Favourite 2015 travel photos. Port Renfrew, BC. April 2015.
Rainy Day in Port Renfrew
Travel
A meal with a view
When I pulled into Sooke, BC, toward the end of my day long road trip around Vancouver Island, I knew I was in for something special. Down the hill from the main road through the town and perched just above the Strait of Juan de Fuca is the Sooke Harbour House. This award winning restaurant and hotel has long been on my bucket list, and when I knew I was going to be in British Columbia this past April, I arranged my plans around dining here, going so far as to make a reservation four months in advance.
I arrived a bit early for my reservation so I could wander around their picturesque property. After living through a winter unlike any before, it took some head shaking to realize I was standing in a fully in bloom garden in April.
A road trip to recharge
On my trip out west back in April, one of the things I was most looking forward to was a day long road trip around the southern part of Vancouver Island. All added up, I put about 350km on my rental car on a journey from downtown Victoria to Duncan and Chemanius along the east side of the island, then across the interior to Port Renfrew, before heading down the west coast to Sooke, before heading back to Victoria. My main concern leading up to the road trip day was the weather – the forecast had been calling for very heavy rain. But as I pulled out of Victoria early in the morning and made my way toward Duncan, the skies were almost perfectly blue. My first stop was at Malahat Lookout, about 30km outside Victoria to take in this outstanding view. Not a bad place to enjoy an early morning coffee.
A Vancouver craft beer crawl
One of the significant advantages of visiting a city for the second time is that it affords you plenty of time to dig into it much deeper. For my most recent visit to Vancouver, one of the things I wanted to explore was the thriving craft beer community on the west coast. On my previous trip there a few years back, I had a quick taste of west coast craft beer on a night at the Alibi Room. On this visit, although I had more in depth explorations planned, I found myself back at the Alibi for a couple of sampler trays and a delicious bison cheese steak. My favourite beers? In the first sampler tray (photo on the left), the Brassneck Staircase wit (beer on the far right) and the Four Winds pale ale (beer on the far left) were outstanding. In the second sampler (photo on the right), the Red Truck lager (left most beer) was a wonderful easy drinking sessional. Another Brassneck beer, the white IPA (second from right), was truly exceptional – a piney, citrusy mashup of a west coast IPA and wit. My multi-day Vancouver beer crawl was off to a great start.
Coal Harbour
Favourite 2015 travel photos. Vancouver, BC. April 2015.
Beaches, tacos and giraffe feeding
I am just back and shaking off jet lag from a second trip to the Pacific Coast in about a month. This past week in San Diego reaffirmed my affection for the west coast. From a personal perspective on this mixed work/vacation trip, the leisure portion of the week provided me and my wife a much needed breather and change of scenery. In only seven days, San Diego gave us what felt like two weeks of vacation. The west coast has always done that for me and this trip was no different.
Each day brought something unique and memorable. On one day it was a walk along Pacific Beach north of the city and a feed of fresh crab overlooking the ocean. Another day was spent at the San Diego Zoo where we got an opportunity to feed a giraffe, watch a polar bear swim up close, and wander among koalas. We ventured over to Tijuana, Mexico, and got a guided tour of the city including visiting a local market, walking along a beach just south of the Mexico-USA border, and sitting down for a lunch of tacos the likes of which I have never experienced before. Speaking of tacos, I had a feed of them every day and every which way – baja tacos, grilled fish, carnitas, al pastor, pollo verde, carne asade, conchita pibil. There was a fun night at a Padres game, some touring of the city of San Diego, a quiet morning in a rooftop pool, some more beach time over in Coronado, more than a bit of craft beer sampling, and a whole lot of R&R.
It was a splendid first visit to San Diego and to Tijuana, even if it is now causing me severe taco withdrawal.
Exploring more Vancouver public art
On a trip to Vancouver a couple of years back, I spent some time exploring public art around the city. I only scratched the surface of Vancouver’s large and diverse public art collection, so back in April with a few art maps in my hand, I set off for a few walks around the city. For me, this has become a “must do” when visiting a city for the first (or second, in this case) time. A walk around a city exploring public art has largely replaced gallery or museum visits for me. I like the combination of interesting modern art, hunting for it (even with a good map, sometimes it takes advanced detective skills to actually pinpoint its location) and doing that against the backdrop of neighbourhoods and sights that I might not have explored otherwise.
On an evening walk along the waterfront, I visited one of my favourite pieces of public art in Vancouver – the Olympic Cauldron outside the Vancouver Convention Centre. Even without the torches lit, it’s an impressive reminder of the 2010 Olympics which will always hold a special place in the hearts of all Canadians.
Soccer night in Vancouver
I was thrilled when the MLS schedule was released to see there was a Whitecaps FC match in Vancouver while I was visiting. After a long string of trips where I just missed out on soccer matches, this made it three in a row of visiting soccer cities and getting to see a match (Prague for a Sparta match and Rome for a Lazio match). On a picture perfect Vancouver evening, I made my way to BC Place. People were out early for the game and enjoying the sun just outside the stadium The only letdown was a malfunction in the retractable roof that kept the evening’s game from being played under a clear sky.
I was there for the doors opening so I could wander around the stadium and grab supper while watching warmups. BC Place is a beautiful place to watch a match:
Hiking around the seawall
One of the few benefits of flying west across the full breadth of Canada is that it gives you a natural early morning wake up call to help you make the most of your first full day on the other coast. Waking up well before daylight had the common sense to break, I readied myself for an only in Vancouver type of experience – a morning hike around the Stanley Park seawall. I picked up a scone and a coffee in the lobby of my downtown hotel and took a short cab ride to Stanley Park to start my hike. At about 6:00am, the skyline of the city was perfectly reflected in the calm waters of Coal Harbour.
Mile Zero
I usually write about my trips and experiences somewhat sequentially once I return home. But for one experience, I’m making an exception. I’m writing the bulk of this sitting in the lobby of the Fairmont in Victoria, but truth be told, I know I won’t finish writing it sitting here. I’m already blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay, and I don’t need a lobby of cruise ship passengers wondering why there’s a guy over in the corner crying into his iPad.
On this last day in Victoria, I headed out for a morning of urban and public art exploring. One of the last pieces of art on my walk was the sculpture of Terry Fox. It’s located at mile zero, the end of the Trans-Canada Highway. In a country like Canada, that in and of itself would be something to visit. But as I looked at the sculpture of Terry Fox I started to think about his Marathon of Hope and what it would have been like for him to make it to his point. Mile Zero. The entire way across Canada.
Bluenose Traveler 