So, the 2010 winter Olympics essentially put British Columbia Canada on the Map. We thought it only fitting that if the rest of the world was now keen to visit BC so should we be. As such, in August 2010 we had a home coming of sorts (not really, BC is a 5 hour flight from the part of Canada that I'm from).
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| Photo taken in the old growth forest on the way to Tofino. It's incredible to see how big trees will grow if just left alone long enough to do so. Congratulations for having the foresight to preserve this small swath of land |
There is something really surreal about going back to your home country when you've been living abroad. The first thing you notice is the language. When living in a country where they don't speak your native language, you build an amazing capacity to tune things out. Conversations around you become white noise. However, the instant you hear English being spoken you can't help but focus in on it....it's uncanny. So, the problem when you go home is all of a sudden, you're hit with sensory overload. The white noise that you're so accustomed to tuning out all of a sudden becomes your focal point. I feel like Dare Devil with such attuned hearing.
What's even crazier is when your return "home" happens in a small float (pontoon) plane. I have to say, for a guy who flies a lot, there is something unnerving when the pilot turns around and also gives you the safety brief explaining where the axe is in case of an accident and you need to get out. Yup, that's right, forget the dangerous metal eating utensils, these guys keep an axe in arms reach of the passengers at all times and tells them about it! Eat that Mr security man in Arizona who took away my finger nail clippers!
The week on Vancouver Island was amazing. We trekked up Mt Benson which gave us an incredible view looking back over the island onto the mainland coastal mountains.
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| View from the top of Mt. Benson looking back towards the main land. The hike to the top was quite demanding but it was well worth it! |
We took a weekend trip to Tofino where we went whale watching, deep sea fishing and strolled along the surfing beach (yup, surfing in Canada!)
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| The view from our hotel room balcony in Tofino. For an area know for storm watching we hit it during some superb weather |
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| Not usually one to brag but that's a nice chinook salmon. One of 7 fish landed on that day. We ended up having to buy a box freezer to store the 95 kgs of fresh filleted salmon meat so that it wouldn't be wasted |
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| A shot of the harbour in Tofino. No really story to tell here, just loved the light in this photo |
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| We just happened to be on the beach when a coastal cloud rolled in. I love the haunting image that it creates |
We stopped on the way there in some old growth forest where one tree actually housed a postal office and if that wasn't enough, we drank copious amounts of Buzz mochas. The last day on the island we completed a high ropes course in the rain and rented sea kayaks for the trip around the bay. Incredible.
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| A quick sea kayaking trip around the neighbouring islands brought back memories of the sea kayaking trip up on the east coast of Canada in the summer of 2001. Yup, getting a little long in the tooth I know. And "no", it wasn't me in the tandem! |
West Coast Canadians say that once people from the East visit the west coast they never go back home. I can completely understand why this would be the case. Fortunately for us, we didn't have to make a decision about heading back to Toronto; otherwise, I'm not sure how this story would have ended. A week on Vancouver is certainly not enough. We left many things undiscovered giving us an excuse to return! Who knows, next time it could be for good?
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