Depart Toronto this morning on a direct flight to Vancouver Airport (YVR), BC. Your Fireside Adventures guides will greet the group at the airport and then accompany everyone to Camp Alexandra: a beautiful mixture of heritage and modern accommodations half a block from the Pacific ocean and 2km away from the local favourite, Crescent Beach. Sleep at Camp Alexandra’s cabins (staff) and group suites (students).
Breakfast at Camp Alexandra. Shuttle to Tsawassen Ferry and depart for Galiano Island (BC’s gulf islands), where we’ll stay at the Galiano Conservancy Association’s Millard Learning Centre.
Lunch and Galiano Island welcome activity. Camping 101 workshop + set up camp. Evening tour of the property’s breathtaking ocean-view trails. Dinner, campfire and stargazing.
Sleep at Galiano’s forested tent sites (students). Staff - a choice between tents and indoor gathering space at Millard Learning Centre.
GALIANO CONSERVANCY ASSOCIATION / MILLARD LEARNING CENTRE
The Galiano Conservancy Association (GCA) is a community-based non-profit society of conservation biologists on a mission to protect, steward and restore Galiano Island ecosystems by creating a network of natural areas where a healthy environment, learning and a love of nature flourish.
Wake up in BC’s southern coastal rainforest overlooking an amazing view of the Gulf Islands.
Indigenous-led workshop: Local BC Coastal Indigenous knowledge keepers will lead a workshop on Indigenous Perspectives: Students learn the importance of welcome and acknowledgement within a community, the significance of oral storytelling, and participate in the blanket exercise (understanding the impact of colonialism and the importance of reconciliation).
We will begin a two-day community service project (applies to Duke of Edinburgh) alongside the GCA’s conservationists as they restore (i.e. cultivating native plants in the food forest), protect (i.e. erect fencing around sensitive areas) or enhance (i.e. creation of ‘wildlife trees’) the precious ecosystems of Galiano Island.
Sleep at Galiano’s forested tent sites (students). Staff - a choice between tents and indoor gathering space at Millard Learning Centre.
Day two of community service & ecological conservation project.
Hike (1 hour) Mt. Galiano for the best view that the Gulf Islands have to offer.
Sleep at Galiano’s forested tent sites (students). Staff - choice between tents and indoor gathering space at Millard Learning Centre.
Arrival at Whitehorse: one of Canada’s major cultural centres ranked #1 for cleanest air in the world. Visit Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre, one of Canada’s finest Indigenous cultural centres for a guided interpretive tour.
Stay at Best Western Gold Rush Inn… one of Whitehorse’s finest hotels, centrally located downtown… walking distance from the Yukon River, restaurants, museums and shops.
After breakfast in Whitehorse, start your Yukon adventure off with a bang by heading to the nearby picturesque Ibex Valley, to arrive at MukTuk Adventures: a dogsledding paradise. Full-day dogsledding journey led by expert local guides.
A day to cut loose and have a great time in the Yukon March snowy wonderland. Visit Mount Sima where students can choose or alternate between skiing, snowshoeing and learning to ice climb: learn from expert mountaineers/guides how to use ice axes and crampons to climb the ice. Includes a safety briefing, use of equipment, movement on ice and lots of encouragement.
Head out to Midnight Aurora Borealis tour (Northern Lights viewing)... while sitting at a natural hot spring: Eclipse Nordic Spa.
Bonus: right beside the hot spring sits the Yukon chapter of Royal Astronomical Society… where astronomers will facilitate a one-of-a-king stargazing session or presentation on Yukon space science. This night is all about three natural Yukon wonders coming together: geothermal hot springs, the Aurora, and the magical, crystal clear Yukon night sky. If it’s snowing… the hot spring will be that much more magical (frozen hair competition!).
Spend the day exploring downtown Whitehorse and Visit Beringia interpretive center to learn about Yukon’s geological history. Afternoon: depart for Haines Junction, on the doorstep of otherworldly Kluane National Park. We'll stay on the edge of Kluane in the rustic cabins of Shakat Tun Wilderness camp, owned by James Allen, who is a former Chief and a citizen of the Champagne & Aishihik First Nations.
Full day exploring, snowshoeing and sightseeing in the Park, learning about the area's Indigenous significance and history.
Make our way back to Whitehorse with a plethora of incredible options to choose from along the way (ie. stop at Long Ago Peoples’ Place for tea & traditional bannock to learn about the Southern Tutchone peoples or visit Haa Shagóon Hídi (Carcross/Tagish First Nation Learning Centre) and meet a master Indigenous carver). Stop at Yukon’s Olympic cross country trail network and facility adorned with all of the Yukon’s historic Olympic athletes, and ski the Olympic Circuit! Once back in Whitehorse, settle in at the hotel and have a celebratory banquet at the Yukon Wildlife Conservancy fit with traditional local cuisine.
Return to your hotel and prepare for your journey back to Toronto the next day.
Depart for the Yukon airport for your flight home to Toronto
*Some activities on this list may be subject to change based on March availability of Yukon service providers
