Days 319 - 326, Vancouver's Vagabonds & a gem of an Island.

Our welcome to British Columbia came from beautiful Vancouver Island, a short hop on the ferry from Horseshoe Bay on the mainland. The island gave us not only great views but also a very friendly welcome. We want to share with you a few of our highlights from the island and Vancouver city, our reasons to enjoy this wonderful part of the world.

ON THE ISLAND:

Tofino & Whale Watching

We drove to Tofino, arriving at dusk we quickly realised why this is a top place to visit if you are on the island. It is surrounded by islands and lush forest on Clayoquot Sound. The town is a small and quirky place with a mix of people chilling out and enjoying the many water sports on offer here, not least surfing. We realised we should have booked a place to stay as all the budget options we had looked at were full. Tofino is above average prices for a room, but clear to see why in such a beautiful place.

We both agree the highlight hands down in BC was a marine wildlife boat trip, referred to by the locals as Whale Watching!!

We decided to go for the fast boat, thrill seekers eh?! This took us out around the islands on the Pacific Rim National Park and out into the Pacific Ocean. Within a couple of minutes of being on the boat we spotted a pair of Gold tipped Eagles, high in the trees on one of the islands. They were guarding their nest which homed a recent addition to their family. Since being in BC we have been spotting eagles a lot, maybe it’s the same two following us!? Stalkers!

A little farther out into the bay we saw some sea lions basking in the sun and sea otters playing in the water. Ofcourse we were on the lookout for the tell tale signs of a whale, a spurt of water shooting up showing them taking a breath. Not to be disappointed, Mike spotted a Grey Whale. Full throttle down, we went over to have a better look. Sure enough it was a female grey whale, slurping from the bottom of the sea bed, coming up every few minutes for a breath. It was just magnificent to watch and we were amazed at the size of these animals. Our guide told us they come from Mexico where there is warmer waters to mate and bring up their young, then move to the Canadian coast for summer. We didn’t take a lot of pictures to be honest, we just wanted to enjoy the moment ourselves. We have all the memories we need in our minds.

Tree Hugging in Cathedral Grove

A six hundred year old forest and HUGE trees! It was great to take some time out just to wonder around a Canadian history that man cannot match with engenieering in it's towns and cities. We stopped to hug a few & enjoy nature at its most wonderful.

Food in Victoria

We stayed in Ocean Island Backpackers hostel, our room was TINY, overpriced and Very noisy. However, Victoria is great for a night out, and we decided to quench our hunger with food from the highly recommended Noodle Box before a few scoups in the hostel. Next morning we enjoyed a hearty breakfast from “John’s Place” - a Victoria institution!

Best Hostel

"The Painted Turtle" in Nanaimo was opened four years ago and is one of the best hostels we have stayed in throughout our time travelling. We said it is like "somewhere you would stay even if you are a grown up!!" Neutral colour scheme, a great room for socialising and cooking, really good beds (with two pillows!) and very clean, it even has crisp white sheets. Not a party hostel, but then Nanaimo isn't a party town. So good, we had to mention it here! It definitely gets the thumbs up from us.

VANCOUVER CITY:

Festival of Lights

Vancouver city greeted us in the midst of their annual festival of lights. Mentioned in one of Michael Palin's books, this is an international fireworks competition set to music. We were in town to witness the USA entry. Listening to the hype around town, we decided to venture to English Bay along with the throngs of others to watch the 27 minute spectacular. The choreography between the music and fireworks was very impressive, especially given the many styles of music, Classical, Rock and Pop all included. This was not the best display we've seen this year but certainly a top three!

Stanley Park

Another highlight for us was our trip to Stanley Park. It has a free tram that you can hop on and off for your journey around the park, or don your roller blades and take to the path along the sea wall! We decided on the former & leisurely explored the lovely Rose gardens & Totem Poles over a coffee. "The Aquarium at Stanley Park is the best in the world," this was a claim made by more than one person in Vancouver. We had to check it out ofcourse so paid the steep entrance fee and had a look around the exhibits. It was very interesting and informative, even when it was overrun with people. The newest addition to the Vancouver Aquarium is a baby girl beluga whale. She was born on 10th June & doesn't have a name yet. She is VERY VERY cute, pics don't give you an idea on this one so you will just have to imagine from our great commentry!! Along with the whales there were dolphins, sea lions, snakes, butterflies, and many many fish.....no nemo though! Our highlight was watching the dolphin show.

Bird in Stanley Park

Homeless in Vancouver

One thing that struck us both during our time in Vancouver is the sheer number of people who are living on the streets. It affected our views of the city and is why we mention it here in our blog. We stayed in the west of the city which is deemed as the "good area." There were at least five homeless people on EVERY block. Hard to imagine what the eastend is like if we were in the good part. Nowhere we have been in North America came even close, and we include LA, Chicago, Washington DC, Dallas, San Francisco etc in this. We spoke to quite a few locals who know this is a real problem too. They said the authorities would probably just move all the homeless off the streets during the 2010 Winter Olympics as a temporary measure for a few weeks, like papering over the cracks. We are not social scientists or have any of the answers but it is shocking for a city to have this as such a major issue. It certainly shaped our views of Vancouver city and it is a shame for us to leave with this as our lasting memory of the city.


So those are our thoughts on Vancouver & the island. The last stop on our Canadian adventure. We have found Canadians VERY friendly and their rugged countryside is just beautiful. We have met some amazing people and for those of you who touched our lives in Canada, thank you and please stay in touch.

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