I’ve always had a sense of wanderlust and in 2024 I was fortunate to be able to explore many far-flung destinations and remote wilderness locales, making it one of my most memorable years yet for travel.
In total there were 20 journeys, 11 countries, five North American road trips, three cruises and one overseas railroad trip. Travel highlights included taking the Glacier Express through the Swiss Alps, walking through the historic streets of Bergen, Norway, circumventing the British Isles on a Viking cruise, taking my first hot air balloon flight in Arizona, day tripping on five Caribbean islands and exploring parts of Haida Gwaii, not accessible by road, on a catamaran with the Victoria-based company Maple Leaf Adventures.
But at the end of my busy and sometimes hectic travel year, I was happy to stay closer to home and made my last trip of 2024 a short and enjoyable getaway to nearby Parksville and Qualicum Beach.
My final travel destination, just two hours away, was not only relaxing and easy to get to but provided everything I appreciate when travelling — meeting new people, enjoying good food and having opportunities to rejuvenate, whether that was getting outdoors or pampered in a spa.
The bonus was being able to reconnect with a childhood friend, from Ontario, who joined me on this final fun fling that focussed mostly on food. Most of my trips this past year were solo or group tours with other travel writers, lasting anywhere from five to 10 days.
While I’m already familiar with Parksville and Qualicum Beach (my dad used to live there), I was eager to have my best friend see why these two convivial cities on Vancouver Island’s eastern coast rank among sa国际传媒’s top beach destinations (they have 20 km. of white, sandy beaches) and have become foodie destinations as well.
Usually, I visit the area in the peak summer months but it was a nice change to spend time here in the off season when the beaches seem deserted, the pace is slower and the streets twinkle with holiday lights.
But no matter what time you visit, Parksville and Qualicum Beach are a quick and easy vacation choice for those of us lucky enough to call British Columbia home.
Immediately after arriving in Parksville, we checked into the Sunrise Ridge Waterfront Resort for a two-night stay in one of the resort’s waterfront condos.
The resort offers 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom suites in several distinct buildings on the four-hectare property as well as fully-equipped modern townhomes with generous decks and patios.
We knew the resort had great amenities to discover, like an outdoor pool, hot tub and outdoor fireplace, but when you are staying in one of the townhome front units with stunning ocean views, the one drawback is it’s difficult to leave.
While the condo has a fully-equipped kitchen, and outdoor BBQ, we were looking forward to not having to cook for ourselves so gave up our sunset waterfront view and headed out for our first meal in Parksville in a unique, seasonal setting.
In the winter, until mid-February, the Beach Club Resort restaurant offers three-course dinners in festively decorated winter domes equipped with heaters. The three domes, each one able to seat six people, are illuminated at night, creating cosy, winter-wonderland-like private spaces for diners, but if guests want to enjoy the Strait of Georgia views, they should opt for lunch instead.
For the set dinner menu, costing $85 per person, you have a choice between two appetizers, three main entrees and two desserts. We both ordered a delicious whipped feta, tomatoes and focaccia bread as an appetizer. While my friend ordered the smoked sablefish, which was made with a spiced pumpkin curry, and I ordered the lentils dish with cauliflower fritters for my main dish. We also ordered the two desserts, the hazelnut bourbon maple tart and the tiramisu and shared them. It’s an expertly crafted menu with the option of paying extra for a wine pairing.
The next morning, we started the day off right by going for breakfast and a coffee tasting at French Press Coffee Roasters in Parksville, where we met owner Jeremy Perkins.
While I’ve met many wine connoisseurs over the years, this was my first time meeting a true coffee connoisseur. Perkins’ love of roasted coffee is so strong, he gave up his job as a violist on the London stage, performing in major shows like The Phantom of the Opera to open a coffee roasting house in his hometown of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire with his brother.
But after moving to sa国际传媒 in 2016 with his sa国际传媒-born wife, he bought a Qualicum Beach cafe and opened French Press Roasters. The business expanded to a second location in Parksville a year and a half ago. Both locations roast the coffee beans Perkins buys from around the world and roasts on site.
One of his coffees recently won gold in a world coffee-roasting competition along with a silver and four bronze medals for the other coffees entered.
I’m usually a tea person myself but Perkins’ coffee blends have converted me, particularly his home blend that consists of beans from New Guinea and Ethiopia.
“Coffee is one of the biggest trade and commodities on the stock exchange. It literally makes the world go round financially in many ways,” he tells me while roasting a batch of beans at the back of the cafe.
“The more you cook something the more you are going to lose the inherent character flavours of the place you got that product from. The idea we try to do is to keep those characteristics, so if I take my coffee and roast it till it’s a lot darker, it’s more difficult to say this is a coffee from Kenya, this is a coffee from Brazil, from Ethiopia.”
Perkins’ coffee is more lightly roasted resulting in a more flavourful coffee.
After enjoying a breakfast of avocado toast at the cafe, we went for a walk along Qualicum Beach and checked out the city’s recently installed waterfront walkway and viewing platform. Next up was lunch, and we didn’t have to go far. I took my friend to one of my favourite dining spots in the city — the Qualicum Beach Cafe — directly across the street from the beach and where I previously experienced one of the best eggs Benedict I’ve ever eaten.
The cafe’s executive chef Nate Catto grew up in Sooke and lived in Alberta for 10 years before moving back to Vancouver Island where he became the executive chef at the Beach Club Resort for the past two years before being hired recently by the Qualicum Beach Cafe.
I ordered the smoked salmon benny and was not disappointed. Turns out seafood is one of the cafe’s specialties.
“With the new menu, the focus is on Italian and fresh seafood. For myself personally, I’ve always focussed on local and sustainable [ingredients] as much as possible. We have so many cool cheese farms, and local producers it’s so easy to access here, which is why I couldn’t wait to move back,” says Catto.
After all the great food, it was time for a bit of relaxation and nowhere provides that better in the region than the award-winning Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort, which completed a $2.5 million renovation of the Grotto Spa’s outdoor area last February. It now has an outdoor garden patio with four cedar barrel saunas adjacent to its mineral pool.
While the Grotto and the new outdoor area can be accessed by day users for $95 for two hours, it’s worth paying extra to add a spa treatment. We both had a massage, which capped off an afternoon of wellness that left us in a state of bliss and thankful we didn’t have far to go to get back to our resort, located next door, to get ready for dinner.
Our last reservation of the day was at the Nanoose Bay Cafe, opened in June 2023, owned by the same veteran hospitality partners, Eli Brennan and Alan Tse, who own the Qualicum Beach Cafe. The dynamic duo also own Water St. Cafe in Vancouver and Deez Bar & Grill in Qualicum Beach.
Nanoose Bay Cafe, which overlooks the marina, offers a fresh take on seafood classics with an Asian influence. We shared the house-made shrimp dumplings (my favourite), steamed crabs, seafood gnocchi and the miso mushroom spaghetti. All dishes were fresh and came together perfectly.
Friends and food seem synonymous, so I couldn’t resist taking my friend to one last favourite place in the region after checking out of our Parksville resort the next day. Rusted Rake Brewing is afarm-to-table favourite, loved by locals and those in the know, located on an 18-acre farm in Nanoose Bay, co-owned by relatives Craig and Jen Nichols and Jody and Will Gemmel and has a 100-seat restaurant as well as its own brewery. The Rake, as it’s locally known, offers great local fare like its brisket, which is smoked overnight, clam chowder and craft beer made with barley grown on site.
Kim Pemberton was hosted by Parksville Qualicum Beach Tourism Association, which did not review or approve this article. Follow her on Instagram at kimstravelogue.
