---

It’s been 19 years since I’ve seen David K, my friend from Manchester Uni. I politely invited ourselves over to see him in Vancouver when we were planning our trip over a year ago. Turns out he also has a wonderful family with children the exact same ages as Henna and Arlo and a beautiful wife who is even more organised than I am. We were welcomed with open arms, a fridge full of food and a lovely set of beds in their gorgeous house in North Vancouver, the kids hit it off straight away whilst the adults chatted and David and Emma soaked up some northern English banter, the only thing they say they miss when living in Canada.

They kindly sorted us out with bikes so we had a decent ride around Stanley Park and the next day we had a serious vertical hike up Cypress Bowl, a winter ski resort.

We had a fantastic time with them, they looked after us and it was (another) highlight of our trip. We’ll be back, I threatened.

Vancouver, in particular North Van is a great city, people are extremely friendly without being over bearing, there’s a real chilled vibe…maybe because it’s summer – and the Canadians love their summers.

After being mostly on our own in our little Crossfield cocoon for the last 8 months except for a few visits with friends and family in Australia and of course the new friends we’ve made on our way, being ‘with our own kind’ has been fantastic and it didn’t stop there…

Next up was Vancouver Island, a 1.5 hour ferry boat ride away to a beautifully stunning island. Here we were to meet some special friends again… this time all the way from England. Isla is Henna’s best friend and Henna has been counting the days until she could see her again, her brother Sam is Arlo’s friend and Emma and Tom are our friends too, we met whilst on our NCT course 11 years ago. We managed to skilfully coincide our trips so we could all meet up on VI.

Our cabin in the woods near Parksville was perfect for our first evening of seeing some normal people from our hood. It was very special and we had a blast. We swam in Cameron Lake and went on hikes and to the beaches of course. Later on we all crossed over to the west side of the island and hooked up in Ucluelet. Being with our friends from home was another highlight for all of us, especially Henna. John and I even managed to squeeze in some skinny dipping in the clear but cold Pacific.

After a week on VI it was time to say goodbye (for now) to our ‘homeys’ and drive back over to North Vancouver where we would again catch up with David, Emma, Tom and Connie and our ‘being with normal people’ adventure didn’t stop there.

John has two cousins who live in Vancouver. He hadn’t seen Rob for forty years and his brother Jonathan for about 15 years (he came over to England and stayed with us when we lived in Ashton). We met up for tea with Rob and his lovely girlfriend Maki… they both work for a tourist boat company so we got free tickets to go on a boat ride around Vancouver Harbour, it was great as it was something we wouldn’t normally do, kids were buzzing because we were special guests and they got to steer the boat with the captain. On our last night in Vancouver we headed over to Jonathan’s house to meet with him and his lovely wife Lynda and their two girls Lucia and Celeste, we chatted until late – coincidentally Jonathan only lived about 1 mile from our Air BnB.

We really loved Vancouver mainly for its hospitality and great people – and of course our friends and family.

Canada has had some tragic forest fires over the summer and the smoke was reaching Vancouver as we left. So, what was supposed to be a beautiful, scenic and awe inspiring road trip to the Rockies, turned out to be a grey, smoky and visually impairing set of long drives. Our road trip and destinations were luckily nowhere near any of the forest fires but that smoke can travel FAR.

After an uneventful overnighter in Kelowna we landed in Revelstoke, a small friendly, relaxed vibe town famous for its winter skiing and all round adventure seekers. We accidentally stayed in a Christian campsite – but don’t worry, we’re ok.

We loved Revelstoke and could have stayed longer, we ventured onto the Mountain Coaster Pipeline and even got a free extra ride after we were held up by a little kid who had slowed to a stop in front of us.

One Edventure we hadn’t done yet was white water rafting – so we persuaded Arlo “it’ll be fine, you won’t fall out” to give it a try. It was fantastic, we all loved it. The kids sat up front because it was safer for them there and we (and a family from Holland) paddled the raft. Henna and Arlo were shocked when we hit the first rapid and they got soaked – but we were all pissing ourselves laughing and they loved the drama. Henna had a go at paddling but soon got tired of the effort. The 3 hour trip was great value and another ‘first’ for half of our little family.

Our next town was Golden, another small town on the edge of Yoho National Park. Our trailer is on a homestead in the woods and John is green with envy, sparking his desire for us to move house when we get home. From Golden we could visit Emerald Lake, Lake Louise (where we hired a very expensive canoe and paddled on the Lake), Takkawaka Falls and Banff. It turned out to be an expensive trip to Lake Louise as I got pulled by the cops and issued a speeding fine of $196.

A quick overnighter in Calgary before flying to Toronto sees us with just 10 days to go before we start our journey back home. We’re trying to eek out every last bit of our time away and not look forward with too much joy about returning home.