If you ask around, people will tell you that their daffodils are starting to poke up. Crocuses are peeking out from underneath the cold, wet soil. It’s a time that signifies the beginnings of a new season, of awakenings. It’s time for spring.

And spring is especially miraculous on Vancouver Island. We bid a fond farewell to the nasty weather and welcome the whales, the bears and the birds as they migrate back from warmer skies and waters and wake from their winter slumbers.

There’s no time or place quite like it. That’s why we’re inviting you to shake off the cobwebs, pack up your family and enjoy these three adventures at Vancouver Island’s Special Places.

Itinerary 1: Victoria eco-adventure

Experience magnificent Orcas up-close and personal during a trip to beautiful Victoria BC. April and May offer exclusive opportunities to encounter resident and transient pods as they swim the waters near Southern Victoria. Brentwood Bay Resort & Spa is the perfect place to begin your week-long itinerary with their 2 night eco-adventure bed & breakfast package, featuring two nights in a luxurious OceanSuite, a gourmet 3-course breakfast for two each morning and a $100 certificate toward any eco-adventure activity.

Humpback Whale (Juvenile) breaching Barkley Sound

Itinerary 2: For the birds

On the Comox River Estuary, Trumpeter Swans number in the thousands over the winter months. The majestic creatures, each standing up to four-feet tall with wingspans of seven feet, nest over the winter, heading to the extreme North of BC and Alaska during the summer months for breeding.

Brood of Trumpeter swans

As the swans depart, the rare Brant Geese make a stop to rest in Parksville & Qualicum Beach during their annual migration from their winter habitat in Baja, California to their breeding grounds in the Arctic.

Experience the annual migration in style at the Beach Club Resort in Parksville. The Stay™ | For Spring package invites guests to book before April 30^th (to stay between April 1^st and May 31^st) and save up to 15% on multiple nights’ accommodations.

Itinerary 3: Land and sea wildlife adventure

For our final leg of the journey, we join the whales again up North, this time joined by their cetaceous cousins, the Grey and Humpback whales. At Clayoquot Wilderness Resort, an amazing adventure in the wilds of Vancouver Island awaits. Horseback riding, whale watching, grizzly tours, this week long getaway is as wild as it gets.

Grizzly Bear

These wild excursions offer a taste of the incredible experiences waiting for you and yours this spring on Vancouver Island. For more adventures, join us on the Special Places website, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter for great getaway ideas from Vancouver Island’s best!

Friends, family, and food. Three things I can’t get enough of over the holidays. I love going thorough my library of cookbooks, rediscovering the old recipe boxes. The worn index cards, old computer printouts, stained pieces of paper reveal holiday favourites. Time tested traditional recipes that I’ve relied upon year after year for holiday feasting.

This year, the Chefs of Vancouver island’s Special Places have volunteered to lend a hand. We asked, and they sent us some of their favourite holiday recipes to share, and make your meals merrier.

We start things off with a velvety-smooth soup from executive chef Ryan Orr at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort.

Holiday Spiced Butternut Squash and Pear Soup.

Velvety smooth and wintery delicious!

• 4 cups (1 L) of vegetable broth
• 1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into chunks
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp chopped ginger
• 1 pear
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp sage
• ¼ tsp coriander
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 425°. Cut the squash into chunks, toss it in some oil and place it on a baking sheet. Roast the squash until it starts to caramelize, about 30-40 minutes.

While you’re waiting, put some oil in a pot, add finely chopped onion, celery, garlic and ginger and saute until translucent. Add the nutmeg, sage and coriander and give it a stir.

Check the squash. If the skin is bubbly and browning, it’s ready. Pull it from the oven and add it, the broth and the maple syrup to the other ingredients. Set it to a simmer until all the veg is tender. Cut the pear into large chunks and add it to the mix as well. Let simmer for another 5-10 minutes.

Add the heavy cream and remove from heat. Blitz it in a blender until smooth, then pour it through a strainer to get the pulpy bits out. Put it back on the stove on a medium to low heat, add salt and white pepper to taste.

Now that we’re all suitably drooling, our next recipe comes to us from Brentwood Bay Resort & Spa.

Cranberry White Chocolate Bread Pudding.

• 4 cups (1 L) milk
• 1.5 cups (375 ml) sugar
• 1.5 tsp vanilla
• 8 eggs
• 1 cup (250 ml) sun dried cranberries
• 1 cup (250 ml) chopped white chocolate
• 4 tbsp melted butter
• 8 cinnamon buns

Dice the cinnamon buns into half-inch cubes and toss in a large bowl with cranberries and chopped white chocolate. Preheat your oven to 350°.

Mix up the other ingredients and pour over the buns. Using your hands, get in there and mix it all about, making sure the buns are well soaked (if your buns are stale, this might take a bit longer, but it’s well worth the wait!). Press the mixture into a baking pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes.

Now that we have you all salivating at the thought of a tasty dessert, it’s time to top it off with a classic holiday recipe. Chef Matt Wilson at the Wick shares his rich and luxurious eggnog recipe.

The Wick’s Wicked Eggnog

• 4 large eggs
• ½ cup (125 ml) sugar, divided
• 2 cups (500 ml) milk
• 1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream
• 3 oz (90 mL) dark rum
• 1 tsp nutmeg

Get the complete recipe here on the Wickaninnish website.

Do you have a favourite holiday recipe? Share it with us here, or on our Facebook channel. And a very happy holiday to all of you, from all of us at Vancouver Island’s Special Places!

Countdown clocks are ticking. There are less than 30 days to go until Christmas. The nights, the nights are coming earlier and staying later, like an awkward houseguest that doesn’t know when the party is over. But here, on the West Coast, we’re not the type to curse the darkness.  We open our doors and invite it in, and light a million candles in as many different colors to celebrate the wonder of winter. The evenings and nights across the Island are colorful, beautiful, sparkling and shining, lighting the way for travelers from the southern tip to the northern tail. A most special time, as the Island’s Special Places go Seasonal.

Our Special Itinerary invites you to start your journey at Brentwood Bay Resort & Spa, where you’ll enjoy some of the lowest rates of the season in one of the Island’s most spectacular locations. Get your third night free on any stay before March 31st and get ready to enjoy yourself at one of Vancouver Island’s finest oceanfront resorts.

In Victoria, Centennial Square is the setting for a magical display of lights and animation. Starting on November 17 and running until the New Year, you can take the family down to the square for a huge, interactive animation projected on the back wall of the MacPherson Playhouse. Make sure to bring your smartphone so you can play along with the festive displays.

Celebrate the lighting of the Parliament Buildings and provincial Christmas tree on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 5:00 pm

Head into Victoria for November 27th, the Parliament Buildings light up during a ceremony on the front lawn when thousands of lights on the huge sequoia tree illuminate the Parliament grounds.

Then head North, where Ladysmith’s  25th annual Festival of Lights is about to begin. On November 29th, the downtown streets of this small Island community come alive with over 200,000 lights and decorations where, nearby, the harbour sings with a thunderous fireworks display.

In Nanaimo, Milner Gardens invites us to join them for a Magical Milner Christmas, a family festival of light and music in the magical Milner Gardens & Woodland. Starting November 30th, families can “enjoy local musicians and story tellers, stop by Santa’s shop for a visit, pop into the Teddy Bear cottage and try to count all of the old Bears, and enjoy tea or hot chocolate in the tea room”.

Finally, make your way back down to Victoria, and check into Abigail’s Hotel, where you’ve been invited to experience the Magic of Christmas. An incredible experience that includes admission (for 2 people) to the most magical Christmas attraction in town, The Butchart Gardens.  The natural halls of this world famous walkway are decked to the rafters with festive treatments, including thousands of lights and the occasional bough of holly.

On December 1st, the Lighted Ship parade begins as beautiful ships adorned with thousands of colored lights drift across Victoria’s inner harbour. Victoria is truly an amazing place to be during the holidays, with daily celebrations for the entire family to enjoy. Check out the DVBA website for complete details on the festivities and head over to Special Places’ event calendar for detailed listings of festivals across the Island.

There’s something in the air, and it’s palpable. It has a whiff of gingerbread, and the subtle sounds of sleigh bells jingling (ring-ting-ting-a-ling too). And as much as I can sense the abounding joy approaching, I can feel a tightening in my chest, a shortness of breath. I start making lists (obsessively). I look around the house, and it’s a mess. The boy is already showing us his holiday wishlist, and it leads me to that guilty place where I know should start shopping now, but realize that I won’t.

As much as I love the holidays, I don’t enjoy the stress that goes with it. So I started digging for ways to de-stress, and discovered that Vancouver Island’s Special Places has everything in place to ensure a stress-free and happy holiday. With only 45 days remaining, it seemed like a good time to share my ten tips with you.

One: Put ‘em up

As much as we love seeing our out-of-town relatives, maybe we love seeing them more when they’re enjoying a deluxe suite at any number of Special Places’ luxury destinations.

Two: Treat yourself

With all the prepping and planning, all the gift-buying, we often forget to treat ourselves. And what better way to treat yourself than a visit to the Beach Club’s Stonewater Spa for the 4 1/2 Hour Exclusive Pampering Spa Package.

Three: Get a massage

Nothing melts the tension away like a massage, and nobody does massage better than Pacific Mist Hydropath at Kingfisher. The Massage Rinse, followed by the Mineral Massage Pool and the Waterfall Massage each provide a distinctive experience that literally wash the stress away.

Take a walk through the watery wonder of Pacific Mist Hydropath

Four: Take a nature walk

Head over to the Wickaninnish Inn or Black Rock Oceanfront Resort to watch the waves crash in from the beach, and surround yourself with the incredible nature of the West Coast. You’ll be amazed at how a brisk visit to the Island’s outdoors puts everything in perspective.

Five: Drink a glass of wine

At the end of a long day, a glass of wine might be just the trick. So grab your girlfriends and get away for a night of “Girls, Giggles and Gossip” at the Beach Club Resort.

Girls, Giggles and Gossip, and wine.

Six: Play a little game

Sometimes you just need to unplug your brain for five minutes and have a little bit of fun, and Special Places has the perfect distraction. Take five minutes to try our quiz to find out what kind of traveler you are, you could win two nights’ accommodation at April Point Resort.

Seven: Stretch it out

Stretching is especially useful when you’re stressed out, and Special Places has the answer to stretching out all the tension and kinks. Starfish Yoga Studio at Kingfisher Resort & Spa has gentle and restorative yoga sessions perfect for finding balance in your busy life.

Eight: Get romantic

Who said winter nights have to be cold? Studies have shown that intimacy can release stress, so head down to Abigail’s Hotel in Victoria for an ideal romantic interlude with that special someone. The Sexy Sleepover Package is a steamy escape starting from $309.00

Nine: Eat something good

Brentwood Bay has some amazing food choices at Seagrille, Victoria’s most spectacular oceanfront restaurant. From the three course Fall Menu to Breakfast on the Bay, the locally sourced fresh fare at Seagrille is an opportunity to let someone else do the cooking.

It's hard to be stressed out when you're about to plummet off a bridge

Ten: Jump off a bridge

Nothing takes your mind off your problems like hurtling towards the earth at break-neck speeds, so head on out to WildPlay Element Parks’ locations in Nanaimo and Victoria for a last hurrah with a Bungy Jump, a Canyon Swing, or any of WildPlay’s wild rides.

That’s our ten! Have other ways to de-stress? Make sure you join the conversation on Facebook to let us know!

Every Halloween is a special time for families. We dress up our kids, we dress up ourselves. More recently, we dress up our pets. Cats and dogs, we adorn them in adorable outfits and parade them down spooky streets alongside our families (okay, maybe not our cats). And we love them for it. Prancing proudly in their cute costumes, our dogs are members of our family, deserving of the same level of luxury living and pampering as any of us.

Whether it’s gourmet treats for pets, special pet spas and grooming, pets have more opportunity than ever to get spoiled, to move from our laps to the lap of luxury. So it should come as no surprise that many of Vancouver Island’s Special Places provide accommodations friendly and welcoming for the four-legged members of our families.

Treat your canine to turn-of-the-century English décor and a warm bed in front of a wood-burning fireplace, at Abigail’s Hotel. The Coach House Suites are dog-friendly accommodations featuring four-poster king-sized beds, nightly hors d’ouvres and daily three-course breakfast.

We all know dogs love the beach, to run and splash in the surf, so Special Places has the perfect West-Coast adventure for you. The Wickaninnish invites you to “Ruff” it at their running and digging paradise. Dogs are treated to comfy bedding and blanket, plus food & water bowls, treats, use of a Chuckit! ball launcher, unlimited beach time, and, for the evenings, the current issue of Modern Dog Magazine. If you have an occasion off-site, you can employ the Wick’s highly skilled dog-sitters to pamper your pet while you’re away.

Black Rock Oceanfront Resort in Ucluelet is another pet-friendly zone. You and your dog can explore the beaches and neighbouring old-growth forests while relaxing in the stunning oceanview suites.

It’s an adventure that even Milo would be jealous of, and one that every dog deserves. Explore more, at The Wickaninnish, at Black Rock Oceanfront Resort and at Abigail’s Hotel, and on the Vancouver Island Special Places website.

Canadians recently celebrated Thanksgiving. For many of us, it was a time to connect and spend time with the people and places we’re thankful to have in our lives.

It’s also Harvest month. A time to celebrate the Earth’s bounty in all its forms. The lush landscapes that surround us, the coming-of-age of the produce on our grocers’ shelves. Traditionally, when you would harvest the summer’s bounty and prepare for the coming winter, now a time to celebrate local food and the people that produce and prepare it.

On the West Coast, where the oceans provide us with as much nourishment as our farmers’ fields, harvesters prepare for the 16th annual Clayoquot Oyster Festival. Over 50,000 gallons of oysters are grown in Clayoquot Sound each year, and it’s that fecundity that will be celebrated during the Annual event, running from November 15th – 17th in Tofino where it’s expected that participants will shuck and slurp over 8,000 tasty mollusks prepared by some of the best local talent around.

Oysterman, happily in his element.

Join the legendary Oysterman, BC’s Brent Petkau, as he partners with The Wickanninnish Inn’s Nicholas Nutting and his culinary team for an evening of delectably prepared Pacific Oysters. Places for this cocktail event are $75 per person, including Mission Hill wine pairings, taxes, and service. Visit the official Wickaninnish web page for details on this intimate event.

Swine before pearls

On November 3rd, Abigail’s Hotel is hosting an Evening with the London Chef. With rates starting from $319, guests of this exclusive package will learn how to create the comforts and delights of rustic Italy in their own homes with an intimate cooking lesson followed by a relaxing stay at Abigail’s Hotel.

Participants will prepare a menu that includes slow braised shoulder of pork on polenta with gremalata, risotto nero with grilled prawns, and chargrilled vegetables with salsa verde and roasted lemons. Chef Dan Hayes and his wife Micayla invite you to join them for this culinary adventure. Seating is extremely limited, head over to Abigail’s official web page to learn more.

Back to the Coast

Back in Tofino, The Wickaninnish Inn is offering their American Thanksgiving Inn Style package. It includes two night’s accommodation for two and one, four course Thanksgiving Turkey Tasting Menu for two at The Pointe Restaurant.

So much great food and great fun, all found at Vancouver Island’s Special Places. Visit the Special Places website, follow us on Facebook and on Twitter for more great holiday season events and happenings.

When the summer’s sun sits lower in the sky and the Harvest Moon rises golden, the seasons tell us it’s time for a change, colours deepen & bolden.

The afternoon air still hints at warmth but gives way to chilly evenings, fleeing the patios, cardigan-bound, from the outdoors we take our leavings.

Shorts and sandals worn just yesterday are wrapped and stowed away, filling the bedroom, sweaters and long pants join the heavy duvet.

Cleaning the garden, raking leaves and turning plots, it’s hard to accept that the bulbs we plant must lay dormant in their pots.

Special Places’ five seasonal destinations also say “sayonara” to the spring and summer, preparing to close their doors for the coming winter.

The last of the season’s guests return home to their own beds and Vancouver Island’s popular resort destinations batten the hatches against winter storms. Docks are cleared of furniture, flowerpots are stowed away, and windows are shuttered against the gales that will bathe the buildings in branches and sea spray.

As the bears retreat to dens in the Great Bear Rainforest, their bellies filled with salmon and berries, the Great Bear Lodge shutters its windows for a winter’s rest.

Bears in October, planning for the coming winter

We also bid goodnight to Nimmo Bay Resort. Each of the spectacular, water view cabins has been secured against the onslaught of winter waves and stormy seasons ahead. Southeast of Ucluelet, in Barkley Sound, at Eagle Nook Ocean Wilderness Resort, the halls of the fishing lodge grow quiet and still. On Quadra Island, April Point Resort and Spa secures its main building and cabins from the sea spray of Discovery Passage. At Clayoquot Wilderness Resort, the luxury tents are rolled up and stowed away.

Time to put the Adirondack chairs away at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort

The hum of the season’s visiting wildlife enthusiasts has faded, the buildings grow quiet, and the rugged coastline is once again home only to the four-legged creatures and their feathered friends who call the land theirs year-round.

In the spring, the earth will awaken again and offer its succulent bounty to the wildlife that’s survived the long winter. As the land comes to life, the Special Places lodges of Vancouver Island will also emerge from their slumber, throw open the shutters, and welcome the light. It isn’t too early to start dreaming of your next wildlife viewing, fishing, or relaxation vacation. And Special Places will meet you there. Start now, plan your 2013 wilderness adventure on Vancouver Island Special Places.

Since our inaugural post by renowned travel writer Eric Lucas, we’ve spent the last 12 months on a journey up and down the island. From the gulf islands to the great bear rainforest, we’ve seen and done so much, it seems an impossible task to put it into so few words. As we round out our 12th month of exploration, the team at Special Places takes a look back at what we’ve learned along the way.

Vancouver Island is an all-season destination.

Vancouver Island is a rich destination, rife with activities to be enjoyed year round. Our dozens of golf courses are suitable for year-round rounds of world class golf. Victoria is a city rich with culture that shines just as brightly during the winter months, when visitors can experience Christmas in the city. Storms rage on the west coast, inviting awestruck onlookers to experience the wonderful (if a bit wet) winter weather.

There’s culture around every corner.

Vancouver Island’s festival scene provides visitors with infinite options for exploration. We drank and ate our fill at the food and wine festivals in Parksville, Tofino and Comox and took a tour of the wineries on the Gulf Islands. We discovered our inner artist during the escapes at April Point and enjoyed a glass of fine wine while we said goodbye to our dorsal-finned friends from the deck at the Wick.

Young and young-at-heart, there’s plenty to do.

Vancouver Island is a family-friendly zone with plenty going on, starting things off with a splash at the Victoria Symphony festival we sent our bodies hurling through the wilderness on the zip lines and swings at WildPlay Element Parks. We took the entire family on a tour of Parksville’s annual Beach Festival, went on a family vacation with Eric Lucas and took time to get to know the Murray family, Stewards of the Great Bear Rainforest and owners of the legendary Nimmo Bay. When we wanted to experience the heart and soul of the West Coast, we got Ukee’d with Big Bear and Black Rock Oceanfront Resort.

The west coast is still a bit wild.

We explored the air above, the land we’re standing on and the marine wildlife that Vancouver Island is so famous for. We went on an incredible fishing expedition, and then we went on another. We went wildlife viewing with the Great Bear Lodge, while we nestled ourselves in the wild luxury of Nimmo Bay, Eagle Nook and Clayoquot Wilderness Resort.

There’s so much more to discover

As much as we’ve done, we’ve only just begun. There’s so much more to explore with Vancouver Island’s special places. Won’t you join us?

The Gulf Islands are a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts, kayakers, hikers and bikers. Waterfront walks and ocean views are attractive to any tourist who hops ferries from one island to another. They’re a haven for artists and artisans, master craftspeople creating wonderful crafts for the enthusiastic consumption by locals and visitors alike.

What isn’t as recognized as the traditional crafts are the distinctive class of artisan wines from vineyards native to the Gulf Islands. Saturna, Pender and Saltspring, Hornby and Quadra Islands each house distinctively different and wonderful wineries and vineyards.

Click the image for an interactive map of the Wine Islands

On Saturna Island, Saturna Family Vineyards has been carefully converted from pasture to a commercial vineyard, producing Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Noir grape varietals.

Salt Spring Island is home to three distinctive wineries, Mistaken Identity Vineyards belies a feel of Tuscany with their carefully selected and locally grown grapes. Salt Spring Vineyards, the viticultural passion project of wine lovers, Dev and Jo McIntyre and Garry Oaks Winery: a terraced ten-acre vineyard carved out of the south-facing gravel slopes overlooking the Burgoyne Valley.

Hornby Island is a tasters paradise, with Island Spirits Distillery producing home-grown gin and vodka, Middle Mountain Mead producing honey wines, Carbrea Vineyards, Little Tribune Winery and Hornby Island Vineyards each producing a variety of vintages in their micro-wineries.

Elsewhere, two of Vancouver Island’s special places are well within stumbling distance of two of the Gulf Island’s finest wineries.

On Pender Island, Morning Bay Vineyard, located “in the lee of rain shadows projected by both the 12,000-foot Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island” crafts a regional series of select hand-made wines that include Pinot Noir, Gewurztraminer, Merlot, Syrah and other varietals from lots aged in their concrete caves. After a wine tour of this exciting island vineyard, experience Special Places’ Poets Cove Resort & Spa and, if you haven’t yet, join them on their journey to 20,000 Facebook fans. You could win the ultimate grand prize of a getaway for two in their amazing oceanside accommodations.

On Quadra Island, the quirky story of SouthEnd Farm & Vineyards starts one night while, at university, the founders drank a bottle of “bad wine” and dreamed together of a day when they would do it better. In 2009, that dream was realized when they opened the doors to the vineyard.

At April Point Resort & Spa, indulge your taste buds in everything from local fresh seafood to exotic cheese and a sampling of Vancouver Island wines during the two-day Tastes of April Point festival, with weekend packages starting from just $289.

Choose a wine tasting adventure on one, both or all of the Gulf Islands and treat yourself to some of the most scenic views, delicious vintages and delightful experiences BC has to offer, and learn more about our special places and packages on the Special Places website.

British Columbia is well-known for abundant wildlife and some of the richest viewing opportunities are in the Great Bear Rainforest. Nestled in a river valley on the central coast, this temperate rainforest is home to a wealth of species including one of the most awe-inspiring creatures on the planet, the grizzly bear.

The grizzly has long aroused curiosity, fear, and wonder in humans. To witness the grizzly in its natural habitat is to come to a better understanding of its place in this vigorous ecosystem.

A short seaplane ride from Port Hardy, total solitude awaits at the edge of the Great Bear Rainforest. Here you’ll find the Great Bear Lodge, an intimate floating wilderness refuge and charming, self-contained retreat from the worries of everyday life.

Based out of the Great Bear Lodge, Grizzly Tours offers packages from two to seven days long where expert wilderness guides lead the way through daily viewing sessions on both water and land. With a maximum occupancy of ten guests, visitors enjoy small groups and individual attention.

Viewing sessions are tailored to the seasonal activities of the bears. During the autumn, rivers and streams offer some of the richest grizzly viewing opportunities around. Here, the bears congregate for a rich feast of salmon that are undertaking the long journey home to spawn.

Spring viewing sessions focus on the river estuary where bears feed on sedge, succulents, and grasses while summer viewing sessions alternate between estuary and waterway locations. The wildlife isn’t limited to grizzlies though. The area is also rich with black bears, wolves, river otters, pine martens, harbour seals, mink, bald eagle, and more. Any time of year, a wilderness viewing vacation in the Great Bear Rainforest will provide memories that will last a lifetime.

Between viewing sessions you are free to enjoy other activities, like interpretive hikes, or simply relax and take in the majesty of the untouched coastline. Meals are included at the lodge where the chef specializes in “wilderness-gourmet cuisine” featuring fresh local ingredients.

No matter what your level of experience in the wilderness, Grizzly Tours and the Great Bear Lodge will provide a wildlife viewing vacation you will never forget. For more information, visit the Great Bear Lodge website, or check out the Spring and October Grizzly viewing packages currently featured on the Special Places Website.