Next week there is to be a gathering of newcomers to Nanaimo at Bowen Park, and I am thinking of attending. Since I don’t know either this group of people or the park, I thought it wise to check out the location prior to trying to find it on the day of the meeting. It turned out to be easy to find with the help of Google Maps and it is not far from where I live.

Bowen Park covers 36 hectares close to the city centre. When I arrived I found a huge parking lot near a picnic area, tennis courts, a horseshoe pit, and a children’s playground. Even though I felt a little insecure about walking alone on unfamiliar trails, I set out to have a short wander through the nearby trees.

The path took me alongside the Millstone River and I was delighted to hear the sound of the water trickling over rocks on its way to the sea. Walking along a winding path among tall trees was also a pleasure, but that was mixed with my anxiety about not knowing where I was going since I didn’t have a map.

My walk in the park today was short, but I will go back another time, now that I have downloaded a map of the trails. I have since discovered that if I had gone just a little further I would have found a duck pond, a waterfall, and a fish ladder. Also, somewhere in there, is a rhododendron grove with 350 different species. They will probably not be in bloom now, but next year I will make it a ‘must see’.

I was surprised to see today that some of the leaves were falling from the deciduous trees, and I thought it to be early in the year for that. Not nearly so early as the Hallowe’en decorations that just went up in the hardware store, but early nonetheless.

Bowen Park is a very pretty park and easy to get to. I will definitely be back.