Beautiful British Columbia

I went to travel the most beautiful part of Canada with two grandmothers, mine and my boyfriend’s. This time it was my boyfriend’s grandmother who decided upon the destination, for she was watching this documentary on TV about this beautiful country and told me, she wants to see this in person. When she said Canada, I asked her, what did they show in and she said it was lakes and mountains, so I knew she meant the British Columbia.

Since I love adrenalin sports I could not pass up a chance to climb the mountains of granite. Before we departed for Canada I met a rock climber via Facebook, whom I met due to similar interests. He’s a famous Slovenian climber – Klemen Mali. When we decided to go to Canada I asked him about additional information about the British Columbia. When he heard we’re arriving to Canada, he offered that we go climbing together. This meant that our first day of travel was dedicated to me and my adrenalin kicks. Both grandmothers waited under the mountain while Klemen and I headed up the steep rock face. British Columbia is famous for its granite mountains and this was a great achievement for me. At first I had some problems, since I was not used of not having so many places to hold on to as if climbing a limestone mountain. But when I got used to the feeling my equipment has a better grab on granite it went like clockwork. Five hours of climbing and the perfect view from the top was more than a great way to kick of the journey. And besides, climbing is really popular in this part of Canada. There are many organized climbs with more being prepared. For the locals climbing is a way of life and many people from all over the world come here to climb as well. And British Columbia in general is a very popular destination for athletes, since other sports are very popular as well, not only climbing. There’s great opportunities for surfing, kiting, diving, skiing, ski tracking, snowboarding and much more. 

Vancouver was like a paradise for all three of us. It was for me even before we got there, for I got a lot of information online, but both grannies just confirmed it as well. The city is big and has tall skyscrapers in the centre, but it breaths, has many green areas and best of all – it’s not crowded. Since all of us love nature and not urbane centres I was surprised with grannies and myself how much we loved Vancouver. City downtown with tall skyscrapers, the bay with a harbour, aquarium, park and even strict rules, but still very inviting. And I got really angry there, when I stopped the car on a private parking place, for about two minutes and got a ticket. I even left the car running, turned on all four signal lights, both grannies were in the car and I just took a few steps to make a few photos of the city. A guy in a uniform came and recorded my offence. I tried to talk to him, but there was no talking my way out of it. I got a fine of 40$ for illegal parking, which I could only pay via internet. Strict rules apply also to parking along the street, since all cars must face the direction of driving. The neatness of the city and the respect its citizens have for all the rules just left us in awe. And to top it all, everything was so green. But even that is backed up with a law. If you want to cut down a tree near the house you need a special permit. The city was so much to our liking even the grannies said: “were we younger, we’d stay here.” Myself, I might return... 

British Columbia is known for its vast forests, rivers, lakes, mountains and some farmlands… but also for its animals, which seem a bit odd to us. It was our goal to get to know the nature, the national parks and typical wildlife. Many people told us we only need a bit of luck to see a moose or a bear along the road, but we hadn’t had that particular little bit of luck. So we took a boat with some other passengers and joined the lake tour. During one of the stops along the shore we did manage, finally, to see the most wide spread bear of Canada – the black bear. He was not frightened and was walking along the shore, so we had all the time in the world to take a picture. Later on it got even more interesting, with two bold headed eagles flying over our boat. Naturally we enjoyed the nature itself, the numerous rivers and lakes, driving along the great roads through the national parks, where we learned that being alone has its own charm. After leaving Vancouver and its surroundings we were alone and for a long time without the cell phone signal as well. With our modern hasty way of life this was a great relief.

I have to say, my boyfriend’s grandmother really chose a great trip. We experienced what we expected – the beauty of the most beautiful part of Canada with its unspoiled nature. I guess I have to leave the selection of destination to the grannies in the future.