The museum itself can boast that the Queen Mother laid the foundation stone in 1966 for the present building. And if you don't want to travel all the way to the UK to take a chance on seeing the Queen, she and Prince Philip are visiting British Columbia from Oct. 4-8.

The Gorge Waterway and its history is on offer with a tour from the Gorge Rowing and Paddling Centre (Jutland Road). The tour is from a dragon boat (be prepared to help paddle it), thus allowing plenty of time to enjoy the water and hear the stories from the well qualified guide, author Dennis Minaker who wrote a book on the Gorge's history. At one time Chinese concubines lived in huts along the waterway. These tours are popular and sell out so need to be prebooked. The 90-minute tours run from June through mid September and cost $10 per person. Children under 9 are excluded. Phone 380-4669 to book.

Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours is marking the International Year of Ecotourism by offering a new tour, the "Mt. Arrowsmith Sunset EcoTour" to begin in June 2002. This Mt. Arrowsmith trip enables people of all ages to experience viewscapes and sunsets from Mt Arrowsmith without doing any hiking. The trip departs from Parksville, travelling first to Cathedral Grove where it stops for an Interpretive Forest walk, then continues over the Port Alberni summit on to logging roads through working forests up the mountain for panoramic views of the East and West Coast Mountains. Eco tours have an educational focus and the 4-hour excursion includes refreshments and a gourmet West Coast snack.

Owner-Operator guides are Gary Murdock, retired from 35 years with the B.C. Forest Service and partner Ronda Murdock, whose areas of expertise include First Nation's culture, local history, and birding. Both are members of the Arrowsmith Naturalists.

Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours Inc.
207 Stanford Ave. E.
Parksville, B.C. V9P 1M4
Gary & Ronda Murdock
Ph: 250-248-3667

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