Vancouver: My Favourite Place in Canada (Part 2)

With 60+ hour work weeks keeping me busy, it’s been rough keeping up a decent sleep pattern, but recently I’ve had some time free up, so here I am once more…back to the blog! Now that I finally have a spare moment, I thought it’s time that I finish blogging about our summer Holiday in Vancouver. I’ve saved my favourite 2 parts of our stay in BC for last.

But first, take a look at my latest work project:

My big project as of late: Getting portraits of every student in our department

I’m actually very proud of the results. I did my best to try and capture each student’s personality on camera

Some students, like Samuel, are so expressive that it was easy to get a good shot

Other students, I caught off guard.,.

Then there are students, like Roy, who planned out their pose ahead of time. Such a funny kid!!

Canada in summer is a beautiful thing. People always ask me if it ever gets warm where I live, and I always have to laugh. It amazes me how many people abroad think that Canada is a bleak winter wonderland year-round. They don’t realize that we have 4 distinct seasons (some longer than others, I will admit) and that summer is actually quite lovely.

What I love about Canadian summers though, is that it’s just the right amount of heat. Summer in Suzhou (even in May and June) are oppressive, but Canada (especially Vancouver) has the perfect climate. We were lucky during our visit to the West Coast because it hardly rained. We had sunny skies and perfect weather most of the trip. I don’t feel like the weather was any more perfect than when we were at Stanley Park, though.

The sun was shining, there was a light breeze! Just a perfect day!!

Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada

Dave and I checking out the Totems

Even in Canada we can’t escape the Chinese and their need for ‘perfect’ pictures….You should have seen her climbing up there!!!

Everyone talks about how Stanley Park is a top destination in Vancouver, but I feel like it’s so much more than that. For me, Stanley Park was a refreshing step into nature and beauty and purity. We walked around the perimeter of the park, took detours down trails, hopped on the tram and sat by the sea side. It was such a gorgeous way to spend the day and I felt sort of like I did at Elephant Nature Park, where when it came time to go, I felt emotional about having to leave that amazing place.

Wild raspberries growing in Stanley Park

There were plenty of people out but it never felt crowded.

For a very reasonable fee, we were able to hop on and off of the tram that drives all around the park.

Lion’s Gate Bridge

When I die, I do NOT want a tomb stone…I want a bench. Where people can sit and enjoy a nice, shaded view of a lake or the ocean.

Maybe it’s been my time in one of the world’s most polluted countries, but my love for trees has deepened over the past few years. I’ve always loved a forest trail, but now, I feel like I could just get lost in them and stay there happily forever. To be honest, that’s how I felt about Vancouver in general, but Stanley Park definitely was a high point in an already awesome week.

The other highlight of our week in Vancouver was our trip to see wild orcas off the west coast of British Columbia. As someone who is morally opposed to companies like SeaWorld (see Blackfish or The Cove if you’re interested in knowing why), I was thrilled at the opportunity to see orcas in the wild, in their element, doing what orcas do.

There really aren’t any words that can describe how cool it was to watch the big male hunting for salmon right under our boat, or the juvenile spy-hopping with his aunt right near our boat. I couldn’t help but feel like these killer whales were putting on a show for us. At one point, after a successful hunt, they all started slapping their back fins on the water. Our ‘naturalist’ said that they don’t really know why whales do that, but they think it’s usually to do with celebration. How cool is that??

My only regret is how choppy the water was when we were out on our tour. We were all getting soaked in the boat, so it was impossible for me to get my good camera out and get any closeup shots. Luckily, we also own a waterproof camera, so we had that one out the whole time, but of course, choppy waters = a splashed lens, so the shots weren’t always as clear as I’d have liked.

Captivated by the wild orcas

Dave and I chilling out in the back of the boat with the sea-sick people. We started off back there because we’d made the mistake of sitting up front in Thailand. We knew better for this trip…

Our naturalist. I can’t for the life of me remember his name, but he knew his stuff and he was so passionate about the orcas. He was even able to tell us the names and histories of the ones we were seeing. It was so cool!

I promise though, that the memories we made that day will be imprinted in my memory forever…and those memories are sans salt water smudges 😉

Here’s a video….I tried to keep it short so that you don’t feel sea sick watching it! (I definitely felt nauseous a few times when editing it down haha!!)