10 highlights from our awesome trip to Vancouver Island

Like so very many of the best holidays do, our recent fortnight on Vancouver Island sped past at the speed of light. What had been diligently saved and planned for over the course of many months, came and was done before we could blink - or so it felt. In reality, we filled our days wonderfully and crossed many entries off of our to-do list (though quite a few remain for future visits, which will no doubt include revisiting some of our new favourites again as well) and it's hard to cap today's post at just ten entries.

The weather during our trip was a bit of a surprise, as it rained profusely for some, or all, of just about every day that we were there. I might have expected as much in the spring, especially being smack dab on the Pacific Ocean with its relatively damp Canadian West Coast climate, but I didn't see it coming for the start of fall and will certainly keep as much in mind now when it comes to booking future trips to Victoria or elsewhere on Vancouver Island. As a result of the the fact that it was pouring kitties and puppies right, left and center, we didn't get to do as many outdoor activities - including outfit photo shoots - as we'd hoped for, but ultimately it was okay, because the damp weather just meant that we did more things inside (and still managed to get a few shoots, which I'll be sharing snaps from in outfit posts here throughout the fall).

Though vintage related going ons were a part of this trip, and we intentionally planned for the travel dates that we did so as to correspond on the Victoria Vintage Expo (see entry #10 below), this trip was not solely focused on buying for the Etsy shop or myself, in part because I wanted it (the trip) to be something of a breather from me from work and I'm very happy to say that it was (just as it was for Tony, who needed some respite from the long, exhausting workdays he puts in all year long as well).

Save for two days when I simply wasn't doing well enough on the health front to leave the house (one of which Tony had fun going fishing on), we were out and about everyday of the trip and saw, did and enjoyed various places and experiences on each of them. I'm sincerely impressed with how much we accomplished, while still feeling like we were relaxing and taking things at a manageable pace in the process. Though this trip wasn't as life altering for me as last year's journey to Calgary, I didn't go into it expecting it to be and was thankful for the fact that it felt like a proper, relaxing holiday.

That said, I certainly experienced some important thoughts and gained a clearer picture on how to move forward with juggling the demands of both my blog and Etsy shop, without (hopefully) doing (new) serious damage to my health. There had been some very worrisome warning signs and major flare-ups indicating that I was at risk of doing so towards the end of the summer, due to the insanely long hours and amount of physical work I was putting in on that front, plus the stress that was arising from that situation, so taking a break where we did couldn’t have come at a better time.

Even the rain couldn't dampen (pun intended :D) my spirits while we were on Vancouver Island and I'm so glad that Tony and I selected it as our holiday destination for 2014. I have fallen madly, head-over-heels with Victoria and the Island as a whole (to the point where, no joke, I'd happily pack up and move there today if such is possible, which it isn't for a multitude of reasons - but perhaps one distant day it will be) and can scarcely wait to get back there again on the double!

Until then though, I'll have fun reflecting on the many stellar memories we made during our 2014 vacation, very much including each and every one of the following ten activities, sights and experiences (which are in completely random order, not a top ten kind of list - it would be darn near impossible for me to do so, as I adored each one in so many ways!).

1. Whale Watching on the Pacific Ocean

This was one of the top activities that I'd been daydreaming of doing on the Island and I'm so grateful that it was able to happen, as I have a profound love of whales (and animals in general) and had never done so before. We booked our three hour long excursion with the well known Price of Whales company (in part because their boats offered smooth sailing and washrooms, both a must for me) and lucked out with the fact that we were on the water during one of the few sunny afternoons of our trip.

Though the sightings were a bit slow to come at first, around the half way mark we spotted a few minke whales, then as we got out even further into the gorgeous blue Pacific ocean, several majestic orca whales, a few seals, and for all of about two seconds, one endlessly adorable brown sea otter. The captain of the boat did a stellar job of keeping the required (it's the law) 100 yards from all of the ocean critters, but at one point an orca surfaced close to the boat of its own accord and when it did, Tony was able to capture the photo above. It was inspiring and immensely fun to see these intelligent, amazing animals up close and I will treasure the memory of my first whale watching trip for as long as I live.

2. Hanging out with history at the Royal BC Museum

And speaking of animals, back on dry land, during an especially rainy morning, we hightailed it to the wonderful Royal BC Museum, which I don't believe I'd been to in more than twenty years. One of the province's largest and best museums, it is a "must see" for any history, archaeology, or nature buff who happens to be in the area, as it houses a stellar mixture of historical exhibits, animal displays (including its famous woolly mammoth, which has been there for at least as long as I have memories of visiting the museum), and plenty of interesting sociological related exhibits, too. Naturally, I was especially smitten with the small historical costume and memorabilia wing, where I took (low light) snaps of several exhibits pertaining to the early and mid-twentieth century, including this beautiful pink 1940s maternity dress with matching accessories.

3. Attending my first live Russell Peters show

Tony was really on the ball, checking online for exciting local events every morning and in doing so one day, he discovered that there was going to be a Russell Peters comedy show that very evening. Tickets were still available, so he booked two for us on the double and we eagerly passed the hours until we we headed over to the Save On Foods Memorial Center to watch this world famous comedian work his humorous magic on the crowd. We've both been huge Russell Peters fans for many years now and always said we'd make it to one of his shows, if possible, so getting to do just that while on holiday was like an extra big cherry on top of the fabulous ice cream sundae that was our whole vacation. He was dynamite in person and I would definitely pay to see him crack up the audience again anytime!

4. Getting to travel on the ferry again

 

I love boats, always, always will, but despite living in a town with two large lakes, I hadn't had the pleasure of riding around on for many years now due to my health and it had been nearly sixteen years actually since I was last on a ferry, so the trip to and from Vancouver Island itself was definitely one of the highlights of this vacation for me. We had completely smooth sailing in both directions and even spotted a couple of whales wayyyyy off in the distance on voyage to the Island.

5. Visiting the Robert Bateman Centre Gallery

When I was a little girl my parents had a large, hardcover coffee table book of world renewed Canadian wildlife painter Robert Bateman's work which was indeed on our living coffee table for several years. It was through this tomb of phenomenally beautiful artwork that my lifelong love of Bateman's work was born and to this day, he remains my favourite Canadian - and wildlife in general - artist ever.

Visiting the Robert Bateman Centre Gallery, which is devoted to his work, was one of the top things I hoped to do in Victoria and it didn't disappoint in the slightest. Spacious rooms teeming with his paintings, sketches, and other creative works invite viewers to linger and even interact with them (through a specially designed app, as well as sound buttons you can press alongside many paintings to hear various bird sounds that correspond with a given piece of art), and cause one to happily reflect on just how incredibly blessed we are by nature and how we must do all that we can to preserve what remains of it for future generations.

6. Seeing the ocean in Parksville

Tony and I took some day trips to nearby towns and communities around Victoria, the furthest point of which was the incredibly pretty ocean town of Parksville, where we went thrift store shopping and explored two breathtaking beaches, which were made all the more lovely by the fact that fall's colour palette was beginning to return to the area. Parksville was my favourite location outside of Victoria itself that we saw and I really look forward to visiting again in the future (as well as exploring even further up and down the Island).

7. Antique shopping around the island

Skipping a photo here on purpose...I want to surprise you with lots of great new listings of what I bought on our travels in the shop as the year progresses! (I'm such a tease, I know! :D)

 Having last been on the Island when I was 14.5 years old, I'd not had a chance to go vintage or antique shopping there as an adult yet and was seriously eager to do so. While Victoria (and various other Island towns and cities) has some vintage stores, and they're all great, it was the abundance of antique stores nearly everywhere we travelled the knocked my socks off most of all. There are dozens of them on Vancouver Island and I only got to a small handful during our two weeks there.

As with antique stores everywhere, some have very reasonable prices, others are laughably expensive and a plenty fall in between the two. Luckily we hit a few that were quite well priced and I was delighted to score several items for the Etsy shop, as well as a couple of great treasures (such as a c. 1950s copper charm bracelet with mining themed/gold rush themed charms that I madly adore) for my own wardrobe/collection, too. Of all the places I've visited so far in Canada, I can confidently say that Vancouver Island has the largest concentration of antique stores I've ever seen in this country (and as such, I will definitely be returning their primarily for the purpose of sourcing and shopping likely many times in the future).

8. Feeding the harbour seals at Fisherman's Wharf

Without a doubt, seals are one of my all-time favourite animals, so when I learned that there was a group of that that lived in the waters of Fisherman's Wharf in Victoria, which the public was encouraged to feed, I couldn't hightail it down there fast enough to do so. In the rain (surprise, surprise! ;)) we did just that, buying $5.00 trays of small, whole fish to feed them from an onsite fish monger's shop. They were mind blowingly adorable, cute as can be, and very friendly. If I lived in Victoria, I know I'd be there every week feeding and visiting with them (and plan to do so on all future trips to Victoria). You can see another photo of the seals that I took here.

9. The amazing abundance of heritage and vintage housing & buildings

Just as Vancouver Island has the largest number of antique stores I've encountered in Canada, so too does it have - by a very long shot - the greatest volume of heritage and vintage houses and buildings (many of them dating to before 1900) I've had the great pleasure of seeing anywhere in the country. Victoria and the Island as a whole have done a tremendous job of preserving these architectural treasures and ensured that I had some gorgeous old school eye candy wherever I went throughout the trip. In fact, at once point Tony even said (and tweeted) that if I was a city, I would be Victoria (because of all the vintage and history to be had there), and I couldn't agree with him more. (The photo above is of the back side of the stunning Legislature Building in Victoria.)

10. Attending the annual Victoria Vintage Expo

Last, but unequivocally not last, one of the biggest standouts of our time on the Island was attending the annual Victoria Vintage Expo, which was held on both floors of the beautiful, historic Crystal Garden Conference center. The two day event brought in vendors and thousands of attendees from across Canada and the the United States, and was absolutely jam packed.

We were there when the doors opened at 4pm on Friday afternoon and didn't leave until shortly before they closed at 10pm that night. During that time, I worked at break neck speed to see ever vendor (I hope I didn't miss any!) and also took part in the fun little fashion show that they had, in which I won for the best accessories category, which was quite an honour.

As it was (yet again) raining that afternoon and we were soooo busy once inside the show, which was too crowded in most spots to take photos anyhow, we didn't get in an outfit shoot that day, but thankfully there were at least two photographers who had been hired to document the day and both of took my picture. Some of their snaps are up on the Victoria Vintage Expo Facebook page and that's where this image of me hails from. I truly adored this event, which was far larger and even better than I'd dreamed it would be and will definitely be returning as a customer, seller, or - most likely - both in future years.


{Orca whale photograph via Tony's Instagram, picture of me at the Victoria Vintage Fair via their official Facebook page. All other photos taken by me and shared on my Instagram.}

♥ ♥ ♥

As you can see, we did a lot in the span of just two weeks - and this isn't even a complete list by any means (two other fabulous highlights included attending opening night of a live performance of Pride & Prejudice at the Langham Court Theater and getting to go shopping in person at Forever 21 again for the first time since we lived in Toronto).


Some of the loveliest moments were also those when we were just walking or driving around the city, getting to know its history rich personality and many perks better, and I wouldn't have traded them for anything, as they really helped familiarize us with BC's capital and endear this sweepingly beautiful place to my heart all the more.

I don't have the slightest idea where we may venture off on holiday next year (assuming such is possible), but wherever it may be, you can bet that I'll have my iPhone at the ready, Instagram as we go, and post about it once we're home. Who knows, given how very much I've fallen madly in love Victoria, maybe we'll be making a repeat performance there (that would be A-okay with me!). :)