The first major project we got after moving off Vancouver Island and completing the new shop was back on Vancouver Island. Our new client had played on Giggle Ridge and wanted a similar course on their resort property in Parksville. We designed a mini-golf for the beautiful setting and over the next months built it for them. All of the major features were fabricated in the new shop and then transported to the island. This would be the last time we provided a turnkey golf rather than just the features. That meant we also hauled our travel trailer to the site so I could oversee the onsite construction. Members of our crew stayed in local hotels. Our client loved the result so much that we were invited back the following year to add a second eighteen-hole course to Riptide Lagoon and the third year to add some more signs and features for the bumper cars.
Trip down memory lane
I’m back tonight after a quick two day drive up to Campbell River on Vancouver Island. Just for giggles I did the trip in the Jeep with no top. The weather was perfect. I opted to drive the old Island Highway so I could drive nice and slow and enjoy the ocean views and take a journey down memory lane as I drove this road many times when we lived on Vancouver Island more than twenty years ago. This route sure beats the fast way up the inland freeway! Taking the old route put me through all of the tourist spots. One such place, Parksville, is the location of Riptide Lagoon Adventure Park which we had a hand in designing and building quite a number of years ago. The two golf courses and all it’s features look pretty good!
Sub standard
As Peter and I were going through the thousands of posts and creating tags we noticed certain trends in the features we had built through the years. Ships, trains, planes and hot air balloons were numerous. We’ve fabricated more than a few flying saucers and alien craft. Cars and trucks were most likely the most frequent type of feature we had built. As we looked back we were surprised to count fourteen submarines in our collection of features. We couldn’t find pictures of some of the earliest ones as it was pre-digital in those days and I didn't take a lot of pictures back then. This submarine, built for Riptide Lagoon in Parksville, was most like a real submersible. Many of the rest were closer to mechanical fish.
