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What do grizzly bears, earthquakes and Vancouver Island golf have in common? A “duck and cover strategy”, that’s what! New technology has allowed even novice golfers to hit the ball a long way. Trouble is, when you’re just a couple degrees off course and you hit the ball far, then you’re really off course, prompting more and more piercing bellows: “Fore!”

Vancouver Island, British Columbia, is golf Mecca. Imagine, on this beautiful 500 km (300-mile) long island in the Pacific Northwest, there’s a golf course for every level. No matter what your skill, you can find a course that will best suit you.

No bears on Bear Mountain but lots of deer! The 19th hole is an optional bonus - it hangs off a cliff with a spectacular view of Greater Victoria. Bear Mountain, on the western edge of Victoria, is one of the most scenic courses you’ll find.

Golf carts, fully equipped with GPS systems, are included in the green fees. Get too close to the green, the cart shuts down and tells you on the screen to back off! Then on the 8th hole, a reminder pops up that you can order food to be ready at the end of the 9th hole! Impressive, eh! There are four sets of tees, with excellent equalization for novices and shorter hitters.

An elevated green with the backdrop of a waterfall is typical of Olympic View Golf Course, also on the western side of Victoria. The 12th hole is where nightmares are born: a precise tee shot to a narrow fairway beside a long water hazard, followed by a second precise shot to an elevated green! This is just one of many challenging holes here. A golf cart is recommended for the hills. Olympic View has the best equipped practice area on any course on Vancouver Island.

Well-groomed greens, sculpted fairways and panoramic ocean views make Cordova Bay, on the eastern shore of Victoria, one of the finest courses you’ll find on Vancouver Island. Four sets of tees allow you to choose the challenge that best suits your game.

Sometimes you find a hole where you’d like to have a serious discussion with the course architect, like at the Crown Isle Golf Course, where a fine tee shot put me 12 feet in front of the hole. I putted about 18 inches past it, then the unthinkable happened: my ball found a groove and rolled at a right angle to the line of my putt - off the green, within inches of the water hazard! My chip back onto the green was just short of the hole. Yes it rolled right back to me! My fourth shot could not be short, so I blew it 10 feet past the hole. I putted tentatively towards the hole and the gap that ‘eats’ balls. Naturally, I putted light and in great disgust, got a six.

The Crown Isle Resort has some of the best facilities of any course on the Island. It’s typical of resort courses with housing developments nearby. The club house is spectacular.

If it’s your lifelong dream to live on a golf course, Vancouver Island has lots of courses with houses bordering them: Arbutus Ridge, Morning Star, Bear Mountain, Pheasant Glen, Crown Isle and others offer exemplary housing.

Imagine a course where each fairway is lined with tall Douglas Fir, virtually isolating it fromthe others. This is Storey Creek. Every hole is different and the course offers challenges with narrow fairways, water hazards and strategic sand traps. If playing along the edge of housing developments irritates you, then try Storey Creek, just south of Campbell River.

With a backdrop of Mount Arrowsmith, well-manicured greens and fairways, an executive-length golf course awaits you: Mount Arrowsmith Golf Course is one of the Island’s best-kept secrets.

An automated telephone booking system makes for easy-access. Drive 10 minutes north of Qualicum Beach and you’ll be playing one of the finest executive courses on the Island! It has one par 5 hole (the rest are par 3 and 4).

There are approximately 60 golf courses on Vancouver Island - each offering something for everyone. Read a synopsis at:
http://tourismmall.victoria.bc.ca/vancouver-island-golf.htm

Ron Kirstein is the owner of a Canadian Travel & Tourism Web
site (since 1995). Ron has traveled the length and breadth
of Vancouver Island BC Canada in search of
adventures; see http://tourismmall.victoria.bc.ca/travelmagazine

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Dog Salmon! Hard to imagine what it might look like. Four-legged fish with floppy ears running up and down the beach! I don’t think so.

The Coast Salish (First Nation people) on Vancouver Island called Chum or Keta Salmon, Dog Salmon. Chum salmon develop a very hooked jaw with fierce teeth at spawning time. Perhaps that is why they were called Dog Salmon. Chum, on average, weigh eight to ten pounds and measure about 40 inches in length. Their ocean coloration of silvery blue green changes at spawning time to splotchy purplish red and with distinct yellow and pink vertical bars on their sides. They are one ugly fish!

When we arrive at Qualicum Beach (which means, “where the dog salmon run”), the last image that comes to mind is Dog Salmon. Qualicum Beach is a quaint village in the middle of absolute paradise. Everything is beautiful from the endless expansive sandy and pebble beaches to the beautiful snow-capped mountains that provide a backdrop to the area. The town has worked hard preserving its heritage which is obvious walking through the downtown area. A heritage style design is predominant, providing a friendly village atmosphere. Everywhere we go from the spectacular heritage designed Quality Foods grocery store to the funky Smithford’s, we meet very friendly people.

The town hall in Qualicum Beach
Photo by Ron Kirstein

Finding a place to stay is not difficult. The area has an abundance of accommodations from bed and breakfasts to motels and resorts. We chose the Seaview Beach Resort because we are having a family get-together. The quaint cottages range from 1-3 bedrooms and come fully equipped. When we walk out our door, within seconds, we are right on the beach. The Seaview is well off the road and sits among modern residential properties. It is very quiet and peaceful. Across the road we discover a large Federal Wild Life Sanctuary. As we walk down the beach and the roadway we are drooling over incredible new oceanfront homes. My wife is scoping out the fire pit where she will roast her marsh mellows just as soon as the sun goes down.

One of the beautiful homes along the sea shore
Photo by Ron Kirstein

Now we are settled in to our cabin by the sea. Besides the obvious, we check around to see what we can do while we are in paradise. Locals inform us that you can beach walk almost continuously for about 50Km (30 miles) along the coast line with the exception of interruptions by two rivers, the Englishman and French Creek. When the tide goes out, it feels like we can walk half-way to the mainland.

Everywhere you go in Qualicum you see immaculate gardens, so we decided to check out some of the attractions. Milner Gardens and Woodlands is a rare property perched on the shores of the Strait of Georgia. It has a 10 acre garden complete with a character home that is used primarily as a tea-house. The garden is surrounded by 60 additional acres of Coastal Douglas fir. Malaspina-University College acquired the site from Veronica Milner in 1996. Veronica’s mother was a cousin of Winston Churchill. Much of the Royal family has visited or stayed at the gardens.

From the tea-room and gardens you can enjoy super-natural views of Georgia Strait and the Coastal Mountains on the Mainland. The Gardens and Woodland is operated by a non-profit horticultural society with a mission to maintain and restore the gardens and buildings. Volunteers and students carry out much of the maintenance of the gardens under the supervision of horticulture staff. I recommend these gardens and walks through the woodlands.

Looking for a tourist trap? Well, the best little tourist trap in BC is the Old Country Market in Coombs. Just a few kilometers out of Qualicum you will find a country market with goats living on the roof. This eclectic market has something for everyone. My favourite is the ice cream bar. It is no ordinary ice cream bar. It is about 40 feet long and offers many choices of ice cream, sorbet and gelato. A single cone cost me just $3.00 and I swear that it had a pound of ice cream in it. After eating the mound on top, I gobbled ice cream to the very bottom of the waffle cone. I consider myself an ice cream aficionado and I have never seen a place so generous. This is a shop till you drop market with vegetables, meats, food specialties, clothes, toys, unique gifts and a whole lot more. It also has a very fine restaurant which seems to efficiently serve a never-ending line-up. It has my vote for the best little tourist trap in the world!

The area boasts some of the best of BC Provincial Parks. If you like to camp, hike, explore the beach or visit spectacular waterfalls you should check out Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park, Englishman River Falls Provincial Park, Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park and Cathedral Grove Provincial Park. Other attractions can be found throughout the area by checking the web at http://tourismmall.victoria.bc.ca/aavanisle/pqattract.htm

Ron Kirstein is the owner of a Canadian Travel & Tourism Web
site (since 1995). Ron has traveled the length and breadth
of Vancouver Island BC Canada in search of
adventures; see http://tourismmall.victoria.bc.ca/travelmagazine

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