Iona Beach Park

On this hot, sunny Sunday we cycled through the Richmond countryside to get to Iona Beach Park. Initially, I was unimpressed, because the "beach" was really just a lot of sand covered with seaweed. We decided to bike to the end of the 4km jetty, which turned out to be pretty cool because that's where we finally saw the start of the ocean, with views of Tsawwassen and Horseshoe Bay. Then I started getting nauseous, probably due to the sun/dehydration/biking right after eating, so we took the train home. It still ended up being a 35km bike ride!

Who knew there were farms with tons of horses right beside the airport?

Long Beach and the Oregon Coast

Our hotel was at Long Beach, Washington, which is at the very southern end of Washington. Our hotel had free bike rentals so we took advantage of that and went on a ten mile bike ride in the morning along the beach. That was great fun.

We then headed down to Oregon to the town of Astoria, which is pretty hipster. It's like a mini-Portland. Someone had sheep in their backyard, and even the beer is served in mason jars in this town.

Further south on the Oregon Coast, Ecola State Park has beautiful views of Cannon Beach.

As we were looking at this, Leonard asked if I wanted to go down to the secluded beach, which involved a trail for "experienced hikers only", and I said no since I wasn't even wearing proper shoes. I thought he was upset because he became quiet and didn't take any photos of this gorgeous view, but little did I know what he was actually thinking...

He then led me to this picnic table off to the side of the viewpoint, got down on his knee, and proposed! I'm now an engaged woman!  And what a wonderful place for him to pick.

We then headed off to explore Indian Beach and Cannon Beach.

What a great day!

24 Hours in Tofino

I was on the island for work, so Leonard and I decided to head over to Tofino afterwards. The drive from Courtenay to Tofino was incredibly foggy, but it cleared up as we hit the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Once we arrived, we were eager to get to the beaches, so we headed to the #1 rated attraction on tripadvisor: Chesterman Beach. The beach was flat and glassy, and the fog was so thick that I couldn't see very far in front of me. 

  

The skies were clear and blue in the town, however.

We went to Tonquin Beach at the end of our walk around the town and were pleasantly surprised to see that the fog had left the beach.

Then we drove down to Cox Bay for the sunset. I was so intent on taking photos of these dogs that I didn't see a wave coming and I ended up with wet, cold feet.

The next morning, we went to the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and walked through the forest to get to the beach.  The trees were giant!

The trail ended up at Schooner Cove, which was stunning in a beautifully quiet way.

Mid-island, we stopped at Cathedral Grove, which was also very impressive with its massive trees. One of the trees is (much) taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

We were way ahead of schedule, so we were able to squeeze in a bonus before boarding the ferry - Englishman River Falls, near Nanaimo.

We even had time for a carwash, as my car was filthy after the 500km of driving.

All in all, it felt like a real vacation even though it was only for two days. Tofino was pretty great!

Maui 2013

This year, I got to go to Maui during Christmas time because one of my best friends was getting married. It was nice to get away from the cold and wetness and lack of sunshine!

Our first full day in Maui started off with a 3am wakeup call and a two hour drive up Haleakala to watch the sunrise. (Last time I came here was with my family in 2011, and we opted to watch the sunset instead because we didn't think it was possible for us to get up so early). It was incredibly cold and windy. Unfortunately, we were only able to watch ten minutes of the sunrise because the clouds arrived and covered everything in sight. It poured as we drove back down, and I felt sorry for all the tourists who had chosen to do the sunset + downhill biking tour. They looked pretty miserable biking in the rain with cars whizzing past them down the mountain.

I was surprised at how stormy it was, as rain seemed to fall very randomly throughout the days we were there. The weather was very fickle, but it was still sunny and warm the majority of the time.  Our hotel was right across the street from a beach, but we still managed to visit a lot of beaches on the west side of Maui.

The boys rented a u-haul for a few days since there were no affordable rental cars available. It was a bit comical. At least it was easy to follow them on the roads!

I remember going on the road to Hana with my family, with the drive being very long (and not worth it, in my opinion). It was about three hours each way, with not much to see in Hana itself. This time, Justin wanted to do the drive, and I agreed to come along with him only as long as we went to the Seven Sacred Pools and did the Pipiwai trail, which were about half an hour further past Hana. I'm glad we did, because it was amazing! This place had everything: pools, bamboo groves, and a gigantic 400 foot tall waterfall at the end of the hike.

(I even wore the exact same shirt both times I did this drive. I think I need a new summer wardrobe).

All in all, a very enjoyable, relaxing, and beautiful trip with my besties. What more could a girl want?

An Island Weekend

Pam and I went to Vancouver Island for the weekend to visit our friend Kieran, who is doing his internship in a pharmacy at Qualicum Beach. We saw some goats on the roof at the Coombs Old Country Market,  went for a walk around some old-growth 800 year old trees at Cathedral Grove, and hung out at Kieran's oceanfront patio on Qualicum with some beers. We stayed in and had taco night at his place for dinner. It was a great idea, not only because it was fun and delicious, but also because it meant we were all settled in just in time for the 8pm showing of The Hobbit on his cable tv! (We promptly dozed off during the movie because we had gotten up at 6am and the bed was too comfortable.)