A whole heap of WOW!

Ok – when you’ve really been looking forward to visiting a new country for a long time, you really hope that it won’t disappoint. Arriving in Vancouver off a scenic train ride from Seattle was our intro to some fabulous times ahead.

First up, pick up a car at the station. First upgrade we’ve had all trip and the leg we really needed it too. Turns out we were actually doing Hertz a favour as the car needed to head back to Alberta anyway. 

Our initial intro to the city was a little weird as we hunted down lunch in Chinatown only for a young woman to trip/ collapse on the sidewalk in front of the car. People were quick to help but she didn’t move a muscle (not a twitch) until the cops arrived and showed no delicacy in rousing her. An ambulance soon checked her over and shipped her off. She was either off her tits or had just suffered a stroke. Later that day we learned that round the corner, the main street of the whole next block has basically been given over to the homeless, almost containing them in a small accepted zone – weird. 

Anyway enough of that because Vancouver wasn’t about downtown for us. It was about people, friends, family, locals and visitors who all made this a brilliant starting point. First up Dave and Emma and their kids Connie and Tom in North Van. They welcomed us with open arms despite not knowing if we’d be the visitors from hell on arrival (of course we proved to be the perfect guests). They offered great company and trusted us to drag their kids out on an all day bike ride on the sea bus and around Stanley Park. What a great day out, topped up the following day with a hike up Cypress Bowl with Connie joining us again. We lapped up the local advice and itinerary suggestions (and detailed planning documentation) provided by Emma and the fabulous food and hosting of David.

A few days in and we headed out super early to catch a standby to Vancouver Island (on D & Es advice) and enjoyed THE smoothest ferry ride known to humankind! Vancouver Island was to be our rendezvous point with good friends from Bonsal, an hour away from Chinley back home who had found a way to marry up their holiday with our stop there. It was fabulous to see Tom, Emma, Isla and Sam. All 4 of us loved the time we spent together with them on beaches, at lakes, in the giant cedars (‘not that giant Tom, not like Sequoia’ so said Arlo!) at cabins and campgrounds.

Another super smooth ferry led us back to North Van for more time with our friends D, E, T & C as well as catching up with my cousins and their respective partner/ wife and daughters. It was great to meet up with Rob and Maki and hear all about their own travels. Maki booked us on a sightseeing paddle boat and ensured we were given the special guest treatment. It would have been great to spend more time with them but with limited days left, the need for down time and life/ work schedules meant it didn’t work out. Turned out we weren’t staying that far from either Rob&Maki, nor Jonah and his beautiful family. We managed to see them on one of our last nights in North Van and we were so pleased that we managed to do so. Treated to a wonderful home cooked tea we talked about family, education travel and politics. Jon was a wonderful gentle presence and Lynda and the girls make up a strong and loving family unit. Col loved meeting Lynda’s parents who live on the floor above who were also so sweet and small, Ecuadorians you see. Being shortarses we do love a good small South American! We left Jon and his family late in the evening after a uni cycling demonstration by Celeste.  I feel really lucky to have reconnected with family on this side of the globe and hope to keep in touch in the future. 

No time to ponder for too long, we were off on our last road trip, heading through the Rockies to Calgary. I’m sure it’d all have been as WOW scenery wise as New Zealand South Island was but the smoke from what seems to be the yearly forest fires drifts for miles to obscure the view. I didn’t actually mind this as it’s a sight to see in itself and gives you this blood red sun throughout the day as it desperately tries to penetrate the smoke, which conveniently also keeps down what would have been stinking temperatures. 

We loved the cool, relaxed vibe of Revelstoke; the coffee shops, the curry house, the pipe coaster (shit that thing goes fast!) and the whitewater rafting, made even better for us as we got THE most chilled out guide in Neil. The post river snacks and all included photo package just topped it off as a great day (people are much happier to just pay up front and have perks like that included rather than feel scammed for ‘special’ shots’ after the fact) just leaves you with a good feeling about the whole thing.

Golden was up next; lakes, waterfalls, natural bridges, great hikes and a sweet little town with a top top coffee and book shop. Top marks Golden. 

We hit Lake Louise and Banff via a speeding fine (Canadian’s are keen on their speed limits) before an overnighter in Calgary afor our flight across Canada’s wide expanse to Toronto. We opted for a 4 way canoe ride on Lake Louise followed by a lakeside walk and used our Banff time to explore what proved to be a really touristy town. Our overnighter in Calgary with swimming pool, hot tub and included breakfast was just the ticket to prepare for our next leg. Flight 24 coming up!

So far so good Canada, you’ve been as wonderful as we’d hoped you would be!