After my stops in Duncan and Mount Prevost I arrived in Nanaimo (pronounced nuh-NIGH-mo). First stop, as it often is when I go to a town I haven’t been to before, was the Visitor Center. There were three very helpful young people working there and they gave me some great ideas of where to visit and where to have lunch (confirming my pre-trip research).
There was an amazing mural on the wall made from rocks! It was enormous, and must weigh a ton – literally.
My next stop was the marina next to the fashionable Nanaimo Yacht Club.
There was a large panel with an octopus on it as I walked towards the (public) dock:
The sign below it stated that it is an artwork depicting a Giant Pacific Octopus, which is found in nearby waters. The sign went on to say that this area has some of the best diving spots in the world, where divers may see this octopus, wolf eels (with a face only a mother could love), nudibranches (one of the most colorful fish I have ever seen, and available in MANY varieties), anemones and sea sponges.
Sometime when you’re bored Google “nudibranch” and look at the images. The variety will amaze you. But I digress. I’m here to take photos of the scenery.
Next stop – Pipers Lagoon.
I was born in Evanston, IL, the first suburb north of Chicago. As a kid growing up (we moved to Pennsylvania when I was 12) my parents would occasionally take me to a lagoon, located just off Lake Michigan. That is the only time I have ever seen or been to a lagoon until today, which is why I sought this one out.
This is the recently renamed Arrington Lagoon in Evanston, a great place to take young kids to feed the ducks or bring their toy boats.
(Photo credit: Businessyab.com)
(Photo credit: Karie Angell Luc)
THIS is Pipers Lagoon in Nanaimo:
A very different type of place because it is natural, not manmade. Of more interest to the locals is the beach, just out of frame to the right in the photo above.
And to rinse yourself or the kids off after having been in the water, this two-headed serpent:
And yes, I do have a strange obsession with taking photos of dead trees:
As I drove back towards town for lunch I caught this view as I was driving along a road at the top of a hill.
The restaurant I planned to go to was closed the day I was in town (that happens to me a lot). I was going to have REAL Ramen, not the $1 stuff college kids buy that is probably all salt. Instead, I went to the second place on my list and had a yummy bowl of Pho, along with two orders of spring rolls.
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