Madeira Park - Vancouver

On the 31st of July we started the last part of our road trip. We left the silence of the Sunshine Coast and took the ferry to Vancouver. Still on the Sunshine Coast we had a last coffee break on the beach in Sechelt / Selma Beach.

The light on the ferry was amazing, so many different shades of blue. Too bad it only took us about 45 minutes, I would have loved to stay on the water for much longer.

As soon as we landed at Horseshoe Bay it was obvious that we had arrived in a different world. There was such a long queue of cars waiting for the next ferry out, probably because it was the beginning of a long weekend and everybody wanted to go where we just came from, either the Sunshine Coast or Vancouver Island. We drove the other way, right into a huge traffic jam. It took us more than an hour to get from West Vancouver over Lions Gate Bridge, through Stanley Park and Downtown to our bed and breakfast Cambie Lodge on West 13th Avenue. We were pretty knackered by the time we arrived and were very glad to take a break.

The next morning I was all excited because I was finally going to meet Melissa. I've known her for more than ten years. We met through bookcrossing.com, had a lifejournal at the same time, spent a lot of time on flickr, are friends on facebook and instagram and read each other's blogs. But we never met in person in all these years and there were always 9 hours of time difference between us. So it was strange to actually see and hear her at 12pm in front of Broadway-Cityhall. But it didn't take long at all for it to feel perfectly normal. I love internet friendships ;-)

She took us on a walk along False Creek to Granville Island, then we had to have a break at Starbucks because we were so hot. Next we crossed Granville Bridge which freaked me out quite a bit. On one side there is the long distance to the water, so I had to stay clear of that edge but on the other side of the footwalk the cars drive by really fast and you know you really shouldn't fall on the lane.

Too soon it was time to say goodbye again. I really hope we will meet again somewhere and I wished we didn't live right on the other side of the world from each other.

In the evening we went to Kitsilano Beach. It was the 1st of August which is typically celebrated with firework in Switzerland (it's Swiss National Day) and we were so happy to find out that we were going to get a very special show even though we weren't home. The time before it got dark was amazing, we saw the most spectacular sunset which made me wish I lived closer to the sea even more.

The firework was cool too even though we were slightly too far away for close up photos.

On our last day we took the bus out to E Hastings Street where I wanted to find Baaad Anna's yarn store (and of course we found it, because I already posted my Vanilla Latte Socks and my Playdate Cardigan which were both knit with yarn I bought there). Then we flew over Canada and had a blast and last but not least we rode rented bikes around Stanley Park.

And then, sadly, it was time to go home on the 2nd of August. We had a bit of time before our flight to Reykjavik took off, so we said goodbye to Vancouver Island and the sea from Iona Beach Provincial Park and then we had to leave.

Right now I am kind of sad that I sorted through all our 3000 photos and wrote all the blog entries I wanted to do but I am sure lots and lots of little moments will stay in my mind and we will always look back to this road trip with longing for more.

Cathedral Grove - Little Qualicum Falls - Lake Cameron

Tuesday, 21th of July - We stayed on in Port Alberni for another night which gave us time to drive back over the mountains to Cathedral Grove in Mc Millan Provincial Park. We left the car next to the road and then we did a lovely hike in the rain forest. The different shades of green were amazing and it was wonderfully cool among these huge trees. We read all the information signs and learnt about Douglas fir trees, nursing logs and how storms can be beneficial in the long run.

We also took a lot of silly photos, after all we had become quite addicted to uploading new pictures on Instagram and needed lots of photographical material (I put all of our photos in one folder and we took almost 3000 photos during our 16 days - it will take some time to find the gems among them)

Next we drove even further back to the Little Qualicum Falls. We hiked from the upper to the lower falls and were so glad about the shade because it had become seriously muggy by then.

When the heat got just too intense, we did the only sensible thing there was: We went swimming in Lake Cameron. The water seemed quite warm at first but as soon as we got in a bit further there was some cooler water underneath. It was very refreshing and we felt much better afterwords.

Zürich - Vancouver - Port Alberni

Sunday 19th of July - After 12 hours and 50 minutes of travelling, two flights, one short stop-over in Reykjavik, a long but successful wait for our luggage and the first few kilometers with our new rental car we finally arrived in our first hotel, the Pacific Gateway Hotel in Richmond / Vancouver. It was already around 6am Swiss time by the time we had eaten something and were ready to fall into bed. But then the light outside was so stunning that we had to go for at least a little walk along the Middle Arm Fraser river and take a few photos.

Monday 20th of July - Feeling still a bit tired, but much better, we got up quite early to catch the ferry from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo the next morning. Even though our navi Anke had a fondness for intricate ways to get to a destination, we arrived on time. Boarding the ferry was much easier than I had feared, it was actually no problem at all. All the ferry rides on our trip were definitely a big favourite of mine - being outside and on the ocean, moving without me driving and often with a cooling wind - it is just a great way to get from one point to another.

Once on Vancouver Island we headed towards Port Alberni. But before we drove there, we had a break at the Old Country Market in Coombs where we ate lunch and then we all had one of these huge ice creams. These were actually the small ones - I can't imagine anyone eating two scoops like that...

In Port Alberni we stayed at the Hummingbird Guesthouse. We had a lovely, spacious room with a view over the patio and the garden. There was a hot tub, a couple of blueberry bushes with ripe berries ready to be eaten and a huge garden where Yannick and I played American football.
 

In the evening we went to explore Port Alberni. Because of our jetlag all we managed was a little walk to the harbour, dinner at the Starboard Grill and a few windy moments at the pier.