Flying Fish - A Feast for the Senses!
Recently, we met a new friend in an unusual way - a way that came about from an equally unusual request.
We were near the end of our sit in Coal Harbour, not far from Port Hardy in the far north of Vancouver Island, when we had a message from our friend, Ross, for whom we are doing a sit early in the New Year - down in Nanoose Bay. We have not yet had the pleasure of meeting with Ross (nor Rory) in person, but we have seen and chatted with them over WhatsApp.
Ross mentioned that he had friends who had a cube van sitting at the dock in Port Hardy and wondered if we would be willing to drive it down to Parksville when we were due to travel to the area to the condo we had booked for a month. We speedily agreed, and Ross gave us their contact info.
After chatting with Glen, the owner of the van, we settled the date and time of delivery and then had the good fortune to meet him to hand over the van. It transpired that he and Casey knew two of our friends whom we had known for nearly 30 years. Brian and Carl moved from Southern Ontario 17 years ago, and settled in Parksville, not far from where we are staying. We met with them the last time we were on the Island, two years ago, and are going to spend time with them over the next week or so.
Back to the cube van! It is colourfully decorated and advertises their retail business called, Flying Fish, based in Nanaimo, on the Island.
At first, we thought it was an online business only, but we found out that the main store is downtown, in Nanaimo. So, although there is a website for ordering online, we wanted to see the actual physical store. Glen founded the business back in 2005, and it has become a prime venue for home furnishings and kitchenware on the Island - and this kind of store is right up our street - so to speak! We gravitate to these types of stores whenever we see them!
We were delighted to find the store situated on the corner of one of the main streets, and were thrilled to see rainbow crossings connecting the four corners of the intersection.
The slogan for Flying Fish is, Cooking, Living, & Giving, and - as the slogan suggests, one can obtain a variety of kitchenware, furnishing for the rest of the home, or select from a huge array of gifts. It certainly lives up to its catchphrase.
So, the morning after we arrived in Parksville, we took the 20 minute journey to visit the store. We knew it was going to be wonderful, but we were totally surprised that it was decked out for Christmas - which made me a very excited camper! There was so much to take in, and we spent a good time browsing through all that was on display, enjoying the ambience and the friendliness of the staff.
We ended up purchasing a couple of items for ourselves, and picked up some great ideas for gifts for some of our friends.
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| It's a Wonderful Life is one of our favourite movies, and perfectly describes our journey in life; the cardinal was Mark's mom's favourite bird - and now we have this tree decoration in memory of the wonderful person she was. |
Apologies, in advance, for the sheer number of photographs posted on this blog, but it was difficult to exclude anything without losing some of the atmosphere and character of the venue that we personally experienced. Here is some of the 'regular' merchandise available...
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| We loved this unique wine-bottle holder! |
...and what made my heart sing... the Christmas stuff!
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| A well-deserved accolade! |
We were really glad that we made the effort to visit this store - and, if you are in the area, you will be glad that you stopped by.
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| The store is open 7 days a week, from 10:30 - 5:30 |
UPDATE: We have now met Ross and Rory, in person, at a dinner party at the home of Glen and Casey who kindly invited us to their home. New friendships... new beginnings... new memories in the making!
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