Explore BC

1 MONTH, 2 TEAMS, 1 EPIC BC ROAD TRIP: EXPLORE BC!

From June 22-July 22, we sent four bloggers around the province to experience many of BC’s iconic (and off-the-beaten-path) destinations and activities. And that they did! In four weeks, Team Eagle & Team Orca travelled 7,729 kilometres (4,802 miles), visited 67 BC communities and experienced countless BC activities. Plus, for every 10 new Facebook fans during the campaign, we pledged to plant a tree with Tree Canada. We were able to plant nearly 800 of them – thank you!

Curious about where our bloggers went and what they saw? Read on (& check out their photos!):

TEAM ORCA

Brendan and Rob visited the following communities:

Vancouver Sidney - photos Victoria - photos Cowichan Bay - photos Duncan - photos Nanaimo - photos Nanoose Bay - photos    Parksville - photos Ucluelet - photos Tofino - photos Qualicum Beach - photos Campbell River - photos Port McNeill - photos Alert Bay - photos Telegraph Cove - photos Port Hardy - photos Prince Rupert - photos Skidegate (Haida Gwaii) - photos Prince Rupert - photos Terrace - photos Stewart - photos Hazelton - photos Smithers - photos Burns Lake - photos Prince George - photos Quesnel Barkerville - photos Wells - photos Williams Lake Pemberton - photos Squamish - photos Vancouver

TEAM EAGLE

Dina & Ryan visited the following communities:

The Hell's Gate Airtram spans Fraser Canyon, a spectacular rocky divide cut by the Fraser River. We visited at a great time, as high water made for dramatic scenery, with white water churning below. The ride across was a little scary, but I was so distracted by the views that I hardly noticed. We visited at a lucky time as we could see salmon jumping along the fish ladder, heading upstream to spawn.

On a boat tour in Harrison Hot Springs, we were delighted to spot an osprey returning to her nest to feed her chicks. We couldn't see them at first, and they were quite still, but as the mother swooped in with a fish in her talons, they popped their heads up and started chirping, clamouring for their dinner.

It's cherry season in the Okanagan, and we've been eating fat, fresh, and delicious cherries every day! In Kelowna, we picked the cherries ourselves straight from the orchard. Much more fun and cheaper that way! Bring those cherries to the beach, and snack on them while relaxing under the sun. What a way to enjoy a lazy summer afternoon in the Okanagan!

Downtown Kelowna is beautiful. We enjoyed a nice easy stroll around the Cultural District. Starting at Stuart Park at the blue grizzly bear statue, we continued to the Japanese Garden, the museums, and the art walk. We munched some delicious Mennonite apple pie at the Log Barn, then walked along the wharf, saying hi to the legendary lake monster Ogopogo. Back in Stuart Park, we joined the locals in the Dancing in the Park event!

For the best view over Kelowna? Hike up Knox Mountain!

A great view of Penticton can be had from the top of Munson Mountain. It's easy to find: it's got "PENTICTON" written across it, like the famous Hollywood sign.

We had a short walk up the hill and were rewarded with a beautiful panorama over the vineyards and lake below.

We've had a lot of great meals in BC, but one of the standouts was our night at RauDZ Regional Table. We had a unique appetizer: Crab Capuccino. Low in caffeine, high in deliciousness. For a main course Ryan had an awesome steak, butter poached crab, & dry cured bacon burger.

We finished with the creme brulee and salted caramel ice cream (believe us, the taste is out of the world!), accompanied by locally-made raspberry liquors.

We recently stayed at a unique B&B in Penticton: Cormier Studio. The home doubles as an art gallery, stocked with interesting works by the owners, Kena and Lawrence. Every morning Kena makes an amazing breakfast using seasonal ingredients, served al fresco on their patio. During the day we saw deer roaming through the backyard, and at night we were treated to an incredible sunset.

Tubing is a summer institution in Penticton, BC and on a hot day the river channel between Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake is teeming with tubers. At the launch point, locals arrive with inflatable rafts, chairs, floating pool furniture, and of course tubes. Depending on the currents it can take a few hours to float to the end of the channel, just the right amount of time to polish off a 6-pack of excellent BC beer. 

There’s a shop that rents tubes, but we found it closed when we arrived. They said it was because of the impending thunderstorm, but the weather didn’t seem to faze any of the locals, who showed up in droves to drink, chat, laugh, and have fun all the way down the river.

Every week, God’s Mountain Estate hosts an alfreco vineyard dinner prepared by Joy Road Catering. Last week we were fortunate enough to spend our evening there, savouring innovative locally-sourced foods (Hay-baked ham, anyone?) matched with delicious wines.

Joy Road’s chef Dana’s love for slow, local, seasonal foods showed through in every dish. With each course she explained not only how the dish was cooked, but where the ingredients came from, who grew them, and why she chose them. It added a whole new dimension to the experience.

We stopped at a fruit stand by the highway and picked up some beautiful local cherries, then went to Sun Oka beach on Okanagan Lake. We lazed on the sand all afternoon, enjoying our delicious fruit and soaking up the sun.

In Burns Lake we were taken on an activity that was right up our alley.  We were hauled up a hill and guided down an amazing downhill mountain bike course.  Although I'm sure we could have taken it easy, that's not really our style.  We flew down the mountain, ripping around the berms and popping air over any sort of bump we encountered.

Massive props are due to the local initiatives in Burns Lake for setting up something like this.  The trails are world class and, best of all, they are all open to the public free of charge.  If you're into adventure sport, be sure you check out the downhill mountain biking possibilities in Burns Lake.

I’m an avid angler who has fished in countless countries. The Chinook Salmon fishing that went down the other day on the Kitimat River outside Terrace was world class. The lodge we stayed at had guests from as far away as Cape Town, South Africa. This is a video of yours truly catching a Chinook near the end of the day. I said in the video “this is the best fishing ever” and I truly meant it. If you love fishing, try and get yourself out to Terrace sometime, you’ll thank me.

Brendan and I had the pleasure of spending a night in Barkerville Historical Town. Unlike many gold rush towns that have spawned and swiftly disappeared, Barkerville is still thriving.

Many of the original buildings are left intact and the entire place is like a time warp to a past era. Everyone that works there is dressed traditionally and comports themselves in such a manner. It was cool to explore for a day and we stayed at the St. George’s which used to be a saloon and more. It’s a unique place and worth a visit if you'd like a glimpse into the past of the region.

By far, our favourite thing we did in Osoyoos was hiking to the top of Kobau Mountain. Why? Because it's spectacular up there! Shrub-steppe at the bottom, mixed with pine forest and alpine flower meadows on the top. The view to Osoyoos city and the unique Spotted Lake with mountains and valleys as far as you can see are breathtaking.

1873m high, you don't have to hike all the way from the bottom. We drove our Toyota Prius pretty near to the top, parked there, and had a leisurely 30 minute  hike to the top. We made a lot of stops observing the flowers along the way. We spotted some I haven't seen anywhere else!

We didn't see anyone else on the mountain that day, which made us love it even more: it was like having the whole world to ourselves!

We saw a superhero floating in the air above Osoyoos Lake! What, super hero?!

Oh wait, it's just an ordinary human! Oh well... but he is still really cool, floating around with water jets like that! I think I'd be too scared to do that! The thing is called a Flyboard, by the way. Crazy stuff! I wonder if it is difficult to stay straight up, or the device makes it easy to do so.

Well, even though we didn't try Flyboarding, we still truly enjoyed the beautiful Osoyoos Lake. There are a lot of beaches you can frolick on. Above, you can see me enjoying the beach at Haynes Point, a peninsula in the lake that's also very popular for camping.