Originally set up as a coal transport town, in recent years it's industry has been log sorting and lumber. The town has been around for over 100 years and much of it's downtown has been in use for all of those years with buildings maintained as originally built. Due to this fact, it has been used in 1900 period movies.
We found moorage at a marina that is run by the Ladysmith Maritime Historical Society. They have restored several old wood boats and offer tours of the harbor on a restored lifeboat. We took a harbor tour and we learned a lot from "Mr. Ladysmith" (Pamela Anderson of "BayWatch" fame was born and raised here). What a town booster! Ladysmith has about 7500 folks.
Lots of parks in town and improved trails along the waterfront and up in the hills above town. Repeat: Hills! The whole area is hanging on the edge of some pretty tall hills -- or short mountains.
Oh, did we mention there were hills in Ladysmith? We counted 115 stairs on our trek uptown. This did not include the very steep slopes of the streets uptown. We made several trips uptown. At least one up to the bakery known for it's cinnamon rolls. Yum. They had pina colada, peanut butter, blueberry, and glazed almond cinnamon rolls. And, no, we didn't have one of each.
Canada hasn't yet seen the need to treat their sewage in many waterfront communities (including Victoria). Same with Ladysmith. Ladysmith has a lot of oyster farming in the bay. But because of the tainted water, they gather the oysters then soak them in "good" water for two weeks before sellng them to the public.
Didn't like oysters anyhow!
Really enjoyed watching the cormorant rookery. We counted 24 nests with babies about 75% grown. The stick nests were pretty crowded. Mom had to hang out on the edge. Lots of "krauk" noises with the babies wanting to get fed. 