kids activities on Vancouver island
 

Hello <BR>I'm called Ewan.I am 11 and I am writing this with my mum.<BR>Do you know any childrens activities round about the Victoria part of Vancover Island that I will enjoy. I am visiting for three weeks in the summer with my two annoying sisters.

Ewan,<BR>Definitely go to see the Royal BC Museum in Victoria where you can walk through a replica Bighouse, an old west town, old growth forest, etc. The Dragon Bones Exhibit is on until mid September. Kitty corner across the street you can take a little harbour ferry. You may see a seal or two. A bug zoo and Miniature World are nearby. Walk though Fan Tan Alley in Chinatown. Visit Beacon Hill Park. Maybe your parent(s) will take you on the scenic waterfront drive and to the top of Mount Doug where you can walk up to the viewpoint. <BR><BR>Some other suggestions:<BR>From Sidney take the ferry to Sidney Spit and have a picnic on the sandy beach or walk the loop trail through the woods. In Sidney you can buy polished stones at The Scratch Patch. Also on the peninsula is Butterfly World. If you are interested in astronomy, visit the observatory on Little Saanich Mountain. Smaller telescopes are set up in the parking lot on some nights.<BR><BR>Heading up the island, stop in at the nature house at Goldstream Park. Depending on how far you want to travel, you could also go to see the murals in Chemainus or maybe the goats on the roof at the store in Coombs. <BR><BR>If they still have them, the nature cruises from Nanaimo around Gabriola Island could be interesting. There is a fantasyland sort of minigolf place in Parksville. If possible spend some time at wild and beautiful Long Beach near Tofino.<BR><BR>Is there anything in particular that you would like to see?

Hi Ewan<BR>You will have so much fun in Victoria, even if you do have to go with your sisters. These are some fun places that we go to in Victoria with our family. The Canada Games swimming pool has a wave pool and indoor waterslide. Go during public swim hours. If you like tropical birds, monkeys and butterflies visit Crystal Garden. It is a cool place. check out www.bcpcc.com/crystal/<BR>The Imax Theatre at the Museum has some great shows so check that out.<BR>If you like so see the tidal pools at the ocean go to French Beach Provincial park. (we go to the picnic day use area) When the tide is out there are lots of tidal pools to explore. We see lots of starfish there<BR>Have a great time there

Hi, Ewan - will your family be driving up Vancouver Island at all? Because I know of a couple of interesting things a couple of hours north of Victoria, in a town called Coombs. There is what they call a Butterfly Garden there (there's also one in Saanich, in the Victoria area, that's almost as good) which is like a big plastic greenhouse with tropical butterflies flying around. You can watch them hatch out of cocoons, and then they fly around. Some of them even land on you. They're beautifully coloured and you can learn a lot about butterflies there. They also have a few talking parrots. There's also a store in Coombs that I didn't even know about until I read about it here, but it's a general store that has goats up on the roof. I'm going to go and see it for the first time this summer.

Thank you for the letters they were brilliant. April, I would like to go to the museum to learn about Canadian history and could you tell me a good chinese restaurant. My little sister keeps telling me to put this on the letter. She wants to go bodyboarding in the sea. Thanks,Ewan

Hi Ewan,<BR>Unfortunately I know nothing about Chinese restaurants, let alone the best ones. Restaurants on the island are generally not nearly as good as those in Vancouver. Likewise I have no experience with bodyboarding. It sounds like something that might be done in the Tofino/Long Beach area (about a 5 hour drive from Victoria), but I don't know for sure. Maybe someone else can can help.

Hi Ewan, I've lived in Victoria for many years and i know lots of fun stuff to do. April has a pretty good list but here are some other suggestions if you want: if you are coming in the summer are you coming around Canada Day? That is always a really fun time in Victoria as there are all kinds of festivals downtown and everyone in the city comes out to have fun by the harbour. If you like the beach you could try going to Island View Beach or if you are REALLY adventurous there are very secluded beaches called China Beach or (my favourite) Sombrio Beach, your parents might like these beaches, if only for the day or an overnight they are about 90 mins out of Downtown Victoria. Of course there are many lovely beaches in Victoria like Willows Beach.<BR>I would also suggest visiting Beacon Hill in the summer as there are always fun things to do, like a petting zoo and always interesting people to watch - magicians, fire tossers, kite flyers and even kyte-boarders down by the Beacon Hill Bluffs!<BR>For Chinese Restaurants: I personally love chinese food but there aren't too many good places in Victoria for Chinese but Japanese food is VERY popular in Victoria and it is much the same as Chinese. Every block of downtown has its own small Japanese restaurant and everyone in Victoira has their own favourite one.<BR>Hope this helps a little,<BR>-=b=-