No need to travel far away

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

I recently went on a more than 4,000-kilometre road trip down the West Coast. I enjoyed it enormously, but was exhausted when I returned to Vancouver. So when, a week later, I had the chance to take a press trip out to Harrison-Agassiz and take its Circle Farm Tour, I was eager to go, but was daunted by having to get into my car again so soon. I'm glad I did though, because the area is gorgeous, the people we met were terrific and the food was incredible.

In an upcoming Gift Guide issue of the Independent, I will write more about the people and their products. Here, I will focus on the great beauty that is within a two-hour drive of downtown Vancouver – and I will let pictures do most of the talking.

Here are the broad strokes. Our group stayed at the Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa (604-796-2244 or www.harrisonresort.com) and enjoyed the recently renovated rooms, the fine dining at the Copper Room and the spa and pool facilities (the shiatsu massage was not only relaxing but informative about my overall health).

We started out our two-day trip with a tour of the artful sand sculptures on the shoreline of Harrison Lake, which are from the 19th Annual Sand Sculpture Championships and which will be on display until Oct. 19, weather permitting (admission is $3/$7/$8). Then we headed to Farmhouse Natural Cheeses (604-796-8741 or www.farmhousecheeses.com), where we made a list of the cheddar, gouda and other treats we would buy on our way back to Vancouver.

At Kilby Historic Site, which features a 100-year-old general store museum, costumed interpreters, children's activities and a working heritage farm, we capped off the visit with a really good cup of coffee and a piece of home-made pie. We also learned that, for those looking for more rustic accommodations, Kilby has a 22-site campground with beach and boat launch facilities.

The next day took us to the Back Porch (604-796-9871) pottery gallery and coffee shop, where I loaded up on hand-made dishware and a few bags of coffee roasted in a circa 1919 flame coffee roaster. At Limbert Mountain Farms (www.limbertmountainfarm.com), where they grow organic herbs, we had lavender lemonade and a delicious (and colorful) lunch that included a blueberry-balsamic appetizer, fresh vegetable salad with pesto crostini, beef chana masala over quinoa and blackberry peach pie. We barely had room to taste the sweets at Canadian Hazelnut (604-796-213 or e-mail [email protected]), so we all took some home – they offer self-guided orchard tours and U-pick during October and November.

For more information, visit the Tourism Harrison website at www.tourismharrison.com.

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