On July 3rd, 2018 : We had come from our appointment at Comox Hospital and had been given the 'all's clear' for Bruce's scan so we were feeling happy ....and a bit adventurous. We drove up Comox's Lerwick Road heading southwards until it reached the end and found ourselves at Cape Lazo. Its roughly just below the horn shaped piece of land. It was a glorious day with a cooling breeze, not overly warm and low tide. In the map below you can locate Lazo Road and where it hits the shore line. The video below was taken from that point. The area in the map above Cape Lazo is the bottom end of the Comox Airforce base
The islands you see off in the distance of the Salish Sea (formerly known as Georgia Strait) are Texada Island where you can see the limestone quarrying operation, and beside it is Lasqueti Island (pronounced 'lass-skeeti'). Closer to the coast of Vancouver Island is Hornby Island. Yes, many people live on these islands and have rather self sufficient communities. They use the inter-island ferry system to get to either the big island or over to the coast and Vancouver . Its quite a lifestyle.
Here is a brief sweep of the view from the Cape. Starting towards the mainland and Powell River, with Texada and its obvious mine right up close. Then sweeping right past Hornby and towards the Island and you can see the snow covered mountains that run mid island. It stops short of showing you the Comox glacier...
There was a low sandy grade and a natural pool that was perfect for kids or dogs to play in. Sun warmed water; lots of sticks, sea shells and tide creatures to find under shore debris. Or simply squish toes in the warm wet sand.
These three pictures are a panorama sweep of the bay from right to left. I was surprised by how few people were here. Parking was right where we stood and lots of it..... It was like a best kept secret.
So we carried on our journey around the bottom end of the peninsula, heading roughly west towards the downtown area, but still near the water and found ourselves at Marina Park. A very large open green space right down by the water. Trees, grass, a public gazebo, concession stands and public facilities. There was a children's playground and waterpark and people enjoying the day.
Nearby was the marina facilities and Government dock, complete with a restaurant nearby and stunning water views. Now if you click on the picture below and enlarge it, you'll see just under the cloud layer, the Comox Glacier. The winds that blow over that bed of ice keep temperatures in the valley cooler. (or as a friend who lives here says 'sweater weather' 😊)
I have two maps for you to view: The first gives you Vancouver Island and you can see how far the distance is between Campbell River and the Courtenay / Comox area is. It takes us about 35-40 minutes. There's a fast highway mid island or the more scenic ocean side drive.
The second map brings up the smaller island names with a closer in view of things.
We hope to do more day trips and share them here with you. Vancouver Island is larger than some states, or countries for that matter. From Campbell River and heading north, there is still half an island to go yet!
