November 30, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Rossland, Festivals & Events
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We had a team in last year's Western Regional Pond Hockey Championships in Rossland, BC and are going back again this year. What a blast - 4 on 4 hockey with no goalies and 30 minute non-stop games. This is just like playing on the back yard rink or pond when we were kids. Rossland is a great place in the West Kootenay's of BC, everything is within walking distance and we even managed to ski some powder at Red Mountain.
November 26, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Naramata, Wineries & Vineyards
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A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting James Cluer of Fine Vintage Ltd. James is a Master of Wine and a brilliant instructor and story teller. He shared his passion and knowledge of wine with enthusiasm and I came away with a new appreciation and excitment to learn more. James has just released some fabulous new videos about some of BC's best wineries. Please check them out!
November 25, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Ucluelet, Beaches & Swimming
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Having spent a pleasant night in Ucluelet, and walking part of the Wild Pacific Trail, I was taken to the beaches of the Pacific Rim with the aim of creating some 360 panoramas of beautiful scenery. And beautiful scenery is not hard to come by out here, days could be spent soaking in the calming atmosphere and watching the ever-changing light.
One of my beaches was Long Beach, the longest beach in Pacific Rim National Reserve. The tide was out leaving a rippling effect in the sand, somewhat reflected by the cloud formations at the time. Backed by forest and lined by drift wood of the kind I have only seen in BC (more like drift trees), miles of sand faced a rolling sea. The panorama shown here really sums it up much better than words.
Pacific Rim scenery is always evocative, and I'd love to come back and take more pictures. Panoramic Earth has more of the Pacific Rim panoramas taken on the trip, which are linked to an interactive map. I can think of no better way to remember my last trip and dream about the next one!
November 23, 2009 | Tips from Us >
Whistler, Skiing & Snowboarding
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Having considered a weekend getaway milling about Seattle or relaxing on Galiano Island, learning that
Whistler has now completed it's annual metamorphasis into a winter wonderland sealed the deal.
Snow
is calming. Snow slows one down. Snow makes regular dirty old things
appear pristine and pretty. Whistler is built for nice times in the
snow. And that is what we had. Take this
shot of Alta Lake as evidence. Beat that Seattle!
I
was so happy to have found a quality, non-pretenious, non-chain and
visa-light tapas restaurant. So delighted I'm not telling you it's
name - you can earn it by
exploring tapas haunts in Whistler online.
There are awesome overnight deals to be had in Whistler. We had a central studio with full kitchen for $89 at the
Whistler Inn & Suites
that I found on HelloBC.com. With about 2 feet of snow having
collected at Village level, the mountain is well and truely ready to be
conquered by
ski or board.
If
you go, make sure you take a walk around Lost Lake where you can spot
cute lake otters appearing out of the ice to hang out and eat their
freshly caught fish.
November 23, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Fernie, Skiing & Snowboarding
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We went ski touring at Fernie Alpine Resort on November 20th 2009 and found deep, deep snow! Perfect for powder seekers like us. Fernie Alpine Resort, located in Southeastern British Columbia, is perfect place to not only enjoy an incredible powder day in resort but also has abundant side-country to enjoy!
Side-country is backcountry style skiing inside the Resort boundary so you still have the safety of Ski Patrollers doing control work and providing safety services. We found over 4 feet of snow at the top of the White Pass Chairlift on the ridge above Currie Bowl one of the 5 Alpine Bowls at Fernie Alpine Resort.
November 17, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Victoria, Dining
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On November 2nd, 2009 at noon my friends and I went out for lunch at Pescatores Seafood and Grill in order to experience a real west coast gastronomic meal. Having read numerous mixed reviews online yet hearing good things from locals, we were intrigued to find out the truth for ourselves.
Product - Upon calling and making the reservation I was automatically impressed by the professional and friendly manner in which my conversation was dealt with. The product that developed from the moment we arrived was stunning to say the least. The warm, inviting hues of dark mahogany and orange set the mood and raised the bar for all the culinary delights we were about to receive.
Place – My friends and I decided that in order to truly receive a west coast experience, we wanted to go a restaurant that utilized the local farmers, wineries, breweries, and fisheries. We reviewed their website and were awed by the amount of local products they claimed to promote through serving.
Story – Our server greeted us by bringing bread whilst we waited for the rest of our party to arrive. He was courteous, genuine, and most of all, knowledgeable. Being curious about the legitimacy of the websites claims of local product, we had many questions for our server. He was more than capable in expressing opinions on the dishes and wines offered by Pescatores and also made suggested pairings of our chosen dishes with some of their local wines. In the end we ended up consuming Kusshi, Effingham, Whaletown and Fanny Bay oysters.
Delivery - The presentation of the food was more than appealing and whetted our appetites even further. The poached Dungeness crab eggs Benedict were wonderful and laid out in a classic fashion with pan fries. The crepe Pescatores was larger than we were expecting and everyone in our party was able to try some! However the stars of the meal were the oysters! Having never eaten oysters, I was more than a little terrified to try them! But learning from the server’s recommendations and my other group members’ encouragement, I was able to “bite the bullet” so to speak. Let me tell you! There is nothing quite like a freshly shucked fanny bay oyster!
Take Home – My reflection upon our experience at Pescatores is one where I learned a great deal through and about the locality through the food I consumed. As only one member of our group is from British Columbia, albeit not Victoria, we were thrilled to discover a restaurant that was able to endorse sustainability, thus promoting the agricultural economies of the area, and still be a fine dining experience. We all came away with a wonderful last memory and would recommend it anyone wanting to try a variation on classics with some West Coast flair!
November 16, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Kelowna, Skiing & Snowboarding
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Wow is all I can say....what a great weekend. All fresh snow and fresh faces. It's hard to recognize friends from last year due to all the new suits. The voices & laughter are the same but all the gear is different. Couldn't have asked for better snow. Ran into Davey D today and he's my inspiration for this year...The Goal is simple Ski everyday and rip every run. I've skied a lot of places on this glorious earth of ours but I've yet to find anything as consistant as the mountains of BC. Specifically the interior of British Columbia and even more specifically, Big White Ski Resort. It really is named aptly when they called it Beautiful British Columbia! Now if only the cute girl from the UK would meet me for an icey cold bevvie, my world would be complete. I've been to about 17 "home" openers at Big White and I can honestly say that this one was the most incredible, fabulous, wonderful...did I say incredilbe yet? out of all of them...HANDS DOWN!
November 16, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Vancouver, Dining
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I was lucky enough to receive a hefty gift certificate to MARKET at Shangri-La, Vancouver’s newest (and tallest) hotel. I invited a few friends to join me for a mid-week fancy night out. If you’re thinking of going to MARKET, make your reservations early – the only time I could reserve that week was 8:30 pm on a Wednesday night.
The restaurant is split into a few different sections; we were seated in the “sophisticated fine-dining room.” The bar area was more casual and catered to the after-work suit crowd (they even had their laptop plugged in – I guess drinks and eats in a swanky bar is the norm for that crew).
Our table ordered a bit of everything to maximize our shot at the good life. All the dishes were delish, but there were a few stand-outs: butternut squash soup with mushrooms and chives; truffle mashed potatoes; and cheesecake with roasted figs and concorde grape sorbet.
The food was rich, we never felt rushed during dinner, and the presentation was creative. Merci, Jean-Georges!
November 16, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Big White Ski Resort, Skiing & Snowboarding
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Yesterday was my favourite day of the year, opening day at my mountain Big White Ski Resort. For me the anticpation is as big as kid’s on Christmas Eve. Lots of people up to join in the celebrations, I think the first riders in line at the Ridge Rocket were down there before 8am for the 8:45 opening, hard core!
Once the gates opened up and the first chair was loading there was a huge cheer from the crowd, really cool to feel the vibe of so many people as pumped to go skiing and riding as much as I was. It was pretty sweet as far as opening days go too. Blue bird skies, some fresh snow and the runs that were open were in great shape (nice job snow cat crew!). I saw quite a few people “exploring” some of the soft closures as well, naughty, naughty, no ducking rope lines. 
It won’t be long before we’re able to open up more of the mountain and there’s a bit of snow in the forecast for the beginning of the week so it could be sooner rather than later.
Anyway, if you made it up here for opening day I hope you had a blast. If you didn’t get up here that’s okay too because there’s 154 more awesome days of the season to come!
See you on the mountain
November 15, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Campbell River, Beaches & Swimming
There was so much to do on our last vacation we didn't know where to start! We had to choose from fishing off of the pier, boogie-boarding on one of the many sandy beaches, going on a nature hike on one of the many trails, going on a whale watching charter boat, rock climbing at the local rock climbing facility, AND swimming at various lakes and rivers.
We chose McIver lake just outside of Campbell River, heading up the highway towards Gold River. It's about a 6 minute drive, and on the right hand side of the highway. Once we arrived at our destination we soon realised how popular it was by the amount of vehicles parked at various locations lakeside.
We stopped and piled out with the kids running full tilt for the lake with me in the hottest persuit I could muster. I got within eyesight and stopped in my tracks. Now I am a North Island girl, and let me tell you, honestly, the sight of my kids splashing happily in the glorious heat of summer, well it's something I will not forget.
Campbell River has a lot to offer, check it out!