Day 1: On July 29th Graham, Sarah, Courtney, and I headed up to beautiful Gold River to meet with Village Staff and complete an initial parks inventory for the Gold River Parks and Trails Master Plan. It was a gorgeous day that gave us high spirits and led to an amazing day in the sun while we collected park amenities data. We visited Nimpkish Park in central Gold River, which is a beautiful park with a fairly new splash park that some families where enjoying. One of our tasks was to set up comment boxes, that look like little bird boxes, asking the community what they would like to see in their parks. Almost as soon as we put the first one up, some locals came over and filled out comment cards. Hopefully we get some great feedback! Once we finished at Nimpkish, we headed over to the magnificent Peppercorn Park. This park gives access to stunning old growth forests and swimming beaches along the Gold River. A few locals were enjoying the weather and the beach while we inventoried the park and set up the comment boxes. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to enjoy the wonderful swimming opportunities. That evening we camped at the lovely Municipal campground just a few minutes south of town. Luckily campfires were still allowed and we enjoyed some smokies for dinner!
Day 2: Unluckily it rained overnight, but had slowed down by the time we awoke in the morning. Despite the weather, we were determined to complete our inventory of Gold River’s parks. After a delightful breakfast at the Clayworks Café, we headed to the sports field and the pocket parks to complete the parks inventory and setting up the comment boxes. Although Tuesday wasn’t as nice as Monday, the rain stayed at bay and we managed to stay dry. After finishing the inventory we headed to the Municipal Office to have a meeting with Village Staff. After that it was back to Nanaimo. It was a short but productive trip to Gold River. Next time we will be in town we will be hosting a community BBQ and asking community members to give us feedback on their parks and trails. I cannot wait to go back to beautiful Gold River!