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“The Best of Vancouver Island” tour offered by Rainbird Excursions will be an all-inclusive escorted holiday for a maximum of 10 guests. Almost all of the multi-day tours of Vancouver Island currently offered by large operators are based in major urban centers outside Vancouver Island. Many of them are bus tours with 30 to 40 people on the trip.
In contrast, Rainbird Excursions’ owner, Sandy McRuer, is a long-time resident of Vancouver Island. He has assembled a soft adventure package that introduces the best features of Vancouver Island to first-time visitors to the island, from the beaches of the Pacific Rim to the alpine landscapes of Forbidden Plateau, and including wine-tours and marine cruises as well.
McRuer worked for many years as a professional forester before starting his latest adventure. He brings his professional knowledge, experience and approach to interpreting the natural ecosystems of the Island. “When you’re working in forestry, you cover a lot of ground,” he says, “In order to manage the forest effectively you need to understand, not only how trees grow, but also, how to identify most of the local plants, what the needs of salmon and trout are, the habits of deer, bear, elk, and a variety of birds, also what kinds of hillsides are liable to slide, and so on.”
Until now all Rainbird’s excursions have been day trips from the Alberni Valley. The valley is an excellent location from which to base a vacation on Vancouver Island. Because of it’s central location, a person can sample all of the island’s main tourist features on a day trip: for instance, whale-watching, beaches, hiking, Strathcona Provincial Park, wine tasting in the Cowichan Valley, kayaking on either coast of the island, wildlife and bird watching, museums, native history, golf, and fishing.
The Best of Vancouver Island is a seven-day, six night all-inclusive soft adventure experience that allows a visitor to get a taste of what brings people back to the island again and again. Guests will visit Cathedral Grove, Pacific Rim National Park, Tofino, Ucluelet, Bamfield, Forbidden Plateau, Mount Washington, and Forbidden Plateau. Some of the activities they will experience are: a cruise on the Lady Rose, a historic little freighter plying the waters of Barkley Sound, a ride on a real old time logging locomotive, hiking to several waterfalls in the Alberni Valley, participating in the Tall Ships Festival, a morning of salmon fishing, and shopping at the Coombs Country Market with the goats on the roof.
The first Best of Vancouver Island tour will begin July 6 and wind up on July 12, 2008. The first day will essentially be a meet and greet on the evening of the 6th. But for those arriving by air at Comox, Rainbird Excursions will meet them and transport them to Port Alberni stopping at Cathedral Grove. A second tour this year will be scheduled in September 2008.
About Rainbird Excursions
Rainbird Excursions (rainbirdexcursions.com) has operated in the Alberni Valley on Vancouver Island for almost three years. They can be contacted at 4728 Southgate Road, Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada V9Y 5K6
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info[.]rainbirdexcursions.com 
