My top 5 Canadian travel experiences in 2017

It’s New Year’s Eve, time to reflect on the year that comes to an end, to move on from the not-so-nice things that happened and to be grateful for the amazing times I had. This post summarises my top 5 travel experiences in Canada this year, most of them unexpected, which makes them even more special to me.

Skiing in Canada

In January and February this year, I had the pleasure to enjoy the plentiful skiing opportunities in the Greater Vancouver area and the nearby ski resort of Whistler-Blackcomb. The local mountains around Vancouver, namely Mount Seymour, Grouse Mountain and Cypress, feature slopes for all levels of skiers, albeit on a relatively small scale. There are bus connections from the city of Vancouver and the local mountains offer night skiing, which make them a popular destination for winter sports enthusiasts that like a bit of after-work skiing or snowboarding. The slopes overlook the city and allow visitors to see spectacular sunsets and stunning views of the city. It was also perfect for me to practice the easier and more difficult slopes before moving on to Whistler to enjoy a few days of skiing in the most wonderful powder. Whistler is one of North America’s biggest and most popular ski resorts.

Read more about skiing on Vancouver’s local mountains

Read more about skiing in Whistler

Flying over British Columbia

One of the things I like most about travelling is that you get to do things you weren’t expecting. My boss Dale from Vancouver is a passionate floatplane pilot and has taken me flying twice whilst in Vancouver this year, once just before I left in February and then another time while I was back in Vancouver in summer. Both were very distinctive and unforgettable experiences. In winter, we flew over the coastal mountains towards Whistler, seeing the ski slopes and lifts, snow-covered frozen lakes and snow-capped mountains from high above, whereas on our summer flight, Dale took me to places where not many people get to go: Bucaneer Bay on North Thormanby Island and Princess Louisa Inlet, a 6-km fjord featuring mossy forest, crystal-clear waters and a beautiful waterfall called Chatterbox Falls. The nearest road access is 50 km away and the place can only be reached by boat or floatplane.

Princess Louisa Inlet was our first destination and the flight into the fjord itself was a jaw-dropping experience. Flying in between the tree-covered mountains, then landing in amongst this beautiful scenery left me speechless. After a quick sandwich lunch at the sunny shores of the inlet, we restarted the plane and flew on to Bucaneer Bay, a pristine white sandy beach on which we were the only souls that day, aside from some boats floating peacefully in the bay. The more time I spend on the islands along Vancouver’s coast, the more I quite literally fall in love with the place.

Read more about my winter flight

Discovering Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island

This year, I had my first experience of working for free accommodation in Canada in the wonderful, remote Soule Creek Lodge in Port Renfrew. The town, just about 2 hours from the capital of British Columbia, Victoria, is a real gem with beautiful beaches and nature and in contrast to many other places on Vancouver Island, it’s not swamped by tourists yet. I spent two amazing weeks there, exploring the beautiful beaches, lakes and hiking along the Juan De Fuca Marine Trail, a 47-km hiking path along the coast.

Read more about Port Renfrew and the Juan De Fuca Marine Trail

Whale watching in Vancouver

When I left Vancouver in February, I was hoping that I’d be able to return for summer. And indeed I was lucky enough to spend another amazing summer in this beautiful city, chilling at the beaches, hiking, partying and enjoying amazing wildlife encounters. One of them was a whale watching tour with Prince of Whales (CAD 160 / EUR 105 / GBP 93), my fifth attempt to be more precise. Yes you heard right – if there is one thing about me that people can hardly argue it’s that I can be very persistent. In this case, I just really wanted to see some whales, and thankfully, I still had a ‘lifelong’ voucher from a previous attempt where I didn’t get to see any of these amazing animals.

The best time for whale watching at the west coast is in the summer months, June through to October. And indeed, in August 2017, it was fifth time lucky for me. An hour into the half-day tour, we came across a family of transient orcas who synchronically glided along the shoreline of Mayne Island just off Vancouver Island. The tour guides know the whales and the largest animal, a male, is called Captain Hook because his fin is slightly crooked to one side. We were over the moon when one of the whales was peeking its black and white head out of the water for a brief moment. But the more time passed, the more playful the orcas seemed to become. In a jaw-dropping spectacle, we saw the whales do back flips, jump out of the water and flap their tales! So the boats don’t disturb the whales, it is not allowed to get any closer to them than 100 metres – but the whales came very close to the boat while we were anchored. Amazed outcries of “ohhh” and “aww” accompanied the scene and even the tour guides’ eyes were glistening. They explained to us that we were seeing two families of whales and the playfulness came from them socialising with each other. I really felt a little emotional and consider myself very lucky to have seen those impressive creatures this close up.

 Working as a translator on a tour of Western Canada

This year also marked my debut as a tour guide for a group of Germans on a 3-week trip through Western Canada. I had the pleasure to assist the main tour guide, Isabel, in communicating with the German clients, telling them about the different locations and Canada in general and, last but not least, seeing a load of really amazing stuff and meeting great people. To describe the entire tour would be a month worth of blogging so I’ll leave that for later – for now I hope you’ll enjoy the visual impressions in this post.

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous New Year 2018 and stay tuned 🙂