Pints, Pets and Pampering in Pet-friendly Parksville

This article was written by Sheila Hansen and the original post can be found here: https://o.canada.com/travel/pints-patios-and-pampering-in-pet-friendly-parksville

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Pints, patios and pampering in pet-friendly Parksville - Photo by Sheila Hansen

Author of the article:

Sheila Hansen

Published Aug 20, 2024 

Dogs allowed on the top deck I We knew our Vancouver Island getaway was off to a good start when we could bring our furry family member on deck aboard BC Ferries’ Queen of Cowichan. 

We were bound for Parksville (pop. 13,600) tucked along the island’s eastern shore. Our mini Aussie shepherd, Pearl, was already enjoying the journey, lapping up the ocean breeze. Now open on eight vessels, the outdoor pet areas are a big paw-step up from the fleet’s compact below-deck pet rooms

We were welcomed on check in at the pet-friendly Bayside Oceanfront Resort with a doggy treat bag, bowls and dog bed. Of course, Pearl gave the room a thorough sniff-over before settling into her temporary bed. Opened in 1985, the resort has spent millions of dollars on improvements over the years, including a recent overhaul of the guest rooms, lobby and restaurant and the addition of a café and outdoor pool. 

Our room, a colour palette of bright white, sandy brown and calming blue, with coastal forest prints by Vancouver Island painter Cindy Mawle. But it’s the balcony overlooking the curve of Parksville Beach and the Strait of Georgia where we’ld spend the next couple of mornings taking in the tranquil view. 

Live ferns hang from the ceiling at Qualicum Beach’s Fern + Cedar Brewing Company. Photo by Sheila Hansen

Fern + Cedar Brewing

That evening we sat down to flights of craft beer and gastropub fare at Fern + Cedar Brewing just up the road in Qualicum Beach. Not yet three years old, the bustling establishment draws both islanders and tourists in with its small-batch brews and local menu. True to its name, live ferns hang from a high ceiling and stacked cedar firewood takes up an entire wall in the airy main room. 

Out on the covered patio, Pearl at our side, we tucked into cod-and-chips and beef short ribs in between sips of rotating and core beers like the juicy Green Mountain State IPA –poured at the bar via a unique tank-to-tap system (think, no kegs). On the way out, we picked up a four-pack for home as these bevvies aren’t sold anywhere else. 

The next morning our son took Pearl to the tide pool-dotted beach while my husband and I snuck away for a half-day of pampering at the nearby Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort. The resort’s award-winning Grotto Spa now includes an outdoor garden patio with stone fire tables, lounge chairs and cedar barrel saunas. Topping off the $2.5 million renovation a refreshed dining space and kitchen are on the third floor. 

We signed up for the dip & dine package, which begins in the spa’s signature warm mineral pool. Designed to look like a natural stone grotto, the pool and its faux-granite surrounds soon carry us far away from the everyday. Here, no less than 12 natural minerals and trace elements detoxify and invigorate. After a 15-minute soak, we take turns in the cold-splash waterfall and hot whirlpool.

In keeping with the spa’s go-your-own-way approach, we leisurely move from water feature to water feature and, finally, outside. Set among rock-work and pops of greenery, the four new handcrafted saunas hold up to eight people each and heat up to around 90°C. We sat a couple of spells inside one of these super-cute units. All was quiet except for the occasional splash and hiss, as my husband tosses water onto the electric heater.

In fresh robes, we flip-flopped up to the renovated Treetop Tapas & Grill. After all, dining in one’s robe and sandals is de rigueur in the green-hued dining room.

One by one, exquisitely prepared plates by head chef Lukas Exelby arrived at our table. There’s the kale salad with Nooch vinaigrette and carbonated grapes – I could hear them pop and fizz! – and the ornately cream topped celeriac and apple soup. Followed by the Sheringham gin-cured sockeye gravlax with bright-orange sea buckthorn purée and  beef tenderloin in elderberry demi-glace. 

Little Qualicum Falls loop trail

The 3.4-kilometre Little Qualicum Falls loop trail took us through a lovely scented cedar forest, over a bridge and past churning waterfalls and a rocky gorge. Our favourite trek on the weekend, though, was  the 2.9-km Notch Hill loop, a meandering path among ferns, gnarled Garry oaks and arbutus trees. A light drizzle, low-lying cloud and soft mist draped the forest floor, rocky knolls and open grassy outlooks making us feel like we were traipsing through some faraway magical land. 

Before hopping back on the ferry home, we squeezed in a midday visit to Rusted Rake Brewing in Nanoose Bay. Opened in July 2022, the farm-to-tap brewery and gourmet eatery sits on the edge of a six-acre barley field. Indeed, it’s that very grain that’s fuelled the flight of beer before me. I’d hoped to enjoy it with lunch on the dog-friendly patio but the persistent rain ushered us (sans Pearl) inside the Rake’s dining room – a fire burned in the hearth, vintage farm wheels adorn the main wall and a live-edge wood bar anchors the space. 

Among the flight’s four samples, the Wandering Scotsman’s Spruce Tip IPA – a crisp and effervescent brut beer that gets its kick from local handpicked spruce tips. The pour fetching Gold in the Canadian Evergreen Beer category at the 2024 Canadian Brewing Awards. Only sold on site, another four-pack finds its way into our collection to take home. 

Pairing well with the full-flavoured taps, the Rake’s locally-sourced West Coast menu had us feasting on cups of chowder, the Cubano Ciabattas (with melted Little Qualicum Cheese Gruyere), a brisket dip and the daily pasta – heaping with seafood.

Topped up and content after our weekend away, Pearl wasn’t the only one to nap on the return ferry. 

-Sheila Hansen

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