Vancouver and Vancouver Island

The temperature was -18 degrees when Kim and I left the house last Monday the 12th. So I was happy about being in the warm car driving through mountains and over big valleys. Kim was brave and strong throughout the drive despite the fact that she kind of doesn't like driving. So she was happy when we 12 and a half hour later arrived to the hostel in downtown Vancouver. It was time to stretch the legs so we tossed our bags in our rooms, parked the car and headed towards Stanley Park. After about six kilometers of walking while spotting raccoons it was getting quite dark and my legs started needing fuel. So we found a way out of the park and started searching for a place to eat. We ended up eating at a little place not far from the hostel. While we were eating a TV was on in one end of the room and the weather forecast was on. I started laughing while thinking about how ridiculous it was to have a detailed Danish weather forecast. I mean the temperature is the same all over the country + or - 2 degrees. And nobody can feel that difference anyways so what's the point? It makes sense in Canada where the temperature is + or - more than 20 degrees!


Next day we went up and ate breakfast before we left. We went down to the water and catched a tiny boat that ferried us to the other side of Vancouver. Then we started walking... The goal was the Museum of Anthropology and after approximately 15 kilometers we arrived starving to the museum. Before we even darred going in we walked a little bit further to the campus of University of British Columbia. Here we found something to eat and then we were loaded for the museum. Kim thought it was a little disappointing so we catched a bus that was going to Downtown Vancouver. We wanted to see the aquarium but by the time we arrived to downtown it was getting late and we decided to wait until the next day. We grabbed a smoothie and tried to find a cinema. We found it and got some food at a really nice Thai restaurant before we went back and saw "The Informant".


The next day we ate breakfast, packed our stuff, left the hostel and drove to the aquarium. By the time we arrived we were too early so we decided to take a little walk in Stanley Park. We ended up walking in circles in the rain trying to get back to the aquarium. We succeeded and entered the aquarium. After lots of fishes, sea stars and an amazing dolphin show we left the aquarium heading to Horseshoe Bay where the ferry to Vancouver Island was leaving from. We arrived in time and after two hours of windy sailing we arrived to Nanaimo, which I suppose to be the biggest city on the island with 80.000 citizens. After succeeding in in finding our way out of the city we soon arrived to a steep driveway that was leading to Chris and Laurie who we were going to stay with during the week. We were welcomed by Chris, Laurie and their two dogs. We dumped of our stuff in the house and left to go find some dinner in Nanaimo. While we were eating Chris ended up telling about a Danish movie he had seen. I would never have thought that "The Green Butchers" ("De Grønne Slagtere") had left Danish land but apparently Chris had seen it. He also told that his grandfather was Danish and soon we were talking about Vikings, Potato sandwich, drunken Swedes and shabby Germans.

Next morning I started with a nice shower and at 10:30 we left the house. It was time to go crab fishing with Chris and his sister and Bill who owned the boat. We left the harbour and headed toward the sea. While watching seals and sealions around the boat Bill told me about huge octopuses living under the water. 3 meters is quite a big octopus if you ask me! We tossed out the traps and marked them on the GPS. The we sailed a little further out to a tiny island full of seals laying on the beach. It was quite amazing to see but after a while we turned around heading toward the harbour. It was lunchtime so we went to a really nice bakery and ate before leaving shore again to go pull in the traps. Chris started pulling in the first trap but instead of crab a sea star had sneaked in. He took the next one but still only sea star. Then he told me to pull a trap in and everything changed. One crab was in the cage and we ended up getting three crabs out of it. According to Chris that is not many but apparently it was enough to fill all of us up by the end of the evening.


Next day we left the house with a couple of bags. We were heading towards Tofino on the very west side of Vancouver Island. On the way we stopped a by a river where the salmon was trying to come up to lay their eggs. But since it had rained hard during the night the salmon was having a really hard time trying not to get further down the river. It was really amazing to see the salmon fighting to get forward but constantly being throwed back by the water. We drove on and after some curved road where I was eating Nanaimobar (a very tasty piece of cake full of sugar) we arrived to the coast. We went down to the beach and walked for a while watching the sunset. It was nice to see the ocean again after I have been away from water for one and a half month.
After the dogs had finnished playing in the sand we drove the last bit of way to Tofino. We emptied our bags in to the flat belonging to Chris and Laurie and went searching for a place to eat dinner. We found a sushi restaurant and Chris introduced me to a fantastic piece of sushi that I don't remember the name of (maybe 'takafnugginambalugi' but I'm not sure...).


Next morning was walking day. We went to take a walk in some rain forest just outside Tofino and I saw lots of huge trees! It was quite different from a "forest" in Denmark! After walking around in there we decided that the sky looked blue so we left our waterproof pants in the car and left wearing raincoats. Big mistake! When we after 2 and a half hour of walking returned to the car we were all soaked. We went back to the flat and changed our clothing and returned to Tofino looking for a place to eat. We ended up at the restaurant "Spotted Bear" which despite the name didn't hosted any wildlife.


Next morning it was time to return to Nanaimo. We packed our stuff and left Tofino City. On the way we stopped by the beach and another place Chris picked some mushrooms. Halfway back to Nanaimo all the sudden the trees seemed twice as high as the ones we had just passed and we stopped at Cathedral Grove. We took a walk among trees that were more than 800 years old and the biggest one was 3 meters in diameter! Not the kind of trees we have in Denmark!
Among all the great big trees there was this black stubble. The sign beside it said that some idiots had put in on fire back in the 70's and ended it 700 years old life! I would like to point out that acting like that is not very lumberjack! (the adjective lumberjack is used all over here in Canada about things that is simply cool, nice or in other ways fill you with a positive feeling.)
We snacked some chicken and cheese and once again Chris blaimed for being a unreal Dane because I didn't eat cheese. I told him that my Viking-skills compensated for that, he agreed and we continued our trip back to Nanaimo. That night we had good meat and mushrooms for dinner and I slept good!


Next morning was time for leaving. We packed the car said goodbye to Laurie and Chris and went down to the ferry that was waiting for us in the harbour. We left Vancouver Island in sunny weather and I enjoyed the last view of the ocean for a long time...
Two hours later we were in Horseshoe Bay and we started the drive back home to Bragg Creek. On our way we stopped at a Starbucks and I was deeply surprised about seing a "Jysk" so far from home! Who would had thought that the Danes were selling pillows so far from home.?
We stopped in Revelstoke at 6:30 pm and checked in to our hostel. Then we went to get some food at an Indian/German restaurant. What a weird combination by the way.


This morning we left Revelstoke at 8:00 am and drove away for the last bit of our travel home. On the way we stopped at Lake Louise which was just beatiful with its clear blue water! 3:30 pm we were back in Bragg Creek, Alberta. I spend most of the evening writing this instead of doing my math so I better take a look on it on the bus tomorrow. But I checked Homelogic, the website that tells you your grades, and my grade in English is 82%!
Anyways it was a great trip and now I will return to my everyday life here in Bragg Creek. I have a workout tomorrow so it's back to business!