Jaunted - BC

Tourism Vancouver Stirring Up Olympic Hype With Free Trips

egw — 2009-11-16T13:09:28-05:00

Have you been watching the Olympic countdown on Vancouver2010.com? With less than three months to go before the Winter Olympics, we've already seen promos for the "Today" show's trip to Vancouver in February, but Tourism Vancouver wants to make sure that Matt, Meredith and Al aren't the only ones in town for the games.

Tourism Vancouver's Olympic Sweepstakes is offering up three prizes for people who sign up for their monthly newsletter. The gold prize—relating to Olympics medals, of course—is a deluxe Olympic package including tickets to alpine skiing and the closing ceremony, plus plane tickets and a hotel room. Not that Silver and Bronze are too shabby either, with hockey qualifying tickets and a Wii up for grabs.

While you plan your trip to Vancouver, you can follow along on the torch's journey with an interactive map. It's in Prince Edward Island now but may be coming to your town soon, if you're lucky enough to be in Canada.

[Photo of the Olympic Village under construction: roland]

Take A Spa Day With 'Twilight' Star Robert Pattinson In Vancouver

cmb — 2009-10-01T12:22:45-05:00

Will Twilight mania ever end? Based on the number of Twi-hards traveling to Vancouver to see the cast filming Eclipse, it won't end anytime soon. Just this past weekend, fans waited for hours outside of Bella's house on 28 Ave in Surrey while the movie's stars, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson filmed inside.

But for some fans, standing on the street in a Vancouver suburb isn't how they imagined their first encounter with Robert Pattinson. Maybe they'd prefer a luxury spa date instead? Apparently, the world's sexiest vampire enjoys getting pampered too. Pattinson has been spotted several times at the the posh Vida Wellness Spa at Sutton Place Hotel.

Zac Efron Bungee Jumps Like a Pro in Whistler

juliana — 2009-07-31T09:29:27-05:00

What is up with celebrities and extreme activities? Yesterday, we had Cindy Crawford doing some indoor skydiving and today, we learn that Zac Efron spent the weekend bungee jumping in Whistler, during a break from the filming of his new movie, The Life and Death of Charlie St. Cloud. People magazine has the pertinent details:

With a broad smile and no hesitation, the light-footed crooner lept off a bridge over a raging river – and he did it gracefully, of course. He even managed an acrobatic back flip as he went down. "Zac really loved his jump, he seemed to be having a really good time and was excited to make his jump, but he only jumped once," an employee of Whistler Bungee said.

Perhaps he only jumped once because it's rather expensive? Whistler Bungee charges $120CAD for the first jump and $50 for any additional jumps. Any of your friends who want to come along and watch will have to pay $10. The company does offer shuttle service from Whistler Village to the bungee site at Cheakamus Canyon and first-time jumpers get a free t-shirt.

Looking for more adventure in Whistler without having to jump off a bridge high above running water? Consider snowmobiling or ziplining. PS. We kinda hate how good Zac looks even while bungee jumping. Damn, young kids!

Related Stories:
· Whistler Bungee [Official Site]
· Zac Efron Takes Death-Defying Leap [People]
· Zefron Exclusive: Zac Efron Bungee Jumping [YouTube]

Vancouver Cracks Down on Olympics Ticket Resales

BS — 2009-05-27T12:48:16-05:00

It's certainly not too early to start thinking about travel to next year's Winter Olympics, which take over Vancouver in February 2010. Just make sure you know who you're buying tickets from.

Olympic organizers recently filed suit in a Canadian court seeking to stop the website RoadTrips.com from reselling tickets to the Winter Games. A similar suit earlier this year tried to stop Coast2Coast Tickets from doing the same thing. The groups buy up event tickets and then sell them as part of larger Olympics travel packages, a practice organizers are seeking to crack down on.

While these brokers claim their sales are legit, we'd say the safest bet is to stick to official tix. The next phase of event tickets go on sale June 6 via the Olympics website.

Related Stories:
· Vancouver 2010 [Official Site]
· Olympic organizers sue travel company [The Canadian Press]
· Looking Ahead To The 2010 Vancouver Olympics [Jaunted]

[Photo: jeffwilcox]

After Vancouver, Here's Where To Find The 'Twilight' Cast

egw — 2009-04-30T08:41:47-05:00

You would so totally road trip up to Vancouver like, yesterday to see the set of "New Moon," the follow-up to last year's surprise blockbuster "Twilight." But your parents are being totes ridic and not letting you skip school, and besides, only your friend Rocky can drive yet and he just got grounded. Direct your indignaysh into planning a summer trip to catch these vampirically affiliated actors somewhere else:

Carnival Cruise Boat Will Serve as Home for Olympics Security Personnel

egw — 2009-04-24T14:28:01-05:00

Carnival Cruises just booked a huge number of passengers, and it won't even have to take them anywhere: The cruise company has been hired by Canadian police to house security personnel during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The three ships will serve as floating hotels to ease the city's housing shortage by allowing some 4,000 private guards to cabin up. The police had earlier contracted with a rival company called Cruise Connections, who is now suing them for allegedly backing out to try and get a better deal -- recessionomics at work!

'Twilight's' Rival Vampires Set Up Shop In Vancouver

egw — 2009-04-09T09:26:34-05:00

Last week when we wrote about fan furor in Vancouver around the shooting of vampire sequel "New Moon," we suggested another production could sneak in under the radar and get a lot of work done while local teens were distracted. And look, someone was listening! Specifically, the CW, which is moving in with its own vampire show.

The network behind Gossip Girl recently ordered a pilot called "The Vampire Diaries," based on a '90s YA series by L.J. Smith about a girl in a small town who falls in love with the mysterious new guy in town only to discover that he is a, say it, vampire. "Dawson's Creek" creator Kevin Williamson is executive producing and "LOST"'s Ian Somerhalder has been cast as one of the vampires. And guess who was just spotted hanging out in Vancouver this week? So the network isn't just jumping on the bandwagon, it's biting the scene too.