This was our first visit to this marine park and it was a great surprise! This park is absolutely beautifu; with great hiking trails, nice beaches, great docks and a wonderful views of Nanaimo!
Newcastle Island was a summer campsite for early First Nations people; then European Settlement saw white settlement which included a shipyard, coal mining, sandstone quarries which supplied the sandstone which built the San Francisco Mint. These quarries then produced giant pulp stones which were used in North American pulp production!
Japanese Fishermen also used the Island for salting Herring and in 1931 the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company purchased the island and operated it as a pleasure resort; building a dance pavilion and bringing vacationers for day trips from Vancouver on their Princess Steamships.
We really, really enjoyed this stop! Ted & Terry, SV Ciao Bella, also docked at Newcastle as Silva Bay was full for the May Long Weekend. They decided to extend their stay here as it was so nice, and there were festivities planned as well as fireworks on Sunday night!
Entrance from public dock to Newcastle Island Park
Lots of First Nations History!
The Marine Park Docks; great place to catch Rock Crab right off the dock!
These are nests for Purple Martins; which are being reintroduced to the region!
Purple Martin Recovery Program
Two Totem Poles are on the grounds of Newcastle Island.The small one belongs to Craig!
This is the cutting bore drill which cut the Pulp Stones!
The history of the stones! Sort of sounds like Harry Potter Film.....
These are the bore holes!
These are some of the cast off stones which are approx. 48" in Diameter
View of Nanaimo Harbour from one of the hiking trails!
We saw a lot of wildlife; including a large population of Canada Geese & Goslings
On one of our walks we saw three white tailed deer!
There is reported to be a population of Albino Racoons who inhabit the Island.This guy must have been the black sheep of the family!
Large numbers of Heron feed on the tidal pools and beaches at low tide!They have wing spans of approx. 6 feet!
Kayak rental returning and restocking from Nanaimo!Newcastle Island is very popular and there are passenger ferries which run constantly.
A nice place for Kayakers to stop.There are numerous campsites on the Island as well as large picnic gathering areas!
Kozad on the dock at dusk with a gorgeous view of Nanaimo!We thoroughly enjoyed our very brief visit to Newcastle Island. It was an unplanned stop due to the weather, so we have the winds to thank for introducing us to this beautiful spot! We are planning on returning here when we cruise North from Cowichan Bay to Comox!
1 comment:
Great photos, looks like you are having a lot of fun.
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