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July 20, 2009 | Tips from Us > Vancouver, Sightseeing Tours Vancouver, Sightseeing Tours
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A group of us went on a Vancouver City Tour with a new tour company called Vancouver's Ultimate Tour and it was a blast. Essentially it is a regular city tour taking visitors to all the typical highlights - Canada Place, Stanley Park and the Totem Poles, Robson Street, Granville Island, Chinatown and Gastown - all it about 3.5 hours. What sets this tour apart from the other excellent tour product in the city are 2 things - 1) The company is in partnership with Vancouver Theatresports so the guide is in the character of "Canadiana Joe" the whole time and is hilarious, making people feel very at ease and providing a very comical approach to touring the City and 2) Visitors get to hop on one of those little aqua ferries to get from Stanley Park to Granville Island and then from Granville Island to Science World where the bus meets up with the group - this routing allows visitors to spend some time on the waters of False Creeks and affords an excellent perspective on the city from the water. We also got to see the Olympic Village. We also stopped at Dr. Sun Yat Sen (public) Park in Chinatown on the way back (not to be confused with the superior 'attraction' side of the park which one has to pay for). I would highly recommend this tour for families with kids.
July 17, 2009 | Tips from Us > Vancouver, Aquariums
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I checked out the new 4D Theatre at the
Vancouver Aquarium last week and was very impressed, not only with the technology but with the film content. I really didn't know what 4D was until I was seated in 122 seat theatre - its like a 3D film with the added benefit of a wide variety of special effects including bubbles, wind, water and some others (I wouldn't want to give it all away!). Everyone in the theatre seemed to be enjoying it - lots of laughter by young and old alike. The film itself, called
Planet Earth: Shallow Seas was excellent and lends itself nicely to what the Vancouver Aquarium does so well - help to connect visitors with our natural world. You will be glad to know that the 4D experience is part of the general admission rates to the Aquarium - no extra charge required for 4D fun!
July 7, 2009 | Tips from Us > Victoria, Artists & Art Galleries Victoria, Artists & Art Galleries
I guess it must be living in one of the most breathtaking places in the world that allows our province's artists to create some absolutely incredible art. It seems that everywhere I visit in the province, one of the activities that occupies a great deal of my time is poking around at pottery or glass studios & art galleries, watching artists create masterpieces on street corners, carvers transform hunks of rough wood into intricate pieces...you get the picture. I can't always purchase the art I see on my travels but I have over the years managed to treat myself and now I have the odd bit on my 'travel wall' or on my bookshelf to remind me how fortunate I am to live here. But sometimes I can't buy direct from the artist in the community where I see them and that is why I delighted in stumbling across Side Street Studio in Victoria, a great art gallery that showcases all sorts of BC art... from glass and wood, pottery and jewellery and more. It is well worth a visit next time you are in Victoria...especially if, like me, you failed to pick up the dream piece you saw created while you were out exploring BC.
June 21, 2009 | Tips from Us > Sechelt, Dining
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Combine spectacular coastal scenery, first class accommodations and unforgettable cuisine and you get the
Painted Boat Resort & Marina which I was lucky enough to spend a short time at recently. While the villas are comfortable and elegant, the infinity pool relaxing at any hour and the spa (which I did not enjoy on this trip) inviting, I was particularly impressed with the food at the Resort's cove-view restaurant. As it turns out, the Painted Boat Restaurant (open year round) has the ambitious but achievable goal of creating a "culinary trail" for the Sunshine Coast along with a number of other fine eating establishments that string the Coast from Gibsons to Lund. These restaurants focus on creative regional cuisine and they purchase most of their fish, fruits, vegetables, seafood, coffee and honey from local farms either on the Coast or off the nearby Gulf Islands. The Queen Charlotte Islands halibut we enjoyed for dinner was of the melt-in-your mouth variety and, when paired with the organic greens salad and white wine from BC, I was in heaven. If you plan on heading up to Madeira Park and the Painted Boat Resort, make sure you meander off the main highway from time to time to enjoy the communities (and the food) along the way - Gibsons, Roberts Creek, Sechelt, Halfmoon Bay & Secret Cove, to name a few. I can't wait for my next trip and my next splendid meal.
June 5, 2009 | Tips from Us > Vancouver, Festivals & Events
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How lucky was I to get to see opening night of the
Bard on the Beach presentation of Othello at Vanier Park. It had been years since I enjoyed one of the company's first class theatrical presentations in the big red and white tents which command such a spectacular presence in behind the Museum of Vancouver and the HR MacMillan Space Centre. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the Othello story line, the fantastic costumes and the unforgettable setting, but I was very taken with the whole tent set up - the boardwalks that lead from the mainstage tent to the snack counter, gift shop and to the wine bar...I loved to that birds flew through the mainstage tent while we were watching the play and that the lighting changed so dramatically as the sun sank into the Georgia Straight. We are so lucky to have Bard on the Beach....and they are celebrating their 20th anniversary. I may just join the many number of regulars that I met last night and come see the company's other summer 2009 performance, A Comedy of Errors. Their season runs until September 26, 2009.
May 26, 2009 | Tips from Us > Burnaby, Historic & Heritage Sites
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My 9 year old daughter and I look forward to the re-opening each year of the Burnaby Village Museum and even though we have been through the outdoor museum countless times, we still find new discoveries on each visit. For me, it is browsing at all the implements, food stuffs, tools and toys in the General Store, or imagining what it must have been like to live in the Love Farmhouse where life wasn't quite as simple as it is today. For my daughter, the fun comes through the independence of being able to run and explore this little town moreless on her own. She delights in learning about what school was like in the early 1900s from the period school teacher/interpetter. He explains the school lessons for her age group and mentions too what happened when homework wasn't complete or when children talked back. We also enjoy the beautifully preserved Interurban car in the large barn and interpretive centre - again enjoying the stories as told by the costumed train conductor. As always, our 2 hour visit flies by and we conclude that, yet again, we didn't give ourselves enough time.
May 26, 2009 | Tips from Us > Merritt, Guest & Dude Ranches
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The
Quilchena Hotel has been welcoming guests on and off since 1908 when it was built due to wild spectulation that the railway would run through the Nicola Valley and the hotelier would become rich. The railway routed elsewhere but the hotel continued on until 1917 when it shut down for more than 40 years. It was reopened in 1958 by the grandson of the original builder. I didn't stay at the hotel but happened by it en route from Merritt to Kamloops via Highway 5A. We enjoyed a delicious lunch in the saloon - one of the best hamburgers I have ever had and no doubt considering the beef is raised and processed right on the ranch. For a history buff, the place was bursting with rich material. The 16 rooms are all unique and, while comfortable, are still reminiscent of the early days. The Saloon is a local favourite with bullet holes in the bar reminding us of the wilder days when outlaw Billy Miner roamed the area. The drive to Quilchena Hotel takes you past Nicola Lake and it was spectacular. I would highly recommend this alternative route if driving to Kamloops!
April 1, 2009 | Tips from Us > Vancouver, Museums Vancouver, Museums
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I had the opportunity to be toured around the
Vancouver Maritime Museum in Vanier Park this morning. I have to admit that it had been awhile since I had been through the museum. I fully expected to be awed by the size and historic significance of the RCMP Arctic Schooner, St. Roch and I knew I would be fondly reminded of the educational richness of the exhibits featuring shipwrecks, fireboats, pirates, deep-sea exploration, the old CP steam liners...and I was....but what I didn't realize is that the current Vancouver Maritime Museum is much more than a look at our maritime past - it is very much about learning from our past as we look forward to our
future . The newest exhibit is called Melt Down and it is a look at how oceans react to global warming. Visitors learn about changing marine ecosystems, the uncertain future of salmon stocks, CO2 emissions, carbon footprints and various concepts about sustainability. I was very impressed and wished I had hours to digest all the great information contained within this fascinating building. The picture in this blog shows the difference in size of the Arctic summer ice in 1997 (all the white bit) and then the Arctic summer ice in 2007 (smaller bit of white outlined).
March 13, 2009 | Tips from Us > Victoria, Accommodations Victoria, Accommodations
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I love old houses so imagine my delight when I got to stay a night in Victoria's charming Humboldt House B & B, built in 1893. It is located just a few blocks from Victoria's Inner Harbour and Royal BC Museum and next to one of the City's most pleasant green spaces, the grounds in front of the St. Ann's Academy. Each room is themed differently - I stayed in Edward's Room, named for its Edwardian charm but others would appeal too, such as the Oriental Room and the Celebration room. This place would be perfect for a romantic getaway with its large jacuzzi tubs in each room, wood burning fireplaces, cozy furniture and gourmet champagne breakfasts (which are tucked into a basket and delivered to your room in the morning through a cool two-way pantry). Even though I was in Victoria on business, I felt welcomed and completely 'at home' during my short stay. Little extras like the 'help yourself Sherry' and cookies in the library upon my return from a run in the nearby Fairfield neighbourhood, or the relaxed and pleasant demeanour of the host, David. Did I mention the breakfasts? WOW! I chose shrimp and salmon crepes but I could have easily opted for the other mouth watering choices - which I will save for next time, and there will be a next time!
November 11, 2008 | Tips from Us > Mission, Bird Watching
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It was pouring when we woke up. I questioned whether travelling out to Mission to get on a boat to explore the channels of the Fraser River near Harrison Mills was the best idea for spending the day with my daughter (9). Boy was I glad we did! We took part in a tour offered by
Fraser River Safari , a relatively new player on the tourism scene, to travel with them in their covered, warm and comfortable vessel, to view the wildlife and scenery east of Mission. We saw thousands of bald eagles perched in trees, on logs, flying and swooping. We saw seals lounging on logs and rocks, we saw a black bear forging for food on the shore and, (perhaps the highlight), we witnessed four fishermen struggle to pull in a 6 foot (maybe longer) sturgeon fish. From the very knowledgable guides we learned that sturgeon fishing on the Fraser is a big draw for visitors to our Province and that we have quite a reputation for sturgeon fishing on the world scale. We also learned that the sturgeon is a prehistoric fish and can live out of water for a very long time - in fact, as the story goes, a sturgeon was found alive in the mud banks of what was once the nearby Sumas Lake,
10 years after the lake had been drained . We were impressed to learn more about the "catch and release" laws pertaining to sturgeon fishing too, and felt relieved to know that our 6 foot friend wasn't getting served up for dinner at someone's table. We also learned a great deal about the First Nations of the area, the fur trade, the gold rush and about one of BC's favourite icons, the sasquatch! The trip is 4 hours in total, with a 1 hour stop at the
Kilby Historic Site in Harrison Mills where we enjoyed a fast lunch and a quick tour through the old General Store and Hotel, now a Museum. My daughter fancied the petting zoo and we vowed to return to the Kilby Historic Site when we had more time...in fact, it would be the perfect activity to pair up with a stay in nearby
Harrison Hot Springs . In the end, we were thrilled we ventured out to the Valley despite the weather - sure it rained most of the day but it didn't take away from our adventure at all!
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