Yearly Archives: 2010

My daughter and I first visited the Fort St. James National Historic Site in July of 2008.  I have a sister who’s been living in Fort St. James for the past five years, and we’ve gone to visit her almost every summer, since my 8-year-old daughter was born. The town of Fort St. James is on the shores of Stuart Lake, 164 kilometres northwest of Prince George.  The town is small (more of a village, really) and the scenery in this part of BC is beautiful.  The lake is quite large and is great for swimming, boating and fishing in […]

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We decided to meet up with friends and check out the festivities for Canada Day at Canada Place this year.  In previous years the kids’ bouncy castles, games, face painting, etc., were under the five sails inside Canada Place.  This year they were all moved to Harbour Green Park along the Coal Harbour Seawall.  This was actually a better location.  The weather was not the greatest with mostly clouds and a bit of rain, so not many kids actually went in the water park, but the washrooms were handy, the restaurant was very busy, and families had a lot of […]

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Cottonwood House was an old roadhouse for weary travellers on their way to Barkerville to strike it rich.  It’s a 20-minute drive east from Quesnel, on Highway 26. Roadhouses were possibly the forerunner to the modern day motel and operated in the 1800s. They were an integral part of the Gold Rush Trail, which carried miners from Vancouver to Barkerville.  Roadhouses offered food and shelter to travelers every 12 to 15 miles along the entire length of the Cariboo Road.  After a long day’s journey, either on foot, horse, or in a bumpy stagecoach, the roadhouse provided a hot meal, […]

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Last summer, August of 2009, I had the opportunity to visit Chemainus, BC, to see a friend in their annual summer musicals. I had never been to Chemainus before and didn’t know what to expect. However, after only about an hour after arriving I realized I had fallen in love with the place! It is located in between Duncan  and Nanaimo, and you can either take a ferry from Vancouver to Duke Point, or Vancouver/Tsawwassen to Schwartz  Bay and drive up from Victoria. Each summer, Chemainus has a Musical Theatre Festival in their beautiful, newly renovated downtown theatre. I saw “Oklahoma” […]

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Barkerville is a gold rush town full of history and fun things to do. It is set in the interior Cariboo region, 88 km (54.7 mi) east of the city of Quesnel, at the end of Highway 26. Barkerville was founded in 1862 and is the largest historical site in British Columbia. Unlike many gold rush towns from this era – which have long disappeared – Barkerville remains a thriving place, rich in history and full of life. You can tour the town with one of the colourful characters from Barkerville’s past, watch the notorious Judge Begbie strike fear into […]

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I have had the opportunity to travel back and forth from Vancouver Island many times, but I mostly found myself in the heart of Victoria. There are many smaller towns which have absolutely charming attributes, and nooks and crannies waiting to be discovered. My parents took me to Tofino many times as a child, and as I venture back there as an adult, the outward appearance may have changed a little, but the spiritual heart of the town never escaped me. Tofino is an absolutely picturesque, healing and calming place. It is located on the tip of Vancouver Island, and […]

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I had house guests this past weekend. They arrived late Friday afternoon, and flew out Monday morning. One is my cousin, whom I don’t see very often, but grew up with and have always been close to. The other is one of her girlfriends. They live in a small city in Alberta and had both been to Vancouver once, as children, and didn’t really remember any details. They came for a “Girl’s Weekend Get-away”, leaving their partners and children behind. It was my birthday last week and I had planned a night out on Friday, to celebrate with several of […]

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After spending four years going to school at the University of Victoria, I would like to share with you a little bit of “city information” regarding the live music scene in Victoria. I’d like to talk mostly about classical, but also about jazz and pop. While I was attending UVic, I was pursuing a degree in Classical Voice Performance. Every Friday, the Phillip T. Young Recital hall hosts a “Friday noon-hour concert series” featuring younger and older Undergraduate or Masters students alike. The recital starts at twelve noon, and is by donation. Many instruments are featured like violin, cello, string […]

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The Children’s Festival is coming!  Located at Vanier Park, on the shores of English Bay in Kitsilano, it runs for a week starting the Monday prior to the May long weekend, and ending on the Victoria Day holiday Monday.  This year (2010) it’s May 17 – 24.  The website is www.childrensfestival.ca  I’ve been taking my daughter to the festival since she was two years old, and she just turned eight.  We usually buy tickets to a show, which is the best deal because the admission price to the site is included.  We’ve paid just the gate admission a couple of […]

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If you have only one day, or even one afternoon to spend in Vancouver, go to Stanley Park.  It is one of the largest urban parks in North America, with 1,000 acres of woodlands, gardens, trails, flowers, lakes, beaches and wildlife. I’ve lived one block off of Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park for the past seven years.  “The park is like our backyard” is a common saying among apartment-dwellers in Vancouver.  In our case, we live by this statement.  Even in the winter months, we regularly walk around Lost Lagoon to see the different animals and birds.  We also go […]

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