Vancouver Island Reviews and Information

Ryan McMahon hails from my home town of Ladysmith . After a stint in Vancouver, he's back on the island and finishing up his big western Canadian tour with two shows, one in Nanaimo (Diner's Rendezvous on May 30th) and the other at the Duncan Garage showroom (May 31st). This tour is an acoustic one with Christopher Arruda (from Nanaimo) and Vancouver's Cory Woodward. If you're wondering what his sound is like he sums it up on his website. " Like Neil Young, I’m an epileptic who loves both the scream of distortion and the peace of the acoustic. Like Eddie Vedder, I wear all of my influences on my sleeves, where Tom Waits, Buddy Holly, Warren Zevon and Bruce Springsteen all reside. " He captivates audiences and recently won 3 Vancouver Island Music Awards ( Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year (All Good Stories) and Artist of the Year) . Check out the Facebook event page HERE <a href="http://christopherarruda.bandcamp.com/track/stork&qu

Check out these mouth-watering food photos from Vancouver Island restaurants we've visited, oh and feel free to add your own! Atlas Cafe; Courtenay The Courts Pub; Nanaimo Captain Hardy's; Port Hardy Rock Cod Cafe; Cowichan Bay

Moss Street Community Market - May to October every Saturday 10am-2pm. Location: Sir James Douglas Elementary, 401 Moss St, Victoria With 80 vendors the Moss St Market boasts a wonderful array of different food varieties and takes considerable pride in the quality, and regional proximity from which the food comes. The Market also has great live music and a free children's craft tent. North Saanich Farm Market - Open from May 12 to October 27 Sat 9:30am to 12:30pm . Location: St. John's United Church gardens - 10990 West Saanich Rd. (opposite Deep Cove school). Seasonal produce, baked goods, eggs, flowers, honey, arts & crafts. Come meet local vendors who make, bake and grow what they sell. Live music every week. Goldstream Station Market - Open from May 28 to October 15 Sat 10:00am to 2:00pm. Location: On Bryn Maur Road in downtown Langford (off Goldstream Avenue across from Western Foods) This market is based on a "you grow it, you make it, you bake it, y

I am a huge oyster fan and the Fanny Bay Inn was a perfect place to stop for some. It was a beautiful spring day, birds chirping, the smell of spring and ocean in the air. Heading to Campbell River for the weekend we decided to take the scenic route through Fanny Bay, Black Creek, Royston, Merville, Mud Bay, Union Bay, and Courtenay. The Fanny Bay Inn has been in business since 1938 (stated on their menu and in the restaurant). So they are doing something right! We arrived at around 2pm which I assumed would be a slower time, boy was I wrong - it was a full house! A very large group of bikers had stopped in and there was literally only a small two person table available. We quickly ordered a few pints of the Vancouver "Islander" lager. Considering how packed and busy it was our waitress was quick and took our order promptly. We knew we definitely wanted some oysters, so we ordered 6 of the naked Fanny Bay oysters with hot sauce - served on a half shell with lemon. In additi

Feel like yogurt today? Victoria, B.C. – (May 4, 2012) – Hain-Celestial Canada, ULC, a leading natural and organic food company, will give away almost 2,500 tubs of The Greek Gods™ yogurt in downtown Victoria today, Friday May 4 th 2012 between 11.30am – 2.30pm. Commuters can enjoy this delicious treat for free, while also meeting with ‘The Greek God’, who will bestow the yogurts upon Victoria. “We are excited to offer people in Victoria a taste of our indulgent traditional Greek Style yogurt. The Greek Gods™ yogurt is a great option for a nutritious main meal or snack,” says Heather McTavish Taylor, Vice President, Marketing of Hain Celestial Canada . The Greek Gods™ yogurt has five active and live cultures including probiotics and is available in four flavours – Plain, Honey, Honey Strawberry and Honey Vanilla. The 650g-sized containers will allow many residents of the beautiful island to enj

The birds are chirping, it's raining and sunny at the same time, the ball fields are busy, and the fishing season is opening. Yes, it's spring on Vancouver Island! There is so much to do on Vancouver Island it was very difficult to compile a list of only 5, feel free to add your own favourite thing to do on the comments below! Saltwater Fishing opens - Go fishing for halibut, ling cod, snapper, prawns & crabs. Salmon season opens in June. Campbell River, Port Alberni, Ucluelet/Tofino, Sooke, & Port Hardy are well known fishing areas. Photo courtesy of Island Tides Fishing Lodge Do a Vancouver Island wine tour. Cowichan Valley & Victoria have become the new "Napa Valley"of British Columbia. Tours go from early spring until September . Whale watching is very popular. Orcas are regularly seen in the southern region starting in April. Approximately 22,000 grey whales migrate to the open waters of Tofino/Ucluelet in March. Photo courtesy of vancouverisland

Joey was last seen getting picked up by a blue PT cruiser (with possibly a business logo on it) around 6pm on Hammond Bay road. His collar was not on. Please call 250-740-0978 if you picked him up or saw him. Thank you! UPDATE: Joey has been found! Thank you to everyone that shared, tweeted & re-tweeted this!

A Victoria woman, Ginger Morneau of Langford witnessed something that no one has ever seen before, a giant Pacific octopus attacking a seagull. The very unusual situation occured at Ogden Point which is a popular dive location. It appears as though the octopus grabbed the seagull by the head and dragged it under where it most likely was devoured. Nothing like this has ever been documented and the story is attracting attention all around the world. I found the story on the Huffington Post, BBC, CBC (complete with a short audio interview) among others. All Photos credited to Ginger Morneau.

Ramsay Lampman Rhodes Donates $10,000 Towards New Hospice House Nanaimo, BC – April 30, 2012 – Nanaimo Community Hospice has received a significant gift of $10,000 to the Expand the Heart of Hospice fundraising campaign from law firm Ramsay Lampman Rhodes (RLR). The firm is pledging $10,000 over three years towards a new Hospice House. There is now $500,000 left to raise to meet the $900,000 campaign target. “End of life issues can be very challenging for a family to deal with and we recognize that Hospice is a vital and integral part of our community,” said Mike Wassermann, Managing Partner, Ramsay Lampman Rhodes. “We are making this pledge because we have seen many of our clients and their families using Hospice’s services and we want to ensure that these essential programs can expand in the future.” Demand for Hospice’s services has more than tripled in recent years and Hospice’s present location is bursting at the seams. The proposed site of the new Hospi