Before proceeding, if you have a car with a sensitive alarm system, turn it off before leaving the car on the vehicle deck.  It will be appreciated by many, including you when your car and plate number is called out on the loudspeaker later. To sail from Vancouver to Victoria, the main gateway is the Tsawwassen (pronounced sah-wass-en) ferry terminal located in Delta BC.  You will land at the Swartz Bay ferry terminal located near Sidney BC. Sailing on BC Ferries often requires a lot of waiting.  If you book in advance, you still have to arrive 45 minutes before […]

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There are some special places that you only find when relatives invite you.  Nanoose Bay is on Vancouver Island as you head from Nanaimo toward Parksville.  To get there, you exit Highway 19 at NW Bay Road, which you follow until you get to Rocking Horse Place. The horses are real. Vancouver` Island has a thing about placing very English Pubs in off beat locations.  The Black Goose Inn in Parksville (blackgooseinn.com) is another. At the Rocking Horse Pub, we enjoyed the outdoor space, which was covered on a hot day and was peaceful as the road was far away. […]

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We had an invite to dinner at the Kingfisher Resort and Spa, near Courtenay BC.  I am very happy we accepted! If you are driving northbound on the 19A version of the Island Highway, the entrance comes up pretty fast. It’s just before the tiny town of Royston, which is 5 km from Courtenay. The dining room, with the rather intense name “Ocean7 Restaurant | AQUA Bistro & Wine Bar,” is pretty snazzy. I took the opportunity to enjoy bison, which was quite good. Lots too choose from the bar.  And great service. The server handled our mixed bag of […]

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In Coombs BC, which is about 9 km from Parksville, there’s a shopping area that is identifiable by its plaza with large stone sculptures of animals and Buddhas. The Coombs Emporium is a collection of strange things. A snack bar with ice cream makes no sense when contrasted against Buddhas and bosomy women wooden sculptures. There’s also a collection of intense biker style T-shirts. But I can’t imagine any bikers wearing them. Maybe a cartoon biker? Wooden giraffes (and more bosoms) are also strangely popular. The wooden willies that double as bottle openers were kind of top-of-the-heap-odd.  No photos.  I’m […]

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I think it’s a wonderful bit of optimism or stubbornness to have an all-weather outdoor theatre company operate in Vancouver, which comes after Abbotsford, St. John’s and Halifax as most rainy cities in Canada.  But Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) does it. To visit TUTS, there’s an easy transit option as the 19 bus on West Pender, which is near the Burrard Skytrain Station takes you right into a bus loop that’s a three-minute walk from Malkin Bowl, which is right behind the Stanley Park Pavilion.  Personally I have a large range of temperatures I can handle, but the better-prepared-than-me […]

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The drive to Lions Bay from Vancouver is 31 km and takes from 30 minutes to much longer depending on the traffic.  Access to Highway 99 takes you through Vancouver’s downtown.  You can take transit, but it leaves you with an extra 1.6 km to the Tunnel Bluffs trailhead.  However, there’s limited parking at the trailhead.  Regular travellers to this trail recommend avoiding weekends due to it being busy. The parking lot is pretty small and often full but because we got there early we got a spot. The trail is popular due to it being accessible all year long.  […]

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On Granville Island in Vancouver, particularly if you have a group and enough time, there is the Foodie Tour. This is an opportunity for someone who actually knows what they’re doing to show you around Granville Island Market and tempt you with different foods offered by the many vendors. We started with A Bread Affair, which has sour dough bread variations that will make you happy.  Bread makes me happy. I also learned there more flavors of macaron than I thought were logically possible from Bon Macaron Patisserie.  E.g. Blackberry Hazelnut. The tour is undertaken in the midst of the […]

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This summer, Vancouver‘s Bard on the Beach’s Shakespeare Festival relaunched after a COVID break and we enjoyed a screamingly funny performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  There’s something fun about being in an open-air theatre for this particular play.  The rustics, a.k.a. Peter Quince’s acting troupe, stole the show by leaning heavily into the silliness of their play within a play. Bard on the Beach Of course, what’s a play without dinner and drinks before?  The Cider House on Yew Street, which is mere metres from Kits Beach provided us with a meal. This is a vegan restaurant specializing in […]

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For work there was an opportunity for team building with a couple of folks from back east, specifically, Toronto.  When a pandemic is still ongoing, outdoor activities – especially in Vancouver – are a great idea.  As a long time Vancouverite, I love showing off the sights and Stanley Park jumps to mind. As part of team building, you want people who don’t know each other.  My challenge for them was to “walk, talk, and look for answers to questions you haven’t been given yet.” It occurred to me that I should test if what I was going to do […]

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For the first time in two years, this past July 9, the West 4th Avenue Business Improvement Association shut down 4th Avenue and turned it into a street party.  They say this is Vancouver’s largest free music and arts festival.  Every couple of blocks there are live music tents and DJs.  It’s good fun just to walk the road and take it all in. The party runs from Burrard St. to MacDonald Ave., which is truly the centre of Kitsilano.  Stores put out tents and you can often find some decent deals.  West of Balsam Ave., there is a decent […]

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