canada: british columbia
° British Columbia ° Vancouver° UNESCO World Heritage Sites
British Columbia
The area surrounding Vancouver features one of the most dramatic landscapes we've ever seen.
Vancouver
While Vancouver equals the beauty of San Francisco Bay and the surrounding towns, British Columbia is far more dynamic in that everything is much much larger in scale: the Bay itself, the dramatic snow-capped and forested Rocky Mountains and Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver itself rivals any city in the world for style and sophistication. During one visit to B.C. during summer, we actually stayed in the dorms of the University of British Columbia. It was very inexpensive, the rooms immaculate, the University is centrally located, and it has an activity center which includes a large indoor swimming pool.
Kayaking the San Juans
During another visit to the area, we stayed with friends on one of the islands and kayaked from island to island. Because we did not have our kayaks with us (we flew up on that trip), we rented them from a local company, which was very easy to do and non-complicated. For inexperienced kayakers, there are many guided trips: day trips, kayak camping tours, lodge based tours (which we have heard are fantastic although we haven't tried any in B.C. If you're lucky, you will see porpoises, seals, seal pups,Stellar sea lions, Orcas and gray whales, and Bald Eagles. Of course if you're a sailor, Cruising Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands must be somewhere on your lists of things to do.
Funny Bald Eagle story: A group of adventurous friends were in Canada waiting outside a back-country store until time to leave for a rafting trip down the Tatshenshini River. To pass time, they threw a frisbee back and forth while several Bald Eagles sat on the rooftop of the store watching the frisbee sail through the air as though they were watching a tennis match.
Take time to visit beautiful Butchart Gardens, which entails a ferryboat ride to Vancouver Island. We spent more than four hours strolling around the 55 acres of stunning landscapes, which change during each season, of course. We visited during summer, when the air is perfumed with thousands of blossoms, but each season brings its own beauty. The gardens are decorated with lights for the holidays, and include a skating rink. Their history is interesting: In 1888, Robert Pim Butchard began manufacturing Portland Cement. In 1904, he built a factory at Tod Inlet on Vancouver Island to access the rich limestone deposits (which are necessary for cement produciton). After he exhausted the limestone in the quarry near their home, his wife, Jennie, decided to refurbish the pit by developing the gardens. Tons of top soil were brought in by horse and cart, she lined the exhausted quarry, and through the years turned the area into the stunning Butchart Gardens. By the 1920s, more than 50,000 people visited the gardens each year.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Canada
- L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site (1978)
- Nahanni National Park (1978)
- Dinosaur Provincial Park (1979)
- Kluane/Wrangell-St Elias /Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek (1979, 1992, 1994)
- 5 Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (1981)
- SGang Gwaay (1981)
- Wood Buffalo National Park (1983)
- Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks (1984, 1990)
- 6 Historic District of Old Québec (1985)
- Gros Morne National Park (1987)
- Old Town Lunenburg (1995)
- Waterton Glacier International Peace Park (1995)
- Miguasha National Park (1999)
- Rideau Canal (2007)
- Joggins Fossil Cliffs (2008)
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Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude