Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/127001
destination + honeymoon PARADISE Discover luxury adventure travel well off the beaten path — just 50 minutes from Vancouver — at Sonora Resort by Kate MacLennan Full disclosure: I have come to Sonora Resort alone and that wasn't the best idea, because the moment I arrive in B.C.'s Desolation Sound, it's clear that not only should it be renamed Mind-Blowingly Beautiful Sound, but I should have brought my fiancé. Actually, I realized he should be with me when I checked into my London Air flight back in Richmond, when the royal treatment that I would become quickly accustomed to at Sonora began. The 10 passengers with me aboard the AW130 helicopter making the short trip north to Sonora Island include three generations of a family from the southern U.S. who run a finejewellery business. By the time the chopper floats off the tarmac and soars over UBC, they've all offered ideas on the design of my wedding band. But each of them quickly forgets work when the fingers of B.C.'s sparkling inlets begin to pass below. Fifty minutes later we bank sharply — quite a thrill — and put down softly on Sonora's heli-pad, where a lineup of smiling staff greets us. (I silently revel in the contemporary Downton Abbey-ness of it.) At first sight, the resort surprises me. I wasn't expecting a rustic experience, but such sophistication in a remote location leaves me a tad amazed. Sonora's floating docks stretch broadly along the shoreline to accommodate its various fishing vessels, visiting yachts and 86 found Left: Enjoying the natural beauty of Sonora includes sighting the occasional bald eagle. Above: Unwind in a mineral pool at Sonora Resort's Island Currents Spa. real weddings SPRing / SUMMER 2013 p86-89_SonoraResort.indd 86 13-04-22 11:42 AM