ANDREA WOO

VANCOUVER — The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Apr. 11 2013, 8:55 PM EDT

Free to a good home: one egg-shaped tree dwelling, gently lived in. Featured in architecture and design magazine Dwell. Sought after by tourists from around the world.

Nearly four years after Joel Allen…

Quick, how do folks in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada pass the time in February?

a) wading through snow drifts b) shoveling sidewalks, or c) counting flowers.

You got it. It's c) counting flowers.

Thanks to warm ocean currents, spring comes early to coastal British Columbia, dotting parks and gardens with blossoms while most North Americans are still scraping ice off their windshields.

Residents of Victoria, the provincial capital, like to take this phenomenon…

Tucked into mountain valleys, along pretty shorelines, next door to wilderness and far away from well-used routes, are small towns of British Columbia that brim with adventure. Rather than becoming dormant after a long, warm summer, many of these villages pulsate with excitement. If winter adventures – both soft and hard-core – quicken your pulse, here’s a few of many possibilities throughout British Columbia.

The little town of Clearwater (…

Deserted beaches, crashing waves, candle-lit dining, starry skies… you get the picture. If you’re looking for a setting to woo your beloved, British Columbia is the place.

But don’t take our word for it: this province is so rife with romantic potential that, last season, the producers of ABC’s The Bachelor, whose job it is to set millions of hearts aflutter each week, chose not one but two BC locations for their finalists’ dream dates.

Last November, 20 million fans…