Take a Tour on the Water Side
May 18, 2007: For Immediate Release, Nanaimo, BC:
They are affectionately referred to as "pickle" boats, and for the last 17 years they have been happily ferrying people around Victoria's Inner Harbour.
Starting this summer, however, these cute little green and yellow passenger ferries will be all the rage in the Harbour City as they transport people to and from Newcastle Island as well as offering fun and informative maritime tours along Nanaimo's eclectic waterfront.
While the Newcastle Island run will leave from the dock at Maffeo Sutton Park, an extended 45-minute tour will set sail from the Fisherman's Wharf in the Boat Basin. From there, passengers of all ages will not only be transported back in time to the city's wild west beginnings, but will marvel at the comings and goings of an active, modern day working harbour.
Starting with the 154 year old Nanaimo Bastion, considered the most endearing symbol of the city and British Columbia's second oldest building, passengers aboard the Nanaimo Harbour Ferry will learn how First Nations people lived before Europeans settled here, and how the community came into its own with the discovery of coal. The seawall, the Old Malaspina Hotel with it's lost murals, the stunning Maffeo Sutton Park, Swy-a-lana Lagoon and even the statue of Nanaimo's most colourful former mayor, Frank Ney, are all highlights of the beginning of the tour.
Leaving the dock at Maffeo Sutton Park, the famous "pickle" boats head for Newcastle Island, named after the English town of Newcastle-on-the-Tyne. Now a provincial marine park accessible only by water, Newcastle is brimming over with history and stories of both hardship and good times.
Coast Salish native villages, coal mines, sandstone quarries, Japanese herring salteries and floating hotels all played a part in Newcastle's incredible history, but when you land on the island today, only remnants of this colourful past are evident. Today it is a tranquil, yet extraordinary island paradise with an abundance of wildlife and other natural treasures for the whole family to enjoy.
Besides Newcastle Island, passengers on the tour will also hear about Protection Island complete with Canada's only floating pub, the Dinghy Dock, and they'll learn about Cameron Island (which is really not an island anymore), as well as Nanaimo's deep sea port and the role it plays in making Nanaimo the hub city that it is today.
At any time during this exciting tour of Nanaimo's marvelous harbour, there's a very good chance of spotting marine animals such as seals, sea lions, bald eagles, herons or maybe even a river otter. And throughout the day, float planes and marine vessels offer up all kinds of exciting distractions.
Owned and operated by the Victoria Harbour Ferry Company, Nanaimo will have a small fleet of three "pickle boats" this summer just to get things rolling. Aptly named the Nanaimo Harbour Ferry Company, passengers can either take the 10-minute ride over to Newcastle, which leaves every 20 minutes from Maffeo Sutton, or sit back and relax as a friendly ferry skipper recounts the life and times of Nanaimo's active and robust harbour during the 45-minute tour.
For more information, call 1-877-297-8526 or visit www.nanaimoharbourferry.com.
-30-
Media contact: Marie Zirk
Concrete Communications
cel: 250 818-4755
marie@mariezirk.com
|
