North and South Pender combined may only be 36.6 sq. kilometres – but trust me – lots of attractions are crammed into these compact islands. Start with three marinas, one marine park, three public docks, and abundant bays and nooks for daytime anchoring. Then add accessible hiking opportunities; nearby campsites if your cockpit is spilling [...]
For quiet hikes or island walks without seeing a soul, for pocket beaches perfect for swimming, for delving into island history, for checking out flora and fauna, for beautiful scenery and gorgeous beaches, or for just lazily relaxing at anchor, there are all kinds of reasons to visit Portland Island. Long a popular day or [...]
The Global Forest by Diana Beresford-Kroeger Publisher: Viking Price: $32.50 hardcover ISBN: 978-067-002174-1 Page count: 192 pp. Size: 5 ½ x 8 ½ Released: May You could call them essays, or you could call them refrains, as this Irish born author does. In the introduction to her forty mini chapters on a sylvan theme, she [...]
BC Bookworld Review – In the Fabled East, Adam Lewis Schroeder (Douglas & McIntyre, $29.95) Review by Cherie Thiessen Myth and Mayhem It’s the subject of many a myth and story – the search for eternal life and Shangri La. Sure, it’s hackneyed, but it still sucks us in, especially in the hands of a [...]
BC Bookworld Review – The Moon’s Fireflies, by Benjamin Madison, Published by Oolichan Books, $18.95 Review by Cherie Thiessen Some things, like Cabernet Sauvignon, need time to develop their flavours. Madison feels that way about his first anthology of short stories based on his life in Africa over twenty years ago. We often take years [...]
We can never figure out why boaters don’t spend more time at Saturna’s Winter Cove. It’s packed every July 1st, during the annual lamb barbecue, but a day later most anchors are hoisted up and vessels depart, their crew never having really experienced Saturna’s charms. Perhaps it’s because the cove seems quite remote, with the [...]
For Traveler Magazine Question: How do two ‘girlfriends’ celebrate their 60th birthdays? Answer: Well it obviously has to be naked bungy jumping or whitewater rafting. Given our age, the latter seemed a kinder option for all involved. When it comes to slamming into 2 storey waves and getting sucked down, chewed up and spit out [...]
(Second rights – www.TravelWritersTales.com, www.touristtravel.com, and www.wavejourney.com, March, 2009.) In the old days we knew it as Lord Jim Resort, a collection of chalets and cottages on a pretty part of British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, picturesquely named Halfmoon Bay. We would drop in for a decent meal overlooking the sea, or sometimes we would sail [...]
First appeared on Virgin Airlines’ Website, 12/03/09. Whale watching, jet boat mail delivering, sand dune scaling, misty meandering on empty, wave thumped beaches, or swallowing ‘razors’ at surfside restaurants – it’s impossible to tire of Oregon’s 286-mile coastal strip. We’ve been trundling along here for over 30 years and still haven’t left our footprints on [...]
(First appeared on the website www.wavejourney.com, and longer story at www.transitionsabroad.com) Quebec’s Magdalen Islands, curled in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, have fascinated me ever since I learned of the Acadians in high school history. More commonly called Les Îles de la Madeleine by the Francophone majority, the islands are 95 km. [...]
