Kelsey's Clayoquot Wilderness Resort

Clayoquot Wilderness Resort and Spa...May 15 to May 18, 2008

On the Bedwell River on British Columbia's Vancouver Island, about a 45 minute seaplane ride from Vancouver, there is an eco-resort of luxurious antiques-furnished prospector tents on wooden platforms on the edge of the river, put there, I'm sure, just so you can hear the ripples of the water all night! This story is about Kelsey Calvert, age 15, and her experiences in the wild with her mom, Suzann Calvert, and her Virtuoso luxury travel consultant grandmother, Dr. Patty Calvert, for a very unique girl-getaway experience opening season weekend at an Adventurer Traveler’s dream hide-away, Clayoquot Wilderness Resort and Spa. http://www.wildretreat.com/




by Kelsey Calvert

My mom told me after school one day that I was invited to go to Canada with my grandmom and her, and we would be staying 4 days and 3 nights at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort on Vancouver Island . I was excited about seeing the wilderness and seeing the bears. We watched a video Poppy sent to us and saw the place we would be going, the hot tubs, the dining area, the tents and the horses and the horse-drawn carriage that would meet us when we arrived. My brother, Kevin, really wanted to go, too, but he had been on a trip with my grandparents the year before, so it was MY turn to go.

Sure enough, Mom and I flew from Los Angeles, CA, to Vancouver, took a taxi to the AirSea terminal and met Poppy who was waiting for us. We boarded our seaplane with 5 other guests and flew about 45 minutes over beautiful mountains with snow on the tops and lakes and rivers. I had never been in a seaplane and it was a little scarey. We landed at the outpost, as they call it, and there were all the people at the resort waiting to meet us.




We got in the wagon led by two powerful Norwegian Fiords horses who took us up the trail from the dock to our camp. There were flower baskets and a lovely little garden in the center of the outpost buildings and tents.




My tent was nice,cozy and warm and we were assigned #1 Family tent, with 3 soft, warm, fluffy beds. We had an antique bowl and pitcher, and our own towels and oil lamps for light. Our tent was right over the river so you could hear the water.
They had a little tent with gamesroom and a gift shop, so we bought a hat for my dad, a shirt for my brother, a shirt for me and a shirt for my mom. Poppy wore my dad's hat on the trip because she didn't have one.

Wild Nights


At dinner, John asked us what we would like to do the next day. We told him we wanted to go horseback riding for a full day.
Every night John asked us to plan our activities for the next day so he could customize them for us.

So, our first full day, got up, went to a yoga class, had a breakfast of really good fresh fruit, waffles, eggs, jam, orange juice and we gathered with our friends where the horses were ready for us to ride. So we started out riding down the trail, then up into the mountains for a long l l/2 hour ride.
That’s me on my horse!

We walked down the hill using a rope tied on to a tree to get to the bottom of the hill to cross the creek. Well, the water was so high, we couldn't cross easily, so our guide, Dickson stood in the water knee-high to help each of us across the creek, so we could climbup on the rocks for lunch overlooking the rushing Bedwell River. We had lunch and then we had to walk all the way back and our guides put logs across the river, so we could cross. Then, using the rope, we climbed back up the hill to the suspension bridge and to our horses. Then we rode back to the camp for about an hour. I was tired and my back was sore when I got back.

We went to our massage appointments. I had a hand and foot massage. It was nice and relaxing and felt good. Then, we all went in the hot tub and it was so warm and relaxing. It felt so good to my body. We had a great dinner that evening. The head chef is Tim May and he has been at Clayoquot for 10 years and is a great chef. He fixed what I like and always asked me exactly what I would like. He always did "kelsey pairings" which means he gave me a special drink for each of the courses of the meal. The adults had wine pairings, but I had Kelsey pairings.

Our second morning, we planned a Zodiac On the Wild Side excursion. The zodiac is an inflatable boat and the waves were very high and the boat kept rocking back and forth and up and down and felt like a roller coaster to me. We had to wear special survivor suits that were insulted and had flotation devices in them, so if we fell in, we would float. They were so warm and the wind was so strong in our faces, but we were comfortable.


We rode for about an hour in the zodiac to Flores Island and we crawled out of the zodiacs to walk along the sandy beach, picking up shells and other treasures on the beach and then left the beach with our two guides to follow the trails in the rainforest, up and down, up and down twice, then it was time for lunch on a big log on the beach. We each had our own backpacks with our lunches specially prepared for our choice of lunch and our own waterbottle. So, lunch was good. THen, Poppy and I decided we had had enough of the walking in the woods and on the beach, so the guides told us if we walked to a rock outcropping down beach, we could board the zodiac again. We were trying to get on the zodiac and our feet slid in the water and my grandmother, Poppy, lunged from the rock ledge into the zodiac and fell down into the zodiac which her feet sticking out. Then it was my turn. The zodiac pulled up to the rock and the guide helped me lunge into the zodiac before the waves took it away again. This experience was a real challenge because the rocks were slippery, and the barnacles were dangerous if they scratched you, but WE DID IT!

Meanwhile, our friends were walking the trails in the forest and they were not well marked and our guide wasn't experienced, so they had trouble navigating their way and their 20 minute walk to the First Nation's Village turned into an hour and a half while we kept riding along in the zodiac looking for them. Oh well, they were happy to finally find us at the boat dock. We returned to our camp for massages and hot tubs again and a dance party on the patio after supper until 12 midnight. The others stayed until 2 am.

Poppy asked, "Would you come back here, Kelsey?" and I said, "Would I! And, I would bring my dad and my brother and our dog Buddy who would love to swim here. My dad might not like the zodiac because he gets seasick, but he would love the food and the tent and the shooting.

This was my favorite activity for the day.

Those clay pidgeons were hard to shoot.

Our last day, we planned to go fishing, but the weather and high winds and lack of salmon coming in to the inland waterways wasn't good for us to go fishing, so we decided to go shooting. Our guides met us at 9 am after breakfast and we took the van to the target range. Our guide showed us how to hold the guns, and how to load the bullets and how to aim and fire and how to be safe. So we used rifles and shotguns for skeet shooting with clay pidgeons. Then we went to the archery range and learned how to do archery with bows and arrows. The archery was my favorite thing today. Then we came home for lunch and worked on this story.

I told my grandmother and my mom, “This is the BEST weekend of my life.” And, I want to come back with Kevin and Dad.







For information about Clayoquot Wilderness Resort, a Virtuoso partner, contact:

Dr. Patty Calvert, Virtuoso Luxury Travel Consultant
Century Travel
901 748 2966
patty@pattysgetaways.com