Latest / The Discussion Podcast / Talkin' Travel - Vancouver Uncovered: Beaches, Mountains, Wildlife & Michelin Eats

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Talkin' Travel - Vancouver Uncovered: Beaches, Mountains, Wildlife & Michelin Eats · The Discussion Podcast

0:14
So this is Ken and here we are today in Manchester yet again.
0:18
However, I would rather be in the place I'm going to introduce you to.
0:21
This is Vancouver and I'm talking to Victoria Leda, is it?
0:25
Yes, that's correct. Hi, Ken. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too.
0:28
And you're from Destination Vancouver. Yes, I'm from Destination Vancouver.
0:32
I'm actually originally from England. I grew up in the southwest of England
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until my mid-twenties and my dad was from Vancouver.
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So I grew up visiting Vancouver on vacation as
0:44
a child and by the time I was 18 19
0:47
I was like why don't I live in Vancouver you fell in
0:50
love with it I fell in love and so for the past 12 years Vancouver is
0:53
now my home and I loved it so much that I worked for
0:56
the destination and for the tourism board so so
0:59
you're selling it back yes exactly yes exactly so
1:02
we should all emigrate yeah and I am I know the feeling
1:05
of visiting Vancouver as a tourist and also as
1:08
a local so it's nice to have that insider outsider experience yeah
1:12
yeah i have been to vancouver several times yeah love love
1:15
this again i could live there it's one of those livable cities
1:18
but tell me what do you see that the tourists can see out there yeah i think
1:23
vancouver is really special because it's a city technically but it's kind of
1:27
not it's so immersed in nature that the two aren't separate and it's really
1:32
quite special in that way there aren't many places in the world where you can
1:35
be on the beach one minute,
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in the mountains the next, in the forest, all without leaving sort of downtown, to be honest.
1:43
You know, we have Stanley Park, which is a thousand acre forest right on the
1:48
edge of the downtown core.
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Beyond Stanley Park, we have our three local mountains, Grouse, Seymour and Cypress.
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And then all along the edge of the downtown, we're surrounded by the ocean,
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by water. So we have 11 beaches in the city.
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We have, you know, an amazing seawall, which is 28 kilometers.
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It wraps around the city, which is fantastic for biking, walking, rollerblading.
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People are very active in Vancouver. So they're really embracing their outdoor
2:15
lifestyle while still being in a city and having all the advantages of an urban
2:21
environment at the same time.
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So we have a fantastic culinary scene a
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michelin dining experience we have 12 michelin
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restaurants in the city and 76 in
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the michelin guide for vancouver so it's just fantastic to have all of those
2:37
options in one spot in one spot yeah now i can tell you i've actually probably
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walked half that seawall have you yeah i've done stanley park famous for its
2:44
totem poles yes yeah And we do have fantastic indigenous culture in the city as well.
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And one of the best things to do as a visitor is to engage in some of those
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indigenous experiences. You can go to the Museum of Anthropology.
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You can take a Telese tours guided tour in Stanley Park and learn about the
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First Nations, how they use the plants as medicine and history of the area.
3:09
One of my favorite things to do is to head to the North Shore and go to Capilano
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Suspension Bridge Park. Head up to Grouse Mountain, either in summer or in winter.
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In winter, we have snow. It's fantastic for skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing.
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In the summer, we have hiking trails, cycling.
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It really is a year-round destination, actually.
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It's something to do any time of the year. Yeah. Now, when I was there,
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we could get around by, well, I would call it the glamour tram that goes around the city itself.
3:39
Hop on, hop off. Yes. But I also used the bus to get to Capilano Bridge.
3:42
It's just so easy to get around, isn't it? It's very easy. It's a very compact city.
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So it's only three kilometers across the downtown core. So it's very easy to
3:52
walk or to take transit, to take the coaches.
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So very, very accessible, which is fantastic.
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And it's enjoyable to walk as well. You have, you know, beautiful views of the
4:03
mountain or the ocean at almost any cross street.
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So it's enjoyable at some time. It really is. As I went to Capilano Ridge,
4:09
I didn't like it because it swung. Oh, yeah.
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I hadn't realized that. It's a huge stretch. A little bit adventurous. That's right, yeah.
4:16
So thank you very much. I've done it. But at the top of the Grouse Mountain,
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you can walk as well. And you have bears up there.
4:22
Yes. Yeah, there are two bears who are in a sort of sanctuary at the top of
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Grouse Mountain. So you can actually go bear watching without leaving the city, which is really cool.
4:32
Yeah. And then talking of wildlife, we have whale watching tours from downtown
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Vancouver as well. So you can go to Granville Island, which is a fantastic spot
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in itself. It's the number two most visited tourist spot in the whole of Canada.
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That's for eating, isn't it? It's for eating, but it's actually...
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An area where artisans have rent-controlled spaces.
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So it's a fantastic place to go shopping, to pick up unique souvenirs,
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and they have the public market where there's the food stores,
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which you're referring to.
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We really recommend taking a foodie tour when you're at Granville Island.
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You can book that tour in advance.
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They'll take you around all the best spots. You don't need lunch if you're taking
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a foodie tour because they're really going to fill you up.
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You get to taste a lot of local eats and everything is very local from the island.
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Now, one thing you mentioned was the beaches.
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Nobody associates Vancouver with beaches, but you have 11.
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We have 11. And in the summer, Vancouver, like, it's hard to imagine sometimes
5:29
as a British person, but it gets really warm in the summer, actually.
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And it's consistently good weather through July and August. So the beaches are
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packed. They're very lively. There's volleyball.
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You can go, you see people kayaking or on stand-up paddle boards in the ocean.
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The ocean is a little bit cold, so it's very refreshing. in
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the summer but yeah but you can go in for a dip yeah and
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one thing that i like to do on the beach in the summer is actually
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order food from uber eats from one of
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our michelin restaurants to be delivered to me on the beach very nice which
5:59
is the ultimate sort of urban nature combination composing isn't it yes it's
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a really good hack you've obviously got the the natural life for vancouver you've
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got markets and things like that as well haven't you and i'm going to talk across now to Krista,
6:16
thank you. I nearly forgot who you were then.
6:18
It's Krista, but thank you for your time. You're welcome. I'll be back in a minute.
6:20
So Krista, you're gonna tell me what to do in downtown Vancouver, are you?
6:24
Yeah, so I grew up in Vancouver, so it's my home city.
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And what I love is that as Victoria was just sharing, we have nature so close
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to us right in the downtown core.
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And one of my favorite places to visit is Stanley Park. It's our thousand and
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one acre temperate rainforest.
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Park. It has all kinds of family-friendly activities. There's playgrounds,
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there's tennis courts, there's cricket, there's a mini golf course as well.
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But one of the things it's most famous for is the seawall.
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And it's actually the world's longest uninterrupted waterfront path.
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So you can go walking, you can run, you can ride your bike, which is one of the top things to do.
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There are tons of shops where you can rent bikes, but
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also a lot of the hotels include complimentary bike rentals
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so you might actually have that included with your stay okay so
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you want people to be active don't you it's a
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very active city you'll you'll see people outdoors really
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making the most of the nature we have around us year round it doesn't stop people
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from enjoying if it's raining or it's sunny all of all of the different weather
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we get people will still make the most now where's the main shopping street
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so there's actually we have several neighborhoods downtown that each offer different shopping.
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And you'll find, for example, in Gastown, which is our historic neighborhood.
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I know it well with the clock. Yes, with the steam clock, walking distance from
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Canada Place where the cruise ships come in.
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It has a lot of local boutique shops that have opened up. You'll get quite a
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diverse type of shopping in that neighborhood.
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Yaletown also has its boutique shops. So that's a cool place to go and just
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grab a coffee and wander around.
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But then we have our robson street that's what i was aiming for
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yeah i was stationed not stationed worked they've done robson
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street and loved it yes tons of shopping there and
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also walking distance to pacific center shopping mall which is our main shopping
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center in the downtown core but also the other little tip i have for people
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is close to the vancouver international airport we also have the macarthur glenn
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designer outlet mall and it's actually connected by the canada line which is part of our SkyTrain,
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and it's free to take the Canada line to the outlet from the airport.
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You can do some shopping, get those discounts on the premium products they have,
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and then, you know, that might be either heading out from Vancouver or upon arrival.
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So definitely check that out if you're happening to,
9:01
back with you now and I'm still talking to Krista from Vancouver.
9:05
You've come all the way to Manchester. What do you think about Manchester,
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by the way? It's great to be here.
9:09
We're super excited to, we're here to do a travel agent event with Travel Gossip
9:13
and just really excited to be sharing some of Vancouver and what's happening
9:17
in our city. That's great. Thanks for coming over.
9:20
Now, we were talking about cruising and getting out from Vancouver.
9:23
Yes, so we have a really vibrant cruise industry. It's also growing.
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This year, we're going to have a huge season with 357
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cruise ships coming in between april and october
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expecting around 1.4 million cruise
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passengers that's a lot yes so it's it's very exciting we're happy to welcome
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all of these visitors and we do get people from the uk coming over to take that
9:49
alaska cruise experience and what's really great about cruising from vancouver
9:53
is that the cruise ships actually pull right into downtown Vancouver.
9:57
To Canada Place? To Canada Place, exactly. So you can walk right off the ship.
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Sometimes you can even walk right to your hotel. Everything's very close.
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And so you don't have to spend time transferring into the destination from the cruise terminal.
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You're already there. So it's a fantastic place to take the Alaska cruise.
10:16
Well, last time I went, I stayed at the Fairmont.
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They have a tunnel through to the cruise department. That's right.
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You can either go underground, but you can also just take the crosswalk across
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Canada Place Way and there you are right at the Fairmont.
10:27
So nice and easy. Okay. And you're going to mention something about World Cup,
10:32
aren't you? Yeah. So we're really excited.
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Vancouver is one of 16 host cities this year for the World Cup.
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We're hosting seven matches in the city at BC Place Stadium,
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which is our downtown stadium right in the heart of the city.
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So it's going to be a fantastic atmosphere to take in the World Cup.
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But what we're really excited about is that we have a lot of other activations.
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And festivities happening throughout Vancouver.
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We have our fan festival that's happening at Hastings Park with a brand new
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amphitheater that's just been built to show live entertainment as well as some
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of the matches as they're happening throughout the tournament.
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And then we have other locations throughout the city. At Shipyards in North
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Vancouver, they're going to have Canada House.
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So there'll be lots of fun soccer things or football things going on.
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And then downtown, we have a pedestrian-only zone on Granville Street with lots
11:22
of family-friendly activities to take part in.
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And then at Granville Island that we were talking about earlier with the public
11:27
market, they're going to have big screens showing the matches so people can
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come down and enjoy Granville Island, but also watch some of the games.
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So you're looking forward to having lots of visitors? Yes, it's going to be
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a very fun time in our city.
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A lot of the local businesses are getting behind it as well and coming up with
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fun ways to incorporate World Cup into their normal offerings in the restaurants.
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They're going to be adding TV screens, so there'll be lots of places to go and
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cheer for your home team.
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Or just enjoy the fact that, you know, it's happening in the city and we're
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a really multicultural city, so we're going to have fans cheering for all different countries.
12:02
So I think it's going to be a great time in our city. Sounds like party time to me.
12:06
Yes, I think there'll be lots of partying, I'm sure.
12:08
Now then, I'm just going to ask Victoria again. So you've lived there 12 years.
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What's the best time for a tourist to go?
12:14
That's a really good question. Traditionally, people would tend to come in the
12:18
summer and we do see high visitation throughout the summer.
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But the message we really want to give is that it's a year round destination.
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There are things to do all throughout the year and there are various different moments to enjoy.
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So in the winter, you know, Vancouver is actually very mild.
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The temperature is similar to England, to be honest, sort of South England.
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But the mountains get a lot of snow. So the winter is a great time to come and
12:44
go skiing or snowshoeing on the local mountains, enjoy Dine Out Festival downtown,
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a wonderful culinary scene.
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Around Christmas time, there's a Christmas market, there's an ice skating rink.
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Robson Street in the downtown. So it's a very fun time to be there.
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Spring is beautiful. The city is covered in cherry blossom trees and it really
13:05
comes alive in springtime.
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Spring is also the time when a lot of our summer product starts up again.
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So like whale watching tours, the whales start to migrate up the west coast
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of the North Americas at that time of the year.
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So it's a fantastic time to see wildlife.
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You know, right now in April in Vancouver, it's sort of 20 degrees.
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People are outside. You're hiking.
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Biking, all of those usual sort of outdoor activities have started up already.
13:35
It's also a great place. You can pick up the railway from there and go inland.
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The Rocky Mountain is one of as many. Plenty of cruise ships.
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You can also go across to Vancouver Island, which I know is next door. Exactly.
13:47
And lots of things to do there. So, virtually, it's year-round, isn't it?
13:51
It's year-round, yeah. We see it as a gateway. We know for the UK customer,
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you're coming as part of a bigger trip.
13:57
You're probably going elsewhere in BC.
14:00
Into the Rockies, onto Vancouver Island, like you said, maybe up to Whistler.
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But we really encourage people to stay in Vancouver for, you know, four days, four nights.
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There's so much to see and do in the destination that even when you have a bigger
14:14
itinerary, spend those four nights in the city.
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It's a fantastic place to either start or end your trip or, you know, both sides of your trip.
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There's so much to see and do, like we've said.
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And one season we didn't cover is the fall but
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the fall is another beautiful time of the year autumn as we
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say in the uk yeah because those trees and the
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big you know maple trees that we have in the city change color it's
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fantastic reds oranges yellows across the
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city the one thing that we all want to see aren't they yes
14:43
exactly yeah and it's a little bit quieter at
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those time of the years as well so you have you know less lines
14:49
at popular attractions it's a it's a great time to come to vancouver so summing
14:54
up anytime come along come along we're ready to welcome you vancouver is one
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of the friendliest safest cities so we're here and we're excited to see more
15:03
visitors thank you thank you victoria and thank you christa and i can stay here
15:08
in manchester i want to be there.
15:23
And call Bryson. Good evening, Bryson. Good evening, Ken.
15:27
Great to be here. Thank you. Now then, we're just talking here before you came,
15:30
and you are a Vancouverite as well, are you? Born and raised, through and through.
15:34
Right. So basically, you know all about Vancouver, which we've just been speaking
15:38
to with Victoria and Kirsten, yeah? Yes, absolutely.
15:41
Okay, now then, you're selling Discover Canada tours.
15:45
Where do you go? We do everything. We are your Western Canadian escorted coach touring specialists.
15:52
We're a Canadian family-owned company based right in Vancouver,
15:56
BC, and we have a collection of brands that cater to a wide variety of clientele.
16:01
We do everything from day tours all the way up to multi-day tours,
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budget moderate to premium touring.
16:09
With the UK market, our niche is really this kind of retiree-aged traveler wanting
16:15
a dream trip to Canada, the bucket list trip. Oh, right.
16:19
Absolutely. And perhaps they don't want to travel on a five-star luxury budget.
16:25
We do have those travelers as well.
16:27
But we fill a hole in the market, which is really this kind of four-star boutique hands-on experience.
16:33
And we call it soft adventure.
16:36
So mini deluxe mini coach bus, maybe 23 people or less.
16:41
And we leave from Vancouver and we do these epic loops through the Canadian
16:47
Rockies, Vancouver Island, and even up to the Yukon.
16:51
And we also offer day trips right out of Vancouver to places like Victoria.
16:57
Whistler, and tours around Vancouver City.
17:00
So perfectly complimentary for that cruiser type traveler, people doing the
17:05
Alaskan cruises, or, you know, people doing pre and post trips to Vancouver.
17:09
It so i've got to say yeah to be pre or post couldn't it yeah and the ones i
17:12
picked up on that went to the yukon absolutely superb oh nice saw the northern
17:16
lights as well but victoria for me has got a special place because
17:21
I went out whale watching, and there were four pods of orcas.
17:24
Is that the sort of thing you would offer?
17:26
Absolutely. We do a lot. So we have daily trips to Victoria.
17:30
We do include the Butchart Gardens with all of those tours because it's such
17:35
a world-famous attraction.
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So, you know, you go see the flowers, and then you go over to our capital city
17:40
of Victoria. We do a driving tour of the city.
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You know, we even do small walking tours, give everyone directions.
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We kind of help facilitate the day. and we can facilitate whale watching as
17:52
part of that day in Victoria.
17:54
Absolutely brilliant. Victoria to me was ye olde England.
17:57
Yeah, it would remind you of home. Yeah. Absolutely, because of the British settlement, of course.
18:02
And there was an architect named Francis Rattenbury and he designed the legislative
18:07
assembly buildings as well as the iconic Empress Hotel.
18:11
So when you go into Victoria, it feels almost like a little mini London or something
18:15
of the sort. Exactly right.
18:16
Yeah, then let's go inland a bit. So we're going back to, say, the Rockies.
18:20
Is it four or five-day trips or longer? We start at four days.
18:24
We have full-size coach, so 54 seats or less.
18:28
Four-day, three-night loops through the Rockies. And we go one night in Vancouver,
18:33
one night in Revelstoke, one night in Bath, one night in Vailmont and back.
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The most popular tour we offer, it's kind of between a three and a four-star mark.
18:42
And that's a five-day excursion through the Rocky Mountains.
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That's 40 people or less on a coach And they get to spend two nights right in
18:51
Bath One night in Revelstoke, one night in Belmont,
18:54
And then we have even longer duration trips, small groups, eight days,
18:59
seven nights, where they really take their time and they're going to see,
19:02
you know, some on and off the beaten path destinations.
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But all of those tours will include visits to Lake Louise, Moraine Lake,
19:11
the Icefields Parkway, these iconic turquoise lakes of Canada with the glacier
19:17
mountains in the background.
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And there's a very high chance to see animal sightings.
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Jackbears, grizzly bears, moose, elk, and many more species that are.
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You actually know when the animal's around because there's a traffic jam.
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The traffic comes to a stop, doesn't it? Absolutely. You see everyone stopping at the side of the road.
19:34
And that's the great thing about escorted coach touring is, you know,
19:38
you have a chance to kind of get closer.
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We can pull over when it's safe to do so to really get close to the wildlife.
19:45
So you can take photos from in the bus at a safe but close distance.
19:49
Now, one of my favorite trips was
19:50
up the Icefield Parkway. Can you just describe it from Banff to Jasper?
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That is one of the most iconic roads in Canada.
19:58
In the world? In the world, yeah. So the road from Banff to Jasper hosts many
20:03
very beautiful attractions, such as the Anthabasca Glacier and the Snow Coach.
20:09
So you can actually go up one of these glaciers.
20:12
It's fantastic.
20:14
And you can go up onto the glacier, get out,
20:17
walk around, even drink the fresh glacier water
20:21
take photos it's just an amazing experience so
20:24
that's one of the main attractions they have a sky bridge also attached to the
20:29
glacier experience where you get a beautiful view of the ice fields valley no
20:33
no i'm gonna stop you there this is glass floored isn't it yes it is yeah it's
20:37
not for me nice keep going we also have you know anthabasca Falls.
20:43
And also you have Pato Lake, which is one of the iconic lakes.
20:47
Bow Lake is also located along the Icefield Parkway. And honestly,
20:51
just the area between Banff and Jasper is probably the best area for wildlife sightseeing.
20:57
I think the most iconic animals I've personally seen was, I've seen some very large moose.
21:03
But I was there in the winter one time, just outside of Jasper,
21:06
and I saw a black timber wolf. Oh, wow. Absolutely beautiful. Yes.
21:10
Now, Jasper had a fire a couple of years ago. It's recovered,
21:13
though, hasn't it? You know, that's a great question. They had a devastating fire a while back.
21:18
About 60% of the town was affected, but they've really been quite resilient
21:22
in rebuilding their tourism. and we work closely with Tourism Jasper to make
21:27
sure we're still visiting, we're being sustainable to their community.
21:30
And we really, you know, when you go there, it's still Jasper,
21:35
you know, you can see that, but you can see burn areas, but they are rebuilding very well.
21:39
And thankfully, a lot of the iconic kind of stores and buildings in town were
21:44
not affected by the fire. It's just a lot of the area around Jasper.
21:47
But yeah, we do our best to continue to support Jasper tourism.
21:50
Yeah, I think it's coming back very quickly. And I must say,
21:53
this is one of my favorite areas of Canada.
21:55
Anywhere from Banff, well, through the mountains, up to Jasper is superb, isn't it? It's iconic.
22:02
Iconic. And even for a Canadian, you know, it's somewhere I would vacation if
22:07
I could get there. I'll go there as soon as I can.
22:10
And there's just so much more. There's so many lakes. There's so many mountain passes.
22:14
And too much, you know, for me to list in a short amount of time.
22:17
But it's really an endless area between British Columbia and Alberta.
22:22
And I think it's the number one destination people should visit when coming to Canada, really.
22:27
So summing up, this is Discover Canada tours. You do one day,
22:30
four or five day trips. You name it, you do it. That's absolutely right.
22:34
Custom tours and scheduled tours with guaranteed departures.
22:38
So travel agents can easily sell into those tours.
22:41
They know they're going to run and they know they're going to be run by Canadians
22:44
authentically and with expertise. Sounds really good.
22:48
Bryson, can I say thank you for your time? Thank you, Ken. And look forward
22:51
to seeing you again. Absolutely. Look forward to having you. Thank you.
23:06
And I met a gentleman called Wayne London. Welcome, Wayne. Hey,
23:11
well, yeah, I'm glad to be here for sure, Ken.
23:14
Now then, you've got something special to sell, haven't you?
23:16
It's a hotel with a difference.
23:18
Yes, it's called Sonora Resort, and it's on its own island.
23:22
There are no roads, no cars, no telephone poles.
23:25
There's only certain ways to get in there. Direct from Vancouver by helicopter, 45-minute flight.
23:31
If you're on Vancouver Island, you can take a water taxi in,
23:36
It takes an hour and 15 minutes, so it's a really unique destination to go into in that area.
23:44
So, on there, too, you can also look at Harbour Air to charter flights to and
23:49
from Vancouver to Sonora, or they have a direct flight now from Harbour Air
23:53
downtown to Campbell River, and you can hop on our water taxi and go in. Right.
23:57
So, we've done three or four nights in Vancouver. We've gone around there. Excellent.
24:01
Now, you're north of Vancouver Island, aren't you? Yeah, that's correct.
24:06
And we're in a place called Desolation Sound Discovery Islands.
24:09
So in the Discovery Islands, again, it's between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of BC.
24:14
So it's a really unique location and it brings all this marine wildlife into
24:20
our area with the tidal waters that we have.
24:22
So it's escapism, basically. Oh yeah, yep.
24:25
100% escapism, but doing it in luxury, doing it in pure luxury.
24:32
Now, the words that sold me were Rulé and Château.
24:34
These are the top of the range, aren't they?
24:37
Yeah, yeah, Rulé and Château. I love Rulé and Château. And the branding says everything.
24:42
But number one criteria, food and accommodations, of course.
24:47
So we have amazing accommodations on property.
24:49
We have a total of 88 rooms, 12 unique lodges. So we have everything from two villas.
24:56
We also, on property, have a four-bedroom marine lodge built right over the ocean on pillars.
25:02
So you can look out your window and the ocean's under you.
25:05
There's your culta lodge. It's a six-bedroom, three out, three down.
25:09
So depending if it's couples, multi-generational, and so forth coming in,
25:14
you can rent out the whole six or the four.
25:16
Or we have the single rooms, all ocean view.
25:19
Nobody, everybody at Sonora Resort has an ocean view room. Either a room with a king or two queens.
25:25
And then we have a couple of two-bedroom suites.
25:28
Okay. Now, you mentioned food as well. What's all this about food?
25:31
Oh, yeah. Well, the food, being a Raleigh and Chateau, it is high quality.
25:36
Now, and a lot of it's local.
25:38
So, on this one here, for the food, we're an all-inclusive.
25:43
So, it's another unique thing about Sonora Resort. So, all your meals, perfect.
25:48
Lunch and dinner are all included in
25:51
the price and on dinner you can a la carte or
25:54
you can do a tasting menu no extra charge for the
25:57
tasting menu beer wine are included okay so would you do the complimentary wines
26:02
and the tasting together then yeah yep yep you can do that with the house wines
26:07
we do also have a sommelier and you can go into the wine cellar and take it
26:13
to the next level up if you want.
26:15
But our house wines are all high end and they're local.
26:17
And even the food that we do is all locally sourced. So it's really good.
26:22
Our chef, Justine, is amazing.
26:25
She's been with us now for seven years as our executive chef.
26:28
Absolutely. Sounds brilliant. Now then, we got there.
26:31
We've done the helicopter over there. What is there to do there?
26:34
Okay, well, on property, that's the great thing about Sonar Resort.
26:38
Even though we're in the middle of the wilderness and there are no roads,
26:42
cars, telephone poles. We have everything there that people want.
26:45
We got a tennis court with pickleball now, so you got to throw pickleball in.
26:49
We have a nine hole putting green.
26:51
We have hiking trails, a lot of hiking trails.
26:54
And we also have mountain bikes. We have two lodge dogs that love to go hiking
26:59
with anybody that wants to get out there and do the hiking.
27:02
And also on property, we got two virtual golf rooms. We've got a movie theater,
27:06
a games room. We've got an outdoor heated pool.
27:10
And if we can believe it, we have 24 hot tubs on property.
27:14
I believe it. It sounds really good. Now then, going back to the outdoors, bears around?
27:19
Oh, yeah. Okay. So we've got so much marine and wildlife in our area.
27:25
And you're talking about the bears.
27:27
So the bear viewing for us is in September, October.
27:31
And the bear viewing, we work with the band, the First Nations Hamako.
27:37
Nation. And so what we do is we go one hour by boat from our resort up an inlet,
27:42
which you might call a fjord, up an inlet about 30 miles to the Orford Valley.
27:48
We arrive at the Orford Valley, and then the Hamako First Nations take over
27:51
from there by vehicle along logging roads, and they take you to these stands
27:56
that are built 16 feet in the air, so these towers,
27:59
and you're caged in, you go up, and you view these majestic animals feed on salmon in the wild.
28:04
Now, I can tell you on this one alone, I've been up there seven times.
28:09
The least I've ever seen is eight.
28:12
The most is 24 bears in a two-and-a-half-hour sighting time.
28:16
That's enough, isn't it? Yeah, and that's a bucket list because we're not really
28:20
just a grizzly bear viewing resort.
28:23
We've got everything. We've got the orcas. We've got the humpbacks.
28:26
You can go do a day of whale watching.
28:28
I always tell people do one activity a day, and that's all, and then enjoy the
28:32
resort, what we offer at the resort.
28:34
Because there's so much to do on property too. So you can do one day of whale
28:39
watching. You can do one day of either cruising with a boat or going salmon fishing.
28:44
I'm going to tell you one of my favorites is the Tide to Table.
28:48
And the Tide to Table, if you love seafood, you go out, you drop prawn traps
28:53
and crab traps in the water, and you head off for the day. It's an eight-hour day.
28:58
You go up into a place called Desolation Sound. So you go up these different
29:01
inlets, Toba Inlet, and there'll be waterfalls and everything.
29:04
You might jig for a lingcod, troll for a salmon. And you don't have to know
29:08
how to salmon fish. Don't worry about that. Our guide looks after everything.
29:11
Oh, yeah. And then you might anchor out in the bay, have a picnic, lunch.
29:14
Stop off at a small town called Lund. Lund is the end of the highway.
29:18
Next stop is Costa Rica. That's the number one highway. It ends at Lund.
29:22
Then you hop in the boat, go back, pick up those prawn traps and crab traps.
29:26
Whatever you caught that day, the next day, there is a charcuterie board of
29:30
seafood coming to your table. Wow.
29:33
You've done it yourself, basically. Yeah.
29:35
What's the best time of the year to go? Okay. We are a seasonal resort.
29:38
We operate from May 1st to October 15th.
29:42
So May, June, and October are what we call low season. I'll give you a price right now.
29:47
May, June, October are low, and then July, August are high season, and September.
29:53
So the best time is depending on what you want to do. You come in May,
29:56
June, you're going to see eagles.
29:58
Wow. You come in June, July, August, you're going to see orcas, humpbacks.
30:03
You're going to see white-sided dolphins and porpoises the entire time.
30:07
Seals, sea lions in the early and late part of our season.
30:10
If you want to see sea lions feeding on salmon in the wild, where they flip
30:14
it in the air and then take it down their throat, that's in August, September.
30:18
That's a five-minute walk from our resort to the inlet.
30:22
And this is all on tap. It's all there for you. It's all there for you.
30:25
It's an unbelievable wow factor.
30:27
So I'm going to say, Wayne, thank you so much. And hopefully we'll get some
30:31
people to go into your resort.
30:32
It's a new resort in, where is it again? It's in a place called Desolation Sound,
30:37
one hour from Vancouver by helicopter.
30:40
I'd love to see you. Come and see us. Great. Thank you, Wayne.
30:54
Himself. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Ken. And this is Kevin from Air Canada, obviously.
30:59
And Kevin and I have known each other for quite a few years, I would say.
31:03
It's been a pleasure, as always, to catch up. A pleasure. I think you had propellers
31:06
in those days, didn't you, rather than jets?
31:10
Now then, tell me, Air Canada, you're expanding, you've got new aircraft, what's going on?
31:15
Yes, quite an exciting period at Air Canada. We are starting to receive our
31:20
next fleet of aircraft, both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft.
31:26
And on Friday, we took delivery of our first Airbus A321XLR,
31:29
which will be deployed to Manchester from October 26.
31:33
And in the not-too-distant future, the Airbus A321 will be complemented by the
31:38
Airbus A350 for ultra-long-haul flying and the Boeing 787-10.
31:44
These are the new aircraft coming in? These are the new aircraft coming in.
31:47
We already have a very modern fuel-efficient fleet comprising of the 787-10 and the-9.
31:55
They complement our Airbus A330s, but these are additional aircraft that will be entering service.
32:00
That sounds great. It's very exciting because it allows us to open new route
32:04
opportunities to look at some of those that we operate summer seasonal, like Manchester,
32:09
and transfer those to a year-round service, which we will see from October 26th
32:14
of this year. So how many times a week are we going from Manchester?
32:16
Up to four flights a week on the current timetable. And that will be the 787
32:21
during the summer months.
32:22
And from October 26, we will transition to the Airbus A321, which is really
32:27
exciting because new aircraft bring a new onboard experience for all passengers.
32:32
So with the introduction of those aircraft types that I've previously mentioned,
32:36
we will see a new redefined economy cabin, a new redefined premium economy cabin,
32:42
and we'll see an all-new Signature Class cabin. Oh, that is new, isn't it?
32:47
Signature? Signature Class. So that's the name that we give to our international
32:50
business class products.
32:51
And for the first time, we'll be deploying a True Life Flat Signature Class
32:57
product on a narrow-body aircraft, which is the Airbus A321,
33:00
which, as I've mentioned, we'll see on Manchester, Toronto from October 26th.
33:04
So, is it a two-class aircraft?
33:06
It will be a two-class aircraft. So, we'll have Signature Class and we'll have
33:09
the Economy Cabin, the Economy Class.
33:11
Now, I've owned Air Canada several times, as you know. Yes. The case service
33:14
on board is really good. Still got the full meal service?
33:17
Yes, we are a full traditional airline. So we offer a complimentary hot meal
33:23
service, and that is also with complimentary beers,
33:27
wines in the economy cabin, as well as the premium and the business cabin as
33:31
well. And going across out loud, do you get afternoon tea?
33:33
Yes, yes. There's all sorts of different menu introductions that we've seen over the years.
33:39
We are an airline that we quite like to keep our menu choices current and refreshed.
33:44
So we do see changes from time to time. Okay, so connecting from Manchester
33:48
through Toronto, where can we go to?
33:50
Oh, well, endless routing opportunities. We have a great network across Canada,
33:54
with it being our home country.
33:56
But we also have a great network down to the USA, Central and South America.
34:01
So there is great routing options available via Manchester.
34:05
And the important thing is our terminals are designed for same terminal connections.
34:09
There's no baggage reclaim.
34:11
You transfer under one hub roof.
34:14
And if you are traveling to the United States, you pre-clear U.S.
34:16
Customs and Immigration at one of our four principal hubs. So Toronto,
34:20
Montreal, Vancouver, or Calgary.
34:22
Okay, right. Now then, for those who live down south, they can go direct to some of these places.
34:26
Yeah, so from London Heathrow, that's our biggest franchise here in the United
34:31
Kingdom. And on the East Coast, you can fly nonstop,
34:34
from London Heathrow to Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, as well as Ottawa,
34:39
which we reintroduced last year.
34:41
And on the West Coast, you can take advantage of non-stop services to Calgary and Vancouver also.
34:48
Okay, now what's your shortest route, Transatlantic?
34:51
Halifax. That would be Halifax. And you're going to tell everybody it's almost
34:54
as short as going to the Canaries. It is, it is.
34:57
It's gate-to-gate on average. It's around five and a half hours.
35:00
So we have that non-stop service operating from London Heathrow, non-stop to Halifax.
35:06
Now, is that seasonal or year-round now? No, it's year-round.
35:09
So it's a year-round service. So we can do the Newfoundlands and Nova Scotias?
35:13
Yes, you can. And yes, the gateway to the east there.
35:17
So yeah, and that service also complements our Ottawa service,
35:21
as well as our Montreal and Toronto service as well.
35:23
So great connection opportunities from the east coast.
35:26
Okay. Now in Toronto, you're in one terminal only, aren't you?
35:29
Yes, that's right. And it's Terminal 1. What's the facilities in that terminal?
35:32
So Toronto is our biggest hub.
35:35
Second to that is Montreal and then Vancouver.
35:37
You know, we have made great investments at Toronto Airport.
35:41
And in recent years, we opened a signature suite, which is an elevated lounge
35:46
experience for our premium passengers who can access the signature suite if
35:50
they are ticketed in the signature class cabin.
35:52
Right. So there's lots of facilities there. Lots of facilities.
35:55
And also we're making changes to our lounge proposition. So we have the Air
35:59
Canada Maple Leaf Lounge.
36:01
And those that do require it will go in under renovation in the not-too-distant future.
36:05
But we also have the Grab and Go facility that we offer as well.
36:10
And that's under the banner of Air Canada Cafes as well.
36:13
Just give me a clue on Grab and Go. Grab and Go. So the Air Canada Café really
36:17
is for passengers who may have arrived at the airport that don't have time to
36:22
experience our full lounge proposition, either be a signature suite or the Maple Leaf Lounge.
36:28
But the Grab and Go really is more of a cafe style. So they scan their boarding
36:32
pass at the, at the, at the entrance of the CAF and they can grab,
36:36
you know, a deli sandwich, a coffee or a cold drink,
36:40
some snacks, some pastries, and then they can either eat them on the go within the lounge.
36:45
It's still a lounge facility, or they can take that, that, that,
36:48
you know, that snack or that, that, that.
36:50
Food item to the gate and enjoy it just before they're
36:53
bored yeah i'm good i know we're promoting vancouver tonight i'm
36:56
in toronto at the moment so how many flights a day toronto to
36:59
vancouver if we're connecting from manchester oh wow so that's a good question
37:03
i think it ranges up to 12 at the peak schedule you're looking around 12 connections
37:08
from toronto to vancouver so once an hour it's virtually one an hour and the
37:14
aircraft you know we do deploy some of our largest aircraft on that corridor.
37:18
It's probably one of the busiest routes or one of the busiest corridors in North America.
37:23
So yes, there's lots of amazing connection opportunities once you arrive into
37:28
Canada, to the west coast of Canada, including Vancouver.
37:31
So the first choice of flight is with?
37:33
Air Canada. Thank you, Kevin. Absolutely brilliant. And do remember,
37:37
you know, we were awarded Best Airline in North America last year.
37:40
So that's an accolade that we are very proud to hold close to our hearts.
37:45
So just summing up, Manchester is four times a week, summer,
37:48
three times a week, winter.
37:50
We'll be up to four in the winter months with the introduction of the 321.
37:53
And in the summer months, currently it's up to three flights a week.
37:57
And plenty of connections across Canada into North America.
38:00
Exactly, yes. Thank you so much. No, thank you. Thank you.