I recently enjoyed delving deeper into everything great about the City of Vancouver, the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Canada located on British Columbia’s west coast, with my article The Insider’s Guide to Vancouver for Cheapflights.ca.

With so many spectacular outdoor adventures, world-class dining and unique sightseeing options, we’re almost spoiled for choice when it comes to making travel plans in this vibrant city, and every local and visitor has their own opinions of what makes Vancouver great. My Cheapflights.ca Insider’s Guide to Vancouver offers some ideas on where to wine and dine, where to explore and where to let loose to help get you started planning your next trip.

Cheapflights.ca is Canada’s leading flight deals comparison site, helping Canadians locate great bargains on cheap flights, and offering travel guides, tips and news.

The weather was so warm yesterday that there were people swimming in Qualicum Beach as I cycled past. Lots of great places to stop and enjoy the ocean views. Lots of sea lions barking off-shore as they warm their flippers by holding them out of the water, ‘raise-the-roof’-style. Bald and Golden Eagles circling overhead as well, it’s an experience – check it out for yourself on their live web cam.

I love the paths that twist and turn through the forests and beaches of Rathtrevor Provincial Park. Crystal clear views of the coastal mountains and Salish Sea have been amazing lately. There’s a nice view from the Rathtrevor Beach Web Cam too.

Close to Rathtrevor Park is the Englishman River Estuary trails that follow the river through moss-covered second growth forest and along the edge of the bird-crammed estuary. I often come across  feeding deer on the river bank paths of  this carefully balanced natural ecosystem, learn more about the importance of the Englishman River Estuary here.

I love Englishman River and Top Bridge cycling trails, but I have a special place in my heart for the tiny paths that twist in and out of the forest beside French Creek. The trails aren’t the most challenging, but the peace and tranquility is pretty impressive – especially at dusk.

French Creek meets the ocean at French Creek Marina and my bike often rolls right up to the edge of the Salish Sea to watch fishing boats and passing wildlife.

Another view of the French Creek Marina. This is a great spot to storm watch, with great views of clouds billow up over Parkville’s Mount Arrowsmith on their way to the mainland.

Coming soon… photos of Parksville’s famous Top Bridge Regional cycling trail.

One of my favourite wacky annual Vancouver Island festivals (and there’s plenty!) is coming up on May 5^th as the Fire and Ice Street Festival returns to Qualicum Beach. The ‘Fire’ – local restaurants and businesses serving their best tasting chili to be judged by festival goers. The ‘Ice’ – block after block of ice being transformed into amazing carvings right in front of the crowds.

There’s something both strange and great fun about walking up and down the streets of the sleepy, quaint tourist town of Qualicum Beach, sampling chili after chili while watching accomplished and freshmen ice carvers creating artistic sculptures on the spot. Many travel from across Canada to complete in this sculpting competition.

This year, The Fire and Ice Festival Street Festival celebrates its 20^th anniversary and I’ll be front and centre to get all judge-y on other people’s chili recipes. I love buying the cute little paper cup and spoon ($3 includes all sampling) and traveling booth to booth to see what’s cooking. Some of the local restaurants and gung-ho businesses go all out, with extras like chili ‘topping bars’, biscuits, cornbread and mini bottles of hot sauce (which I adored, bring on the heat), while others just let their prized chili recipes do the talking. I’ve picked up some great tips on new chili flavours to experiment with at past Fire & Ice Festivals. But you only get one vote per year, and I do love finding my favourite.

There is always live music during the festival, with various stages showcasing local Vancouver Island talent and this year featuring Juno nominated jazz musician Bill Johnstone. In addition to the ice carvers stationed along the festival route, there will be ice carving demonstrations and prizes awarded for both ice carving and winning chilies.

This is a popular Vancouver Island event, with people traveling from Victoria, Vancouver and Washington to attend. Get there early to beat the crowds, 75 litres of chili per booth sounds like a lot, but it goes fast!

To learn more about the Qualicum Beach Fire and Ice Street Festival, visit their website here or check them out on Facebook here.

I’ve been lucky enough to be able to spend a lot of time outside on Vancouver Island this spring, both hiking and cycling along many of the trails around my area of Oceanside (Parksville, Qualicum Beach and surrounding area). The weather is warming up now, and the river banks, forests and sea shore are all looking much more alive than they did a few months ago. I took a few snapshots of what I discovered along the edges of a local off-road cycling path today.

The riverbanks have exploded with Faun Lilies in the past few weeks

Vancouver Island is the perfect location to grow a wide variety of flowers, but I can’t help but prefer what grows here naturally. I was surprised to do a little research on our local Faun Lily and discover that the Pink Faun Lily only grows on the Island, and nowhere on the mainland. Great source for information on the Faun Lily here on Our Big Earth.

The spring rain on the west coast brings out the big slugs

I had to hop off my bike to lift it over a fallen tree and came across a familiar but none-the-less interesting sight – a local banana slug climbing the tree, downed in a recent store. The Pacific Banana Slug is the second-largest terrestial slug in the world, and it’s a sight to be seen. I’ve always loved taking a closer look at these when I come across them, the camouflage colouring of the green variety, seen above and below, makes perfect sense for a slug who calls these local forests home.

Banana Slugs are native to the forest floors along North America's Pacific coastal coniferous rain forest belt (including redwood forests) which stretches from Southeastern Alaska to Santa Cruz, California

Can’t wait to see what I’ll come across next…

French Creek, now filled with the hatched and grown Chum Salmon of my last post about the Marion Baker Hatchery

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting my first Vancouver Island fish hatchery. I’ve known that these small hatcheries exist all over the Island, but had never taking the time to stop by one and discover exactly what’s going on inside.

When looking over Parksville and Qualicum’s annual Brant Wildlife Festival for April, I spotted three open house tours at French Creek’s Marion Baker Salmon Hatchery on the schedule. I’ve passed this tiny building nestled in the trees beside French Creek before on my way along the Miller Rd Community Park trail. It sits on the banks of the small waterway that runs down into the French Creek Estuary two kilometers away, where the creek meets the salt water of the Salish Sea.

Chum Salmon enjoying feeding time under the trees on the banks of French Creek

The tanks at the hatchery are currently filled with Chum Salmon, who will be released into the creek this week. Recently hatched Coho Salmon are waiting inside as they grow large enough to swim freely in the tanks.

I was both shocked and impressed to discover that the hatchery is volunteer-run, and has been since it was built with the help of the French Creek community in 1982. There is something really special and heart-warming about a west coast community selflessly giving their time to help keep our oceans stocked.

Lots of local visitors, families and visiting tourists stopped by to learn about the hatchery

During the tour, hatchery volunteers chatted with visitors about the life cycles of the Chum and Coho Salmon, that are raised here each year from egg to self-sufficient fish. They showed children how to feed the salmon, swimming in placid circles in tanks filled with the same creek water that the fish will soon be exploring on their own after being released.

The stages of Pacific Salmon's growth at the hatchery. The chum in the tanks were about the same size as the ones on display.

The Marion Baker Hatchery program works with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Parksville-Qualicum Fish and Game Association to follow the proper salmon hatching protocols and volunteers take considerable time and effort to raise over 200,000 salmon for release. This takes many hours of feeding, cleaning, caring for and monitoring the tiny salmon as they grow, and it’s a testament to the spirit of the people who live on Vancouver Island that this is how many chose to volunteer their time.

French Creek, where the hatchery salmon are released, and then swim down to the French Creek Estuary, before entering the Pacific Ocean.

Now that I have a better idea of what goes on in local fish hatcheries, I’m curious to see more, and will be keeping my eye out for future opportunities to both visit and get involved with watershed projects that keep our natural environment thriving.

To learn more about the tiny but impressive Marion Baker Salmon Hatchery, click here.

For more information about the annual Brant Wildlife Festival, visit their website here.