Campbell River again.

One of my favourite posts that I've done was of visiting Nanette in Campbell River last year. Once again, Jose and I made our way up there and had another lovely weekend.

We arrived to the ferry terminal only to find out that the next ferry was full, and so we had to wait for another two hours. Poor José, that's all I can say! It was hot, I was hungry and I hate waiting. Some seriously hangryness!

Once we got to Nanette's, we were all hungry and so opened the wine and enjoyed a very nutritious dinner!

Saturday morning, coffee and bread.

Nanette was very kind and arranged for us to go horse riding. I loved watching José trying to move in rhythm with the trotting horse - highly entertaining!

I have a thing with animal noses...

I know this picture is blurry, but it truly shows my joy at feeding the horse an apple. The way that they gobble it up is just so funny. Actually, the horse looks quite terrified of me. 

This is the horse that Nanette rides at her lessons, he is for big people, and Nanette made sure José and I had 'little people horses' haha. Nanette has such a way of saying things!

In the evening, we all grouped together and made this lovely pie called the 'Very Full Pie' that we found in an Ottolenghi cookbook.  

We spent the rest of the evening lazing around drinking wine, eating chocolate, reading and then we watched a movie. 

On Sunday morning, we went to a cabin resort called the Dolphins Resort. To me, the name sounds a bit tacky, a bit... Acapulco 1980s... however it is rustic and cozy and the views are incredible. They should think about a new name. Breakfast was great, I had the salmony benny, Nanette had crepes and Jose an avocado moose benny with a carrot cake pancake on the side. 

Of course, I had to make a boob joke at this point of the breakfast. 

I had never ever seen a tree like this before. 

We found this wedding site and thought we would get our rehearsal out the way! Just kidding, we just pretended to get married on the beach. 

I wonder which flower company this is? 

As we were driving alone, we came across a small farm with a pumpkin field. 

In my next life, I'd like to a sunflower. 

I really feel like we got the last of the summer sun, it was actually really hot all weekend. We slept lots, ate lots and laughed lots and I think we came back to Vancouver feel revitalized and refreshed. 

When in Campbell River.

My very good friend Nanette got a job in Campbell River, and relocated there about three months ago. As it was a long weekend, and Jose and I were in need of a downtown break, we hopped on the ferry and headed north.

We took the ferry from Tsawwassen on Friday night and from there drove about two hours up to Campbell River. I loved the roads up there, the speed limit goes up to 110km/hr which compared to most other countries is very standard, but for us lot up in Canada eh! it's nice to stretch out the engine!

Once we had arrived, we went for a walk along the beach (to stretch out out legs this time) and stopped by a wood carving festival, which sounds boring, but it was actually quite fascinating. We finished the evening off we a nice glass of wine and then collapsed into bed... well onto the floor for Jose.

On Saturday we had a lovely breakfast by the seafront, I think I love breakfasts more than dinner. Fresh coffee, beautiful fruit and eggs.

After that, we took the ferry to Quadra Island. We explored a little bit, and then went to a vineyard. It is small, family-run business called Southend Farm and Vineyard. The owner was really quirky and he was really enthusiastic to tell us about the wines and the story behind the business. You are able to try 6 different wines, all of which were really different from each other. We each bought a bottle of red under the 'Fun' category, which is served cold and has a slight fizz to it  - perfect for a summer evening. 

 

I am lucky to have such extremes in my life.

In the evening, Nanette very successfully made us a little fire on the beach. We, or should I say Nanette and Jose kept it going for some time. We managed to make some very indulgent Smores, although I think most of the marshmallows ended up on my jeans. Riz joined us a bit later, so we all sat on the logs on the beach, and watched our sad little fire die.

Crabs in Campbell River, the crustacean variety that is. 

After the beach, we checked out the local bowling alley - which felt more like a time machine back into the 70's. It turned out to be SO much fun. I got quite competitive and even pulled a muscle in the but-tocks (Forrest Gump accent). 

On Sunday, I was very helpful and stayed out of the way of the breakfast making... by laying in bed all morning. Riz made amazing us breakfast wraps, Jose whipped up some banana bread, Nanette made beautiful coffee and I.... plunged it :-)

After fueling, we went on a three hour hike (you can see that Nanette lead this weekend and not me). However, I loved it! It was so refreshing and I enjoy walking in the woods. I felt quite nervous when two different people told us to watch out as there was a bear up ahead. It is in situations like this, where you can take a girl out of England, but you can't take the England out of a girl... my heart was pounding. 

 We actually never ended up seeing it, but I wanted Jose to see one for the first time. We did see a little snake though - more than enough wildlife for me. 

Just as well we have Super Jose to help us out in tricky situations. 

Sadly we had to leave :(

So on the way back to the ferry, I started talking about how I felt like going to a pub, like the kind of pubs you get in Victoria... so we went to Victoria spontaneously!

I met up with Ellery, and we had a fantastic meal at Pagliacci's - definitely my favorite restaurant in Victoria. 

We then visited the Irish Times and had a beverage or two. 

The next morning, we had a rather indulgent breakfast at the Blue Fox Cafe. I have to say, Victoria exceeds at pubs and breakfast. 

A wagon Wheel in your mocha... disgustingly good. 

Such a lovely weekend. 

Jose and I now want to be islanders, the English and Mexican Islanders.... What do you think?