Greetings,

How are you? Can’t hear you so I’ll just assume you’re doing splendid like myself. I’m lounging at The Beach Club Resort in Parksville that can only be described as a sophisticated suite while the sky cries its monstrous eyes out. Today we left Nanaimo in search of more and found everything we were looking for in the form of a round of golf & breakfast at the Fairwinds Golf Course before exploring the Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Park and finally setting off in search of Goats on the Roof in Coombs!?

Not far from Nanaimo there is a pleasant place called Fairwinds Community & Resort and it’s my kinda place. Upon arriving we were met by a gregarious gentleman named Ryner, set up with clubs and hit the links. The course is very well kept and the greens reminded me of felt on a pool table and above all else, they roll true. Brendan made the best bunker shot I’ve ever seen in my life while Ryner just tore the course apart. Yours truly did what he usually does, shot a par or two, countless bogeys and “others”.

Supposedly you’re a decent player if you can get through the first three holes without losing a ball as it’s known for being tight opposed to long aka a shot makers course. The club is semi-private and has a pleasant patio where you have a great view of the  9th hole green. We played our first 9 quickly and afterwards we played 10, 11 & 18 before retiring to the patio for a fitting post-round skillet breakfeast (sic).

From there we made our way to Cathedral Grove which is this old growth rain forest in Macmillan Park that also houses the oldest Douglas-fir in Canada that is over 800 years old. Douglas-fir is an awesome evergreen coniferous species. It’s basically the hardest hardwood you can find, move over mahogany! It dwarfs the Leaning Tower of Pisa and is quite the sight, seriously. Like all the trees are massive but this one is just HUGE and it gets all the credit. Then again that’s life right? Quick question, who was the second dude to {insert anything}? Thought so…

Suffice to say that old growth rain forest on an overcast day that turned into rain was like an alternate universe of sorts. It made me think what the world was like 800 years ago before all the cool techno gadgets we now get obsessed over. You really get a feel for the temperate climate and it makes sense it’s raining now, things don’t grow like that unless they have a certain climate. I particularly liked how the trees were all covered in moss, the place was serene & Brendan got some great shots.

Next stop was to go see “The Goats on the Roof” aka Old Country Market which is a market of quality goods in Coombs that is world famous for, well, goats on the roof. When I say they have goats on the roof I mean they literally have lots of goats on the roof, just living there and chilling and you know, being goats. It’s quite a novel idea and come to think of it, in all my travels, I’ve yet to see goats on the roof. The real question is what prompted to place such said goats on such said roof!? Sadly it was raining aggressively off and on when we arrived but we did manage to get this one goat aka “The Posing Goat” which is also a sweet name for a pub, yes?

Besides actually witnessing these goats who go about their daily business on a roof for all to see, the market itself has some really cool things like candied salmon, maple nuggets shown above and a selection of cheese that would blow your mind. Talk to any world traveler who isn’t lactose intolerant or strange and they’ll get excited over cheese. Most parts of the world have no or really third tier cheeses, North America & Europe are quite the opposite.

Considering it’s a random rainy Thursday in late June, can’t believe how packed Cathedral Grove & Old Country Market were. I can only imagine how insanely busy those places must be when the sun is shining and we’re in the prime time for this type of tourism aka school summer vacation. We had other plans for the day but we’re kinda rained out and I’m cool with that as we have a big day tomorrow.

Today is a special day and as a result, celebrations in this egregious suite are underway.

FYI, I’m here with the Explore BC Project, to learn more  visit the Tourism BC Facebook Page and look up #ExploreBC on Twitter.

Tips hat,