Convergence Zone
Nothing exacerbates spring fever like those midweek glimmers of warmth and sunshine when you're stuck in the office and the kids are at school. If the family is craving a brief (but necessary) vacation, squeeze in your own little spring break to Vancouver Island, where March means whale migration season and the Pacific Rim Whale Festival.
By Natalie Broulette | February 26, 2008
Short Trips
This town on the west coast of Vancouver Island is literally at the end of the road.
By Jeff Larsen | April 20, 2006
Short Trips
Sometimes a delayed Valentine's Day gift can be even more special than getting a gift on the real day -- especially when a spa is involved.
Young Simon Carrier, who waits tables at the Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler, B.C., worked Valentine's Day this year. So, for a delayed celebration, he and his Chilean girlfriend, Fernanda Icaran, decided to spend a night at the Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort in Parksville on Vancouver Island for what Simon called "a little spa action." Overnight was all the young couple could afford.
By Jeff Larsen | March 9, 2006
My husband has become an obsessive golfer, but the kids and I still love to ski and snowboard. With these irreconcilable differences, how can we have a successful winter family vacation?
Fortunately, we can head to the Comox Valley, about three hours north of Victoria on Vancouver Island. There, thanks to two starkly different climate zones in one geographic location, he can hit the green fairways of some top-notch golf courses and we can frolic in the snow -- all on the same winter's day.
By Anne Mullens | January 19, 2006
Short Trips
The eagles have landed at Goldstream Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, and for good reason -- their fall and winter feast has arrived.
For the rest of this month, bald eagles flock to parts of the Goldstream River -- just 12 miles north of Victoria -- to feast on the dead and dying carcasses of thousands of chum, coho and chinook salmon that return to spawn each year from mid-October until the end of December. One Canadian naturalist predicted 30,000 chum salmon would make the migration this year.
By Jeff Larsen | December 8, 2005
Golfers are the Indiana Jones of the sports world. But instead of the bullwhip and brown fedora, they're decked out with ball caps and graphite-shafted clubs, roaming the globe in search of rare gems -- those terrific, sought-after courses tucked away in exotic locales.
That's why Vancouver Island is a dream destination, with more than 40 courses sprinkled across one of the great expanses of mountain and oceanside wilderness in North America. And much of the island is swaddled in a weather zone that features moderate temperatures and golf throughout the year.
By Ian Cruickshank | July 14, 2005
We've paddled our kayaks to Little Kaikash Beach on Vancouver Island and are sitting on the rocks eating lunch when one of the guides shouts: "Whales!"
A group of orcas appears in the distance, then another and another, rolling, splashing, black and white, the big dorsal fin of the males knifing the waters of Johnstone Strait.
By Linda Hagen Miller | August 19, 2004
Short Trips
J Pod just happened to be "home" that day as our guide and water taxi driver, Brad Armstrong, steered his 28-foot Eagle Craft boat into the calm waters off Pender Island in the southern Gulf Islands.
A half-dozen whale-watching excursion boats -- and one University of Washington research boat -- crisscrossed the bay to try to get the best vantage point to watch the 26-member pod of orca whales fraternize and feed.
By Jeff Larsen | July 29, 2004
Where
North and South Pender Islands are about two hours by ferry from Tsawwassen and about 40 minutes from Vancouver Island's Swartz Bay. If you're leaving the islands to return to Tsawwassen via Swartz Bay, make sure to get a through pass. For information and reservations, call 888-223-3779 or see www.bcferries.ca.
Lodging
June 11, 2004
PENDER ISLANDS, B.C. Here is Penny Tomlin's advice for enjoying the perfect evening at her Sahhali-Serenity Bed and Breakfast, perched cliffside above the waters off Vancouver Island:
By Terry Tazioli | June 11, 2004
