Blogs from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, North America

Victoria is Canada's second most romantic city. If you have more than three days in Vancouver then Victoria is absolutely worth a visit, but getting there requires about four hours of travel each way; if you can stay overnight in Victoria it will result in a much more relaxed and fulfilling trip but if you only have one day it can still be done. While both Victoria and Vancouver both have harbors the ferry between them is far outside of town on both sides, so you'll find yourself on four long bus rides or expensive (and only slightly shorter) taxi rides, in addition to two lovely ferry crossings between Tsawwassen (Vancouver) and Swartz Bay (Victoria). Book your ferry tickets in advance, especially if you will be bringing a car, and hope for clear skies so that ... read more

Sunday 7thMay 2023 SEATTLE We arrived in Seattle about 7.00am – very easy transfer, by taxi ($20.00 flat fee!!) to our hotel and we started exploring about 8.00am!! Of course, everything was shut, but we did manage to find our way to the Space Needle, which was about 10minute walk, and the Space Needle opened at 9.00am!! We weren’t quite their first customer but after a ‘different’ ride on a lift, on the OUTSIDE of the tower were treated to some wonderful views of Seattle and the Bay in glorious sunshine! Had a very short zoom meeting with Chris family from the top as well!! Looked at then revolving glass floor on the way down- Chris walked on it, I didn’t!! Wandered through the huge Park and then walked down to the waterfront and watch two ... read more

The tour started off by heading straight to Cathedral Grove, the lush, old-growth forest that is unique to Vancouver Island and known across the globe. Dan our heygo guide walked through the network of trails throughout the gathering of ancient trees—some over 800 years old! some of the giant Douglas Fir trees (the biggest measures 75 m (250 ft) in height and 9 m (29 ft) in circumference), he also walked inside the hollowed centre of a tree trunk burned at the centre from an decades old lightening strike! From there, the spectacular views of Little Qualicum Falls was very picturesque filled with waterfalls, rock cliffs and shaded trails. https://www.heygo.com/heydanking... read more

Le 20 août 2021, Il est déjà temps de quitter la jolie Victoria et notre condo-hôtel grand grand luxe. Snif... Nous faisons un dernier petit tour en ville , à la découverte du parc urbain de Beacon Hill. Quel bel endroit, fleuri à souhait, avec d'immenses arbres partout et un défilé de paons, de canards et d'oies qui se promènent sur les sentiers. L'endroit a énormément de cachet. Les filles se défoulent dans l'aire de jeux puis nous allons visiter la mini-ferme. Nous avons un coup de coeur familial pour les bébés chèvres. La matinée démarre très bien, mais un long chemin nous attend maintenant, direction Ucluelet et Tofino, sur la côte Pacifique, au beau milieu de l'île de Vancouver. Le GPS nous annonce un trajet de 290 km et de 4hrs15... Sérieusement? Nous avons de ... read more

A very pretty waterfront on a beautiful day in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Nanaimo was founded on coal mining in the early 1850s. The first permanent structure to be built in the town was the Bastion. It’s design is consistent with the initial fortifications constructed at the HBC trading posts throughout Canada. The first known recipe for Nanaimo bars was printed in the 1952 Women's Auxiliary of the Nanaimo Hospital Cookbook. Campbell River is on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the south end of Discovery Passage. Long before European explorers entered the waters surrounding Campbell River, the First Nations people had known for thousands of years that this was a special place, living in harmony with nature and the life cycles of the salmon. They occupied small villages scattered along the coast, and fished ... read more