Comox & Victoria, Canada

Comox

David's parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary this year and to celebrate, the whole family gathered in Comox on Vancouver Island.  David's oldest brother Andrew and his family came from Edmonton, Alberta.  Tim, David's second oldest brother and his family came from Kamloops, British Columbia, and Philip, David's third oldest brother and his wife came from Halifax, Nova Scotia.  It was the first time in 5 years that the whole family has been together and it was great to see and catch-up with everyone.  I (Sam) unfortunately missed some of the weekend celebrations, as I was in Massachusetts for another week of my Macrobiotic course, but I got there in time for Sunday brunch at the Kingfisher Resort and Spa.  We stayed in Comox for a few extra days where we spent more time with David's parents, played some golf and relaxed.  We then headed to Victoria for a short visit. 

Victoria

After our visit with David's family in Comox, we decided to drive to Victoria and stay over-night there.  Victoria is about a three hour drive south of Comox and it is a very pleasant drive.  While in Victoria we stayed at the beautiful Fairmont Empress Hotel and got a lovely room overlooking the harbour.  The last time we were in Victoria was about four years ago, so it was nice to visit again.  After our short, but relaxing time in Victoria, we caught the ferry back to Vancouver.

Vancouver & Whistler, Canada

Vancouver

After our time spent on Vancouver Island, we headed to the mainland where we spent time with Sam's family and saw a few of our friends.  On one of the evenings, Sam's parents hosted a party for some of their friends visiting from South Africa.  Also invited were Sam's aunts, uncles and cousins, including Sam's cousin Christopher who lives in Calgary and happened to be visiting Vancouver with his wife and three children (Christopher's eldest daughter Isabella, was our flower girl at our wedding).  It was another nice family reunion and good to see and spend time with family and friends.

Dinner with friends in Vancouver

On one evening we met up for dinner with some of our friends in Vancouver - Basil (Basil and Sam went to school together in South Africa), Elaine, Cathy, Mandy, Veronica, and Jenny and Sabrina who where visiting from Seattle.   Unfortunately Basil's wife Josephine and their daughter Veronica could not join us.  It was a fun evening and good to catch-up with everyone. 
Unfortunately we had limited time in Vancouver, so it was not possible to see all of our friends (sorry to those of you whom we did not get a chance to see, but we will definitely try the next time we are in Vancouver).

Brenda

Sam's cousin Brenda (Brenda's late mom and Sam's dad are siblings) arrived in Vancouver for a month-long visit.  Brenda is also an ex-South African (now an Australian citizen), but has been living and working in China teaching English for the past nine years.  It has been over eleven years since we all saw Brenda, so it was good to see her again after all these years.  

Whistler

During our time in Vancouver, we took a day trip up to Whistler to visit our friend Anjila.  It was great driving on the Sea-to-Sky highway that was improved for the Winter Olympics in 2010.  We were in for a treat because we got to see three black bears on our way to Whistler and at Whistler (very rare to see three in a day!).  On our way to Whistler, we made a stop at the Whistler Olympic Park where some of the events of the 2010 Winter Olympics took place. 

When we reached Whistler village, we met Anjila for a nice lunch at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler and then took the cable car up Whistler Mountain to experience the Peak-2-Peak gondola ride.  The Peak-2-Peak is an engineering marvel that connects the high alpine terrain of Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains.  It is 4.4 km long and is 436 metres above the valley floor.  We got to experience the amazing 360 degree views from the gondola and we also got to ride on the gondola with the glass bottom.  We were surprised to find that there was still snow on the ground at the top of Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, and it was pretty cool.  Fortunately it was much warmer at the bottom of the mountains and in the village.