An orange taby cat appears from around the corner of the barn, triumphantly carrying a brown object in her mouth.  “Look kids,” I point, “I think she’s caught a mouse.”  My children sensing drama, race towards the her, taking the other onlookers with them.  “No Mom,” they shout, “It’s a bird, she’s caught a bird, and she’s playing with it.”

We are staanding in the barnyard of the Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, where these farmers, turned entrepreneurs, have opened up their barndoors allowing the public to get a behind the scenes look at how the cheese is made.    

With over 70 cows, Hosteins and Herefords, these bovine wonders produce the milk needed for the Swiss inspired cheeses.  Started in 1999 by Nancy and Clark Gourlay, along with their three sons, they wanted to recreate the cheese they had come to love while living in Switzerland.  The Gourley’s choose Vancouver Island for it’s cool, moist climate, which proved ideal for the ripening process.

While the kids and I enjoyed sampling the finished product, as well as some delicious local ice cream, the other farm animals prove to be the highlight of our visit. 

The open hen house shows hens laying eggs.  The stables have pigs, calves and goats, there is even a rabbit to play with.

If you want to see how cows are milked, plan to arrive around 4:30 p.m. when the “girls” come in from the pasture and are lead into their milking parlour.

Open from 9 to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, this is a fun and tasty activity for the whole family, and the best part - admission is free.

Directions:

Located between Parksville and Qualicum off the 19A highway, turn left at Wright Road onto Wembley Road, turn left again at Lowry’s Road and follow the signs. It is located directly across from the Morning Star Golf Course.

Cheers,

Julie

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 28th, 2007 at 11:00 am and is filed under Entertaining. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.