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Soren – Harvest Time at Chateau Wolff

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Vancouver Island is a place to visit for people of all ages. Join Soren as he tells us about some of his amazing adventures right here on Vancouver Island!

 

Papa knows that I love grapes.  All summer he brought me grapes from his house.  They are so sweet and yummy.  So when daddy asked if I’d go with him to pick some grapes at Chateau Wolff Estate Winery I thought I’d spend the whole day eating grapes!  I was excited to see soooo many grapes on the bushes. BUT we weren’t allowed to eat them, I tried one, and spit it out because it had seeds in it!  Papa makes nicer grapes to eat.  I guess these ones are for wine.  I don’t drink wine as I’m not tall enough.  Maybe when I’m taller I can go on one of daddy’s tours!

IMG_8316Daddy picked a lot of grapes and threw them into a big bin.  Where are they taking all those grapes?  Read More…

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Beer of the Month – July 2016

Beer of the Month - Driftwood Gose

We’ve decided to start a beer of the month blog post here at Vancouver Island Expeditions. When at the liquor store trying to figure out which beer to buy, sometimes you need a little help. Lucky for you, we’re committed to trying lots of beers for you so that we can help you choose a solid beer that you will hopefully find just as enjoyable as we found it. Our hope is that it can satisfy both the people just starting to navigate their way into craft beer all the way up to the craziest of craft beer nerds.

For our first beer of the month we have chosen a style that has become the style of the summer. Lots of breweries have decided to brew this once forgotten style of beer. Driftwood Brewery was the first in BC to release a Gose (pronounced Goz-uh), and it is brewed in the tradition of the artisan brewers of Leipzig where it originated.

Cry Me a River has a slight dry, priceofcialis.com tartness to it that is pleasantly refreshing on a warm, summer day.  The really interesting part to me is that it has a pinch of Vancouver Island Sea Salt in it to give it a bit of saltiness. I know it sounds weird, but trust me on this one. Grabbing a bottle of this to sip on in your backyard this summer will leave you feeling happy that Driftwood helped bring this style back from extinction. Cheers!

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Soren – Exploring the West Coast

Vancouver Island is a place to visit for people of all ages. Join Soren as he tells us about some of his amazing adventures right here on Vancouver Island!

IMG_6501In the summer my family went for a long, windy car ride to BIG beaches on the west coast!  We saw lots of things on the way, BIG trees, birds, cows, lakes, nice people, more trees and then the OCEAN.  When we got out of the car I headed straight for the water.  Waves crashing, big waves, little waves and sand everywhere. We climbed on rocks, we dug big holes, and found funny little animals scurrying across the sand.  I love the sand in my toes, no shoes here just soft sand and LOTS of space to run. I didn’t want to go but mommy said I had to have a nap. I’m a big boy now so I don’t think I need I naps, but mommy disagrees.IMG_6612  I would like to live at the beach, I think that would be a good idea.

The next day we went on walks.  I can walk really far, daddy only had to carry me a couple of times to keep up with mommy and baby.   Everywhere we go there’s new things to see and touch.  My favourite Read More…

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Favourite Vancouver Island Wine Releases – 2015

Spring time to some means flowers blooming, trees waking up from their long winter naps, and the return of warmer weather. To me, it means one very exciting thing: New wines to try!

Now that we are just getting our first taste of this year’s wines, I wanted to do a quick post about some of my favourite releases from 2015. In no way am I a professional at judging wines nor do I have a broad knowledge of all there is to know about wine. With that said, I do know more than the average person about British Columbia wines, and more than most about Vancouver Island wines.

You see, to make sure that everybody I take on a tour gets a chance to taste the best that Vancouver Island has to offer, I have to do a lot of painstaking research. I have to drive up and down the island Read More…

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Get to know Brendan Milholm

Thanks to all the wonderful people that we’ve had a chance to take on tours ranging from food and wine to hiking and kayaking, Vancouver Island Expeditions has had to add a new guide! Brendan Milholm is our newest team member looking to show you around our wonderful island. Here’s a little intro from him so you can get to know him better.

Hey Everyone,

I’m Brendan, the newest member of Vancouver Island Expeditions and self-proclaimed “exploration expert”. I have been travelling up and down this beautiful island my entire life. Countless road trips, surf getaways, camping excursions and seaplane tours have allowed me to see some of the most breathtaking places in the entire world. I truly enjoy showing off these gems to people for the first time…. so to say I’m stoked to be doing this for a living now would be a definite understatement!

brendan2You can describe me as an easygoing guy, who’s always up for the next adventure Read More…

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Soren – Something’s Brewing at Longwood Brewery

 

Vancouver Island is a place to visit for people of all ages. Join Soren as he tells us about some of his amazing adventures right here on Vancouver Island!

IMG_0085Mommy and Daddy drink beer, I don’t like beer it smells funny and it’s for adults only. They make lots of beer in Nanaimo, where we live and Daddy takes people on tours to show them how it’s made! Did you know that at Longwood Brewery their beer likes to ride in a hammock? So funny. Beer doesn’t belong in a hammock, it has to stay in the fridge!!

It was real loud in the beer making room. Everywhere you looked there were about shiny, clean tanks that I could see myself in!  Read More…

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My Place – Kyla Karakochuk

Everyone has a special place, a place where you have memories, where you can find peace and harmony. A place where you know you are just happy being there. For some it’s a quiet place, for others it’s a noisy place. But all of these places have one thing in common; they are places where you think of first when asked “Where is Your Place?”.

Kyla - On the Beach1. Who are you and how long have you lived on Vancouver Island?

I am Kyla Karakochuk.  I moved to Nanaimo 16 years ago, and after living in Vancouver, Victoria, Australia and Belize, I wanted to come back to make Nanaimo my permanent home. I have been back for six years now and can’t think of a better place to live! Read More…

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My Place – Mike Bonkowski

Everyone has a special place, a place where you have memories, where you can find peace and harmony. A place where you know you are just happy being there. For some it’s a quiet place, for others it’s a noisy place. But all of these places have one thing in common; they are places where you think of first when asked “Where is Your Place?”.

1. Who are you and how long have you lived on Vancouver Island?

I am Mike Bonkowski. I have lived on Vancouver Island for all the 46 years of my life.

Bonkowski - Mike at Waterton Lakes National Park2. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I do work in a fine-detail industry, and I enjoy hobbies of a fine-detail aspect. I work as a Chartered Professional Accountant, and my hobby interests are coastal BC transportation and related history, and photography of coastal BC transportation in action.

Living all my life on an island, I’m naturally most interested in marine transportation. I grew up riding BC Ferries and seeing the Canadian Pacific rail ferries in action. In my history reading, I’m fascinated by the history of small coastal steamships which were the only transportation link between remote coastal settlements Read More…

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Soren – Join Me on My Adventures!

Soren - Englishman River

Vancouver Island is a place to visit for people of all ages. Join Soren as he tells us about some of his amazing adventures right here on Vancouver Island!

1. Who are you and how long have you lived on Vancouver Island?

My name is Soren and my parents own and run Vancouver Island Expeditions.  I have lived on Vancouver Island for my entire life! (almost two years)

2. When you aren’t sleeping, what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I love spending time in the kitchen with my Daddy and Mommy. Dinner time is fun time, always eating something different. I eat everything, but anything that comes with a dipping sauce is the best! I’m a big help in the kitchen too. I climb up on my stool so I can hold the bowl and even use a whisk. Cooking with my parents is the best!

I also love going to the park. We go to many different parks all around Vancouver Island.  I especially like watching the ducks at the pond, quack quack! We go on lots of hikes, Read More…

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Soren – An afternoon at the Teafarm

Vancouver Island is a place to visit for people of all ages. Join Soren as he tells us about some of his amazing adventures right here on Vancouver Island!

This month I got to spend some time at the Teafarm!  I love Teafarm for so many reasons!

7-IMG_4519I thought tea came from the cupboard but apparently it comes from a farm!  But if you visit the tea farm in Cowichan you’ll learn that tea actually grows on a bush and then the farmers turn it into nice smelling tea by plucking and drying it!

There was a list of all the teas and we choose one to try.  The nice people at the tea farm brought us a teapot and special cups to drink from.  My cup was small, just the right size for me to sip from. 2-IMG_4558 The tea was much better than drinking water from my sippy cup – it was warm and Read More…