Food

The Canadians seem to be crazy about organic food (bio products in Germany). They also do a lot of sports - biking, skiing, hiking, jogging... We haven't seen too many overweight people.
Canada offers a great choice of fish products. All tastes good and fresh, BUT I'd still prefer a good steak to fish. Spareribs is my 2nd favourite. The tourists seem to fancy fish & chips or a salmon burger.

Sea Dollars

Sea dollars can be found on the bottom of the sea. Actually, they are a living organisms. If they are of purple color, they still live, so you'd better not touch them. If they are of light grey or white, they no longer alive. If you put them in the sun the color becomes even better and the flower in the middle gets more distinct.


sea  dollars

31.07 - Victoria

water taxy

floating houses

hearts

floating houses 

Victoria has had a lot of influence from Great Britain. The 1st comes from its name after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. It's also one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest. The British architecture influenced  it a lot: the British Columbia Parliament, Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and Express hotel, to name a few. The city's Chinatown is the 2nd oldest in North America after San Francisco.

legislature building

It has a nice harbour and a promenade. A lot can be done on foot. A water taxi is quite an attraction. It's not as busy with tourists as other cities. The population is around 80,000.

totem statues

The rain forest at the Pacific Rim

At the Pacific Rim on Vancouver island, some rainforests still exist. There you can find very old trees (some over 800 years old) and unspoiled wilderness where every ever-so-small space is used to grow something. The shrubs and trees and bushes and ferns are so tightly woven with each other, that man could hardly get through it - astonishing. We visited such a rainforest, where a well-kept boardwalk led through the park. Actually, all the National Parks we visited were in an excellent condition and there were always Park Rangers around, who showed and explained things. So buying these tickets is money well spent.

Ucluelet vs Tofino

To visit the Pacific Rim NP we stayed in Ucluelet (Ukee). Our sentiment pretty much matches the picture of  a road sign, which stands at the crossroads, i.e. Tofino - hell, Ucleuelet - heaven. Ucluelet is a cosy,  peaceful city, with quite relaxed people. Whereas, Tofino is too crowded with people trying to look hip and cool.

B&B vs Hotels

We have made a very good experience with B&Bs so far.  The places where we stayed were well equipped and tastefully furnished with a personal touch. The breakfasts were very good and the hosts friendly. We've learned quite a few interesting things by chatting with local people. Hotels seem to be more impersonal. So I'd recommend staying at a B&B in Canada.

29.07 - Pacific Rim trails

I'd recommend to everyone to do the "Wild Pacific Trail" in Ucluelet. It's so impressive. The walk is pleasant in the shade of a wild rain forest with trees of all shapes and sizes.
The scenery sometimes looks like an imagined painting. Words fail me to appropriately describe it...

29.07 - speed boat trip in Ucluelet

We did a speed boat trip in Ucluelet. The best part was a pretty bumpy ride. It's even better than a rollercoaster. You have basically two options where to sit. Option one - in the 1st row, offers the best view, but is very bumpy. Option two - in the back - it's not that bumpy, but you get all the water spray into your face. The trip takes 3 hours, but it goes so fast. We saw a whale even though it's been hiding from us, seals and beautiful rocky coast where a lot of sailing ships found their grave.

28.07 Cathedral Grove

A highway going to Ucluelet is very picturesque and winding. We stopped for a 30 minutes in Cathedral Grove with stunning trees. The size of the centuries old trees is tremendous.

Majestic Ocean B&B - is a very good stay in Ucluelet

Our B&B in Ucluelet is a very cosy place to stay for a few days. It is tastefully furnished, has ocean view, offers a good continental breakfast. The host was very friendly and gave us really helpful tips what to do and see. The best thing, however, is the outside hot tub with ocean view.
The Floating House is a good place to have dinner, their specialty seem to be spareribs - very recommendable.

28.07 - Nanaimo

Nanaimo is more than a ferry port, a cute harbour city. It has been nicknamed the "Bathtub Racing Capital of the World" and "Harbour City". A Nanaimo Bar is a very tasty dessert which goes well with coffee. We walked along the promenade where you can fly by water plane to Vancouver or rent a boat. A short trip with the ferry to a pirate island was fun as well. Troller's fish and chips at the harbour are quite tasty.

27.07 - Hidden trail with train wreck

After staying in Squamish we decided to come back to Whistler and see the train wreck in the woods, which is a secret tip, not a usual tourist attraction, just 8 km from Whistler. Decades ago a train derailed South of Whistler. The cost to clean up the mess was deemed too high, so that 7 train cars were left in the woods.
It was a really adventurous thing to do. Firstly, the trail is hidden and only marked with self-made sings. Secondly, the track itself goes up and down through the woods along the river. It felt like a treasure hunt as the marks could be easily overlooked. We lost our way at first and went for an extra kilometre detour just to come back and look for the signs again. It was a nice experience and something special. Someone turned the site into a fun park for mountain bikes with obstacles, bridges and ramps. We also climbed a few wagons and lying trees.


Hidden track to
 train wreck

follow the rabbit,
the eye



train wreck

train wreck











26.07 A hick up with the hotel

Unfortunately, somehow our booking via BBCanada didn’t work out. Upon our arrival to our B&B, the host told us that she was already fully booked and that the booking should not have gone through.  Because of the "Ironman Canada", the whole Whistler area was booked a few months ago. It was a technical problem on behalf of  the BBCanada. The lady called the hotels in the town for vacancies, but unfortunately without any luck. So we had to drive to another town 70 km from Whistler. Squamish was also pretty booked. The “Sea to Sky Hotel” had mercy with us and gave us a room which as actually reserved for disabled people and twice the size of a normal room. And after hearing our story with the previous hotel, they gave us a free breakfast and a good price for the room. So we had a blessing in disguise. By the way, breakfast was really good. The hotel was nice as well.

26.07 Whistler

We’ve driven highway 99 or “sea to sky” today. As the name suggests, it goes from sea to the mountains. We met quite a few bikers on the way. It is almost as famous as route 66 in the USA. It’s very picturesque and fun to drive. It took us to Whistler. We played around with the idea to go snowboarding on the glacier. Alas, the weather conditions were not good enough. Tomorrow it is the last day on which the glacier is open for skiing. However it’s been so warm recently and not snowing for over 3 months so that the glacier will be closed till winter season.

Yet, we met a women with her daughter who had skis on her. We asked her whether she was going to ski. She told us she was on her way for a ski jumping practice and if we wanted we could come watch. We followed them and got the opportunity to watch their training in a special swimming pool. It was cool and a rare thing to see.

26.07 Lillooet - oldtimers

Yesterday we arrived at Lillooet, the"ground zero" for the gold rush in Canada. A small city where restaurants close already at 21:00 and the door to the hotel at 22:00. We were lucky to find a Greek place for dinner. While dining there, we saw a few old-timers passing by. The next day we asked at the local museum whether it is something special happening in the town. It happened to be a summer festival called "apricot festival" with lots of small events, one of which was exhibition of old American (muscle) cars.

25.07 - Wells Gray Provincial Park

Today we've driven around the Wells Gray Provincial Park. It has waterfalls, rivers, lakes and volcanic canyons. The day turned out to be sunny even though the weather forecast was supposed to be rain at least till Sunday. We were lucky to enjoy the sun and picturesque views. All the sights could be reached within 10 minute walk and no extreme steep trails. The most impressive sightseeing is Helmecken Falls, which is a 141 m and is the 4th largest waterfall in Canada. Clearwater lake has got its name from its distinct clarity. 

Clearwater lake



Helmecken falls



Clearwater lake

Recycling

Canadians seem to recycle everything. We've noticed at the shopping receipt that one gets an extra  charge on some products like: plastic bottles, metal cans, tetra packs. After asking the locals we were told that almost any waste can be brought to a recycle site. So we found one, which was quite an experience of its own.  We were surprised that waste was being sorted out manually.

Weather conditions in Canada

It's kind of outstanding how different the weather conditions in Canada can be: floods in Kamloops, thunder storm in Quebec, forest fires in Alberta area. And that's all at the same time.