International Harbors.
Top image.
° About Us ° Travel News ° Gear Recommendations ° Travel Specials ° Books ° Contact ° Home Port




Kayak British Columbia.

Butchart Gardens.
International Harbors
Maritime Heritage Project
PO Box 2878
Sausalito, CA 94965

eMail
Canada is one of the planets most comfortable, and caring, societies. The United Nations Human Development Index cited the country as the most desirable place in the world to live. This year a World Bank study named Canada the globe’s second wealthiest society after Australia.
Time Magazine

There are no limits to the majestic future which lies before the mighty expanse of Canada with its virile, aspiring, cultured, and generous-hearted people.
Sir Winston Churchill

 

Expedia.com

 

Sail on board one of the world's top cruise lines. Windstar has the most beautiful ships sailing the seas.

 

Windstar Cruise Line

 

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line are considered among the world's best lines.


Disney Cruise Line

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line


Frommer's Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands & the San Juan Islands (Frommer's Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands & the San Juan Islands)

Holiday gifts for boaters.

canada: british columbia


° British Columbia
° Vancouver
° UNESCO World Heritage Sites

British Columbia features one of the most dramatic landscapes we've ever seen.

While it equals the beauty of San Francisco Bay and the surrounding towns, it 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.

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.

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