Tourism Ucluelet has hit the road this spring to share it’s beautiful Vancouver Island coastal region with Canadians. The “Kick Back and Coast” RV tour began in St. John’s Newfoundland on May 1st and it will end on June 24th back in Ucluelet. Accompanied by Tourism Ucluelet mascot Knuckles the Grey Whale, the 10,000km tour will promote Pacific Rim National Park and Barkley Sound as well as the abundance of activities and adventures that can be found around Ucluelet.
Photos courtesy of Tourism Ucluelet
The Tourism Ucluelet RV will be passing through 26 cities and all 10 provinces of Canada, engaging with communities and stopping by key events and festivities. Spot the RV in your city and snap a photo during the tour, follow the journey on Facebook and Twitter, and visit the unique landing page Kick Back and Coast for your chance to win one of many prizes, including a trip to the West Coast. The grand prize package includes an incredible ‘One Week Ucluelet Adventure Trip’, customized to suit the style of the lucky winner, including airfare, kayaking, spa, surfing lessons, dining, wildlife cruises, tours and accommodations.
The Tourism Ucluelet RV will hit Montreal by this Friday, May 17th then move onto Barrie for Friday, May 24th. Rolling into Winnipeg on Friday, May 31st then Calgary on Friday, June 7th the RV returns to BC by way of Kamloops on Friday, June 14th. Returning to Vancouver Island by Friday, June 21st it will reach its home in Ucluelet on Friday, June 24th.
Photos from our walk along the Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet the last time we visited.
You really do feel like you’re on the edge of the world, it’s wonderful.
Miss604 Getaway Giveaway
To promote the Kick Back and Coast cross-Canada tour, Tourism Ucluelet has offered up an awesome getaway for one lucky Miss604 reader and their guest. The prize pack includes a two-night stay in Ucluelet in a Wya Point yurt plus surf lessons for two.
Enjoy private beaches within the Ucluth Eco Resort, and amenities in your yurt that include a kitchen, barbecue, wood or gas fireplace, wrap-around cedar deck, oceanfront beach access, lounge chairs, and more. This luxurious eco-friendly resort is off the grid so be prepared to unplug, de-stress, kick back, and listen to the waves roll in.
Here’s how you can enter to win this coastal escape:
- Leave a comment on this post about how you unwind/unplug (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Friday, May 24, 2013. Must be 19+ to enter and win. Some restrictions may apply. Based on availability. Follow Tourism Ucluelet on Facebook and Twitter, and learn more about Wya Point Resort on Facebook and Twitter as well.
Update The winner is Ryan! (Comment May 13)
The Friends of the North Vancouver District Public Library are hosting their Big Book Sale this month at the Lynn Valley Main Library (1277 Lynn Valley Road).
Dates and Times
Friday, May 24, 2013 from 10:00am to 7:00pm
Saturday, May 25, 2013 from 10:00am to 4:00pm
Sunday, May 26, 2013 from noon to 4:00pm
The legendary Big Book Sale includes books as well as CDs and DVDs, all on sale for 50 cents to $2 a piece. On Sunday, everything is half price; or, fill a bag of books for $3 or a box of books for $6. They ask that you please bring your own bag to carry your purchases.
The Friends are a group of over 150 community members dedicated to the support and enhancement of North Vancouver District Public Library facilities, services, and programs. Members span all ages from high-schoolers to seniors. Some Friends are actively involved, others are quietly supportive – but all care deeply about North Vancouver District Public Library.
The nominees have been announced for the annual Leo Awards, which honour excellence in BC-made film and television. Presented by the Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Foundation of British Columbia, the awards are handed out during two evening events: The celebration awards ceremony (June 7, 2013 with hosts Aubrey Arnason and Sarah Groundwater-Law) and the gala awards ceremony (June 8, 2013 with hosts Nancy Robertson and Brent Butt).
Film Nominees
The top Motion Picture nominee is Becoming Redwood with a total of 14 nominations including direction, screenwriting, cinematography, program, sound, sound editing, musical score, production design, costume design, supporting male performance (x3), lead performance male, and lead performance female.
Camera Shy has 7 nominations, Lucille’s Ball has 6 nominations, Soufflé au Chocolat has 5 nominations, Crimes of Mike Recket, In No Particular Order, and Random Acts of Romance each have 4.
Other films with nominations are Death Do Us Part, Pehchaan 3D (Identity), Bailout: The Age of Greed, Ferocious, Ambrosia, Crowsnest, Dawn Rider, Errors Of The Human Body, Havana 57, Maximum Conviction, Old Stock, Son of an Afghan Farmer, The Resurrection of Tony Gitone, and The Wingman.
Television Nominees
Ring of Fire leads the Television Movie pack with 12 nominations, followed by Eve of Destruction with 11. Other nominees include: Hitched for the Holidays, It’s Christmas, Carol!, Tom, Dick and Harriet, Twist of Faith, Anything But Christmas, The Wishing Tree, After All These Years, Christmas Miracle, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, Tasmanian Devils, Virtual Lies.
Leading the Dramatic Series nominees is Continuum with 16 nods, the most of any film or television program this year. They’re up for program, direction (x2), screenwriting, cinematography, picture editing (x2), production design, costume design, stunt coordination, guest performance male (x2), supporting performance male (x2), supporting performance female (x2).
Other Dramatic Series nominees are Arctic Air with 14, Arrow has 8 nominations, and Primevil: New World has 6. Other shows nominated include Bomb Girls, Fringe, Hell On Wheels, Alcatraz, Alphas, Beauty and the Beast, Lost Girl, Nikita,Saving Hope, Supernatural, and True Justice.
In the Short Drama category nominees include (but are not limited to) Binner with 8 nominations, and Beauty Mark, Corvus, and The Old Woman In The Woods with 7. Documentary Program or Series nominees are Battle Castle in 7 categories, along with Ice Pilots NWT, Cue The Muse, Music for Mandela, What Happens Next? The Dan Mangan Documentary, and more.
Leo Awards will also be handed out in other program categories that include Information or Lifestyle Series, Music, Comedy, or Variety Program or Series, Animation Program or Series, Student Production, Youth or Children’s Program or Series, Web Series, and Music Video.
Support BC film and television by supporting these outstanding programs, their cast, crew, and production teams. Full nomination lists and details are posted online by program and by name.
Tickets for the awards are currently available and a red carpet event will precede the awards ceremony on Saturday, June 8th at the Westin Bayshore. Follow the Leo Awards on Facebook and Twitter for more information about the nominees and the awards ceremonies.
Tomorrow marks the 113th anniversary of the North Vancouver ferry boat (“North Vancouver No. 1”) beginning its regular service between North Vancouver and the south shore of Burrard Inlet. Scheduled ferry service began in 1893 with the Union Steamship Company and North Vancouver No. 1 started carrying foot passengers to and from each shore on May 12, 1900.
1911: North Vancouver Ferry No. 2 & No 3. Archives Item# Bo P338.1 & Bo P338.2.
By 1904, North Vancouver No. 2 hit the waters and offered service for vehicles as well. As demand for service grew, as did the ferry fleet and North Vancouver No. 3 was launched in 1911. Eventually there would be a No. 4 and No. 5 added until the Lions Gate Bridge (built in 1938) would eliminate the need for the ferry service decades later. Over a span of 40 years, North Vancouver Ferries carried 112,466,693 passengers across Burrard Inlet. [Source: BC Shipping News].
This post has been contributed by Louise Pedersen of the Stanley Park Ecology Society (“SPES”). I have been following SPES since I moved into the West End almost eight years ago and I recently became a member. I wanted to offer Louise and her team an opportunity to share their news, events, and work so I have created “SPES Saturday” where they will be contributing stories with my audience once a month.
Stanley Park: World’s Most Beautiful Park
To Vancouverites it may not come as a big surprise that the world loves Stanley Park too, but it makes us nevertheless a little proud when magazines like Travel + Leisure in their May issue enlists “our” park among the ten most beautiful parks in the world.
And what’s not to love for the eight million locals and tourists who visit the park every year. Within a short walk from downtown, we have 400 acres of lush temperate rainforest, a myriad of forest trails that wind their way through the park and past giant ferns and towering red cedar, hemlock and Douglas fir trees, and an 8km long seaside promenade – the most popular recreational facility in Vancouver.
But Stanley Park is more than just nature “bling”; it’s a place many of us turn to again and again to spend time in nature, for a fresh breath of air and to get away from traffic noise and the many distractions that are part and parcel of living in a big city. As a significant green “island” in an urban landscape, the Park is also a home to an astonishing diversity of wildlife species, including at least 30 mammals, 236 birds, 10 amphibians and 72 freshwater and marine fish. The most noticeable difference between Stanley Park and more remote natural areas is the absence of large mammals such as deer, wolves, bears and cougars; however coyotes, river otters and beavers all thrive in the park.
With Vancouver celebrating birds all week during the city’s inaugural Bird Week, it’s appropriate to highlight Stanley Park as a bird lover’s paradise. The summer breeding bird populations are diverse and plentiful. The park is not only home to nesting pairs of bald eagles and an expansive great blue heron colony; it is also a nursery for songbirds, owls, and many other species. Its winter seashore is teeming with thousands of waterfowl, shorebirds and wading birds, and a short hop over to Lost Lagoon will provide a view of freshwater species. As Vancouver is on the Pacific Flyway, fall and spring migration are exciting times in the park with flocks of warblers, birds of prey and the occasional rarities passing through.
During this 125th anniversary year of Stanley Park, let’s send a appreciative nod to Lord Stanley and the newly formed Vancouver City Council who in 1888, when Vancouver was home to just 2,600 inhabitants, designating the area as a public park. This park truly is a gem to us and the rest of the world, who come here to visit.
Stanley Park Ecology Society (“SPES”) is based in the Park, and with the help of our members and supporters we make a difference for wildlife throughout the Park by directly tackling their habitat needs through habitat restoration, monitoring and conservation action as well as by providing scientific information that help Park managers create better management plans.
Every year, we give over 20,000 children and adults opportunities for learning about nature on their doorstep through our weekly public events, school programs, Young Naturalist’s Club or by visiting the Stanley Park Nature House on Lost Lagoon, Vancouver’s only ecology centre. Through our popular volunteering program, more than 1,200 locals learn new skills, improve their CV and meet like-minded people every year.
To find out more SPES, including our weekly events in the Park, opening hours of the Nature House and volunteering opportunities, visit the website and follow @StanleyPkEcoSoc on Twitter. Upcoming events: Insect Superheroes on Sunday, May 12th; Mosses and Lichens on Sunday, May 19th; Community Invasive Species Management (Volunteer) on Saturday, May 25th; Birds of a Feather at Lost Lagoon Nature House on Sunday, May 26th.
