January 12, 2007
Nanaimo, BC
Seven Days Without Chocolate Makes One Weak
For immediate release: Want to give your Valentine a truly unique gift this February? Try our self guided ‘Chocolate Trail’, where your taste buds will navigate you around the Vancouver Island region scouring for the best in delectable delights! You’ll explore Victoria, Shawnigan Lake, Salt Spring Island, the Comox Valley, Denman Island and Tofino as you eat your way around Vancouver Island on this unique and very experiential tour.
First stop… Victoria and Rogers’ Chocolates, where the first of the company’s chocolates were made in 1885. Since then, people from all corners of the world have found their way to Rogers' Chocolates of Victoria. Using only the best ingredients, it’s no wonder that Rogers’ has become such a fan favorite over the years. www.rogerschocolates.com
Moving up Island to Shawnigan Lake, we find Moziro Coffee Roasters and Chocolatiers. Here you will discover two very passionate people who will bring you the best of two worlds - coffee and chocolate. While at Moziro’s, sit back with a cup of fresh coffee (they drum roast their own beans) and watch as new enticing delicacies are created, right in front of your eyes. If you are lucky, they will just be finishing a fresh batch of their mouthwatering wares, with which you can try! You can’t get it any fresher than that! www.moziro.com
Over on Salt Spring Island you will discover yet another precious treasure. Harlan’s Chocolates hand makes some of the best Belgian Chocolates you will find anywhere. Using only the highest quality Belgian Callebaut and French Bellcolade Chocolate and the freshest ingredients such as hand roasted nuts, cream, and natural flavorings, these decadent delicacies will seduce your senses. When was the last time your chocolate experience was this fine? www.harlanschocolates.com
Next, your quest for cocoa will lead you right to Hot Chocolates in the Comox Valley. This family-run artisan chocolate shop hand crafts fresh Belgian Truffles, nut barks, fudges and gelato. Their products are made on the premise and are created to introduce people to the nuances of their delicate flavours. Focusing on fresh, seasonal ingredients, while incorporating traditional and contemporary flavour combinations, you won’t go more than a few steps before coming back for more!
Just a truffle throw across to Denman Island, you will find Denman Island Chocolate. Their chocolate bars are made using the finest organic ingredients—bittersweet Belgian chocolate, freshly toasted hazelnuts, dark espresso beans, candied ginger, tangy dried raspberries, and pure natural mint and orange essences. Denman Island Chocolates are found at several Vancouver Island retailers. For a list of locations, visit www.denmanislandchocolate.com
A trek along our Chocolate Trail would not be complete without hitting up Chocolate Tofino, in the West Coast. Beginning with a vision and a desire by Gordon Austins to make people happy using good food, classical techniques, and quality ingredients, Chocolate Tofino has become a favourite stop for locals and visitors alike! With signature specialties like their Clayoquot Blackberry Buttercream chocolates (the blackberries are harvested right in Clayoquot Sound!), you’ll be glad that you made the stop. www.chocolatetofino.com
This trail takes a little planning to arrange your route and overnight stays. You can choose to visit a few of these stores in one day, or take a few days to visit them all! To add the extra touch, include a romantic getaway at one or more pampering properties on Vancouver Island. Properties offering romance packages include Tigh-Na-Mara’s Seaside Romance which includes 2 nights accommodation, a four course dinner, champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, truffles, a Jacuzzi tub garnished with rose pedals, candles and salts from the Grotto Spa, a roaring fire, and a rose petal turndown. Two night packages start from $327. www.tigh-na-mara.com .
Aqua Terre Spa offers several chocolate spa treatments and packages including their complete chocolate experience for couples in their Rekindle the Romance package. It includes a spa lunch for two followed by chocolate massages and chocolate body scrubs. Then slip into a chocolate milk bath with chocolate martinis, truffles, and ingredients to play in the solid granite soaker tub. Spa package starts at $365. Additional or individual treatments include chocolate manicures, pedicures, body wraps, facials, scrubs and massages. http://www.aquaterre.net/spa-treatments/chocolate-spa.shtml
Or, purchase chocolate fudge and support an endangered species! Karel and Max Bossi, owners of Beaver House Fudge in Duncan, sell Vancouver Island marmot fudge in beautifully designed one-pound gift boxes. The all-organic fudge comes in chocolate, vanilla, or swirled, with or without nuts, and $2 from the sale of each box goes directly to the Marmot Recovery Foundation. To order your fudge, call 1-800-641-4677. You can also visit the fudge folks at their store in Next to Nature Gifts in the Whippletree Junction, just south of Duncan. www.beaverhousefudge.com / http://www.marmots.org/community.htm
For more information on this trail and the many other tours you can participate in while on Vancouver Island, contact Tourism Vancouver Island at 250-754-3500 or check out www.vancouverisland.travel.
Tourism Vancouver Island is one of six regional destination marketing organizations in British Columbia that administers co-operative marketing and advertising projects for its stakeholders throughout the region. To access information about Tourism Vancouver Island and marketing initiatives, please visit www.tourismvi.ca. For general travel information, please visit www.vancouverisland.travel.
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Media Contact:
Lana Kingston, Media Relations Manager
Tourism Vancouver Island
Phone: (250) 740-1213
lana@tourismvi.ca
Heidi Wesling, Media Relations Coordinator
Tourism Vancouver Island
Phone: (250) 740-1218
heidi@tourismvi.ca
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| Rogers Chocolates | 913 Government Street, Victoria | 250-384-7021 |
| Moziro | 2740 Dundas, Shawnigan Lake | 250-743-2245 |
| Harlans Chocolates | 100 Lower Ganges Road, Salt Spring Island | 250-537-4434 |
| Denman Island Chocolate | 1840 Northwest Road, Denman Island | |
| Chocolate Tofino | 1180 Pacific Rim Highway, Tofino | 250-725-2526 |
| Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Resort | 1155 Resort Drive, Parksville | 250-248-2072 |
| AquaTerre Spa | 1-1600 Stroulger Road, Nanoose Bay | 250-468.2404 |
| Beaver House Fudge (Next to Nature Gifts) | 4705 Trans Canada Hwy, Whippletree Junction, Duncan | 250-748-6647 |
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