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Writer's pictureRuth Mcbride

White caps...where did they come from?

This morning we left to golf at Qualicum Beach Memorial Golf Club at 8:25am for our 9:26am tee time this morning. We were bundled up though on the first tee with full goretex rain gear and down vests under our gear. Somehow it felt colder today than the +6C the thermometer was showing.





It sure was nice to get out golfing again though with our golf buddy Ken. Curtis couldn’t make it today so we missed playing with him. The club has been closed for about 3 weeks with the weather and then with a Covid case identified in the pro shop. The tee sheet was definitely filled today, with many members happy to get out again after such a long break.


Bundled up to keep warm on the 1st tee. We didn’t wear red and black today which is what all of the professional golf tour players elected to do today to honour Tiger Woods, given that is his preferred Sunday golf outfit. Let’s hope he recovers from his car accident to be able to walk again, and if he’s lucky golf again.



Finally a good 3 wood! It only took until the 6th hole. Boy was I rusty today after not playing for 3 weeks and my putting was atrocious with 2 -3 putts!



7th hole cutting the fairways! I think the 3 week rest from no play was great for the course. The fairways have definitely dried out enough to get the mowers on the course.



8th hole. I finally made a par!


After golf we thanked Ken for the opportunity to play golf with him today. It was nice to see Ken make a beautiful birdie putt on #7 today, a long par 5. Ken has texted Richard and we are all set to play again with Ken and hopefully Curtis too on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. We’ve definitely missed golfing and hoping that the weather will start to improve and we can actually get out golfing without tons of gear on to stay warm.


After golf we took Jerry to the self serve car wash at the Shell station in Qualicum Beach. Richard loaded up the self serve car wash card to operate the machine and finally Jerry was clean again! He really got pretty filthy driving up to Mount Washington over a week ago and we finally had the chance to get him clean today. The Shell station not only sells gas and has a 2 bay self serve car wash, but it also has a Laundromat too! I have never, ever seen a laundromat in a gas station before, but they have one in Q. Beach!









We needed some groceries while we were in town so we visited Quality Foods in Qualicum Beach and then headed upstairs to ‘A Step Above’ for a bite to eat for lunch. I’ve mentioned this amazing housewares store before which is above the grocery store. I still can’t believe how nice the store is and the beautiful home decor items they sell in this store/lunch spot.


Ah...so sweet. A wall plaque in ‘A Step Above’.


Richard enjoying lunch and the Quality Food grocery store is down below.


We enjoyed meeting up with George over lunch who works 3 days at week at ‘A Step Above’. George we found out today is an Interior Decorator who works part time at the store to get his health benefits. He is a definitely a good guy to know as he works with clients all over B.C., having previously worked out of Vancouver before he moved to the Island. It is interesting how we have met builders, landscape architects and now an interior decorator in our travels on the Island...what is fate saying to us?


After having lunch at ‘A Step Above’ we wanted to visit a plot of land close to town that I had found on ‘For Sale by Owner’ last night. The 11 acre property was about 5 minutes outside of town, next to some other homes on large plots of land, on a gravel road.



We took It pretty slow down the gravel road, given we had just washed Jerry and didn’t want to get him too filthy!


We were concerned the property was too near the main Hwy 19 and we would hear road noise, so we rolled down our windows, turned Jerry off and sat and listened. Sure enough...road noise! Nope. Not for us! When we were speaking with Ken today playing golf he was telling us how homes are being sold in his subdivision that are not even hitting the MLS and are going for over list price. George told us a similar story too for homes in Nanaimo where he lives. Its a hot market out here!




We wanted to have BBQ Cedar plank sockeye salmon again for dinner tonight, so after visiting the property in Qualicum Beach, we headed town the Coastal Hwy to French Creek Seafood Ltd., which is open 7 days a week.



French Creek and a seagull just drafting in the wind. The weather had changed dramatically in the 5 minutes it took us to drive from Q. Beach to French Creek! There were now white caps on the water, with the very cold East South East winds gusting up to 24km/hour.



Waves crashing on the break wall in French Creek.


In the short time I was outside to take some photos I was chilled to the bone and the temperature read +7C. The wind was crazy!


A very ominous sky over Parksville in the distance today.



French Creek Seafood shop.



Weekly specials at the French Creek Seafood Shop. Richard inquired about the fresh halibut and when it would be arriving as our neighbour Jim had asked him to find out. It turns out there will be fresh halibut starting on March 15th! We love halibut so we will have to make a trip back to French Creek Seafood shop to get some halibut before we leave the Island.


Richard also had to buy his favourite!

The candied salmon pieces. Such wonderful protein and a delicious snack.



As we started driving home to Fanny Bay, the weather turned again and it started to rain. Today’s rain was a misty fine rain, which apparently is what the Island is known for. The winds have really picked up and as I’m writing the blog, I’m watching the white caps crash in Fanny Bay, as the seagulls coast along with the wind gusts.



Fanny Bay in sepia.



It is such a nice feeling to know I don’t have to go outside again today and can stay here nice and cozy under my blanket, with my Kindle to keep me company. Sometimes its nice to be home, just relaxing and enjoying the stormy weather, without being outside in it! Apparently St. Stephen was busy today at home too! He made homemade pea soup and Richard is going to be the recipient of that homemade Newfoundland pea soup with biscuits in it! We can’t wait to try it!






I do have to go and prepare the glaze for the salmon now. Richard was able to get the cedar plank he bought at the French Creek Seafood store cut into 3 pieces by borrowing a saw from the RV Park owner Matt. Matt told Richard we will be getting neighbours again to the left of us at some point during the month of March. We’ve enjoyed having nice views from the left side of Newman and not having noisy cupboard banging neighbours with 2 kids and 2 dogs, for the past week and a half. That’s the one downside of RV life; you can’t pick your neighbours and if you get ones that are noisy, it is not like you can move -especially if you’ve reserved your spot for an extended period of time.





Tomorrow is the 1st of March and that means we’ve been on the Island for 3 months already! Wow! Where has the time gone?




I’m sure March will definitely go by quickly and then we will have to leave these beautiful mountains and sea, March will be a great month though with so many wonderful things planned! Experiencing our first herring run, visiting with Josh and Alicia and of course our adventure seeking trip to Tofino, exciting whale watching and last but not least my big birthday! Wow! An action packed 31 days coming right up!



Stay tuned! We definitely are going to have a lot more adventures over the next month...!!!

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