August 25, 2018

With so many fabulous places to visit on our doorstep here in Vancouver we headed out to Vancouver Island for another long weekend in June while my mum was visiting from Australia.  This time our destination was the seaside village of Torfino which is on the south western side of the island!  In summer it is a big surf town, while in winter it is where the storm watchers head to see the wild weather that batters this side of the island.

We stayed in a great little place called Duffin Cove Resort which was right at the far end of town as you drive through.  We had one of the cute waterfront villas that was super cute with a loft bedroom for the kids and a king bed and mini kitchen downstairs!  We were right on the water so the kids could play on the rocks while we sat on the deck and watched the sun set.  

We also did a bear watching tour which was loads of fun.  We jumped on a zodiac with just 8 others and were wicked up the inlet to see the bears coming out of the forest to feed on the rocks at the waters edge as the tide went out.  It is always so fabulous to learn more about these animals and the way they live.

We ate at some fabulous restaurants the favourite being The Wolf in the Fog.  We finished the weekend with a quick trip back through Victoria so we could show mum the capital of British Columbia.  We visited last year so we stopped at our favourite asian restaurant in Chinatown for a quick meal before doing a driving tour of this little city.

It was then back on the ferry homeward bound after a fun 3 days away.

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August 23, 2018

The festival of 50 continued with a relaxing and fun weekend away with my gorgeous Vancouver girlfriends!  We decided to head out to the beautiful Gulf Islands which are off the coast of Vancouver between the mainland and Vancouver Island.  There are so many beautiful islands to visit here in British Columbia but as our request was for somewhere that we could go for just the weekend with a spa and accomodation of 8 of us we found the perfect place was Poets Cove on Pender Island.

We caught an early morning ferry from Tswassen which is 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver and after a quick ferry change at one of the other outlying islands we arrived on Pender 90 minutes later.  The Gulf Islands are scarcely populated and have beautiful countryside so it really does feel like you are escaping thing city.  

Once we arrived at Poets Cove we had a quick lunch before it was time for us all to hit the spa for the afternoon where we enjoyed facials, massages and a soak in the hot tub!  Bliss.

We had rented two, 2 bedroom villas for the night so we had loads of room to spread out.  On day 2 we took off for a short hike after breakfast and then it was back to relax for lunch before heading back to our afternoon ferry back to the mainland!  Such a lovely escape with my gorgeous girlfriends!

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August 21, 2018

In April I celebrated a big milestone birthday and I had always said that for my 50th I wanted to go to New York and as luck would have it NYC is a lot closer when you are living in Vancouver!  We were lucky enough to visit NYC with the girls last July so this trip was just for Mr A and I!

We stayed at the Public Hotel in Soho which was fabulous.  Rooms are not big but that did not matter when there was just 2 of us.  We ate at The Butchers Daughter and Bukkadan, visited roof top bars, went to see Hamilton on Broadway and walked for kilometres and kilometres just absorbing the city in once more.

As always so many photos so here are my favourites!

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August 9, 2018

Every spring a number of Tulip farms in the outskirts of Vancouver hold an annual tulip festival to show off the rows and rows of beautiful blooms that arrive once the cold winter starts to turn to spring!  

A group of us decided to head out to see it for ourselves and we were not disappointed.  The festival is held in Abbotsford about an hour east of downtown Vancouver!  If you do head out remember to take your gum boots as the ground is pretty soggy but definitely worth a visit if you are in town late April/early May.

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August 4, 2018

The Spring Blossoms in Vancouver were magical this year and provided the perfect back drop for Sienna and I to have some fun!  It is always a waiting game to get the correct week when everything blooms as the weather hits the perfect temperature, but when they do it is just so beautiful to drive the streets and find the blooms out in force!  

The beauty of living in this part of the world that experiences 4 distinct seasons is just so incredible and one of the pure delights of living in Canada!

Enjoy!

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