Kidding Around Vancouver Island » Weekenders http://kiddingaroundvancouverisland.com/blog fun things for families to do here on The Island Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:36:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2 Affordable holiday flights to the Lower Mainland http://kiddingaroundvancouverisland.com/blog/2008/12/affordable-holiday-flights-to-the-lower-mainland/ http://kiddingaroundvancouverisland.com/blog/2008/12/affordable-holiday-flights-to-the-lower-mainland/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:34:58 +0000 georgedad http://kiddingaroundvancouverisland.com/blog/?p=64 Sometimes it’s great to pack up the family car and take a leisurely ride on BC Ferries. And then there are those short one or two-day trips to Vancouver, when five or six hours of round-trip ferry travel really eats into your time and energy. But the alternative of packing the whole family onto a seaplane can get expensive. Enter Harbour Air for the holidays!

Starting December 13 until January 4th, the airline is offering a free child’s ticket for each adult ticket purchased. Additional children are half price. So for a family of four, the cost of taking the plane into downtown Vancouver is quite reasonable. We threw everything into one suitcase, put extras in a back pack, and off we went.

It was Ella’s first time in an airplane and she loved it. From spotting the lighthouse off Gabriola Island to counting the trees as we skimmed over Stanley Park, she was on the edge of her seat. It was cloudy going over and we sometimes passed through the clouds – she thought it was pretty cool that we couldn’t see a thing. When she wasn’t offering advice to Ella, having done the flight a few times before, Grace was watching the pilot’s GPS navigation map.

Take-offs and landings were their favourite parts of the trip, though. That rush of the engine and the feeling of lifting off the water, or the steep approach into Vancouver and the first bump of touching down on the water – well, that was gold to them. On the return trip the next day, we had lots of sunshine, but Ella missed almost the entire trip as the noise of the engine lulled her to sleep, something the captain says happens a lot with younger kids.

And speaking of rest, the best part for George and me was that after a whirlwind trip, we weren’t tired out by the travelling – just sit back and enjoy the view.

]]> http://kiddingaroundvancouverisland.com/blog/2008/12/affordable-holiday-flights-to-the-lower-mainland/feed/ 0 Thank you Kate for your input. http://kiddingaroundvancouverisland.com/blog/2007/12/thank-you-kate-for-your-input/ http://kiddingaroundvancouverisland.com/blog/2007/12/thank-you-kate-for-your-input/#comments Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:42:56 +0000 sharimom http://kiddingaroundvancouverisland.com/blog/?p=22 We did a story some time back about the Via Rail train between Victoria and Courtenay. We described traveling from Nanaimo down to Victoria, but to keep it a day trip, you’ll need someone to pick you up in Victoria. That prompted a note from reader Kate Britton, who really knows her Via Rail schedule! She points out that if you head north on the line and only go part way, you can come back the same day – for example, travel from Nanaimo to Qualicum Beach in the morning and return in the afternoon. Thanks Kate!

If anyone else has any ideas or thoughts about stories we’ve done or stories you’d like to see.  We’d love to hear from you just leave us a comment and we’ll try to get to it as soon as possible.

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