Vacation
 

Well, I'm finally taking a vacation (Come to think of it, I've never taken one!) We have the flights booked to Vancouver, we are renting a car, getting on the ferry and heading over to the island. Any must see's that I should know about? :biggrin: Keeping in mind I've never been there before (Or to the ocean).

Walter

I liked Buchart Gardens and miniture world

I like swans in victoria. Its a hotel and bar/restaurant with excellent beer brewed in house.

Otherwise, the island is too full of hippies for me. :P

Just joking. But when I was there, I didn't do much except go to school...

You might want to do the drive up to Long Beach and stop by Cathedral Grove on the way. Great scenery for those who haven't experienced it.
I head up that way fishing almost every weekend in the spring and summer and still after all these years enjoy the trip.

If you're up for a drive, get to the west coast beaches (Tofino, especially). A whale-watch is a fun day if you find the time; even if you don't see any whales, you're out on the water and that's nice.

botanical bay is absoulutley amazing, tons of rock pools, filled with starfish,urchins, everything! one of the best places i have ever been. Dr.seungs (sp?) are also worth a look, but thats in vancouver.
Dont forget all the fish stores, like you would :-)

Tom R's fish tank :P It's a local treasure.. hahahha... kidding...

Must see:
Vancouver Aquarium (I heard Big Al's has better selection but you should go anyways)
Stanley Park (pretttyy! and the scenery isn't bad either)

Must eat:
Guu with Garlic (Japanese tapas)
Mondo Gelato (just fun and good, make sure you sample ALOT)
Samba Brazilian BBQ (all you can eat meat carvery)

Must Visit:
the millions of local Fish stores... very good... we have iunformation in our forum

Id say head up to tofino and go sea kyaking.

If you are planning on going to the Nanaimo area, it's worth the extra drive north to the Horne Lake Caverns (it's about 1 1/2 hours). They have quite a few options depending on how daring you are. We went last summer with 2 kids (8 & 10) and I'm not a thrill seeker at all and took the Family tour. You don't have to be super athletic, but probably should be comfortable in confined spaces. The best part is there are no creepy crawlers in the caverns. Bring your digital camera, you can take awesome pics in the caverns. Check out their website for more info.
http://www.hornelake.com/

We've been to the Island quite a few times, and there are lots of great things to see, but this was the highlight of our last trip. Afterwards we drove through Cathederal Grove and to Port Alberni. From there you can keep driving to Tofino (we didn't go this time). If you've never been to the West Coast, I would recommend going to Tofino/Long Beach as well, as it's quite different from the Vancouver shoreline.

watch out for the tsunami warnings... they have no way to warn you other then have their volunteer fire dept. run door to door. and their saftey zone is in the elemetry school which is a whole 48m above water lever. what is it now, 2 or 3 earthquakes off of california in the past day? but no effect yet on van island. but if people start running, head for the hills, my friend! unless you wanna live with the fishys.