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Tourism Victoria’s Monthly Media Newsletter
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NEW ADVENTURES FOR BLACKFISH
On June 17, 2010, Blackfish Adventures will launch a new tour fit for a mariner. Launching from Victoria, BC’s quaint Fisherman’s Wharf, visitors are invited to climb aboard Blackfish’s 45-foot cedar strip vessel the “Aquitania”, modeled after the Edwardian Launches of the early 1900’s, and set sail for a tour marrying a little wildlife with a little history. The Lighthouse/Fort Rodd Marine Tour provides an opportunity to see marine wildlife enroute to Esquimalt Harbour. Upon arrival, visitors may disembark and explore Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site and Fisgard Lighthouse before re-boarding the Aquitania for the return sail to Fisherman’s Wharf. The 3-hour tour departs 5 times daily from June through September at 8:30 am, 10:00 am, 11:45 am, 1:30 pm, and 3:00 pm. For those wishing to make a day of it, guests are encouraged to visit Hatley Park National Historic Site, a 565-acre Edwardian estate containing the 1908 Hatley Castle and heritage gardens offering spectacular vistas overlooking the Esquimalt Lagoon and Juan de Fuca Strait to the Olympic Mountains in Washington State. Visitors choosing to hike to Hatley Park may choose take a later return sailing, if space allows or find alternative transportation back to downtown Victoria on their own, such as public transit or taxi. The Lighthouse/Fort Rodd Marine Tour includes admission to Fort Rodd Hill, Fisgard Lighthouse, and a two for one admission to Hatley Park National Historic Site. Tours cost $45 CDN / $43 USD for adults, $30 CDN / $29 USD for seniors and teens, $20 CDN / $19 USD for children. For more information visit www.blackfishal.com.
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ROYAL BC MUSEUM PRESENTS
From July 2 to August 28, 2010, the Royal BC Museum, in association with The Other Guys Theatre Company, presents an original theatre production celebrating the golden age of logging in British Columbia. Good Timber: Songs and Stories of the Western Logger is a musical revue set against a multi-media backdrop of rarely-seen imagery of BC’s old-time logging history. Inspired by ‘Rhymes of the Western Logger’, a compilation of logging camp poetry by Robert E. Swanson, Good Timber is an entertaining romp through a time when loggers climbed trees and often referred to themselves as the Bull of the Woods. The 90-minute performance will be presented nightly, Monday through Saturday, at 8:00 pm in the Royal BC Museum’s Main Hall. Tickets for Good Time: Songs and Stories of the Western Logger begin at $15.00 CDN/ $14 USD and are available online at www.otherguystheatre.ca or in person at the Royal BC Museum box office. For more information visit www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
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STOMP YOUR WAY TO RELAXATION
Brentwood Bay Lodge & Spa, located 30 minutes north of downtown Victoria and 10 minutes from the Victoria International Airport, offers guests the chance to discover the antioxidant benefits of wine from the inside out. Using their location in the lush Saanich Peninsula to their advantage, Brentwood Bay Lodge has teamed up with nearby Mussio Farms and Starling Lane Vineyards, to create Vino Therapy Services, for guests looking for a little fun with their relaxation. The only spa on Vancouver Island offering the chance to be rubbed and scrubbed from head to toe with local grapes, services at the spa include the Vino Stomp Pedicures, Vino and Honey Wraps and Scrubs, Vino Massages and the Vino Lover’s Couples Package. Prices for Vino Therapy Services start at $85 CDN / $82 USD, with all services accompanied by a glass of Starling Lane vino. Perfect for girlfriend getaways, a lover’s retreat or a little solo time to reconnect with oneself, Brentwood Bay Lodge & Spa offers eight treatment rooms and can accommodate 11 services at a time. For more information visit www.brentwoodbaylodge.com.
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TALKING ORGANIC IN VICTORIA, BC
On July 10 and 11, 2010, the 6th Annual Organic Islands Festival & Sustainability Expo will be held at Glendale Gardens and Woodland in Victoria, BC. As Canada’s largest outdoor environmental expo, the Organic Islands Festival will show visitors how to join the calling for a sustainable future by challenging all ages to “Engage the Change”. Local, natural, inspiring, hip products, and services will be on hand at the festival’s eco-marketplace. Visitors will find solutions for home, garden, body and soul, along with award-winning green businesses, local farmers, chefs and gardeners. There will be 150 exhibits as well as 20 speakers, green technology demos, raw food chefs, entertainment, and 10 acres of garden trails to enjoy. Admission will be $12.75 CDN / $12.25 USD for Adults, $10.25 CDN / $9.85 USD for Seniors/Youth 13-18, and children 12 and under are free. For more information visit www.organicislands.ca.
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AFTERNOON TEA FIRST NATIONS STYLE
Located in Duncan, 40 minutes north of Victoria, BC, the Quw’utsun’ Cultural & Conference Centre offers visitors insights into the history and heritage of the Cowichan Tribe, not only through art, storytelling, and song but also at their dining table. Overlooking the beautiful Cowichan River, The Riverwalk Café serves up authentic First Nations cuisine. Aside from other delicious traditional fare such as the Cowichan Kwewe’uts Salad, featuring pan roasted Elk escalope and seasonal berries and the Thuqi’ Burger, a char-grilled maple marinated Wild Pacific Salmon burger, the Riverwalk Café’s signature dish is their Me’hwulp, Salish Afternoon Tea. The Me’hwulp menu features S’hwulmuhwa’l Ti which is traditional native herbal tea served either iced or hot, to be enjoyed alongside other delicacies like Stsuyhw Sqetum, smoked and candied Salmon, ‘Eey’x Cakes, blue crab cakes and clam fritters and Sqw’il’muhw blackberry sweet scow bread & traditional fried bread to name a few. Salish Afternoon Tea is made to be shared between two people and is $24 CDN / $23 USD. For more information visit www.quwutsun.ca.
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A FESTIVAL TO SINK YOUR TEETH INTO
Vancouver Island cuisine and British Columbia wines will be centre stage as one of BC’s newest festivals, Taste: Victoria’s Festival of Food and Wine, celebrates its second year. Being held July 15 to 18, 2010, at venues throughout downtown Victoria and the Saanich Peninsula, Taste invites guests to experience local fare at 10 events featuring some well-known British Columbia food and wine personalities. These personalities will include Chef David Mincey, of Victoria’s Camille’s Restaurant and Executive Chef Brad Horen, of the Inn at Laurel Point’s Aura Waterfront Restaurant + Patio along with his Canadian Culinary Olympic team. The weekend kicks off Thursday July 15 with The Main Event, an evening of BC wine tasting along with samples of Vancouver Island cuisine at the Victoria Conference Centre’s Crystal Garden. Wine and food seminars fill the remainder of the festival agenda covering such topics as “The Cheese Stands Alone”, “Sips and Seafood”, “Chocoholics Anonymous” and “Band, Bubbles and Bennys” to name a few. A full listing of events, ticket prices and locations are available online. Tickets for all the events can be purchased on the festival website. For more information visit www.victoriataste.com.
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BEER-TORIA CELEBRATES A NEW BREW
A trio of Victoria area pubs, Bard & Banker, Irish Times, and Penny Farthing, in collaboration with local beer guru Matt Phillips have teamed up to pay tribute to one of Canada’s most prolific poets with a new brew. Often referred to as the Bard of the North, Robert Service, the one-time teller at BC’s first bank building, now home to Bard & Banker in downtown Victoria, is honoured with a Scottish stone-fired ale, said to reflect the heritage of the pub and Service himself. The new brew, named Service 1904, starts with an initial sweetness and hint of smoke ending with a taste that is crisp and dry. Visitors planning on making a stop at one of the Victoria Pub Company’s three hot spots (Bard & Banker, Irish Times and The Penny Farthing) during their stay in BC’s capital city will also have the opportunity to taste a multitude of local beers as all three locations offer the two-mile beer diet. A spin-off of the popular 100-mile diet, the two-mile beer diet features 10 beers brewed within 2 miles or less of their pubs. For more information visit www.bardandbanker.com, www.irishtimespub.ca, and www.pennyfarthingpub.com.
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VICTORIA ARTISTS EN PLEIN AIR
On July 17, 2010, over 100 artists will take to the street in Victoria, BC as part of the 23rd annual TD Art Gallery Paint-In. This is not a political uprising, but rather a community-based, art awareness and education event, that also happens to be Vancouver Island’s largest outdoor visual art event. During this fun-filled day, visitors will find artists lining Moss Street, between Fort Street and Dallas Road, bringing their studios to the streets to display and produce their work for all to see. The event provides an opportunity for visitors to see an enormous variety of local work in a wide variety of styles and mediums at one time and also the chance to talk to the artists themselves to learn more about their work and techniques. While admission is free, The TD Art Gallery Paint-In does offer the public the opportunity to purchase artwork direct from the artists. The main event takes place from 11:00 am – 4:30 pm, followed by dancing until 9:00 pm at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria to the sounds of Kumbia. A food and beverage garden is also open for the duration for the event. For more information visit www.aggv.bc.ca.
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