BC Ferries to Nanaimo

I love BC Ferries, it is a great way to travel within Canada. A bit on the expensive side but it reminds me of a smaller cruise ship and whenever I travel via BC Ferries it brings back our honeymoon cruise as a young newlywed. It is a smaller price to pay than a real cruise, and brings me back to the memories of those carefree days as a young bride.

I am glad, though, that I was able to do it with my kids. I hope that we can do mini vacations with the family as a way to bond in different settings. Maybe through this small get together, we can instill in our kids that it is fun to be with the family and hopefully it will stay with them as they get older and grow up to be happy kids.

* * * * *

West Vancouver - Nanaimo

Horseshoe Bay Departure Bay

SHIP:

Queen of Cowichan

This is an older ship (70's), but well maintained despite the age. I like the play area here with small slides that kept the kids happy and pre-occupied.

* Looking out at the nice scenery

* Well behaved

* Revving to go for adventure

* * * * *

Nanaimo - Richmond

Tsawassen Bay

SHIP:

Coastal Inspiration

* Fresh from the mini golf, hunger pang strikes

* Date with Papa

* Pa-Cute

* With Little Kenzo

Paradise Fun Park

It was unplanned. Actually, what we planned to do was to spend a bit of our time at a nearby golf park beside Tigh-Na-Mara called Riptide Lagoon but we went to take a quick lunch at McDonald's and I saw a Big shoe house further down and asked hubby to drive there just so I can check if it's something that we can take a picture of.

* If the shoe fits...

 

Turns out that there was another kids attraction there and I decided to try this one instead upon seeing their brochure.

Paradise Fun Park has 2 World Famous Mini Golf courses, Bumper boats with cannons built in into them and apparently Oceanside camping and Games Pavilion, or more famous as arcade. It was 2 for 1 for that day so I am all for fun and a great deal. I got 1 course and a bumper boat ride for us 2 at $11++

We were just in time for it's opening. Early March to October.

* Me and Mini Me's Golf Putter

Kimi chose pink for her golf ball and I chose purple for mine.

Suddenly, out of nowhere the nice weather suddenly reversed and a bit of snow showed up right when we were about to start our game :(. Off we went inside the gift shop to wait it out a bit...

* I heart Canada!

* Yep! That's me. 

I am included in the trip, by the way. Hubby isn't good with photo role reversals. I take your picture and you take mine he he! So I finally told him to take a picture with me included. So this is my one and only picture from the trip.

Finally, the snow stopped and we braved the cold and started out mini golf game. Hubby stayed inside with Kenzo just to keep little guy warm and comfortable.

* Kenzo concentrating on his gadget

The golf course was so nice...and I love the little putter for Kimi. It was just right for her size. She was able to put the ball in one shot on some of the course... She was so ecstatic and forgot that her hands were freezing.

* Braving the cold

* Course One: 

The Old Water Wheel

The Lighthouse, 

The Windmill

The Village Church

The Victorian Mansion

I can see why this is considered one of the nicest Mini Gold around the World...

 

* Course One

One of the things I like about playing with someone short is that I don't need to go down to pick my balls. Kimi gladly did it for me :)

* My Little Ball Picker

Play we did, hole after hole til we reach the 18th

* Last hole for Course One: The Victorian Mansion

I was so happy to reach the last one, it was getting windier as we progress and I couldn't feel my fingers but Kimi was so happy I decided to finish up the game despite the cold.

* No 18 Hole

* Kimi's not a quitter :) Finish Line

I hope we can try this Summer time... I am actually excited to see if there are nice ones in Vancouver we could try so that we don't need to ride a ferry just for a mini golf ;)

At the farther side of the park is the Mini Golf Course 2

* Kimi couldn't reach the Punishment decor for a photo

 * Course Two

The Old Woman's Shoe

The Pirate Cannon

The Whale's Pool

The Bavarian Clock

The Pirate Ship

The Pirate Treasure Cave

* The Pirate Cannon Course

* Pirate's Ledge

It was finally time for the Bumper Boat. I was a bit hesitant about letting Kimi try this especially since this has cannon built in which meant that other boats might try shooting her with water. I think we were the only one crazy enough to do bumper boat so Kimi had a fun time shooting the plant with water.

  

* Kimi and Papa

* Nice Summery Colors

  

* Calm waters

...five minutes of floating around

* Done :)

Kimi had her fun and she was in such a high mood while riding the ferry back to Vancouver.

Kenzo was happy wherever he is so he was happy as well.

Happy kids = Happy parents

Win Win Situation :)

* * * * *

PARADISE FUN PARK

Parksville, B.C. 

(Winter) Spa Retreat- Part 2

One of the good things with the deal I got is that the room is really a good deal by itself plus the fact that we got $20 spa credit which we used on RMT Massage (Definition: can be claimed partly), so double deal :) then $5 each per adult credit towards Cedar Room which we reserved for 5 pm. I read for a fact that there is a promo starting that day for Kids Eat Free for customers between 5-6pm... It really pays to read brochures that are displayed on the hotel while waiting to get checked in. 

We almost didn't got the kids meal free because the server thought the promo starts April, I went to the counter to find the brochure and took a chance to ask and lo and behold, it was included :)

* Our Cedar Room Dinner Spread

I love my steak....and everything was really fast so I thought that the food might be prepared earlier. I had my reservations but I was glad that I was so wrong. This is one of the best steaks I've tasted so far... I love the caramelized onion which was generously spread on top of my meat plus the tasty potatoes that accompanied my steak. Hubby's Seafood mix was good as well, but he liked my order better and kept on hinting if it was too much for me, so I relented and gave him a fair share of mine. I love the Sauteed Prawns that I ordered as well. Puuuur-fect! 

* * * * *

CEDAR ROOM

Tigh-Na-Mara Resort

Parksville, B.C.

* * * * *

The kids came from the normal pool, then early dinner. It was a short pool adventure as Kenzo was wiggling trying to get away and swim on his own, which we know for a fact, he can't. We decided to make use of the jacuzzi that we got in our own bungalow. It was less stressful to fill it half way and have the kids splash and just watch them from the outside. 

* Big enough for 2

I was actually planning to do a jacuzzi as soon as the kids were put to bed. We all know that you can't push through with all your plans and we pretended to sleep and end up sleeping with the kids and before we knew it, it was daytime! :) Oh Well....

* * * * *

TIGH-NA-MARA RESORT

Parksville, B.C.

(Winter) Spa Retreat- Part 1

I got a great deal for a night stay at Tigh-na-Mara via Travelzoo and since Parksville, B.C. is just a ferry ride away and a place both hubby and I haven't been to. I decided that we were overdue for an R&R anyway so I got the deal and was planning to use it for Valentines. 

Then, things got busy and it was move to March of 2nd week to make it closer to Spring, hoping the weather would cooperate. The weather is still unpredictable and we now had to push through and just hope for the best.

I am so glad that hubby managed to put all the address in one place... I was so caught up in the other details I forgot to list down the places to go to...

* Hubby's List of Addresses

We decided to go early since the massage was fully booked and the best I could get was 1:15 and 2:30 pm. Check in was at 4pm but we tried to ask for an earlier check in. We got the kids to bed early and they were still quite sleepy as we go on our way to Horseshoe Bay Terminal.

* Inside Queen of Cowichan Ferry

This was actually an older ferry (1976) but was well-kept despite the age. Kimi enjoyed riding the ferry and Kenzo was quite good throughout the ride. (Yey!)

* Our Oasis :)

* Registration Office

We arrived a wee bit early... We got a take out from McDonalds and waited outside parked while they try to hurry with our room. Kenzo was sleeping soundly anyway... (with a smile on his face) and we don't want to wake him up. Kimi, on the other hand, was sent to the Tigh-Na-Mara Kids Club that starts at 12:00

* Little Dreamer

  

* Arts and Crafts Room

(12:00-3 PM)

Soon enough, It was almost my time for massage...and the room is still not ready :(

Understandably so, since we were way early for our schedule but it was not fun to wait with the cool weather outside. Good thing it was not raining despite the weather forecast.

* Grotto Spa

The Massage area was across from the Registration office together with the Spa Bungalow that we will be sleeping in.

* Nice Sign

I love the water effect on the signage with bubbles. It really complement the feel of a spa.

Mineral pool is $40 but guests who had a massage gets it free. This is actually an adults only area. Bummer!

* Grotto and Mineral Pool

I just used my iphone camera to take pictures here. I don't think the guest would not appreciate it very much to see a big camera coming out of my bathrobe to capture them in less than everyday wear. 

* Bathrobe

This was actually the best massage I've spent money on here in Canada.  It was my first time to get a guy for a massage therapist and both me and hubby thinks that it must be the reason why we enjoyed it more because of the pressure for one reason. I also liked the ambiance and the music was a good addition and he uses scents to heighten the experience. He was very generous with the oil and also made use of hot towels...a lot! I was planning to count but lose count when I got to 8... The sink was full of towel when I finished my massage.   

* New Castle 532- Our Spa Bungalow

* Three Entrances (units) in a Bungalow

* Rm 532

Hubby got to the Bungalow first and got our things in the room when I got there so I just had to make do and took a picture of it with our things inside.

* Bed- Another bed can be made adjacent to the bed

...It was disguised as a Big Cabinet that you can pull down to reveal an extra bed

* Small kitchen

It has all the necessities despite the size of it.

* Bathroom

* I love the jacuzzi inside the room

*... and Kenzo loves the telephone

Related Topics

* Cedar Room, Tigh-Na-Mara * Paradise Fun Park *

* BC Ferries to Nanaimo *

* * * * *

TIGH-NA-MARA RESORT

Parksville, B.C.