If you’ve been to Wildplay Park in Whistler, I am sure you realize how much fun it is and now a new adventure park is opening in Victoria called WildPlay Victoria.

WildPlay Victoria will open on Wednesday, November 4th 2009 under a partnership with West Shore Parks and Recreation. It will feature the Monkido aerial adventure courses and the park will be located at 1767 Island Highway behind the Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre and next to the Bear Mountain Arena.

If you love adventure as much as we do, I am sure you’ll be the first in line to come to this new adventure park in Victoria.

Other Related Links:

Victoria Accommodations

Victoria Activities 

I often hear tourists complain that travelling to British Columbia is expensive and it is true to some extent but if you plan well, you can definitely save some money. A few ways to save money on your next BC trip are:

Plan Ahead- Atleast 2-3 months in advance (unless it’s a weekend getaway) or may be even 6 months if you are travelling from Australia, UK etc.

Allocate budget to activities you want to try and stick to it.

Book your flights early but wait  a week or two before booking your BC accommodations unless ofcourse you are travelling during peak seasons (or holiday season like Christmas vacation, Vancouver 2010 etc)

Instead of indulging in shopping spree, I try to stick to buying only souvenirs when visiting foreign lands.

Check out some other good resources:

Frugal BC travel

Save Money on your Journey

Money Saving travel Tips

15 Simple Travel Tips

Hope these money saving tips will make your next BC vacation easy on budget yet great.

Geocaching has gained a lot of popularity in British Columbia offlate especially among BC tourists and visitors. Geocaching is an outdoor activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called “geocaches” or “caches”) anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container (usually a tupperware) containing a logbook. Larger containers can also contain items for trading, usually toys or trinkets of little value. Geocaching is most often described as a “game of high-tech hide and seek”, sharing many aspects with orienteering, treasure-hunting, and waymarking.  

Recently BC’s environment ministry has announced their green geocaching inititative along with the British Columbia Geocaching Association (BCGA) and Project Blue Sky. They all are teaming up to launch a fun and environmentally friendly geocaching game to encourage provincial parks visits and celebrate the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Besides, check the details below, we also recommend, visiting:

BC Activities

Check out the details below: 

According to Environment Minister Barry Penner: This is an excellent opportunity to get outside and enjoy the adventure of geocaching, while experiencing our amazing network of BC Parks. It’s an exciting game that’s catching on all over the world and I am delighted to launch this geocaching innovation right here in B.C.

GeoTrek 2009 is a fun way to reduce carbon emissions and discover B.C.’s parks at the same time. One hundred caches will be placed in secret locations across the province for geocachers to discover. Approximately 50 caches will be hidden in BC Parks locations, and the other half will be hidden in urban locations. The GeoTrek 2009 geocache containers will be filled with special tokens, such as pins and collectible coins. Tokens will be from BC Parks, Project Blue Sky and the BCGA. Geocaching has become a popular outdoor treasure-hunting game enjoyed throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) units. Geocachers search for and locate hidden containers called geocaches and then share their experiences online. 

Participants are encouraged to enter their information on the Project Blue Sky website (www.projectbluesky.ca) to show how they reduced their carbon footprint by using green transportation methods to find the geocaches. Project Blue Sky, which was launched by Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes and students from the Centre for Digital Media in Vancouver, uses the latest in online digital tools to motivate people to take steps to fight climate change through increased physical activity and sustainable travel. Project Blue Sky’s ultimate goal is to collect one billion kilometres worth of carbon-cutting contributions before March 2010.  Geocachers can find co-ordinates for the caches from the BCGA’s website (www.bcgeocaching.com) or they can link up to the BCGA website through BC Parks website (www.bcparks.ca). Geocachers are encouraged to view the BC Parks geocaching policy to ensure their participation occurs in a manner that respects the natural values of B.C.’s provincial parks.

Good News Skiiers and BC tourists!

Did you hear about new flights to Sun Peaks, British Columbia?  WestJet is introducing new flights to Sun Peaks, BC.  Starting Nov. 1, WestJet Airlines will expand its service to nearby Kamloops and Sun Peaks with a Vancouver flight connection. The new service will have WestJet departing Kamloops at 10:45 a.m. each morning, arriving at Vancouver International Airport at 11:41 a.m. For skiers heading to Sun Peaks, the flight leaves Vancouver at 12:30 p.m., arriving in Kamloops at 1:19 p.m.

I am excited about these new flights because it means more time for skiing and less time stuck on the road (in the winter traffic.) The new WestJet schedule also changes the times of the Calgary-Kamloops flight to allow an easy connection for passengers departing from Toronto at 7:15 a.m. The aircraft connects through Calgary at 10:05 a.m. and arrives in Kamloops at 10:12 a.m., allowing skiers and snowboarders to be on the slopes of Sun Peaks that afternoon. The return flight departs at 2:00 p.m. daily, and will arrive in Calgary at 3:57 p.m.

Oh and we all have had our share of facing chaos and bad service at Kamloops airport. This winter, the Kamloops Airport terminal expansion will take place to better handle the increased volume which comes with the additional WestJet flights into the region.

If you haven’t planned your winter Ski trip yet then do it today. Visit: BC Travel Guide

Other Related Links:

Accommodations British Columbia

Top 5 ski resorts in BC

West Jet Flights to Sun Peaks
 

I always wondered if there is a way visitors and BC residents can meet Canadian Vancouver 2010 and was excited to come across the news about 2010 Canada Pavilion which will showcase Canadian Athletes, Culture and Unique innovations. This will be a great platform through which common man will be able to meet award winning athletes and show their support.

See some of my favourite excerpts from the press release below:

The Canada Pavilion will be a focal point for Canadian fans and international visitors attending the 2010 Winter Games. It will tell Canada’s story to the world, by helping visitors learn more about Canada’s unique culture, heritage and innovations.

This Pavilion will help to leverage the economic opportunities that come with hosting a major international event and it will promote Canada as an ideal business, investment and tourism destination. This Pavilion will give Canadian fans a place to meet our athletes, show their support and have a chance to get some autographs.

Fans will also have an opportunity to learn more about the Own the Podium program and the support our Government is giving to help our athletes succeed in 2010.

Centrally located at Vancouver’s LiveCity Downtown Celebration Site, the Pavilion will demonstrate Canada’s commitment to creative excellence, sustainable development and fostering diversity with informative and innovative content that is sure to make Canadian’s proud. The 2010 Games will inspire Canada’s young people to get active in sports and live a healthy lifestyle. The Pavilion will provide an opportunity to learn more about Olympic and Paralympic sports and help them to choose the activity that’s right for them.

The Government of Canada is investing $10 million to build a world class Canada Pavilion which will help market Canada to the world. A formal process to obtain proposals from companies interested in designing, building and operating the Canada Pavilion will be initiated by the Department of Canadian Heritage.

To see the whole story, go to:  2010 Canadian Pavilion

 Okanagan Fall Wine Festival is one of it’s own kind and the largest Fall wine Festival in North America, therefore a must visit for all wine lovers. This year Okanagan Fall Wine Festival  is being celebrated from October 1st to 11th, 2009 across 92 wineries in the Okanagan. The Okanagan wine Festival society is gearing up to organize and host about 150 different events.

Some of the events, I am looking forward to include:

1. Valley First Credit Union Grand Finale Consumer tastings on October 9th and 10th 2009 at Penticton Trade and Convention centre (273 Power Street). This is one of the largest event with over 60 wineries present and over 240 wines to sample. The ticket includes: enjoyable live entertainment, souvenir wine glass, all your wine tasting, bread and cheese and a free taxi ride home. This is a great event for those trying wines for the first time as well as those who want to expand their wine knowledge.

The advanced tickets are priced at $50/person. Call : 877-763-2849 to get your tickets today.

2. An evening of Fine Italian Cuisine and the wines of Tinhorn Creek on Thursday, October 1st 2009. The Villa Rosa Ristorante voted Best Italian Restaurant 9 years in a row. Each year during Wine Festival, there is a series of extraordinary multiple course menus, paired with the exceptional wines of the Okanagan’s finest wineries. You can experience all the rich flavors of authentic Italian food and full bodied wines. To enhance the evening winery representatives from Tinhorn Creek will be on hand to introduce each wine and answer any questions that you may have, as each course is being introduced.  To get tickets, call: 250-490-9595 and the tickets are priced at $99.95/ person  

3. Not everything has a price attached to it. Some events are free. Join fellow residents and tourists at the breathtaking Greata Ranch, located just south of Peachland, for wine tasting and a lovely artwork show and sale from well known Okanagan Artists Louise Lambert, Julia Trops, Rebekah Wilkinson and Charlotte LaFleur, Saturday and Sunday October 3 & 4, 10-4 pm (or 6 pm). For more information, email: julia@juliatrops.com

4. Enjoy fall Sampler plate at Little Straw Vineyards Estate Winery on October 6th, 7th and 8th 2009 from 11.30 am to 2.30 pm. Take time from your hectic wine touring to savour the flavors of fall. Relax on Little Straw Vinyeyards Estate Winery’s spacious deck with a glass of one of  newest releases and  “Fall Sampler Plate” as you gaze out over the vineyards and lake . Later take a look at local artist’s work featured in the gallery. For more information, call: 250-769-0404.

5. All you need is Cheese and the Rhone Ranger scheduled for Monday, October 5th 2009 at Manteo Resort from 6.30 to 8.30 pm. The tickets are priced at $40.00/person and can be bought at Ticketmaster.ca or by calling 250-860-1470. At this event, the guests will be able to evaluate variety of wines from the Rhone region of France grown and produced in the Okanagan Valley. These will be paired with fine Canadian cheeses like long aged Cheddars, mixed rinds, Aged Gouda along with a few unique Blue Cheeses. Wines will include Syrah/Shiraz, Viognier, Mourvedre and Grenache to name a few.

For more information, visit: Okanagan Fall Wine Festival

Related Links:

Okanagan Wineries

Okanagan Accommodation