Tag: #britishcolombia

Ferry from Tsawwassen Bay to Vancouver Island, Victoria…

On By mubeenazamIn September 2015, UncategorizedLeave a comment

(My solo road trip of western Canada – Tuesday 29th September)

After arriving in Vancouver, there was a short drive to nearby Richmond where I was due to stay for three nights so that I could explore Vancouver.  I was so excited, I could not believe I was here, somewhere I had always wanted to visit was now unfolding for me.

I planned to visit Victoria (the capital of British Colombia, Canada) on Vancouver Island (the largest Pacific island east of New Zealand).  I was told that this was a good place to do whale watching, advice was given by several people so it would have been foolish to go anywhere else, or not do it at all.  I decided to do this on my first day of three so that I could have time to explore other parts of Vancouver (if I could) with the remainder of the time I had.

The day was going to be totally manic, tight schedule that I had to adhere to, otherwise I would not be able to travel to Victoria, do whale watching and explore downtown Vctoria in the day I had.  I went to bed after 2am planning the day.

I got up at 5am and left my accommodation at 5.30am.  From where I was staying, I had a 15 minute walk to the nearest bus loop (bus station), the bus was due to leave at 6.05am.  I realised after about 6 or 7 minutes that I was walking in the wrong direction, I should have turned right instead of left at the main road, if  I missed this bus, it would ruin my day, I simply would not have enough time!  There was no sign of anyone, until after walking for about 10minutes, there was a gas station (petrol station).  I asked 3 workers inside if they new where the bus loop was and none of them did!  I walked out and one guy was filling up, I asked him, and it just so happened that he was going in that direction and he knew where I had to go, he offered to take me… I got on the bus at 6.04am, it left the station 1 minute later!

I arrived at the ferry port at 6.40am and the ferry from Tsawwasen Bay was due to leave at 7am to get to Victoria just after 8.30am.  Then I got a bus from the ferry bay to downtown Victoria, I arrived just before 9.30am, I then ran and booked a whale watching tour which I thought was going to start at 10am, but this was not available so I did the 11am.  It was due to last 3 1/2 hours.  In total, I needed to allow around four hours to get back to Richmond.  Below are the photos of my ferry trip from Tsawwasen to Victoria.  After whale watching and trekking around downtown Victoria, I got to my accommodation, safe and sound just after 11pm, long but hugely fulfilling day.

Absolutely stunning sunrise, spectacular scenery along the way.  My favourite part of the ferry trip was definitely passing the multiple small islands on route to Victoria.  On the way back, I explored the inside of the ferry further and realised it was like a floating  city.  Again, I could not believe my luck with the weather, it was blissful!


  
  



  
  


  
  


  
  
  

Whistler downtown and drive to Vancouver

On By mubeenazamIn September 2015, UncategorizedLeave a comment

(My solo road trip of western Canada – Monday 28th September)

Before visiting Whistler, I had seen photos of the place, it looked absolutely amazing in all weather conditions throughout the year, I was very excited about visiting.  Whistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada.  It is only about 125 km north of Vancouver, the next place on my road trip.  I was surprised to discover that it has a stable population of around 10,000, not sure how true this is but can’t see it being much more to be honest.

Over two million people visit Whistler annually, primarily for alpine skiing and snowboarding and, in summer, mountain biking at Whistler Blackcomb. Its pedestrian village has won numerous design awards and Whistler has been voted among the top destinations in North America by major ski magazines since the mid-1990s. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Whistler hosted most of the alpine, Nordic, luge, skeleton, and bobsled events.

Downtown Whistler I found very beautiful, the scenery was spectacular, I really liked the architecture, the changing trees were fantastic to see at this time of the year and it was incredibly clean, and on top of that, my good fortune…truly incredible weather continued which made the whole experience even more memorable.  Oh, and some of the houses were so stupendous, instead of taking photos, I just brought home a Real Estate magazine, prices ranged from $1 million to over $20 million!!!

I found out that Whistler does not have a garbage collection service as they have such a high concentration of bears, so the residents have to take their own garbage to a central location!

The drive down to Vancouver was fantastic, incredibly scenic and at time, literally took my breath away!  I drove on Highway 99, the drive was so fantastic and was complemented with its really cool name: The Sea to Sky Highway!  There was so much more beauty along the drive but there were not many opportunities to capture them because of the windy mountain roads.  (The second photo is of my hostel accommodation which was by far the best hostel accommodation I have ever stayed in).

http://www.whistler.com/

        

  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  
  
  
  

Zip Lining in Whistler BC…’Eagle Tour’ topped off with ‘The Sasquatch ‘

On By mubeenazamIn Epic Solo Road Trip, September 2015, Uncategorized, Zip Lining WhistlerLeave a comment

(My solo road trip of western Canada – Monday 28th September)

I have done a few crazy things in my life, things that have challenged me (for the better), scared the living day lights out of me, things I have regretted doing, and naturally made mistakes along the way. When I was younger, I used to love going to theme parks, going on roller coasters was my thrill, I used to also go on other ridiculously crazy rides, for example where you drop from a massive height and drop through a black hole, as you sit there, not knowing why you came here in the first place, why you are doing it now and where you are going to next!

As I have gotten a little older (not too much though I should stress!) I don’t get the same buzz from these things anymore, and although I am not too comfortable anymore with heights, I have been looking for something else, something that will bring back that original buzz I used to get when I was younger, the difference being now, is that I am more aware and more conscious of my actions, but I am looking for more adrenaline rushes to energise and revitalise me…something that I can do, look back and say to myself, yes I did it and I have no regrets…I think I have found it?

I was told that if I visit Whistler, I should go Zip Lining, apparently, it was quite famous for it, I looked into it and I thought I would give it a go seen as though I was here.  What I did, made my adrenaline and heart pump so hard it hurt my chest, that was just after my first zip line of what is known as the ‘Eagle Tour’…it was honestly amazing, I still remember standing there as they attached the harness and looking at the mountain in the distance which I was supposed to be heading towards, and thinking ‘I don’t think I can do this, I don’t think I want to do this…it is very high’.  I did do it and I just wanted  more and more, there were four more Zip Lines left of this Eagle Tour, but then…

Then, I did what is called ‘The Sasquatch’, well, let’s just put it this way, the ache from the adrenaline I got from this, reverberated around my body…it was a totally awesome ‘natural’ high!  From what I know, it is one of the top 10 Zip Lines in the world…”I did the Sasquatch, will you?”.

Just a note for anyone who may do this.  If you have a Go Pro, definitely take it, I don’t have one but I rented one for the day.  I wore mine on my wrist as I wanted more freedom to film different angles to give a more real experience as opposed to having it on the helmet.  If you do The Sasquatch in particular, just be conscious of the fact (as you will see), that your wrist may hit against the handle, especially as you reach high speed going through the trees.

http://www.ziptrek.com/

http://www.ziptrek.com/en/whistler-canada/tours/ziptrek-sasquatch

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The Eagle Tour Facts: 5 zip lines and 4 tree top bridges.  Height range from 675ft – 2,400ft with the longest descending 30 stories!  The whole tour is linked by zip lines, suspension bridges, tree top lookouts and trails…

The Sasquatch Facts:

Over 2km long (7,000ft) continuous zip line!

Longest zip line in Canada and the US!

Over 600 ft above ground at certain points during the zip!

It opened in July 2015, the fastest speed when I went had been over 145kmh, I managed to reach over 125kmh…and I went upside down!  Totally mind blowing, an experience I will never forget, and I have ‘almost’ destroyed my fear of heights…Sky dive next?


Joffre Lakes (lower, middle and upper) Provincial Park

On By mubeenazamIn September 2015, UncategorizedLeave a comment

(My solo road trip of western Canada – Sunday 27th September)

As I mentioned in my previous post, before arriving in Whistler from Kamloops, I was advised to visit Joffre Lakes if time permitted and as I was told it would be worth the visit.  I was in two minds about stopping off to be honest as I was quite tired and there was this negative voice in my head saying ‘come on Mubeen, you have seen lots of lakes, it will just be like the rest’!

I ignored the negative voice and found the energy to take on an extra stop.  Although time was short, I reminded myself that although my genuine dream is to come back here one day with Nour (who I missed at every part of this trip), I had to make the most of every opportunity while it was there.  In fact, this is one thing I definitely learnt about life during this trip, if an opportunity is there, you need to grab it with both hands and live it, love it and learn from it…you don’t know what is around the corner!

There was one thing I did not realise about Joffre Lakes, one important thing, there were three lakes, all on different elevations…the photos below are all in order of the lakes that were visited, I did all three!  The sign in photo six shows the distance and time of this hike, as I was under the constraints of time, I did this in a much quicker time!

Spectacular walk, three tremndous colours in each of the three lakes, lovely scenery in the surrounding areas, growth on land and in water, paths dressed with fallen trees, mega sized rocks, waterfalls, different styles of bridges, various wildlife, tricky mud paths, huge tree trunks decorated different aspects of the trail, gorgeous inviting mountains, independent hanging glaciers…wow…again!

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/joffre_lks/

http://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/joffre-lakes/


  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  


  
  

  
  


  
  

British Colombia – River and Jeep Safari…Bears!

On By mubeenazamIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

(My solo road trip of western Canada – Saturday 26th September)

I find it difficult to explain how I was feeling driving from Mount Robson to my first ever river and jeep safari where there was a very high chance of seeing bears.  My mind was totally preoccupied, I was nervous, excited, anxious and very focussed on getting to my destination as soon as I could.  Blue River is on Yellow Head Highway Five, halfway between Jasper and Kamloops, as well as halfway between Mt. Robson and Wells Grey Park.

An absolutely fascinating fact is that I was driving towards the only inland temperate rainforest on the planet!!  If time allowed, there was up to 12kms of bear territory to explore.  When turning off the main highway to enter the entrance, you follow a dirt track which crosses over a railway line where I just happened to be at the right time and place to witness a very loud train crossing, you then pass over a small bridge where only one car can pass at a time.  When I arrived at the main building, like a child in a sweet shop, I decided to upgrade my tour from just a river safari to include the jeep safari too after I was told that there was over a 90% chance of seeing bears.  For me this was worth it as it was highly unlikely I would return to this place for a long time, and even if I did, there would be no guarantee of experiencing this with such beautiful weather and with the likelihood so high of seeing bears.

It turned out to be one of the greatest experiences of my life, without a doubt!  What I saw was much more than I expected…

We saw a large black male following a trail along the coast, popping in and out of the water as it sniffed its way along the trail.  It was quite a formidable sight to be honest.  It was very bothered by us as it was focussed on the trail it had found, not sure where it lead.

We then carried on our tour to a couple of different parts of the river but with no luck.  We then journeyed to another part of the river where we approached a large black female with three cubs (unfortunately I did not capture a photo of all three cubs together as one of them quickly climbed up a tree behind its mother, but in one of the photos, you can see the cub in the tree).  Our guide told us that this sight was quite rare.  The cubs were about nine months old and it was quite common that at least one of them would have died by now or the mother would have at least abandoned one of them.  It shows the resilience, love and care of an amazing mother.

Once the river safari was over, there was a short break before I commenced on the jeep safari.   Other than the river, there was a couple and one other guide.  I was given a choice as to where I would like to sit and I chose to stand at the back of the jeep and have a strap tied behind my back which was attached to the jeep railings. The jeep safari blessed me with the opportunity to see a young brown male, who at one point showed who was boss by standing high on its back legs, a beautiful sight. It seemed he could sense something we could not, it was going up and down the hill behind it, and then at one point crossed the road right behind me and very close to me!

Soon after, it became clear what was bothering the young brown male.  A huge black male came around the corner, totally and utterly awesome and exhilarating!!! A truly fantastic few hours of my life which I will cherish forever and not forget!

http://riversafari.com/

http://www.blueriverbc.ca/planning-your-trip/about-blue-river


  


  


  




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