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If you're planning a West Coast trip this summer, why not check out pristine, wild Ucluelet?
USA Today has named Pacific Rim National Park one of the best things to do in British Columbia - and if you haven't explored its large network of trails, rainforests and beaches that stretch for miles on end, you owe it to yourself to visit!
The beautiful spring weather we have had lately inspired me to get outdoors, so recently I made my way up to Pacific Shores to take advantage of the kayaking on beautiful Craig Bay.
Craig Bay is the the best bay for beginner kayakers, with its calm waters and soft tides!
I brought along my friend and seven-year-old son. Fortunately my last minute request still allowed us to get a double and a single at Pacific Shores!
Continue reading "Inspired to get outdoors - to Pacific Shores!" »
Have you ever been on a float plane?
Ever been curious about seeing Victoria from the air in a float plane? Now you can!
Click here to see what taking off in the float plane from Victoria's Inner Harbour on a beautiful sunny Island day is like.
Aren't we lucky to live this Island life?
- Crystal Auffray, Communications Specialist
Those of you who haven't known me for long are likely not aware that Marsha and I have a rather unusual hobby: we chase solar eclipses. We've actually been all over the world chasing eclipses.
(See http://web.me.com/geoduck/Travels/Travels.html for more on our previous trips - it will be a couple of weeks before I get the pictures for this trip out there).
This time we went to see the longest eclipse of this century - six minutes and 38 seconds. Of course you can't just go to the eclipse - you end up visiting other countries and sights along the way.
We started in Beijing. Ok, we started in Nanaimo. But after two planes, a Beaver on floats and a 737, we arrived in Beijing 20 hours later. The weather was awful but we had fun shopping.
We got on the ship and after a couple days at sea and a quick visit to the little volcanic island of Cheju, South Korea, we spent a day in Kagoshima, Japan.
Mostly this was in order to see the Sakurajima volcano. It was active, but other than a little sulphur smell and steam, we didn't see anything too major.
It's just as well, as a major eruption might have messed up our viewing of the eclipse. After seeing the volcano we were taken to the big mall for shopping.
It's amazing how malls are the same the world over. Even some of same stores; Starbucks, Laura Ashley, Tommy Hilfiger and such. And of course the mall had curling with children. Curling with children? A small cart is used instead of a curling stone, but the principle is the same as regular curling.
After a small child is set on a cart they (I'm assuming it was the parents who did this), participants tried to push the cart so it ended up on a target some meters away to win a prize.
Everyone was having a good time but to our eyes it seemed a bit strange. But then again, I'm sure that some of the things we do are rather strange to them.
A couple of days later we got to the eclipse site. That morning we circled Iwo Jima island. Those of you who remember your history know this was where one World War II's worst battles took place. What struck us was how tiny the island was. As one lecturer said, there were some 11,000 people per square mile on the island all trying to kill each other over a radar station that the United States wanted to put out of commission.
The eclipse itself was gorgeous. We had heard that other sites, Shanghai, Tokara Retto and others further inland had been having weather problems. Not us; it was severely clear.
The wind was calm and as a result the seas were glassy smooth. The view was spectacular.
After we took some pictures we had time to just sit back and enjoy the show. Six minutes and 42 seconds (we gained a few by steaming along the path of totality) is twice as long as any of our previous eclipses.
After the eclipse we sailed for Japan and spent a couple of days in Kobe. We went to Motomachi, the local shopping district where locals go for their regular needs. There were conventional stores, grocery stores, hardware stores and even a dollar store (ok, a 100 Yen store).
We thoroughly enjoyed wandering around and practicing our Japanese. The second day we toured Mount Rocco and the big sake factory. I'd never tried sake before.
To be honest I'm not a fan of hard liquor and other than a rather pleasant grainy finish, it was really too strong for me. Finally we got back to Tianjin, the big port near Beijing. On our last day we took a tour to the Great Wall.
This involved a three-hour bus trip each way, but it gave us a chance to see the countryside. There's a LOT of money being spent and everyone is working hard.
Buildings were going up all over the place connected by brand new freeways everywhere.
Third-world slums and shantytowns we'd seen elsewhere were nearly not to be found. The residents have mostly been moved into modern high-rise apartments.
We did get out into the country and saw lotus, soy, corn and vegetable fields and lots of ponds for raising fish.
We hiked around at The Great Wall, and as you might guess we didn't go all the way to the top. In the picture I'm in the fort at the base of this section of the wall.
The first tower isn't too bad, and just out of view at the top is the second tower. Then there are several more towers every couple hundred metres until you get to the top of the ridge. I made it to the second tower and that was really quite enough for me.
The rest of the way is just as steep, in some places even steeper. Also the stairs are all the same width. In order to accommodate the changing slope of the hill, the height of each tread has been adjusted.
Some of the steps were as little as six inches high and some were up to 14 inches high. The stairs aren't very evened out, so you'd get several eight-inch treads and then a 14-inch tread or several 12-inch treads and then a six-inch tread. This made climbing the stairs very tiring.
When we came back, we first had to get to the airport. Due to accidents, construction and other detours the three-hour bus ride became nearly five hours long.
Following the bus ride, there was an 11-hour flight back and finally another Beaver on floats to get back to Nanaimo and a cab home. It was a long trip, but it was a lot of fun.
Fortunately we don't do these every year. We'll skip the eclipse near Easter Island next year. At the moment we're looking at 2012 - that eclipse will be in Oregon, which is a lot easier to get to.
I doubt there will be Curling with Children, but I'm sure Oregon will have its own oddities. That's what makes it fun.
- Douglas Aalseth, IT Administrator
Who doesn't love a good contest? Especially one where you can win an all-inclusive week for 2 in Mexico!
Travelzoo wants to know how you've made your vacation spending go further.
Tell them in 500 words or less about your vacation stories and tips and you could be the lucky winner of a week's holiday for two in Cancun.
Are you Canada's Savviest Traveller? Click here for contest details. Good luck!
Thanks to Susan for putting this on our radar!
- Crystal Auffray, Communications Specialist
The longest solar eclipse of the century happened a couple days ago on July 22nd and you can check some amazing photos here.
I look forward to watching a solar eclipse like this from the completed rooftop gardens at Parkside Victoria. I'm sure it will be a breathtaking site (... and the eclipse will be a breathtaking sight).
- Simon Rose, Director of Talent
Check out the second photo album from the Marketing team's visit to Pacific Shores!
Click here to view.
- Crystal Auffray, Communications Specialist
Last week the Fort Street Marketing team was very fortunate to be able to take a trip up island to Nanaimo, where many of us met other members of the Aviawest team for the first time.
Thank you to everyone for your hospitality and for letting us sit in and see what you do every day.
We also visited Pacific Shores and experienced a tour of The Landing West Coast Grill and AquaTerre Spa. The newest member of the Marketing team, Sanem Ozkan, captured some of the highlights of the trip.
Click here to see the newest photo album on the blog showcasing Sanem's photography skills and the beauty of Pacific Shores!
- Crystal Auffray, Communications Specialist
Live Better: The Ultimate Traveler?
Maybe not the ultimate traveler but it would be interesting to see who has made it the farthest via latitude or longitude from Parkside.
Parkside's Latitude (48.4203635) and Longitude (-123.363594)
People who work for Aviawest are great vacationers. Some of the places that Aviawesters have touched down at are simply incredible. It is great to swap stories with co-workers and guests as it gives me some great ideas of where to head to next.
Check out http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html
The farthest places from Parkside I have been are:
North: Edinburgh 55.950176,-3.187536
South: Ecuador -1.486496,-78.006695
West: Shanghai 31.224353,121.475916
East: Zurich 47.369024,8.538033
Let's see who has seen the farthest reaches of this great big world... share your locations in the comment section.
- Simon