Canada. “I believe this has been the best long-haul flight I’ve ever had”, I can hear myself saying after arriving in Vancouver. Three different movies that have moved me to tears and made me laugh, plus a great conversation with my seat neighbour from Vancouver have really made the nine hour flight from London to Vancouver seem like nothing. Overcoming the jet lag from nine hours time difference with my home country Austria, however, is a different story. Yet still: Just the air travel from Europe to the far-flung Pacific Coast, flying via Greenland as well as Northern Canada, is a journey truly worthwhile. “We are about to leave”, I chatter with my mum and friends on the phone, before saying goodbye to using my Austrian cell phone for calls for the next 10 weeks.
That’s 10 weeks in Canada. From West to East, following the sweet scent of the “Indian Summer”. Politically incorrect, as I hear and strive to find a better term. Adventure is calling …
… as my heart fills with joy and emotion from having arrived here. Creative Travel. Wine tours. Food festivals. Travel with the locals. Just about everything I like and “Creativelena” shares, can be found in Canada. I always felt I just had to take more time to come here, not just two or three weeks. So I “packed up my digital workspace”, prepared for a longer period of leave and braced myself for lots more open adventures. I think I chose well. “Indian Summer”, or late summer / early fall, is a truly special (travel) time in the year after all. Check this out.
The flight to Canada itself, from London via Greenland …
… as well as via the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia …
… is simply worth the journey: Vancouver, here we go (land)!
A little later, I have arrived: The so-called “Canada Line” takes me right into Downtown and all the way to Vancouver’s “Waterfront” …
… where I can watch all those little “float planes” go by, busying themselves as some 55 of them service the surrounding Vancouver islands on a regular basis!
Right next to Downtown Waterfront, you can stroll over into Gastown …
… Vancouver’s most historic district …
… home to many creative little cafés, nice restaurants & shops: You would even find your “elk empanada” being served here. Wonder if I should come back to trying that?
If you like it a little bit more quiet …
… go check out the Vancouver Chinese Gardens.
They are perfect for joining a one-hour, interpretive tour …
… or to get your creative juices flowing …
… as in learning how to paint your own Chinese fan: Now who would have thought, that within 24 hours of arriving to Canada, I’d be back at my natural “creative travel” mission?
You see, Vancouver offers all of this and more. The water city is a paradise for friends of sailing, provides excellent fish for (Sushi) gourmets, and is home to numerous “First-Nation” people and their stories: Aboriginal Canada is calling …
… including my very first cultural experiences along the West Pacific Coast: Over at the University Campus of UBC University of British Columbia, you can check out the area’s impressive human history at the MOA Museum of Anthropology. I am impressed by the campus here, featuring a totem pole right at the centre relating the history of the Musqueam people on whose lands the campus and faculties are built today. In addition to all of it, my dear friend Shareen, who I’ve met several years ago travelling in Iceland, is working at the University of British Columbia – and happily takes me down to one of her favourite beaches in Vancouver. Wreck Beach, as it is called, is a true tip only shared by the locals (Shareen & her colleagues), and you have to know how to find it. “Out of our 50.000 students, I don’t think many ever make it down here”, Shareen smiles, pointing towards some sort of secret passage, an opening in the tree line right by her workplace, the “International House” at the UBC Campus. As if that wasn’t enough, all of our lunchtime swimming is being closely watched by a passing harbour seal. Quite an experience, I must say, having a wild animal be so curious and come right within 10 – 20 meters of us!
Lunch with a view in Vancouver: Harbour seals are known to be curious creatures and often come quite close …
… there is also this fella to be watched, a mighty whale skeleton on display at the Beaty Museum of Biodiversity at UBC Campus!
Quite impressed by the totem pole here too …
… as well as the MOA Museum of Anthropology, a good introduction to those wanting to learn more about “First Nation” history in British Columbia …
… lucky girls going out sailing later …
… where Shareen and her friends show me their water city …
… from the very perspective that makes it so unique.
What a moment …
… especially as we end the day like this, watching over Stanley Park / Downtown Vancouver.
And if you are headed for some great Japanese food that the city is known for: Make sure it is Shima ya Sushi on Victoria Street 5589 you go to in Vancouver …
… the chef there really does his magic on every single, handcrafted sushi he creates, and it is pure joy to watch him doing so …
… thanks so much Shareen for this gorgeous insider foodie tip !!
And on the weekend? “Let’s go to Whistler!” – Whistler? Well yeah! Whistler Highway too is especially pretty to drive on. After all, scenic beauty is right what British Columbia is all about.
On the way, Shareen takes up another friend of hers, Julia who is a soon to be exchange student with Shareen’s UBC University of British Columbia. I just love talking to both of them, listening in on where else Julia has already been in Canada – and how Shareen plans to train for her bike race to Whistler taking place on 10 September … 111 kilometres and some 1.700 metres of difference in altitude, now how you train for that I don’t quite know!
My dear: As much as I like being active myself, I do prefer our road trip to Whistler this time … Let me tell you where to stop on the way as you are heading north, as it’s more about the journey than the destination really.
Out & about with the girls: Shareen, Julia and I (from left to right) in front of Shanon Falls that haven’t seen too much water recently, as it’s been quite dry I hear …
… and also going up on our modern “Sea to Sky Gondola” it becomes quite obvious that the changing of the colours has already begun – from dried up trees rather than the fall itself …
… and yet: The countryside around Squamish is just magical, as we keep hiking towards the “Great Chief Mountain Lookout” …
… with a view over Howe Fjord from the mountain station of the “Sea to Sky Gondola” …
… and isn’t this a most magical spot to get married, really? 😀
Just an hour further north, we are enchanted by Whistler Mountain resort, host city of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games …
… featuring one of its more recent attractions, the so-called “Peak to Peak Gondola” connecting two mountain stations over a large valley floor …
… the perfect place for having brought our picnic all the way …
… or simply to come up and relax at one of the surrounding, modern mountain huts.
Haven’t had enough yet? Check out my travel photography from Vancouver, Whistler & around here:
I have also produced a travel video that highlights some of my travel adventures in Western Canada, all the way from Vancouver to the vast open plains east of the Rocky Mountains. A fascinating, funky take on what has truly been a life-changing journey. Enjoy with sound & smile 🙂
[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/ZKLOJo81x-Q” width=”800″]
Disclaimer: Thank you Tourism Vancouver for assisting me in planning my stay and providing me with a Vancouver Experience Pass. All opinions are my own.