Our time in Vancouver is up. 456 days
enjoying a stunningly beautiful city. Sure, it rained for 450 or so
of them, a hotdog stand is considered gormet food, and a wild night
out winds down at 11pm, but its been good.
Recently we headed to Savary Island. A
tiny, remote gulf island prized for its beautiful sand, and
relatively warm waters. Staying in an inviting cabin perched high on
top of the sand dunes the breathtaking sweeping views and clean fresh
air resulted in lots of sleeping and the occasional beer.
We had another crack at camping and
headed east to The Kootenies. You know the Kootenies right? Heading
out of Vancouver, you simply have to pass through 3 other mountain
ranges before getting there. If you hit the Rockies, you've gone too
far. Our timing wasn't the best though, July happened to be the 2nd
driest on record, yet the entire province for the 4 days were camp,
all 925186 km2 was wet. We learnt things. That's cause we
learn from our mistakes and well, we learnt a lot.
We were amazed, if not a little naïve
with the amount of snow still covering the ranges, and the still
frozen lake perched high in the mountain tops was hopefully a glimpse
of what's to come in The Rockies. Hiking through snow in July was
also fun.
A little less fun was a hike I did last
week. Shona sat this one out, and it was a wise decision. 4 of us
took on the 21km challenge of getting to “The Lions”. A pair of
extinct volcanic plugs that make up an unmissable part of the North
Shore Mountain Range. Its not just a hike, it involves a torturous
ascent, then descent of 5, yes 5 peaks to get there. And then back.
Unecessary Mountain, which is just before The Lions, with its 3
unavoidable peaks made very true its reputation.
After seeing Bryan Adams perform live,
the next biggest must see in Canada for me has been crossed off my
list when we saw Cirque Du Soleli. I could try and write about how my
spine tingled with amazement, and just how wide-eyed I was sitting in
my seat, but my humble ranting wouldn't justify the experience.
We ticked off the the obligatory
physical challenges of “The Chief” and “The Grind”. Two
mandatory hikes that must be done while residing in Vancouver.
The city has been conquered. We've done
it all. Its just the remaining part of the country that has to be
seen.
The world's most indirect travelers.
Josh and Shona.
