Vancouver Island Getaway with Tourism BC
byThis morning I took a Harbour Air plane over to Victoria to spend a few days exploring the Island and all of its wonderful offerings alongside Tourism BC.
If you haven’t done the sea-plane thing to the Island I highly recommend it. The Harbour Air flight was great (and they have wifi in both terminals) but there’s also Westcoast Air (with whom I had a quick tour earlier this summer), as well as a few others like Saltspring Air and HeliJet.
Arriving on in Victoria’s inner harbour we took a water taxi with Holly from Tourism Victoria to Fisherman’s Wharf. The pier was packed with families and folks on their lunch breaks enjoying some fish & chips in the sunshine.
The next stop was Spinnakers where our small group ate. I’ve been to Spinnakers before but I’ll have a post up about our particular menu later on this week.
From there we hopped in a van and ended up at the Aerie Resort, which is along the Malahat Highway between Victoria and Nanaimo. We’ll be here for two nights before heading up to Courtenay and Comox (a few places I’ve explored a bit before with Keira).
I’ve never really visited this particular region (the Cowichan Valley) so I’m really looking forward to learning more about the wineries, farmers, and artisans that we’ll be visiting.
I hope to share information with my readers about BC-fresh products as well as a few ideas for weekend getaways. The itinerary says we’re even going to see some water buffalo before they get milked — can’t wait.
You can read all of my posts from the trip under the tag: ‘Cowichan‘.
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Speaking of Tourism BC, did you hear that the government just canned the president and board, and are rolling it into the Ministry of Tourism?
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Tourism+president+entire+board+dismissed/1903696/story.html
I would suggest visiting the Udder Guy’s ice cream shop while in the Cowichan Valley. I have not had the chance to go there yet, but do buy their ice cream in the local grocery stores in Vancouver (Stongs/IGA/Whole Foods). I love the R.R.Real Coffee and Roasted Coconut flavours! Sounds like a wonderful trip and I am looking forward to more posts 🙂
Good thing you got your trip in before the Tourism BC reabsorption into the government had fully taken effect!
The best part of our early September 2009 trip to Vancouver Island was the five-hour wildlife-nature boat tour of Barkley Sound and the Broken Group Islands–the labor of love of Alan and Toddy Landry. Their boat leaves from Ucluelet. As we cruised through the gorgeous island-dotted seascape, we saw a bear pushing over boulders on a beach as though they were made of styrofoam, whales, bald eagles, seals, and sea lions. The boat was lovely–beautifully appointed and comfortable–and the lunch and endless supply of good coffee made the experience gracious and homey. There were only fourteen tourists on the boat (maximum is about 23), and the owner-captains provide an informative commentary during the tour and make you feel as though you are welcome guests in their home. Their website is http://www.archipelagocruises.com/