Grouse Mountain... is one of the nearest mountains to Vancouver City. It's got interesting carved wooden statues of bears and pioneers at the top.
The Capilano Bridge is also not too far from Vancouver (on the way to Whistler actually). It's a 40 foot high thin bridge suspended over a canyon. A must see!
Here are the mountains of Whistler. When I went (part of a sales training work weekend), skiing wasn't available. So, I decided to walk up the mountain instead with Malcolm from Australia who was travelling the world... not having ever hiked up a mountain before, it was certainly a longer hike than I expected!
This is Malcolm (thanks for putting up with me -- especially near the end!)
In Vancouver, I met up with a friend's twin brother... we went to a Native American Feast Restaurant... where we had caribou and interesting berries, and all sorts of other new foods! (see restaurant guide in gastronomic delights section)
The Vancouver aquarium was lots of fun... all sorts of fish and whales. Back then, I couldn't help but think... mmm, sushi!! Nowadays, I'd probably think more about diving though. ;c)
The beluga whales were particularly cute animals, but it looks like someone knocked them hard over the head! Poor fellows!
Of course, there was a whale show!
If you're in Victoria on Vancouver Island in the summertime, you should have to stroll in The Butchart Gardens.
The gardens are very well kept and have an inspiring variety of flowers, trees and plants.
This one made me think of "Grimace", the purple pear-shaped character in the MacDonald's Restaurant TV ads.
Beautiful ponds for peaceful moments.
And a truly dynamic fountain... which sends out a new pattern every minute or so.
The Empress hotel is an icon of Victoria city. (Like the "Chateau Frontenac" is for Quebec).
A beautiful whale mural on one of the buildings in Victoria.
Miniature village in Victoria, this was minitureland (great for those who like fairy tales or historic events). I was visiting my friend Linda when she lived there. Unfortunately, the picture is of very poor quality.
Here you go... history in action... frozen and in tiny scale!
A good few years later, I returned to B.C. to visit some friends in Nelson. We spotted this beautiful waterfall just gushing out beautifully.
We took a regional Air Canada flight next to Vancouver and boarded the plane a little too late. So, we had to call in customer service to locate my missing bags. Unfortunately, it was a long wait on the line, so we had three phones calling in at once.
Near Vancouver, Eric, Rhiannon (a Canadian friend that I met in Ecuador) and I took on a hike called the Chief. It was a great trail !
A well-deserved break after climbing about 600 meters to one of the mountains many peak (I think this was #2).
Beautiful views of other mountain peaks from our resting spots.
