Wharf which was open to the public. We were able to do a nice slow walk and appreciate the variety of fishing boats moored there.

Connecting HMCS Quadra to the mainland is a small strip of land which is called Goose Spit Park. 

 It appears to be a man made structure about 100 feet wide that provides room for a road and parking. Even though it is definitely the off season, it was packed with cars as the sun made its way to the horizon. And yes, on this particular day, we could actually see the sun and almost a full sky of blue. That was the first time we had a mostly clear sky since the day we arrived on Vancouver Island.

Our vacation is nearing its completion. Today we will travel to Nanaimo to spend time with Heather’s uncle and aunt. On Saturday morning we will return the rental car and grab the ferry back to Vancouver to spend one last evening in BC before flying home to Alberta on Sunday. 

What is the measure of a good holiday? Perhaps it is losing all sense of time, when the days of the week get jumbled and it feels like a perpetual pause. Perhaps it’s feeling that you’d had the time in nature you needed.  Maybe it’s the overwhelming feeling that you’re ready to get back to routine. If those are the measures, then we are ready to fly home.