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!

Snowshoeing at Cypress

I didn't know this until today, but there's been barely any snowfall on the mountains these days. This meant that instead of snowshoeing on fluffy snow like I'm used to, we snowshoed on frozen, slippery ice. It was a lot easier without the extra snow, and even going up the black diamond was a piece of cake. Going down was a different story though, as we we were slipping and sliding everywhere. 

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?

Hawaiian Wedding

Anna and Bryan got married! The chapel at the Grand Wailea was intimate and gorgeous, with lots of light streaming in through the stained glass windows. It ended up raining during the ceremony, but it cleared up in time for them to do photos afterwards and it made for a great sunset.

Rehearsal:

Wedding day: 

Yes, the guys valeted their u-haul at one of the fanciest hotels in Hawaii....

Spicy Simmered Eggs with Kale

This is my new favourite breakfast/brunch to make when I have the morning off. Very easy, very healthy. Eggs, kale, green onions, chicken broth, and some chili flakes. Simple.

Whistler Stagette

My friend Anna is getting married next month, so we girls thought it would be nice to have a weekend getaway in Whistler. It was a relaxing time, and Whistler was beautiful in the snow.

We had some fine dining at Araxi, where we each got oysters 5 ways. My main was scallops with chickpeas.

We had plans to go dancing afterwards, but we ended up hanging out in the hotel room instead, drinking leftover wine from the night before, while listening to 90's music. The funny thing was that we thought we were being old and lame, but then we got a knock on the door due to noise complaints! (This is the second time I've ever had a noise complaint against me, and the first time was when we watched Enchanted on tv too loudly...)

The best part of the weekend for me was Scandinave Spa. It's a few minutes drive away from the village, and it's fantastic. We got the massage package, which had a massage plus entrance to the baths. The massage itself was so-so, but the baths were worth it. I don't have any photos because it wasn't allowed, but the spa is set in the middle of the forest on the mountain. It was gorgeous - we were basically sitting in hot outdoor pools while the snow came down around us. I would definitely do it again, but without the massage.