28 June to 1 September 2014 in British Columbia, Canada
It is Wednesday morning late October and we are enjoying yet another of many sunny days with our feet in the warm sand at Laguna Beach in Southern California. Watching the surfers glide down the crystal blue waves and the pelicans above, cruising in perfect v-formation low across the water, occasionally nose diving straight into the sea trying to catch sardines as a morning snack. Life is good :-)
After four wonderful months, our days on the sunny West Coast of North America came to an end on 31 October, and today we say 'Aloha' to the Islands of Hawaii.
It has been a long time since we last wrote to you, but my mother always says no news is good news. If that is true, I should not be talking to you at all because after travelling for almost eight months now, we still love every minute of every day. And we still like each other too, which helps ;-) (Nicole insists I should have used the word 'love' but that would be too much love in one sentence:-)
We recently celebrated half-time of our 12 month journey, and we realised that there was actually nothing to celebrate because we "only" had another six months left - and we really don't want this great adventure to end.
Today, I wanted to update you with our long summer in Canada. We travelled a total of 4000 kilometers but actually never left British Columbia. We spent one month in Vancouver, and another month on the Sunshine Coast just North of Vancouver, on Vancouver Island, and on Quadra (a small island on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island). When you look at the map and consider the long yet small distance we drove, you start to realise what a really big country Canada is.
We have seen a lot of beautiful places so far, but I was particularly excited about Canada. Sitting by the window as our airplane was descending into Vancouver reminded me of that time back in 1998 when I sat by the window and watched how Auckland (New Zealand) slowely appeared below me. It is like something you dream of as a child but never really believe it will happen. Just like with New Zealand, Canada had grabbed my attention by a number of television documentaries and picture books, but making pictures look nicer than reality is not difficult and you never know how it really looks and feels until you are actually physically there. New Zealand had exceeded my expectations by far, and I speak for both Nicole and me when I say that Canada did just the same!
When we first told everybody about our joureny, we were often asked if we might decide to just stay and live in one of the countries that we were visiting. Back then we said, no way. And even now we still feel that our future definitely lies in Europe. But leaving Canada was strangely difficult and emotional, and if there was a place we could both imagine moving to, it would be Vancouver, no hesitation. Mind you, Canada's west country had the summer of a lifetime with everyday 30+ degrees, blue skies, warm waters, and only 3 days of rain in all of two months. Had it been a typical "mixed" summer like in Germany or England, our enthusiasm and love for Vancouver might be somewhat different ;-)
Some people say that pictures say more than words, so we hope you enjoy our photos as much as we did taking them. Warning: Vancouveritis can be highly contageous.We accept no responsibility for sudden feelings of itchy travellers feet or misterious appearances of AirCanada ticket payments on your credit card.
Aux Revoir Canada!
Photos from Vancouver and around Vancouver
Photos from the Sunshine Coast
Photos from Vancouver Island
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