11.

The idea was an agricultural tour of the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, where we planned to visit a truffle farm. All I had to say to mamma was "truffles"? and we were off, planning the trip. In the end, we were unable to visit the farm as all tours were cancelled due to the introduction of competing fungi by visitors. But, by then, we had already found a kiwi orchard with a cabin we could rent and had learned about the only water buffalo in B.C., so we decided to go ahead with the trip.


The orchard was right on the water and on the beach we found plenty of clams and oysters. Unfortunately, Fisheries had issued a red tide warning so we couldn't harvest them. We did, however, find a shop that sold local (Cortez Island) oysters and bought a bunch for our first evening. We enjoyed them with a dry Ortega from Cherry Point Estate Winery. Then mom kicked our butts playing cards.



The water buffalo at Fairburn Dairy farm are beautiful, but mom and I stayed a little further away than Matt. They are milked twice a day and the milk, which has a much higher fat content than cow's milk, is used to make buffalo mozzarella right in the Cowichan Valley. It is sold all over Vancouver Island and Vancouver under the Natural Pastures label. After visiting the cows and spending time with the friendly farm dog, Apollo, we were invited to the main house for a tasting.



On the final day we visited a lavender farm boasting more varieties than we could count, with a delightful little labyrinth to walk. We stocked up on lavender oil for our closets since it's the best thing to keep moths away, and then rushed to Merridale Cidery for a tasting and to buy lots of good, locally made cider.


We were hoping to visit Little Qualicum Cheeseworks before heading to the ferry but the weather turned on us and we decided to take an earlier boat and beat the rain. Overall, the wine portion of the trip was a little disappointing; Vancouver Island wineries have a lot to learn from the Okanagan. Generally, we felt that the wines were of a lower quality and after spending time in Oliver, believe the wineries on the Island don't do as good a job of making visitors feel welcome and showcasing their product. Still, we managed to try some local cheeses, fresh oysters and the first local strawberries of the season, and the three of us had two lovely evenings together.

We did find some nice wines at Blue Grouse Estate Winery and picked up a few bottles to bring home.

Yes, let's please buy a case of this.

Best of all, sharing a car and a cabin meant that Matt and I got to enjoy many mamma-isms. Gems such as: "Don't tell me that I warned you"; or, "Just chuck it and buy another one, Canadian style". Words of wisdom, to be sure.