When we were in the USA it was possible to see something spectacular almost every day. In Canada it seems more a question of taking a number of days to get somewhere. And during those days there are forests and forests and not much else. It made us think of those companies who promote their environmental credentials via carbon offsetting, ie planting trees. Clearly planting is better than not planting. And a few nice trees in an English village certainly adds character. But as far as carbon offsetting is concerned, there are zillions and zillions of trees here in Canada and an extra few thousand isn't going to change things that much, especially when you see the amount destroyed by forest fires. As there is not much to draw our attention, the odd signboard in the forest is like a magnet. It was interesting to read that the forests were 'harvested' and that there were approximately 90 years between harvests.
We have been autumnal for a while now on our travels but for the first time the pumpkins are now on display. All sizes, shapes and colours. However no sign of pumpkin pie - but you can get a pumpkin spice (which must just be cinnamon/nutmeg?) flavoured coffee.
Rather than head straight to Vancouver and home we heard that there was a scenic road, the Sea to Sky Road, or the Sky to Sea Road, as it would be in our case, that ran down through the Whistler ski resort, the rock climbing mecca of 'Skwxwú7mesh' and then down to the coast. So we headed that way. Unknown to us we had to take a road that had been partially washed away two years ago in order to get there. It had 22 construction sites on its length and we were especially careful, not wanting to slip and injure ourselves at this stage of the trip. After the 22 there was a 23rd where we had to wait for a pilot car. Whilst waiting, we watched the trains go by, over 2.5km in length. We stayed in Squamish, which is at the head of a Canadian fjord equivalent, and goes under the First Nation name of 'Skwxwú7mesh'. We haven't worked out how to pronounce a word that has the number '7' as a letter in the middle of it. We can imagine what the typesetters were saying to themselves when they prepared the road signs.
We are suckers for putting the bike on a ferry. Even the Woolwich. So we took the ferry to Vancouver Island for a spot of whale watching, whales permitting. Despite Vancouver being a very big city and in British Columbia, the Provincial Capital is actually Victoria on Vancouver Island. The city harbour was bustling with water taxis, tourist boats, seaplanes, tugs and barges as well as yachts and fishing boats. In some respects it reminded us of Istanbul as far as the busyness of the water was concerned. Victoria has a very impressive Legislature Building of the same standing as the Natural History building in South Kensington. It also has a statue of Queen Victoria in front of it. Quite near a tree. Maybe the tree has grown over the last 100 years or so, but the statue and tree are clearly fighting for the same space and poor old Victoria is currently in the shade.
Our cold and wet whale watching trip was very successful. Cold and wet despite Victoria having the most temperate climate in Canada. We were able to see a number of pods of orcas, a couple of humpback whales, sealions, harbour seals and even a sea otter eating its sea urchin. We ate our own seafood later; fish and chips with the cheapest available fish, salmon. It was quite a way to celebrate our eleven months on the road.
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