Vancouver Island lies off southwestern mainland British Columbia, Canada. With an area of 12,079 square miles, it is the largest island on the Pacific coast of North America. Vancouver Island is separated from mainland Canada by the straits of Georgia, Johnstone, and Queen Charlotte and from the United States by Juan de Fuca Strait. The island, averaging 50 miles…
Avatar Grove is a phenomenal stand of giant old-growth red cedar and Douglas fir alongside the Gordon River, approximately fifteen minutes away from Port Renfrew within the traditional territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation. The area was recently declared off limits to logging through a new Old-Growth Management Area in February, 2012 after a two year…
Mount Baker in Washington State is an impressive 10,781 foot volcano that can be seen for hundreds of miles away. At the time we were living in Victoria and could almost always see Mount Baker in the distance so one weekend, we invited our friends Karen and Nick and set off for some exploring. To…
The Koksilah River (Xwulqw’selu Sta’lo’, Watershed) is located south of Duncan on Vancouver Island and lies within the traditional territories of Cowichan Tribes, Malahat Nation and other First Nations. It originates on the slopes of Waterloo Mountain, southwest of Shawnigan Lake and flows eastward for approximately 44 km before discharging into the Cowichan/Koksilah estuary. The…
Mystic Beach, ocated close to Jordan River in the Juan De Fuca Provincial Park, is one of the best hikes on Vancouver Island and is well known for its coastal beach waterfall that flows right into the ocean and is a must-see if you’re visiting Victoria or road-tripping Vancouver Island. We were spending the weekend…
In April of 2011, Yim and I decided we would take a road trip to Portland, Oregon. We hopped aboard the Coho in downtown Victoria early one April morning for the 90 minute trip over to Port Angeles and then headed through Olympic National Park to Olympia and onwards to Portland. From Port Angeles, it…
Situated on the rugged southwest coast of Vancouver Island, Point No Point looks out across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. So what’s with the name? According to the resort, when the British Royal Navy first drew up their marine charts, they found that from one direction, the…
The Broken Islands Group is a group of small islands and islets in the middle of Barkley Sound on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. The group is protected as the Broken Islands Group Unit of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, which includes Long Beach, between Ucluelet and Tofino to Barkley Sound’s northwest, and…
Aloha Kauai 2010 was the year we visited Kaua’i… Wow ! When we were doing our research on where to stay and when to visit, the north shore town of Haena sounded perfect to us and the books we read all said it rained considerably in the winter so we chose July and rented a…
One of North America’s largest and best marine facilities, the Vancouver Aquarium, houses more than 70,000 critters, including white beluga whales, sea otters, Steller sea lions, and Pacific white-sided dolphins. During regularly scheduled shows, aquarium staff explain marine-mammal behaviour while working with these impressive creatures. The Wild Coast area features a fascinating assortment of fish…
