Disillusioned At Sandbanks

It took us about an hour and forty five minutes to drive from Darlington Provincial Park to Sandbanks Provincial Park. We were almost there when we got to a cross road with signs pointing one way for the East Gate and another way for the West Gate of the park.  We really hadn't done our research on this before hand and so we were not sure which gate to go to. We took a wild guess and basically followed Googles suggestion and decided to head to the East Gate. 

Turns out we guessed right and the East Gate was the correct one for us. Later on we figured out that the West Gate was the entrance to where the RV camping is. Although, I suppose they may let you in at any gate because all the roads eventually joins up together no matter what part of the park you are in. But that is only a guess on my part. 

We were not expecting the park to be so busy. There was literally a line up to get to the gate house.

There are actually two lanes when you enter the park. The one that we were in where you lined up to register, and another lane that was for those who had already registered. That way they could just go on through to their campsite without having to wait in line behind everyone else. Naturally that lane was pretty empty. 

We waited for about 15 minutes before it was finally our turn at the gatehouse.  Not too bad considering how many cars had been in front of us.  Since we had a reservation, it didn't take us long to get registered. 

Our site was in the Richardson campground on site 410. 

You are only allowed to park one car per campsite and any others had to be parked in the visitor parking. This seemed a little ridiculous because the sites were so big and open that there was room for probably 4 or 5 cars on each site. 

All the sites were huge, but we were very disappointed to find that there was an extreme lack of privacy on almost all of them. It was like one big open area with everyone's site joined together. It was hard to tell where yours began or ended. Standing in our site and looking out I could see at least 4 or 5 sites away with nothing blocking my view at all. It felt more like a picnic ground than a campground. It was a complete let down. . 

We tried as best we could to set up our tents in such a way as to afford us as much privacy as we could get. It wasn't the greatest.  Sound travels easily in such an open area and we could hear every little thing. At least we were on an end site, so we did have a few trees to our left. But behind us and to our right there was nothing. 

Since we were using our tents as walls it meant that we had our dining tent a little closer to the fire pit than we would have liked and the door facing in a different direction than we wanted. We put a tarp up over the back door of the dining tent to give us a bit more privacy.  

The site with the most privacy was across the road on site 107. That would be the one I would choose if I were to come back again and camp in the Richardson section. It had trees almost all the way around it. Right now though, it was currently occupied by a group of young, and very loud group of couples. Probably about 6 in all. They were blaring their music and swearing and had no consideration for neighbouring campers. I thought to myself that this was looking like it was going to be an unpleasant stay. I was wondering if perhaps Cedar campground or Outlet campground would have been the better choice of campgrounds in this park. 

At least there were some pretty Purple Flowered Raspberries near by to make things a bit more cheerful looking. 

It was very hot and we were sweating profusely. So, we decided it would be a good idea to go take a shower. To our surprise and dismay we discovered that there were no showers or comfort stations in the Richardson campground. Every other section of the park had one except our section. This meant that we had to get into the car and drive to the West Gate to use the showers there. Actually, you had to drive to get to just about anywhere in the park. 

The showers were at the top of a hill that over looked the RV and trailer section of the park. From where we were, we could see that those campers didn't have much privacy either. It was like a wide open field here too. 

There were only 5 parking spaces at the showers and 2 of those were for wheel chair access parking.  We were lucky that we came when it wasn't busy and we were able to get a parking spot. But one guy who came after us had to park on the side of the road. 

The showers were ok, but they could have been cleaner. 

The water was warm but you can't control the temperature. 

As I waited for Carsten and Penny, I admired the purple Vetch that was growing in abundance along the side of the road. 

I was also impressed by the charging station for electric cars that was right beside the showers. 

Looks like it is free for now, but won't be forever. I don't have an electric car but I am sure that by the time I ever do get one, it won't be free anymore. 

The comfort station was in better condition than the showers. It was clean and well maintained. 

After our showers we drove to the park store. We could tell by the sign that said "Full Hot Breakfast" that this was not your average provincial park store. 

This park store had a full on café and grill inside. It also had a patio on the outside. 

We climbed the steps and went in through the big double doors. When you walk in the store is on your left and the café and grill are on your right. 

We began at the store. It had things you would never see in a regular park store, such as freezer mugs, pancakes, and angus burgers. 

There were books and T-shirts and a multitude of other toys and souvenirs. We spent quite a bit of time in there looking around at everything. We picked out a couple of fun items and headed over to the check out.  The young gentleman at the cash register was super friendly and had a wealth of information to share with us about this park a well as two other day parks we were considering visiting; North Beach Provincial Park and Lake On The Mountain Provincial Park.  He told us that Lake On The Mountain had spectacular views but the North Beach had  fabulous beaches. He explained that North Beach was unusual in that on one side there were big waves and you had to watch out for under currents but on the other side, the water was calm and safer to swim. This really piqued our interest. 

​We thanked the cashier and then headed over to the café and grill to buy ourselves some dinner.   

You placed your order at the counter and then you went around the corner to the tables to wait until they brought the food out to you. The food was good and we enjoyed the meal. 

There didn't seem to be any washrooms inside the café and grill but there were some directly across the road. The building looked like a mini comfort station from the outside and I was expecting to open the door and find multiple stalls inside. Instead there was only one toilet behind each door. This meant that there was a bit of a line up outside the bathrooms. We were there near the end of the day when it wasn't all that busy. I can just imagine the line ups during the height of the day in the heat of the summer.   

There may have been a lot of wasted space but it did mean that the bathrooms were large inside. They were relatively clean for the most part. 

After dinner we decided to go check out Outlet Beach. It was getting little late in the evening and we didn't have bathing suits for swimming, but we just wanted to go see it.  This beach is supposed to be renowned for its wonderful sandy shores. 

You could tell that the beach was very big. You could drive a long ways down the road and get to a number of entrances to it. 

We were at the beginning of it, at parking lot number one. The parking lot was huge and could accommodate a large number of vehicles. That was just the first parking lot. Looking down the road, off in the distance, you could see other signs for other parking lots; each one an entrance to the beach.  This place had to be hopping when it was in full swing. 

We followed a blue mat that was laid out over the sand that allowed for wheel chairs to have access to the beach. 

After passing some dunes the path opened up onto the beach. The mat turned from a blue one to a brown one and it headed in the direction of the water. 

However, the mats all of a sudden stopped short. They didn't go all the way down to the water. In fact, they stopped quite a distance away from the water. It left me wondering how anyone in a wheel chair could ever get down to the water. It has to be frustrating for someone to be able to get that close only to be hindered at getting any further. I am unfamiliar with the process so perhaps I am missing something here. 

I must admit, the beach certainly did live up to the name of the park. The sandy banks and shores were absolutely lovely. It did not disappoint.  It was clean and inviting and it seemed like it went on and on forever. I can see why this would be a very popular beach. 

It was interesting to look down and see that much of the sand was made up of shells; both whole and crushed. 

The gulls were waiting quietly near by, hoping that someone would either drop some food or throw them some. 

 Behind us were some sand dunes that were roped off. 

A sign in front asked that you stay off the dunes because they would easily erode if they were walked on. 

​We stayed on the beach for a bit but eventually decided it was time to head back to camp. We said good bye to the sea gulls and made our way back to the car.

When we got back, we settled into the dining tent to play some board games for a few hours. A Rustic Borer beetle joined us for awhile on the screen of the tent. 

The noisy neighbours that I had worried about turned out to not be a problem after all. They became quiet by 10 pm and we were able to enjoy the evening. 

When it was time to get ready for bed, we headed over to the bathroom to brush our teeth and wash up. We had not used the bathrooms in our campground yet because we had been in other parts of the park all day. So it was to our surprise and dismay that we found out there was no sink or running water at the bathrooms at all. You couldn't even wash your hands there.  We didn't know where the water pump was and it was too dark to go looking at this point. So, we ended up having to use a bottle of water to wash up and brush our teeth with instead.  It's a good thing this park has a wonderful beach, because the campgrounds themselves are terribly lacking. 

As we drifted off to sleep I could hear a loon really, really faintly off in the distance. It reminded me that despite the park not being all I had hoped it would be, at least I was out of the city and under the stars.