Vancouver, BC

White top mountains, sun, sea and sand

If ever you are planning a trip from Calgary to vancouver, i recommend you booking a flight. A 15 hour coach journey is something you don't want to endure, especially when there is the likely hood of a traffic jam on the Trans Canada highway! For some reason this 15 hour journey seemed to take forever. Although i happily sat through the 15hour coach journey from Toronto to New York, for some reason this time is was painful.

Bridge to Granville Island

Maybe my excitement was the reason for my agitation. Before i even arrived in Canada countless amounts of people had repeated the words "make sure you go to Vancouver". And so the time had come for me to see what the fuss was about. Walking out of the train station in vancouver was something great! Welcomed by 30C degree weather was a bonus! Luckily the sun decided to bless Vancouver with it's lethal rays for the entire time we were there!...not complaining! I thought maybe this would be my chance to jump into the sea...it's not a lake but its good enough for me. Unfortunately the Pacific's water was cold enough to make your legs go numb in a couple of minutes. The swimming shorts went back into the backpack once again. 

A visit to vancouver is not complete without a wonder around Stanley Park, located in the north west of Vancouver. Whether you choose to explore the park on foot, roller blades or bikes you will definitely it! We chose to bike it around the park! Located in the Park was Vancouver Aquarium! We ventured in towards what was called Beaver lake. Didn't see any Beavers. We eventually pulled up at third beach to enjoy the weather and to mess around in the sand and the sea! It was nice to chill in the sun instead of worrying about how to save exposed skin from the harsh weather. Although i can't really complain as we've had plenty of sunshine and heat!

Kayaking

The following day we made our way to Granville island where we enjoyed the Market's sweet and savoury foods! Once we settled our stomachs we made our way to rent Kayaks! Im gutted i didn't take any pictures while kayaking, but it meant taking a brand new camera into the wavy waters. It was great getting into the water and paddling along the coastline of Vancouver and trying to dodge any boats that were making their way into the harbour. It was a great way to look out onto the city, i definitely recommend it. The rest of the time was spent relaxing on the sand and enjoying the last moments of exchange, but also dreading the thought of it ending.

A great part of Vancouver's history is towards the north of city, the Capilano suspension bridge. After paying a quick entry we were greeted by a 20 minute history tour which revealed the scottish heritage. We made our way across the bridge, some with enthusiasm and others with fright. I do not recommend trying to scare your friends by jumping up and down on the bridge...haha B wasn't that bad! There isn't just the suspension bridge but also quick talks on the wild life and walkways in the trees. Definitely worth a visit. And so my final thoughts on Vancouver. I would definitely agree with everyone that Vancouver is a city you must visit! The view of snow top mountains in the background whilst sitting on the beach in the sun is definitely rare and beautiful. The weather definitely added to the fun! Vancouver is known to be a rainy city so I'm guessing we were really lucky! But I definitely agree that Vancouver is really nice and different from any other city I've been to in Canada. The people are friendly, the city is clean and safe! So yes! You have to visit Vancouver, preferably when the weather is hot!

View from the bridge

'Spring' Break Continued

Few of Quebec's oldest buildings

After a long but comfortable train ride from Ottawa we arrived in ice cold Quebec City. Since coming to Canada in September we have been warned about temperatures plummeting to -20 CE, instead we were greeted by a mild winter with the odd few days of heat. This all ended in Quebec City as temperatures ranged from a maximum of  -7 CE and a minimum -25 CE.


Before we arranged any outdoor activities, we spent some time walking around the city as well as taking a long bus journey to the Montmorency waterfall. This is where we finally experienced the knee deep snow that every Canadian friend had mentioned. It was so deep that the Aussies struggled to cope with. The all too regular "I'm cold" phrase was mentioned more times than cheese (read on). Walking around the field we stumbled across snowboarders at a park, took the chance to slide down frozen steps as well as giving the Australians a chance to make their first snow man. It basically looked like a scene from Narnia. Eventually we ended up in this village cafe where the poutine portions were too much to handle... eh Richard? He shovelled the cheese curds down like a Frenchman who has been away from France for too long. Anyway we made our way back and gorged ourselves on Swiss fondue, some more than others...Richard. The fondue itself was a bit too cheesy for my liking so I quit earlier than the others. It was ok though- Richard took one for the team and took care of the leftovers whilst discussing the prospect of a trip to Philadelphia. Ok that's enough cheese jokes.

Brie-lliant Time (Sorry last joke)

More than knee deep

Struggle

The next day we made our way to Valcartier Ice Park. I think it is fair to say that we were probably one of the oldest groups there but seriously a 80 year-old gran with two hip replacements would have had as much fun as we did. Valcartier Ice Park consists of huge steep snow covered slopes that you could either go down on your own or whilst holding onto a friends rubber dingy straps. Located amongst scenic snow-capped mountains, it was the perfect winter break activity. Sliding down was truly epic  and worth the sweaty climbs back up to the top. It was even more epic when we discovered the drag lifts, which sarah eventually mastered. The best slopes had to be the steepest, on the 8-man log rafts and the spinning rafts.

Say 'Cheese'

  

Part of the Valcartier deal was that you also gain access to the 2km outdoor ice skating trail. Even though we were made to look like complete fools on the ice by our friend Drew (Canadian pro ice-skater), it was fun to just mess around. Once we had enough of that we made our way back onto the slopes! Time management was essential. Maybe the only similarity with the 10 year olds at the park was our packed lunches.

Ended up in a pile

Surreal-Pimpin'

The following day was the day that I eventually had the chance to go dog sledding, something I had been looking forward to since applying to do an exchange year abroad. Once we geared up with more layers of wet dog smelling clothes, we braved our way out into the cold. After a quick/short talk on how to control the sleds we were on the sleds steering away in under 10 minutes in the great Canadian outdoors. Having paid little attention to the instructions that were given to Sarah and I, we quickly made away into the bushes off the clear path in front. Whilst on the sled within 2 hours it managed to snow heavily, harshly hail and beam with sunlight on a repeating loop. The route was really scenic, especially when we entered wooded areas. Eventually we fell off the sled, having saved my camera from the fall, we had to quickly get up and chase the dogs in order to stop them from running off. After playing with the pups it was sadly over and so was our trip to Quebec City. Overall it was a wicked spring break and I made the right decision to go Cold.

Canadian Winter break

P.s A big merci to our French tour guide Arthur, albeit overpriced :D