Adventures in the Wilderness

Alright ladies, settle in with your popcorn and a glass of wine, cuz this is long overdue and I have the distinct feeling it's going to be VERY long-winded.

I know I've kind of been MIA from alumnae activity in the last year or so, but life has been going full steam ahead and has kept both hands full at all times!!

Last June Ron and I were officially wed in Victoria. A small wedding at my dad's home and I have to say it was a great party. Ron made the food himself, and we kept it simple: beer and wine and hors d'oeuvres and a three piece jazz band. Successful as many weddings can be, we sent a few new couplings home together by the end of the night, and only lost one person to find him passed out on the front lawn an hour later. All and all, it was a great night and I want to do it again!!

Starting January 2006 I began taking business management at Camosun College while working full time at a busy downtown spa as a skin therapist. In Sept of last year I started school full time, while also working full time to give myself a feeling of accomplishment. While I've been busy with work and school, Ron has finished his BBA (bachelors degree in business admin).


Now comes the fun part. When Ron and I first met, we worked at a resort in Clayoquot Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island, north of Tofino. Since then, Ron has done consulting work for them from time to time and has kept in close contact. This year they gave us an offer we couldn't refuse, allowing us both to use our education and skill base to its potential!


Ron started in January of this year as General Manager of Clayoquot Wilderness Resort. I had the happy privelege of staying behind to pack up and move out of our apartment in Victoria. Can I tell you now just how much I loathe moving!!! But once that was finished at the end of February, I was able to join Ron in the middle of nowhere. Before I get ahead of myself, I guess I should explain the location a little bit. CWR is located 18 nautical miles north of Tofino in the Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve and is only accessible by boat or float plane. While it is still part of Vancouver Island, there are no roads that lead here, and is in the middle of the lush temperate rainforest, home to more animal life than a tropical rainforest. I could tell you stories about bears for hours!! No to mention the cougars and wolves and eagles.. oh my! It is really wild up here, but don't get me wrong, while we're technically "roughing it" we still have all the luxuries of home. Feel free to take a look at the website when you get a chance for more explanation: www.wildretreat.com.


Now I get to tell you about me and my pride and joy. No, not a baby, but it sure feels like one!!! Until this year, the resort has only provided massage treatments... not anymore. I've been hired on to develop and manage the Healing Grounds, a full service spa here at the resort. I have the amazing opportunity to build it quite literally from the ground up. There isn't anything about it on the website yet, because they've just started to build it, and I've only just finished the service menu an business plan. However, I may have to bore you all with a few pictures of the construction's beginnings.




^This is the walkway to the platform it will be built on.

This is the view from the structure on a cloudy day.>

These are the logs they're using!!!

I don't think I've ever been so excited about something I've created! Or rather, created something I've been so excited about.


I also want to share with you exactly what I see when I'm up here. I have no words to describe it, and as usual the photos don't do it justice either, but with the pictures and a little imagination, I hope you can feel what I do when I'm here.









Thanks Sue, for encouraging me to finally take the time to sit down and fill everyone in on what I've been doing with my time.