BC Trip (Conclusion)

My last day there, the Saturday, I had a late afternoon flight. I checked out of my hotel, left my luggage and went out for a quick brunch at St. Regis Bar & Grill. Very tasty! I walked along the SeaWall afterwards one last time. It was extremely windy and rainy, so instead of suffering in the cold, as it was a little chilly, I went to the airport instead and chilled for my flight. I don't think this day needed a separate blog post.

I am so unbelievably blessed for this trip. Talking about the West Coast, I wanted opportunities to learn, to do what I can (especially without parents - sorry Mom & Dad!) and what the world has for me. I learned so much about North/West Vancouver, its history, the province of BC as a whole, are more wicked information I did not know. I loved being a tourist, because tourists are there to explore and to wander. I felt free (not money free but free from responsibility and obligations) and I could do anything. I went alone because not only I had no one to go with (sad truth), but I did things on my own terms. On my own agenda. It was remarkable. 

Travelling just makes you happy. Of course, I didn't encounter much adversity (ie. losing my luggage or getting pick-pocketed!) but I did have to learn on the spot and learn quick. I really need to travel more. I'd be more educated globally and learn further about myself and others around me. I met fantastic people on my tours, that listening to their stories, make travelling all worthwhile!

So the dates of my trip were form August 22-29, and the final blog post is September 14. What a gap, right? Around 2 full weeks. If I'm being completely honest, I didn't want to blog right when I got to my hotel that night. Not only I was tired, but I wanted to absorb every minute of this adventure. It's been a couple years flying somewhere, so taking that time to sponge up everything, is what I felt right. I understand that there is quite a window, but with me things do occur. When I reflect back with these blog posts, I'm just proud of the experiences I encountered. 

I'm so awful, I'm already looking at trip dates already. I don't think I'll be going anywhere soon, as school is my top notch priority, as of right now. It doesn't hurt to look on Expedia once in a while, but this trip was very well needed. It very much reminded me that life is beyond Edmonton, more than just than the city you live in.

What to expect next? I'll blog more about my courses, about my volunteering, and of course, anything and everything useful when teaching youth. In my classes now, I use examples (ie. whale watching) from this trip to make it relevant into our course content. Let's end this with how beautiful British Columbia is, truly. 

BC Trip (Part 6 - Mountain Exploration)

Friday was my last full day in BC, where it was exploring the mountains. First part of the day was visiting the number one popular tourist stop in BC. Any guesses? If you said Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, you're right. We were there for a bit and after, we visited Grouse Mountain, taking the gondola to the top. Hiking up wouldn't be bad, but I would've been exhausted spending 3-4 hours conquering that Grouse.

Some neat facts about the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park

- the bridge is about 140 metres long

- the bridge is about 70 metres above the river

- located about 10-15 minutes from Grouse Mountain

Basically, this tour package isn't best suited for people who has a fear of heights. When you cross the suspension bridge, the only way back is by crossing it again. It didn't help that when I went, it was raining. They gave us complimentary ponchos, which I didn't take, but when it's wet all the walkways become more slippery than usual. Needless to say it was a gorgeous walk exploring the other side of the bridge. There were "treehouses" they say, and other neat paths I walked on.

 

I mean look at how narrow this path was. It's three pieces of board wide. Yikes!

This park was one of my favorites stops during my time there. The smell of the rainforest, the scenic view of the outdoors, was just perfect and timeless. I walked and explored and walked and explored all around, and felt no stress at all. I wish I'm back there, hopefully sooner than later.

Grouse Mountain was up next, and unlike Cypress Mountain, the gondola going up was huge. Big enough to fit about 130 people on it. I felt I was on the subway station, because that's what the inside looked like. It wasn't as small or intimate as the other gondola, but hey, it got all of us to the top, and most importantly, as safe as possible.

At the top, there was a lumberjack show I watched. It was a competition about two lumberjacks competing to see who is the better one. What I didn't expect from it was the humour. During the show I never laughed so hard in that whole week. The jabs, the insults and the timing, was pure comedic perfection. I even told them that after the school. Some jokes, I still remember and can't share them here for various reasons. 

BC Trip (Part 5 - Aquarium)

Thursday was my only other day with no tours planned, and the reason why is because I wanted to go to the aquarium! They opened at 9:30 am, and it's suggested to be there before 11:00. I wasn't sure how busy it was, so I woke up early, grabbed a Starbucks and walked there. It was a longer walk, but it was sunny and warm outside, which I can never complai. Who would!?

What I loved about the aquarium is the flexibility they had. They had so many exhibits for everyone to explore! My favorite was the Sea Monsters one! They also had a screen with all the "programs", they said, happening at the day. These programs occur throughout the day with varying topics. Lasting about 15-20 minutes each, it kept me occupied during my visit as I went to 6 or 7. 

On the screen, it tells you the program name, location, and time. I don't remember exactly all the ones I watched, but remember watching things like a Beluga Whale show, 4D show about Sea Monsters, a Shark Information show, and a Dolphin Training session. I did get my money's worth, especially since I paid for the student admission rather than the adult one. #studentdiscounts

Here are some pictures of some cool animals! (At least, I think they're cool...)

I wish I can bring a classroom of students to the aquarium. I noticed there was lots of school groups, day camps, day care groups, etc. It would be a great educational experience, I think, to see real life animals instead of seeing Google picture. Maybe someday.

Lastly, by the Sea Monsters exhibit, waiting outside there's a children's area. With crayons and markers and pencils laying around, children are asked to draw their definition of what a sea monster is. I laughed so hard as I saw this hanging on the wall.

I turned to Ricky at that moment.

via GIPHY

BC Trip (Part 4 - Sea & Sky)

On Wednesday, I did a Sea to Sky tour, with VancouverTours, check them out here! This was my only tour with them, as they had very similar ones with West Coast Sight Seeing. It was a pretty cold day, as our tour guide picked me up from out hotel, and out of all the day tours, it has the smallest amount of people. About 20? Smaller! 10 people? Smaller! There was 6 tourists! Yes, 6. Well 7, including our tour guide. I love small groups, as we were able to bond with each other more and have easy going conversations throughout the day.

First tourist stop was at Horseshoe Bay! It's a favorite spot for Vancouverites to visit on the weekend, and I can see why. I thought BC Ferries only departed from Tsawwassen, but turns out I was wrong. They have ferry departure here too but running at a lesser frequency.

Next, we stopped at Shannon Falls, which wasn't too far from Horseshoe Bay. It is the third largest Waterfall in BC, at about 335 meters high. That is high! When we looked up, the sun was right in our way, so our pictures at this stop weren't the best.

We then spent the next part of the day at Cypress Mountain. As we were part of a tour group, we didn't have to wait in line for our tickets. One of the perks, right?! The gondola to the top only fits 8 people, which was perfect for us. Only taking about 8-9 minutes to the top, the gondola trip was up and down was exquisite. An advantage to this is you get to experience the ride to its fullest. At the top, we grabbed lunch, explored the trails and walked over a wicked suspension bridge. I think this one's called Sky Pilot. Check out my pictures.

 

After finishing our time at Cypress Mountain, which is breathtaking, we ended our day at the Britannia Mine Museum. Located couple minutes from the bottom, we explored the importance of mining and how miners were extremely hard working people. We went on the mine train, and able to see how much physical labor these miners endured. Seriously, it's tough work. 

To finish off this day, I had dinner on the patio, looking out to the Seawall! Loved it!

BC Trip (Part 3 - Whale Watching)

Tuesday, I originally had nothing planned, but someone at work suggested I should go whale watching, and that exactly happened. Truthfully, whale watching was one of the highlights of my trip. It was surreal to be on a small boat, out and about on the west coast of Canada! This is the link of SeaBreeze Whale Watching, and both the tour guide and the captain of the boat exceeded my expectations! They knew so much about whales, helped search for them orca's and humpback's, and also stopped at Poet's Cove (which they rarely do with tourists!). 

I just want to share all my pictures, but they're all the same, so here's the best out of my hundreds! (Kidding).

And of course, the whales! We saw lots, and manage to seem several as they swam in their pods. 

We also spotted some restful sea lions! I'm not sure if I have a picture of them. In the middle of the day, the boat stopped at Poet's Cove, just off of Pender Island. I grabbed a beer with other tourists, and it was as if time stopped. I was extremely glad I went Whale Watching, as the people on this ship of 25 were great to be surrounded. What a great experience.

Fun fact, well I thought it was. Our tour guide said that we couldn't anchor the boat on American soil. We were, at times, on American water, but to be on American land is illegal. She said if that happened, we would all be arrested for criminal trespassing and prison, we would go. Crazy, hey? Especially after watching couple episodes seasons of Orange Is The New Black.

BC Trip (Part 2 - Victoria)

Monday was a long day for me! Shuttle didn't pick me up not until 7 am, and dropped me back off around 9:45 pm. This itinerary was like this because it was a Victoria plus Butchart Gardens tour, visiting the lovely capital city of British Columbia. In a nutshell, we drove to the ferry, to the ferry to Victoria, visited Butchart Gardens, then explored downtown Victoria and took the ferry back. 

BC Ferry, according to our tour guide, is the second largest ship in the world. I think the largest is in Japan. I could be wrong, so don't quote me on that. The ferry could hold more than 400 cars and hundreds of passengers. The weather was very cooperative, as you can tell from my photos!

Unfortunately, due to our tour itinerary, we only could stay at the Gardens for about 80-90 minutes. Not enough time to absorb the wonderful flowers and scenery. We let our tour guide know, but there was nothing we could do about it. I met some awesome people on this trip that we were running around exploring every little piece of Butchart Gardens so that our bus wouldn't leave without us. Check them out!

We were given hours to explore downtown Victoria, and it is just as admirable as downtown Edmonton. The historical component of this city and its importance to the government, I learned lots about! I remember learning about the government when I took my 6's on the Legislature field trip. Here, it was quite similar. We attended walk-in tours of the parliament and just sat along the waterfront. Victoria, please adopt me. 

Lastly, we took a late ferry back, and it was cold at the rear. We managed to stay at the back of the ferry, enjoying the minutes heading home. I felt like I was on the Titanic, hoping not to tip obviously.