For the May 24th long weekend we had planned to head to Tofino and rent these little a-frame huts that we had stayed in in summers past, but the logistics of it all seemed too exhausting, and the ferry was already booked. So, we took the lazy man’s approach and rented a cottage on Bowen Island.

The beauty of Bowen Island is that it is so close to the city. A lot of people on the island even commute into town each day - as the ferry ride is only twenty minutes. And for a long weekend with great weather, the island felt surprisingly deserted.

Our cottage was cute - very small, about the size of an elaborate shed. It was located right into the ‘downtown core’ across from the Village Baker, and had a view of the harbour.

It didn’t take much to keep us occupied. We cracked a few too many bottles of wine, ate about my body weight in red meat, and fought over a few games of Scattergories. For a girl who hates board games as much as birds, I had a great time.

On the Sunday we went to Crayola Beach, a gorgeous little beach lined with wooden crayon shaped posts. Clever. Jake and Neilson played frisbee. Melissa and I suntanned. We took a picnic lunch of salmon and felt altogether West Coast - thought I still didn’t wear sandals.

Monday morning was rainy so we stayed in, cooked dream-a-pancakes and then headed back on the ferry home. In case you are wondering, dream-a-pancakes are a delight I came up with while squatting with Neilson and Jake in the wet apartment. You layer pancakes with peanut butter (or nutella), then add icecream (preferable with chocolate chunks), and then crumble other items such as digestive cookies or skor bars on top. It all melts together into a big plate of diabetes. Sadly we didn’t have a chance to cook dream-a-roni - my meat and cheese and salsa concoction. On our next island vacation I suppose.