After arriving in Haida Gwaii for the first time (known to most as the Queen Charlotte Islands in northern British Columbia), I spent my first three hours in town at Rainbows Gallery (3201 Oceanview Driver, Queen Charlotte, 250-559-8420) chatting with Jack. That’s sort of the way things go here; everyone has time for you. Haida [...]

I just might start calling myself an expert in Scandinavian-style spas. In January I went to Le Nordik Spa in Gatineau, Quebec; this spring I made it out alive of the coldest sauna in North America at -110°C; and this week I spent the afternoon at the Scandinave Spa Whistler (co-owned by ex-NHL hockey players [...]

His shouts echoed through the Okanagan Valley, getting stymied by the clouds. I was cycling along the Kettle Valley’s Myra Canyon with Trailhead Ed (aka. Ed Kruger) of Monashee Adventure Tours and our route took us 20 km round trip over 18 historic trestles and through two tunnels. In 2003, a ravaging fire spread through [...]

The -110°C air shocked my system and seeped into my bare arms and legs like a feast. The fuzzy headband I was wearing kept my ears warm but the mask couldn’t stop my nose hairs from freezing. Welcome to the coldest sauna in North America, found at Sparkling Hill Resort in Vernon, British Columbia. In [...]

Going to a regular spa is a lot different than going to a health spa or a wellness spa. They all have beauty treatments and pampering, sure, but a place like Sparkling Hill Resort, where I stayed as their guest last week, has expanded on the whole spa concept.   Perched on a ridge beside the [...]

The best Mother’s Day ideas are always difficult: How do you show your appreciation to the woman who housed you in her womb, took care of you before you could talk, put up with your foolish teenaged behaviour, and told you to get the hell out when you became an adult? A daunting task indeed. [...]