Lesley Lorenz

Internet Farming

Posted in Articles and Life on the farm by Lesley on March 28th, 2011 at 5:20 pm.

March Article, Nanaimo Magazine
By Lesley Lorenz-Drysdale

On line you can buy a semen tank, fertilized eggs, hey (sic) or raccoon-proof chicken coops. Thanks to the resourcefulness of island farmers and homesteaders, the tools of the agricultural trade are used, reused and converted for new uses – such as the self described “automatic water thingie” – listed on a popular buy, sell or trade website as a homemade item consisting of a double sink and toilet floater, it promises to provide water to your livestock on demand – and it’s only $10!

With so many options, how is a new farmer outstanding in her field to decide what to plant, what to grow and what to breed? Will there be enough water and grass for 2 goats, and a cow? What breed of goats are the best for milking, and are they going to stare me down with their weirdly slitted eyes while I stare fiercely back, milk pail in hand? What about sheep? My knitting needles are poised and patiently waiting for enough wool to supply the whole family with the notoriously ugly toques I knit. I also want to make sure there are plenty of peas and carrots and a cute little cabin for guests to stay in when they visit the ranch.
Perhaps I’ll begin with the soil, test it to see what would grow best, and work my way up from there. My gumboot-clad neighbour said the fields were last planted with garlic – great big elephant garlic – so I am assuming my goats will have bad breath during the morning milking. The milk will probably carry the flavour too – but that works for me, as I intend to make goat cheese, and it will come pre-seasoned!

We can only afford a tractor built in the post-war era, complete with a metal driver’s seat that matches a tricycle seat exactly. How do you get replacement parts for a piece of machinery built in 1947? Wait … I bet I could find it online, or at least track down a farm-yard mechanic who machines his own tools and parts.

City to Farm Lifestyle Renovation

Posted in Articles and Life on the farm by Lesley on March 10th, 2011 at 8:49 am.

March 2011
Nanaimo Magazine Article
By Lesley Lorenz

We just bought a farm out in Cedar, and the five acres are beautiful, but the farmhouse needs LOTS of work. Built in 1973, the home still has original plumbing (olive green fixtures in the bathrooms), orange shag carpets and glitter-flecked textured ceilings. The light fixtures look like they came straight out of a Star Trek stage set – orange orbs encased in black wrought iron capsules. There is a herd of feral peacocks that are apparently ours – the previous owners vacated the property two years ago and the peacocks have been alternately fending for themselves and getting handouts from our generous next-door neighbours.

My parents are helping, with Dad taking on the role of overseer and the rest of the island-based family following orders. I attempted to negotiate a roof repair with a local handyman of the retired persuasion, but was worried about the situation on the roof when he informed me his ‘assistant’ was eighty-three years old. We spend our evenings and weekends ripping out drywall and filling our dumpster with dusty carpets, broken appliances and a stack of saved empty dog food bags. Eventually, we will paint all the walls and ceilings, lay new floors and pop in double-paned windows. While we work, the herd of peacocks peer in the windows at us – the flock numbers about sixteen individuals, so there’s usually at least one or two tracking our progress. We also have a pond (okay, a large puddle) which becomes a croaking mass of frogs around dusk. Deer traverse the property, nibbling at the few spring bulbs that have started to poke their heads up in the fields.

My eldest son took out an entire closet wall kung-fu style, complete with Bruce Lee sound effects. However, he’s not nearly as fearsome as the trades who walk around quoting gargantuan numbers to upgrade the electricity and plumbing into the 21st century. Somehow, the numbers grow exponentially between their verbal estimates and the paperwork that is left on the sawdust-covered kitchen counter. How long ‘till we’re setting up a roadside stand with free-range eggs and cut flowers and home-made jam? I’m crossing my fingers I’ll be harvesting the fruits of my five acres in the fall. I’ll keep you posted, so you-all can mosey on by in September.

I’m in Love with a Rabbit!

Posted in Articles by Lesley on January 27th, 2011 at 11:40 am.

February 2011
Nanaimo Magazine Article
By Lesley Lorenz

The Chinese New Year on February 3 signals the beginning of the year of the rabbit. Being married to a rabbit, I can confirm that rabbits (at least the one in our den) are easy-going, positive, non-confrontational and very social. They are also extremely cute and cuddly.
Bunnies are very busy animals in our culture, from delivering colourful eggs and hollow chocolate replicas of themselves to luring Victorian children down their rabbit holes and decorating Hugh Hefner’s arm. In Nanaimo, a self-replicating army of rabbits take on the daunting chore of trimming the grass at the airport and the university.

The rabbit is described as the luckiest sign of the zodiac, and this year, the numbers that will bring success are 1, 3, 5, 9, 15, 19 and 35. Rabbits are articulate and good communicators which is why friends and acquaintances seek out their advice. It’s noted in the Chinese Zodiac that Rabbits make excellent diplomats and politicians – I wonder how many of those running for office this year are rabbits? At least we’ll know that they will be fast on their feet!

Some famous rabbits include Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland), John Cleese (Fawlty Towers) and Roger Moore (the cheesiest of the James Bonds), not to mention Bugs Bunny and Jessica Rabbit. Born in the years 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, they hold in common a terrific sense of humour and are hopeless romantics.

For the rest of us non-rabbits, this year is predicted to be a time in which you can catch your breath and calm your nerves, and focus on home, family, and security. A sense of peace, diplomacy and harmony will permeate the year. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? A time for us to frolic in the fields and create happy families. It will be pleasant to have a year pulled out of a magician’s hat that is surprising but calm, successful without being tumultuous and lucky by a hop, skip and a jump.

Thanks for the laugh

Posted in Make a comment by Lesley on January 10th, 2011 at 8:15 pm.

Hi Lesley
Just wanted to thank you for an actual guffaw! When I read item 2 of your article, I laughed so hard I could barely read it to my husband. I told my daughters and said I had extra mirrors if they needed them. Of course if one has company, you’d have to get them to sign release forms for personal injury in case they trip on said clutter while using the mirrors.
Thanks for the laugh.
Candace

Avoid the January Blues

Posted in Articles by Lesley on December 31st, 2010 at 1:23 pm.

Nanaimo Magazine Article
January 2011
By Lesley Lorenz

Let’s pretend it is January, and very cold and wet outside. Wait, it is January, and my coat is still soaked from walking the dog last night. Is your head as foggy as the Nanaimo harbour too? I need an air horn to jumpstart my days, as the time from first coffee to getting out of jammies is dragging out longer and longer, until I find myself pulling on jeans just before the kids get home from school.
Working from home can allow the winter blues to settle in a little more securely if you aren’t careful. In preparation, I have entered carefully devised winter plans into my daytimer. Not resolutions, really, but items to remind me that the season has its influences – just like spring releases a torrent of allergens to smite my nasal passages, winter promises dark days that can drag one down like a romp in the quicksand.
Try these at home, or just think of me trying them, and see if it doesn’t make you feel a little cheerier:
1. Wear an absurdly coloured outfit. Black, grey and tan don’t count. Let out your inner purple. Attempt an eighties hairdo and add a dash of glitter to your lip gloss.
2. Hold a hand mirror in front of you like a tray, which makes it look like you’re walking on the ceiling. It’s much tidier up there, so you can avoid clutter without actually cleaning up.
3. Celebrate a pet’s birthday. Use cookie cutters to form canned pet food into festive shapes. January opens with a nice big hangover, but is lacking any other holidays. Make your own!
4. Buy the ab circle pro exercise machine as seen on infomercials. Invite your friends over to try it, then return it for a full refund after you post a lot of hilarious photos on the internet.
5. Visit the zoo. As there is no such facility in Nanaimo, instead go to a public pool and toss bread crumbs at the preschoolers.
6. Put a black light in the bathroom instead of using dental strips to whiten your teeth.
7. Set your ring tone as a laugh track, and have your message alert be a cuckoo bird.
Remember to look at the lighter side of life – the dark days of January will be over before you know it, and you can plunge wholeheartedly into all the fun and romance that February offers!

10th foot washed ashore!

Posted in Make a comment by Lesley on December 15th, 2010 at 10:24 pm.

A 10th foot has washed ashore on the Pacific Coast, near Tacoma.

Police believe the foot, encased in a boy’s size 6 Ozark Trail hiking boot, to belong to a youth or a young adult. The shoe was sold in North America, at Walmart stores between 2004 and 2005.
Information is being shared between Washington State Police and the RCMP. 7 of the feet were found in BC waters. Two sets of feet match, one set belonging to a female. Only one foot has been identified so far.

None of the cases has yet turned up evidence of foul play.

Light Hearted Holidays

Posted in Articles by Lesley on November 24th, 2010 at 6:34 pm.

Nanaimo Magazine Article
December 2010
By Lesley Lorenz

As soon as the clocks are set back and night begins to fall before the dinner hour, my husband starts to string up Christmas lights. He doesn’t put them all up at once; the effect would be too startling. First, two tiny shrubs are lit all in white. Five days later, a cluster of colourful jewels are tossed amongst the rhododendrons. The next day the rain lets up, and he adds a long string of rope lights that snake between the fence posts. The rain presses on for more than a week, and just when the neighbours begin to think he’s finished, another barrage of electrical wonder begins. Huge blue snowflakes are threaded between red and white lights along our gutters (which fell off one year due to the weight of the decorations and a heavy snowfall). But, although it is still only November, the transformation is not nearly complete. A blue spruce the height of a seven year old is decorated with flashing stars, and a trellis covered bench becomes a royal throne for holiday-clad teddy bears glowing under pink and gold lights.

Cars drive past and slow down, which my husband tallies, keeping score of all his fans. People walk by with children in tow, their faces peering up, hypnotized by the almost –Vegas effect created in our yard. Last year, when winter had melted into spring, a paper delivery man stopped by our front path and called to me in the yard. “Your house had the most beautiful Christmas lights ever.” Now that is a lasting effect! While neighbours and relatives and even household members react to the prolific display every year with ribbing and razzing and comments on our electrical bill, I can’t help but feel cheered by the Christmas spirit that pours out of my husband in his light-hearted approach to sharing the joy of the holidays.

A tip of my glass to all the souls that deck the halls with reckless abandon.

Mexican Hat Dance

Posted in Articles by Lesley on October 28th, 2010 at 3:51 pm.

Nanaimo Magazine
November 2010
By Lesley Lorenz

A sombrero is thrown with gusto to the floor, and dusty cowboy boots stomp a noisy circle around the hat. Yipping and laughing, the traditional Mexican dancer turns sideways to the audience, showing off the brilliant silver studs that line each pant leg. He grins to the edge of the dance floor, and a senorita dressed in yards of billowy white skirts and a bodice embroidered with daring red roses enters the circle. She hooks her wrists under the edges of her skirts in a single flourish, and draws the edges skyward and begins to spin. The skirt floats around her in a perfectly tortilla-round halo.
I love that culture is retained through dance. While my recent trip to Mexico proved that the country is as cosmopolitan in its city centres as we in Canada are accustomed to, dance invites us to look back in time, at the cultural values and traditions that are a most respected part of their past. Movements that mimic bullfighting and cattle roping are threaded through the steps of the male dancers. The women’s arm movements and poses are designed to flaunt the dancer’s embroidery skills required to create her ornate skirts and blouses. The traditional steps form a rhythm for a safe courtship – the accepted manner to meet and get close to a potential partner. How fit are they, how shiny their buttons, how careful their steps, how exuberant their yelps?
Ukrainian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Inuit, Irish; the traditional dances and music of these and other cultures are treasured, kept alive, and still performed. We can find the dances both in the country of origin and here, where it has been packed along with the other belongings of new Canadians. What a beautiful way to see into our culturally diverse past.
I have studied belly dancing, Ukrainian dancing and Flamenco, along with ballet. I am very happy to be teaching dance to children and adults again – it is fun and a half! If you haven’t tried dance yourself, maybe now is the time. More fun than aerobics, and you (or your kids) could learn about your own culture…

Special Thanks to the Calpulli Mexcian Dance Company for the wonderful photo. For more on Clapulli, please visit www.calpullidance.org

Watch the Podcast

Posted in Make a comment by Lesley on October 25th, 2010 at 5:03 pm.

Find out more about how author Lesley Lorenz developed the concept of the feet that washed ashore into a novel. Watch a live podcast from the Surrey International Writer’s Conference. Click here to go to the podcast.

ANOTHER FOOT FOUND ON WEST COAST!

Posted in Make a comment by Lesley on August 28th, 2010 at 9:31 am.

Latest human foot washes up on West Coast

A tourist walking along a stretch of beach in Whidbey Island, Wash. found a human foot on Friday, Aug. 28, 2010.

The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — A human foot has washed up on another West Coast beach, but this time in Washington state.

The right foot was found by a tourist on Whidbey Island, about 50 kilometres north of Seattle, on Friday morning.

“Based on the size, we’re estimating it belongs to either a female or a juvenile,” Island County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Det. Ed Wallace said in an interview. “Based on the condition, we’re estimating it’s been in the water less than two months.”

He said the foot was found without a shoe or a sock, and the tourist was quite startled by the discovery.

Wallace said based on the information police have gathered, they don’t believe the foot matches any missing persons cases in the area.

Officers plan to reach out to surrounding jurisdictions, including B.C., to see if any of their cases might fit.

Seven feet have been found on B.C. shores since August 2007.

The most recent discovery was last October in Richmond. That foot was linked to a Vancouver-area man who had been reported missing in January 2008.

One other foot found in B.C. has also been identified. It belonged to a man thought to have committed suicide.

RCMP have said all of the feet separated from the bodies naturally in the water and foul play is not suspected in any of the cases.

The missing feet mystery brought international attention to B.C., as people around the world speculated on what could be causing the feet to turn up.

One other foot washed up in Washington state in August 2008.

Wallace said police on Whidbey Island are used to bodies washing up on shore, but not individual feet.

“Based on where we sit in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the currents, we’ve had complete bodies wash up before, partial bodies wash up before, we’re just in that pathway,” he said.

He said the foot is almost complete, though there are a few bones missing from the toes.

“There’s no trauma to it, it does not look like it’s been severed,” he said.

Wallace stressed the investigation is still early and officers are not ruling anything out.

Background information on the feet

Posted in Make a comment by Lesley on August 28th, 2010 at 9:29 am.

Discoveries

The first foot was discovered on August 20, 2007, on Jedediah Island, by a girl visiting from Washington. The girl found the foot when she picked up a shoe and opened the sock, finding the foot. The foot was that of a man, and was found wearing a size 12 Adidas shoe and a sock. It is thought to have become disarticulated due to submerged decay. This kind of shoe was produced in 2003 and distributed mainly in India.

The second foot was discovered by a couple on August 26 on Gabriola Island. It was also that of a man, and also became disarticulated due to decay. It was waterlogged and appeared to have been taken ashore by an animal. It probably floated ashore from the south. This shoe was produced in 2004 and sold worldwide, and the type has since been discontinued.

The third foot was discovered on February 8, 2008, on Valdes Island. It was also a man’s right foot and was wearing a sneaker and a sock. This shoe was sold in Canada or the United States between February 1, 2003, and June 30, 2003.

The fourth foot was discovered on May 22 on Kirkland Island, an island in the Fraser Delta between Richmond and Delta, British Columbia. It was also wearing a sock and sneaker. It is thought to have washed down the Fraser River, having nothing to do with the ones found in the Gulf Islands. This right foot was of a woman. The shoe was a New Balance sneaker manufactured in 1999.

The fifth foot was on June 16, floating in water near Westham Island, part of Delta. It was found floating in the water by two hikers. It has been confirmed that the left foot found on June 16 on Westham Island and the right foot found February 8 on Valdes Island belonged to the same man.

Another foot was discovered on August 1, 2008, by a camper on a beach near Pysht, Washington. It was covered in seaweed. The site of the discovery was less than 16 kilometers from the international border in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Testing confirmed that the right foot was human. Police say the large black-top, size 11 athletic shoe for a right foot contains bones and flesh. This was the first foot of the series to be found outside of British Columbia. The RCMP and Clallam County Sheriff’s Department agreed on August 5 that the foot could have been carried south from Canadian waters.

Another foot was discovered on November 11, 2008, in Richmond. The foot was in a shoe that was found floating in the Fraser River. The shoe was described as a small New Balance running shoe, possibly a woman’s shoe. A forensic DNA profiling analysis indicated that it was a genetic match to the foot discovered on May 22 on Kirkland Island.

In July 2008 it was announced that one foot had been identified by Vancouver police as belonging to a man who was depressed and probably committed suicide. His identity was withheld on request of his family.

On October 28, 2009 another foot had been inside a running shoe found on a beach in Richmond.

Sixth foot hoax

The sixth “foot”, which was discovered on June 18, 2008, on Tyee Spit near Campbell River on Vancouver Island, was a hoax. The hoax was a “skeletonized animal paw” which was put in a sock and shoe and then stuffed with dried seaweed. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have begun an investigation into the hoax, and an arrest could result in charges of public mischief.

Theories

The series of discoveries has been called “astounding” and “almost beyond explanation”, as no other body parts have turned up. The discoveries have caused speculation that the feet may be those of people who died in a boating accident or a plane crash in the ocean. One explanation is that some of the feet are those of four men who died in a plane crash near Quadra Island in 2005 and whose bodies have not been recovered, though one of the feet has been determined to be from a female. Foul play has also been suggested, although none of the first four feet contained evidence of tool marks. This does not rule out foul play, however; it is possible that the bodies could have been weighted down and disposed of, and the feet are separating due to natural decay.

Determining the origin of the feet is complicated because ocean currents may carry floating items long distances, and because currents in the Strait of Georgia may be unpredictable. A foot may float as far as 1,000 miles (1,600 km). Also, human feet have a tendency to become adipocere (a soap-like substance formed from body fat), which makes it hard for forensic scientists to find clues. Under optimal conditions, a human body may survive in water for as long as three decades, meaning that the feet may have been floating around for years.

Level of rarity

Finding human remains on a beach is not uncommon. Storms may erode old burial sites and wash the debris out to sea where it is subsequently found, although this in particular would mainly reveal bones. In addition, missing people are common, and people fall off vessels at sea on occasion. Decomposition may separate the foot from the body because the ankle is relatively weak, and the buoyancy caused by air either inside or trapped within a shoe would allow it to float away.] According to SFU entomologist Gail Anderson, extremities such as the hands, feet, and head often detach as a body decomposes in the water, although they rarely float.

However, finding feet and not the rest of the bodies has been deemed unusual. Finding two feet has been given “million to one odds” and “an anomaly”. The finding of the third foot made it the first time three such discoveries had been made so close to each other. The fourth discovery caused speculation about human interference and, statistically, was called “curious”.

 

Locations of the Feet

 

Table of Discoveries

Puppy Love

Posted in Articles by Lesley on August 27th, 2010 at 8:51 am.

Puppy Love
September, 2010
Nanaimo Magazine
By Lesley Lorenz

She is a whirling dervish, a girl with no regrets. She bravely hurdles the lettuce in the garden, grazing her speckled belly on the tips of the leaves. Mango found her way to our house when the family she belonged to faced eviction if they didn’t find another home for her. Just ten weeks old and irresistible, we rushed in to save her. Feeling both heroic and at the whim of her super-cuteness, we bend over backwards to make our home her new kingdom.
Mango has two cushy beds, one which she drags around our bedroom, and fills with the various stuffies that are still kicking around from when the kids were toddlers. Her kitchen bed, for afternoon naps, is nestled under a couple of prints featuring bunnies and Weiner dogs (Mango is half Weiner, half Beagle; we call her a ‘Beaner’.) Tiny rawhide bones and drool-soaked squeaky toys complete the décor. Our three cats provide hours of entertainment, as do the chickens in the yard that haven’t laid a single egg since she arrived.
New babies disturb the balance – we knew this – but the scales dip sharply in her favour, as her tiny white-tipped tail thumps frantically on the floor every time we approach. She has that wonderful puppy smell that renders her irresistible, and makes all the accidental puddles instantly forgivable when paired with a doleful gaze from ankle height. As I ride my bike with her curled up in the front basket, drivers honk and smile, old ladies flag me down to rub her velvety ears and passers-by exhale in an audible ‘awwww’. And just so you have an idea of how small she is, in the standard size basket that graces the front of my bicycle, I can fit a loaf of bread, a bag of apples, a carton of milk and one Mango.

Out of Service

Posted in Articles by Lesley on July 27th, 2010 at 9:59 am.

August, 2010, Nanaimo Magazine
By Lesley Lorenz

Bleeped across the top of my cellphone, out of service brings a smile to my face. Tucked in behind Mt. Benson for a few days of living in the woods, we are camping and splashing about in the lake. In the evenings, we stare in to the campfire – and ever so luckily – there is a bluegrass troupe camped not too far away. We can hear the strumming of a banjo, decorated with a jiggidy fiddle and accompanied by a husky voice belting out “May the Circle Be Unbroken”. Heaven, descended, lays amongst the campfire smoke and frog song that surrounds the lake.
2:00 am, and I am awoken by a single star, its light piercing through a fold in the curtain, winking at me. I creep out of the wee campervan we own, and stare upwards, but the canopy of branches blocks my gaze. I decide to head towards the lake, first convincing my new husband that I would be such delicious cougar bait that it is imperative that he escort me on my trek to the water if he wants me to be around to fry up his bacon in the morning.
As we reach the water’s edge and the mirror of the lake opens up before us, my heart jumps to my mouth. The sky looks as if royalty had played Hansel and Gretel, dropping jewels instead of breadcrumbs across the velvety sky. The big dipper is poised over the lake, ready to scoop up its dark watery coolness in its gigantic ladle. The immense “W” of Cassiopeia also presides over the lake, a striking constellation found near the North Star. And soon to be on the dramatic ebony stage – the Perseid Meteor shower! Pack a midnight picnic in August (peaks around the twelfth) and look skyward to see what the ancients called the “Tears of St. Lawrence.” Actually debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle, the grains of ice and dust from the comet’s tail enter the atmosphere at 71 miles per hour. Boldly cast your desires to the sky -the display allows for dozens of wishes on falling stars in just one night. Good luck star gazers!

La Bella Italia

Posted in Articles by Lesley on July 27th, 2010 at 9:42 am.

July, 2010, Nanaimo Magazine
By Lesley Lorenz

Two weeks in paradise. I’m still floating and gloating over a magnificent honeymoon in Italy.

We took the train from Milan to Venice, and while I had premonitions of the city of canals being ultra-cheesy, I was whole-heartedly wrong! It is beautiful beyond words, magical and romantic, and easy to wander into a non-touristy part of town and enjoy the achingly beautiful architecture reflected in the waterways. An evening gondola ride down the side canals was silent and mysterious, and as we poled our way under a stone bridge, we looked up to see a full moon throwing silver ribbons into the canal ahead of us.

The ancient walled city of Lucca was our next stop, a smaller, less touristy destination. We enjoyed lunch in the Theatro (a huge round plaza) and an excellent view of everyone’s laundry which flapped from every balcony. Curved old ladies whizzed over the brick streets on bicycles, their daily shopping in a handlebar basket. No helmets, dressed in skirts and fashionable shoes, a cigarette perched on their lips. Viva la difference!

By train, we zipped through the countryside, past marble mountains and on to Cinque Terre, five beautiful villages perched on the coast and declared a national treasure. Breathtaking! We saw homes and gardens terraced into the surrounding mountains, dotted with church spires and tiny restaurants. Next, we rented a car and our adventure really began. Snaking up the Tuscan mountainside, one lane barely accommodated the mini-vehicle I was driving, and yet we would encounter trucks, and find ourselves spilling into the grassy shoulders or patiently backing up to allow passage. The drive was so treacherous that we traveled for over 2 hours in second gear. Our final destination was worth the effort though. High above a gorgeous valley speckled with sun-drenched villages, our hosts ran their B & B in a 450 year old homestead. Besides the tremendous view, we were greeted in the morning by a cacophony of birds – including a cuckoo bird that was, to quote our hostess, “looking for his wife”. We visited Rome at the end of our trip, rooting our way through the dusty ruins in the heat of the afternoon, awed by the grace and grandeur of the 2000 year old architecture.

A trip of a lifetime – and I stepped where Caesar once walked, and slept where the cuckoo bird called to contemporaries of Galileo.

To read more of Nanaimo Magazine on line, visit www.nanaimomagazine.ca

Romance in the Harbour City

Posted in Articles by Lesley on July 27th, 2010 at 9:39 am.

June, 2010, Nanaimo Magazine
By Lesley Lorenz

It was heaven – and there we were in the perfect setting, high above the Nanaimo skyline, enjoying the sparkling stars and the sparkling wine.

The Coast Bastion is the perfect place to celebrate your own love story – and ours began at that very hotel, when I met my future husband for the first time, during a business interview in the lounge regarding his posting as the new Executive Director for Tourism Nanaimo. Full circle, and almost two years to the day we begin our honeymoon with the Bastion’s Romance package.
Greeted for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Drysdale, (butterflies!!) we are ushered up to beautiful newly renovated suite. The subtle lighting and chestnuts-and-cream colour scheme created a wonderful relaxing respite after hours of tearing up the dance floor and carousing with our wedding guests. A large Jacuzzi tub snuggled up to the huge floor to ceiling windows overlooking the harbour was too inviting to be missed. Set on the table next to the chaise-lounge and cozy armchair, we found an ice-cold bottle of champagne and a sumptuous serving of chocolate. Candlelight added to the romantic ambience that permeated the room. Every detail was attended to in perfection, and we dreamed on clouds of soft pillows and an exquisitely comfortable mattress.

Sunrise was glorious, rolling up hallelujah-style behind Protection and Newcastle Islands. We began our first day of wedded bliss with a full breakfast in Minnoz Dining Room, which is the crowning glory of the Bastion romance package. Eggs Benny is a house specialty offered in so many variations, you’ll be browsing your options while your mouth waters at the combinations – I enjoyed a fantastic Italian Benny with grilled chorizo and basil, while Mark savoured the West Coast Benny, featuring crab cakes and baby shrimp. Of course the classic back bacon is offered for traditionalists. The entire menu is magnificent, renowned throughout the island for fresh, local fare prepared by an excellent chef with international flare. Treat yourself and your sweetheart – book the Romance Package for a weekend you’ll never forget!!

To read more of Nanaimo Magazine on line, visit www.nanaimomagazine.ca