July 31 - August 3: Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a pretty special little slice of paradise. It feels like New England meets California. Salt of the earth meets eco-conscious progressive thinking. If only we had more time... (Allison apologies to her parents for not remembering anything from her last trip here 20 years ago. It does make the "re"discovery all the more special however :). Most of our love of this island is owed to Josh and Sarah who graciously lent us there house here south of Nanaimo on the east coast. A beautiful retreat sloping down to the lake below, we see why they spend as much time here as humanly possible.

We spent Friday exploring the east coast. Hazelwood's Herb Farm where they grow more varieties of oregano and rosemary than you could ever imagine. The town of Chemainus where murals revitalized a dying economy 30 years ago. The cutest little fishing village of Cowichan Bay where we met a couple who ran a pottery studio and fishing company. Nader fantasized about trading in his tech job for their gig... Allison's down with the idea, but first we need to learn how to fish :). We then tested out a few of the local vineyards. Ranking highest on the personality scale and lowest on the taste scale was Divino Wine Studio. After we convinced him that we were worthy of tasting his wines, he proceeded on a 20 minute diatribe on the virtues of drinking red wine cold, why he didn't actually make his wines for sale, and something about his bazooka that we couldn't quite catch. Our day ended with a beautiful home cooked feast from our local adventures of the day -- complete with blueberry grunt for dessert in honor of the fact that we're missing summer in Dublin, NH this year.

Saturday we ventured across the island (via a beautiful drive through Cathedral Grove) to the West Coast. We had a great walk along the coast near the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve before checking out the surf town of Tofino where we loved the work of Roy Henry Vickers that we found in a local gallery. Driving back we saw a baby bear right by the side of the road!

Today - Sunday - happened to be the opening ceremonies for the North American Indigenous Games which are being hosted this year by the Cowichan Valley so we headed into nearby Duncan to check them out. With 6,000 athletes traveling from all over North America (100 canoes arrived from Alaska!) it was an amazing experience to be a part of. And now, as the sun begins to fall behind the mountains we're sitting outside at the Crow and Gate - Josh and Sarah's local pub - which, like everything else in this part of the world, is simply wonderful. Check out the pictures to see for yourselves. Tomorrow we're off for a day in Vancouver before the real driving begins. North, north north we go.