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With a population of about 73,000, NANAIMO
, 113km from Victoria, is Vancouver Island's second biggest city,
the terminal for ferries from Horseshoe Bay and Tsawwassen on
the mainland, and a watershed between the island's populated southeastern
tip and its wilder, more sparsely peopled countryside to the north
and west. In BC, only Vancouver and Kelowna are expanding faster.
This said, the town is unexceptional, though the setting, as ever
in BC, is eye-catching - particularly around the harbour, which
bobs with yachts and rusty fishing boats and, if you've come from
Victoria, allows the first views across to the big mountains on
the mainland. If you are going to stop here, more than likely
it'll be for Petroglyph Park or the town's increasingly
famous bungee-jumping zone. If not, the Nanaimo Parkway
provides a 21-kilometre bypass around the town.
Coal first brought white settlers to the region,
many of whom made their fortunes here, including the Victorian
magnate Robert Dunsmuir , who was given ?750,000
and almost half the island in return for building the Victoria-Nanaimo
railway - an indication of the benefits that could accrue from
the British government to those with the pioneering spirit. Five
bands of Salish natives originally lived on the site, which they
called Sney-ne-mous , or "meeting place",
from which the present name derives. It was they who innocently
showed the local black rock to Hudson's Bay agents in 1852. The
old mines are now closed, and the town's pockets are padded today
by forestry, deep-sea fishing, tourism and - most notably - by
six deep-water docks and a booming port.
