October 09, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Campbell River, Wildlife Tours
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We’re just back from an absolutely fantastic holiday in BC and can’t wait to go back! Having had the holiday of a lifetime we thought we'd share our top tips/experiences with you.
First for the big one.
Knight Inlet Lodge – the most amazing experience, such that I'd suggest rearranging your entire holiday if necessary to get this in! It’s a floating lodge up in the middle of nowhere (quite literally – access is via floatplane from Campbell River!) set in the most amazing unspoilt scenery.
Your days are packed, and I do mean packed (breakfast is at 6:30am, dinner at 7pm) full of various activities allowing you to see grizzly bears in their natural environment and at close quarters. We were there when the pink salmon run occurs – though this year numbers were incredibly low which was worrying. Having said that, it didn't spoil it as we still managed to see lots of bears.
Bear watching via boat, from watching platforms, from kayaks (a must-do even if you’ve never kayaked before), oh and some bear tracking action too. It really is incredible, there’s no other way to describe it.
The staff at Knight Inlet are seriously fantastic, so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about bears and conservation it makes the entire experience unforgettable. If you can, maybe keep it near the end of your trip as you’ll be exhausted – if in the nicest possible way – at the end of it.I wish I could go back!
And a few other little tips...
If you're in
Vancouver and it’s a nice day, hire bikes and cycle the sea wall round
Stanley Park. It's a totally different perspective on city life and there are some great views on the way round and plenty of nice spots to sit and have a picnic. When it comes to restaurants, try the restaurant at the
Century Plaza Hotel, we really rated it (the hotel is super nice and brilliantly positioned too). They also have a huge wine list…
If you're heading to
Victoria, we’d highly recommend the
Inn at Laurel Point – fantastic position for the views, super quiet and very swanky. Definitely one of our favourites. If you’re going whale watching, try
Great Pacific whale watching tours – our guide was incredibly passionate and knowledgeable and we had great success – saw countless orcas (two pods met the day we were there which is unheard of apparently), grey whales and humpbacks. Not bad!
Whistler – if you do one thing make it
zip-trek, in other words flying through the trees on a zip wire. It’s seriously good fun – even in the pouring rain – and a great way to see the rainforest and valley from all sorts of angles (even upside down!). And if you haven't considered it, look into getting the
Rocky Mountaineer back down to Vancouver – I'm not a big train person but I absolutely loved it. The scenery is breathtaking.
November 02, 2008 | Tips from Travellers >
Campbell River, Wildlife Tours
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If you have ever been lucky enough to head out to Sonora Island off Vancouver Island then I am sure you can attest to this. We had the most incredible time, 3 days of pure luxury and pampering but with a whole lot of fun and adventure as well!
The most amazing thing about this place is that we got to experience all these luxuries (such as sitting in the hot tub with a glass of champagne) but less than 1 hour before I was cruising around in a zodiac boat, chilly wind ripping through my hair, spiralling out of whirpools (Sonora Resort is located next to rapids that are North America's 5th largest so there is exterme tidal movements) with more than 200 bald eagles swooping down to catch their dinner - it was amazing! The fish get pushed to the surface with the tides and whirlpools and their float bladders fill, meaning they can't get back down, so it is some easy picking for thos beautiful big bald eagles. After I didn't think my eyes could pop any more (or my camera capture any more photos!) we met up with and cruised alongside a pod of porpises and had a few friendly harbour seals pop their heads up to say hello as well - truly incredible stuff! After this (and a half hour back in the hot tub) it was back to the Lodge to sit down for a French inspired degustation menu - Yum!
September 21, 2005 | Tips from Us >
Campbell River, Wildlife Tours
Find more information about Campbell River - Wildlife Tours
Today is the official last day of summer. Sigh. But, it has been a busy, and as usual, adventurous few months and I wanted to share with you my top destination of the summer.
I had never even heard of
Mitlenatch Island until the day before I left to visit it. I was told by a local boater that it was like the Galapagos of the North. I’m not sure why but pictures of penguins and sea turtles came into mind – two things you don’t find in waters 30 minutes off the coast of
Campbell River.
Mitlenatch means ‘calm water all around’ in the Coast Salish language. But the island was anything but calm. The noise from the birdlife was like a chaotic musical symphony. Gulls squawked, cormorants cawed and there were hee-ha and whee sounds coming up from guillemots, oystercatchers, auklets and other species of birds too numerous to count. We did count seven bald eagles including 3 hatchlings. It was early summer and the tiny island was filled with newly born baby birds.
As we toured to the other side of the rock the relentless roar and barking of the migrating sea lions joined in the chorus. I had never seen this many large lions on such a small space before. Needless to say they were all jockeying for position, with many getting pushed back into the crashing waves.
Once on shore (just a little beyond the basking seals) we climbed over sun-bleached driftwood and were met with the park keepers. BC Parks has a program where volunteers can stay on the island for a week in exchange for maintaining trails and ensuring visitors don’t encroach on protected areas.
The island is very small but we were able to climb up to the peak to peer down to study the roosting birds from behind a lean-to. Then we meandered through a meadow filled with vibrant wildflowers with intriguing names like seablush, chocolate lilies, death camas, gum