British Columbia

Juan de Fuca Trail Day 1: China Beach to Bear Beach

Kyla and I recently spent 4 days hiking the Juan de Fuca trail, a 47km coastal rainforest hike on Vancouver Island’s southwest coast. It was really hard! (Especially for an inexperienced hiker with minimal training, oops!) Lots of steep ups and downs, muddy sections, and tricky creek crossings which required creative, acrobatic moves while wearing a gigantic backpack! That said, it was absolutely achievable, and SO worth it! The trail offered spectacular ocean views and wildlife sightings, great nights of camping on beaches, and lots of hilarity. It was exhilarating to finish, and I’m still riding that high, feeling proud of what we accomplished. (Proud enough to earn a break from multi-day hiking for a while!)

Here’s the first post from my rundown of the trail (with occasional comments from Kyla!), with lots of pictures. Continue reading “Juan de Fuca Trail Day 1: China Beach to Bear Beach” →

August 23, 2017 17

Five(ish) Things to Do on Hornby Island

Update August 2020: I’ve added a few more things to the list after subsequent trips to Hornby!

Last month I got invited to join Kyla and her family for a long weekend of camping on Hornby Island (I’ll ‘b’ careful not to misspell it). We spent five days there, so I was prepared for lots of lazing around, which – don’t get me wrong! – is a fantastic way to spend a vacation. What I didn’t realize was that there’s tons to do and see there! So while the island’s laid-back vibe meant plenty of recharge time, it was balanced out with lots of time exploring cute spots in town, gorgeous beaches and coastal bluffs, and checking out the bottom of many glasses of mead! Here are 5+ suggestions for things to see and do while on Hornby Island:

Skip to : Heron Rocks Campground, Hornby Co-op, Helliwell, Tribune Bay, boozes (mead, gin, wine), candied salmon.

Continue reading →

August 2, 2017 3

Mayne Island Camping: Camping Like a BAMF on Mayne Island

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Kyla and I spent a long weekend camping on Mayne Island last month and it was badass! Mayne is one of the Southern Gulf Islands, which sit in the Georgia Strait between Vancouver Island and Vancouver/mainland BC, and are home primarily to hippies, artists, and retirees (based on a mix of casual observation, anecdotal evidence, and census data). These quiet little islands can’t really be the site of much badassery, right? WRONG! (No, you’re right, but I lead a pretty tame life, so humour me with this one!)

Here are some reasons why our weekend rocked, and tips so that you can have a badass-as-you-can-get-in-the-Gulf-Islands weekend too:

Continue reading “Mayne Island Camping: Camping Like a BAMF on Mayne Island” →

June 30, 2017 3

Mystic Beach Day Trip: Sunday Sun Day

This past weekend was the first in a long while that I didn’t have to do any school work. (Master’s complete! Woooo!) Naturally, that meant having a to-do list that’s been steadily growing since, ooh… September 2015! But after prioritizing filing our taxes on Saturday, Kyla and I decided to take advantage of a sunny day yesterday and go for a hike. Luckily, our friend who owns a car was free to join us, which meant we had way more options to choose from! We decided to head out to Mystic Beach, on the Juan de Fuca trail on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

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Continue reading “Mystic Beach Day Trip: Sunday Sun Day” →

May 1, 2017 5

Queer Travel: Victoria

Updated July 2020. This post started out as lesbian-specific and has since evolved, but you may find some of the info to be a little lesbionic.

The thing about Victoria is that regardless of whether you hit up any gay events while you’re in town, it’s a beautiful, safe city* to explore with your same-sex partner, or to meet up with a group of queer locals. It’s also a great jumping off point for exploring this magical island, and a short ferry ride to both Seattle and Vancouver. There’s a lot to be proud of in Victoria! Victoria’s public school board recently passed a thorough new gender identity policy, the city explodes with rainbows during Pride, and hey – our mayor is an openly gay woman! Tourism Victoria even created an awesome map of all-gender/gender neutral washrooms in the city and surrounding area, with accessibility information.

Hold on, you might be thinking, I heard that Victoria is a small city with a disproportionately high retiree population?!? You heard right! But there are way more people living here who are below retirement age! It might seem quiet at first, but have no fear if you’re young and queer: there’s lots to do in this city, if you know where to look!

Lez Go to Victoria:

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Continue reading “Queer Travel: Victoria” →

January 13, 2017 3

10 Rad Things To Do in Victoria in the Fall

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It’s been a little rainy lately, but I’ve learned that when you’re living on the Wet Coast, you pretty much just have to suck it up, put on some rainboots (*note to self: buy rainboots), and find things to do until at least December when it’s more acceptable to to start hibernating. Plus, the big crowds of tourists are gone, there’s still lots of sun and blue skies between showers, and there are so many amazing things to do in and around the city this time of year! Here are 10 ideas:

Continue reading “10 Rad Things To Do in Victoria in the Fall” →

October 23, 2016 1

Rainbow Summer: West Coast Pride

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Since moving out west, my life just seems to be getting gayer and gayer! That has a lot to do with the ways I’ve changed since coming out, having some great queer friends and social outlets, and having a partner who has no qualms about wearing rainbow in public, which makes me feel comfortable doing the same. With my newfound queer confidence, I’ve been integrating that part of my identity into everyday life – not just socially but also through volunteer experience and research projects at school.

However, one of the most fun aspects of my increasingly supergay identity has been West Coast Pride festivals! I was lucky enough to attend a bunch of events this summer in both Victoria and Vancouver. It was exciting to do more than just watch the parades, which, although enjoyable, is all I’ve really done at the handful of Pride festivals I’ve been to in the past. This year, I got to coordinate multiple rainbow and unicorn outfits.

These were some of the highlights: Continue reading “Rainbow Summer: West Coast Pride” →

August 31, 2016 7

Vancouver Island Camping: How Did I End up Here?

Note: this story takes place on First Nations traditional territory. It’s a fun one about a recent overnight trip, written in response to the prompt: “How did I end up here?”

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“What should I name my pee-zee?”

We were a group of mostly lesbians, gathered around a campfire at our campsite on Vancouver Island’s southwest coast. My friend was obsessed with her new toy: a device that allowed her to pee standing up. Every so often she’d gleefully shout: “Be right back!”, and frolic off into the woods. We were excited about it too; a little jealous, even. We were also a little buzzed. Naming it only seemed natural.

Continue reading “Vancouver Island Camping: How Did I End up Here?” →

June 27, 2016 4