Welcome to Week 7 of the BC Travel Tuesday series. It’s been really fun to highlight regions of the province while putting smiles on the faces of our contest winners so far – and we’re not done yet. We still have a handful of great giveaways over the remaining weeks.
backyardbc is a new travel website designed specifically for residents of British Columbia. Essentially a “be a tourist in your own backyard” program, participating hotels & resorts offer residents of BC exclusive rates and specials, designed to motivate BCers to travel more within the Province. Each offer has its own unique reservation code, and all bookings are done directly with our hotel and resort partners. Visit backyardbc online, on Twitter, or Facebook and see more of BC!
The winner of BC Travel Tuesday: Week 6 Accent Inns Okanagan is Sarah C (and she has been notified by email). This week’s property is located in Campbell River, on the eastern side of Vancouver Island. I’ve been to Campbell River only twice before but the Salmon Capital of the World has plenty to offer.
Image courtesy Painter’s Lodge
Painter’s Lodge
Website, Twitter, Facebook, backyardbc listing
Location: 1625 McDonald Road, Campbell River, BC
About: “Painter’s Lodge has been home to angling and outdoor adventure for decades. Feel the thrill of a salmon on a fishing trip or the spray of an Orca on a whale watching adventure. Swim, kayak, golf, take a wildlife adventure tour or relax with a massage. The resort offers spacious accommodations with ocean or garden views and a variety of dining choices including west coast cuisine or pub-style fare. Enjoy first-class service in a spectacular setting and adventure for the entire family.”
Prize: Two nights accommodation for two, one 4-hour fishing trip.
Value: $700
To enter to win, leave a comment on this post and/or post the following on Twitter:
Gift certificates for hotel and resort stays will be sent directly to each weekly winner so they can arrange their visit personally with the property. Some restrictions apply, based on availability. Must be 19 years of age or older to enter and win.
Update The winner is Renfrew!
View all posts in the series by following or subscribing to my BCTravelTuesday tag. Open to residents of BC.
The tents are going up for children’s festivals in both Vancouver and Surrey this month.
Music with Marnie will be at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival
Surrey Children’s Festival
May 26, 27 & 28, 2011
Thursday & Friday 9:00am to 3:00pm, Saturday 10:30am to 7:30pm
Inside the Surrey Arts Centre and on the grounds of Bear Creek Park in front of the Arts Centre.
You can attend for $5 or grab a $10 ticket to attend the festival and ticketed performances (with classics like Charlotte Diamond). Family packs are available for $36 (for four people). More ticket information is available online. There will be indoor and outdoor activities, arts and crafts, performances, and bilingual programming. Follow @Surrey_Events on Twitter.
Vancouver International Children’s Festival
May 30 to June 5, 2011
Weekdays 9:30am to 2:30pm, Saturday 10:30am to 6:30pm, Sunday 10:30am to 4:30pm
Granville Island
Show tickets are $22 with a few exceptions for some of the featured performances (price difference of about $2-$4). Family packs of tickets are $80 (for four tickets). You can get wristbands just for the activity zones for $5 on-site. More ticket information is available online. There will a be a free stage on Granville Island with some of BC’s finest emerging youth performers. Follow the festival on Twitter @vicf.
The Sasquatch Music Festival is happening this coming weekend, May 27th to May 30th, at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington State. The four-day music festival has been sold out for a while now and looking at the stellar line-up, one can see why.
Artists include Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, The Decemberists, Robyn, Flogging Molly, Cold War Kids, Tokyo Police Club, Against Me!, K-OS, City and Colour, Vancouver’s own Dan Mangan, and many more.
Rumour has it that the Kokanee-stealing Sasquatch may be spotted around The Gorge as well so it may be the right time to wear your Sasquatch hunting hat which is available in 20-packs of Kokanee (who is a presenting sponsor of the festival).
Lucky for one of my readers, Kokanee also has a spare pair of full festival passes (that’s two, four-day passes) available to give away and they’ve partnered with me to run the contest. If you missed out on getting tickets, have friends who are going, or are up for an awesome musical adventure this weekend, here’s how you can enter to win two full festival passes:
Comment listing the band(s) you want to see most (1 entry)
Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
Since the festival starts in three days, this will be a quick 24-hour contest so the winner has time to plan their trip across the border. I will draw one winner at 10:00am tomorrow, Wednesday, May 25th.
Update The winner is Brian!
Fine Print: There is no purchase necessary and you must be 19 years or older to participate in this ticket giveaway contest courtesy of Kokanee.
Over the last two years there has been talk of a gondola to transport students up Burnaby Mountain to Simon Fraser University. In recent months, a proposal has been put together and the concept is now up for discussion.
Whistler Blackcomb’s Peak2Peak Gondola. Photo credit:
Many_Jansen on Flickr
Connecting the Production Way SkyTrain station to the SFU campus, the proposed gondola would travel about 2.5 kilometers up the mountain.
“The concept would use the technology that’s currently employed in the Peak2Peak Gondola at Whistler,” said TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie. Peak2Peak is a 4.4-kilometre gondola system that connects the peaks of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. The SFU Community Trust had a gondola feasibility study drawn up last year, which projected the line could move between 2,000 and 3,000 people per hour. [Source: CBC Vancouver]
Serving students, faculty, staff and UniverCity residents, the line would replace the diesel buses that currently run up and down the mountain throughout the day.
The gondola will replace one major bus route and is expected to be a mere six-minute ride from Production Station directly to the Cornerstone bus loop on campus. During rush hour, gondolas would leave Production station approximately every 15 seconds, a fraction of the time that buses take.
If it were built, in addition to being reliable even in winter conditions, the gondola would reduce SFU’s 1.5 million bus trips a year by about half. Emissions would also be reduced by approximately 1,870 tonnes per year.” [Source: The Peak]
Apart from being more environmentally-friendly, cutting travel times, and potentially being a tourist attraction, there is some opposition to the plan.
TransLink’s plan for a $70-million gondola to Simon Fraser University has raised concerns from some Burnaby residents who worry they could end up living under the proposed tramline… …Glen Armstrong, who has lived in the complex for 25 years, said he can see how the project is more cost-effective for TransLink, but he’s worried the gondola will change his quiet, woodsy neighbourhood.” [Source: Vancouver Sun]
TransLink will be hosting a series of Open Houses this week to discuss the proposal:
May 25, 2011 from 5:00pm – 8:00pm at Cameron Elementary (9540 Erickson Drive)
May 26, 2011 from 1:00pm – 4:00pm, 5:00pm – 8:00pm at Saywell Hall Atrium, SFU
I’d love to get your thoughts on the proposed gondola plan as well:
[poll id=”62″]
Following a quick pit-stop at home to sleep and re-pack after a trip to the Cariboo, John and I were off to Salt Spring Island for the weekend. This member of the Gulf Island chain in the Georgia Strait, between Vancouver Island and the mainland of BC, is a favourite destination of ours (that we fell in love with years ago).
Salt Spring has rolling hills, lush meadows, evergreen forests, groves of Arbutus trees, rocky seaside cliffs, and more artisans, artists, and farmers than you can count (among a full-time population of about 10,500). From Tourism BC: “Artists and young neo-hippies, retired millionaires and restaurateurs, trades people and boot-clad farmers, writers and musicians all happily co-exist on what the Washington Post once called ‘the coolest island in Canada.'”
While we usually take the ferry over to the Island (departing from Tsawwassen) we hitched a ride with Saltspring Air from Coal Harbour, just outside the Westin Bayshore. After a quick 30-minute flight, we were already landing on the water in Salt Spring’s Ganges Harbour.
We were invited out to Hastings House a few times last summer for their Chefs Across the Water series and were never able to make it. They were kind enough to host us this time around and a staff member met us at the float plane dock to drive us up to the inn, which is just a few minutes away.
Hastings House was originally built by English Navel officer Warren Hastings in 1940. His family owned the estate until 1980 when he sold it to a couple from Alberta to turned it into the resort we see today, perched on top of a hill overlooking Ganges.
The estate currently consists of several buildings, from green houses, cottages, farmhouse, and a barn to the Manor House (where the famous dining room is located), and several hillside suites where ours was located.
On our second day, we borrowed two bikes from Hastings House (they have half a dozen for guest use, including helmets) and we set out for Vesuvius Bay where we got our fill of our favourite fish and chips at Seaside Restaurant.
Braving the non-stop hills and inclines, we ended up cycling 28 kilometers that day, returning the bikes about 4 hours later. Well sunned and sore, we walked down to the Salt Spring Saturday Market the following day to pick up a selection of bath bombs from Saltspring Soapworks. We then promptly put them to use in our suite’s large soaker tub.
On our last morning, we took to the gravel and bark mulch path that circles the property, which follows a trail of public art on display.
Aside from the hillside meadow dotted with sheep, the edible flower gardens, the sculptures, and the unobstructed harbour views, our favourite part of Hastings House was meal time. After a morning hamper was delivered to our suite each day including fresh-baked muffins and coffee, we could then head down for breakfast (included with your stay) which was served with farm-fresh eggs.
The three-course dinner was perfectly paired with local Island and BC wines thanks to Executive Marcel Kauer and Maitre’d Michael Coughlin.
Amuse bouche: Free-range chicken and quinoa with Sumac Ridge Brute
(Left) Mushroom & caramelized onion bisque with Stag’s Hollow Sauvignon Blanc
(Right) Local spot prawns with Garry Oaks Pinot Gris
Crusted Halibut, fiddlehead ferns, grilled corn with Lake Breeze Pinot Blanc
Lemon cream tart with Quail’s Gate Optima
If you have the opportunity to visit Salt Spring Island one day, take a walk around the harbour, visit the market, do a studio tour, go for a hike and explore hidden coves, visit one of the many farms, or snuggle up and enjoy the scenery. You can determine your level of activity and we made sure to take advantage of the great outdoors as well as the comforts of our hillside suite. Whether you get to the Island by float plane, boat, or ferry, it’s an experience that is not to be missed.
You can view the rest of our photos in John’s set or my set on Flickr.
