Bikes and Brews – Victoria, BC

waterfront at Victoria with Empress Hotel Bikes and Brews in Victoria, BC

The venerable Empress Hotel dominates the waterfront in Victoria.

Delicious sunshine makes this the perfect day to explore this beautiful city on two wheels. I set out to see if Victoria, British Columbia lives up to its moniker of most bike friendly city in Canada. Just a short block from the harbour with its iconic views of the provincial parliament buildings and the Empress Hotel, Shawn, one of the owners of The Pedaler, fits us out with comfortable bikes and mandatory helmets. And we’re off on our tour. Continue reading

Gone Fishin’ – Knight Inlet, British Columbia

Float lodge view Knight Inlet British Columbia - Gone Fishin'

The view from our float lodge in Knight Inlet

Every fibre of my being is focused on the flash of silver leaping out of the water. The fish is desperately trying to spit the hook, to break the line inseparably linking us.
I’m thinking Hemingway: the old woman and the sea? Continue reading

How do you like them Okanagan apples?

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

That expression is more than 150 years old and apparently originated in Wales, which once grew more than 200 apple varieties! Sounds like a good marketing scheme to me, especially given the less than savoury reputation the fruit got courtesy of Adam and Eve. Continue reading

Richmond, BC – A Dip into Asia

Richmond Night Market Richmond BC

The colourful, delicious Richmond Night Market is a must for visitors

Few cities in Canada can boast a true immersion experience into another culture. I don’t mean the gentle toe-dip into Little India or Greektown in Toronto, or the mild submersion of Vancouver’s Chinatown.

Richmond, BC takes one into the underwater depths of an extraordinary ethnic ocean. Several Asian traditions – China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Viet Nam, etc – flourish in this multicultural lagoon. Continue reading