Hello from Canada!
It’s already been a week since I came here on my little spring break walkabout, and I must confess I really like it here. The nature is absolutely beautiful, the Canadians are friendly and it’s just wonderful to be able to understand what the speed limit signs say and what the things weigh in the grocery store, km/h and kg just makes so much more sense to me than miles and pounds…

This past week I’ve done a ton of things. I flew from San Diego to Vancouver, explored the city for a day, and spent the night in the crappiest hostel I have ever stayed in. The next day I picked up a rental car and drove north. Two ferries and many kilometers on bumpy asfalt later I found myself home at the end of the road. Quite literally. Lund, that is, Lund in British Columbia, is the end (or the start if you wish to see it that way) of Highway 101, a set of roads running along the American west coast. The other end is in Puerto Mott, Chile, more than 15 000 km away. Lund was founded by the Thulin brothers from Lund, Sweden, hence the name, but of course they were not the first people on the land. Canada has some very interesting and sometimes unsettling stories in the history books in regards to their “first nations”, that is, natives that don’t belong to any of the two biggest groups (Inuits and Metis). Read more here.

Calling Lund small is an understatement. 
There is a small marina with a couple of boats, a hotel, that according to the receptionist is haunted by one of the Thulin brothers’ wife, and a general store that is just as quaint as only a small store in a small place can be. They sell everything from fishing supplies to Disney Princesses coloring books, 13 types of glue for any type of home project and tabloids. The only food that does not come in packaging is potatoes and onions.

The drive to Lund was wonderful. The landscape seems to me like a mix of the archipelago of the Swedish west coast and the fjords of Northern Norway, all covered in the deep coniferous forests of northern Sweden. The air smells of cold, salty water and the sky seems extra blue.

In Lund I stayed one night with a family I found on Couchsurfing. I got to help out practicing reading (in French), learned about all the local oysters and discussed pros and cons with the education system in different countries. Very interesting, and a reminder that I need to practice my French more… heh…

The next day I got in the car again and drove to end of the road again, but west this time. The Trans-Canada Highway (99) has its pacific terminus in Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island. I spent the night in a motel in Ucluelet and was very amused by the sign outside the door to my room that reminded guests that it’s not allowed to process or store fish in the rooms. I mean, there must be a reason for such a sign, right?
I did some hiking in the Pacific Rim national park and enjoyed the views of rugged cliffs exposed to the North Pacific winds and waves causing the trees to bend and the shoreline to fill up with driftwood. The climate is precipitation filled and humid allowing for a temperate rainforest to bring some real lush greenness year round.

I took a whale watching tour in Tofino. Watching the beautiful landscape would have been more than enough for me, but we did get to see some wildlife too. Two types of sea lions, otter, a gray whale, tons of birds, including half a dussin eagles playing with their food, and some wild cows that apparently live on some of the islands where they eat algae they find on the beach mixed with regular grass. Very interesting.

After two days on Vancouver Island, and despite a malfunctioning GPS, no internet on my phone and a cancelled ferry, I managed to get myself and the car onto the very last evening ferry back to downtown Vancouver, spent the night in the same crappy hostel (hey, it was cheap…) and got up early to get on a bus to Whistler where I now find myself enjoying the mountains and snow for a few days. 

As this post has already gone on for too long, I’ll end it here with a picture of me in my fabulous whale watching outfit and might be back with more in a couple of days.

As always, thank you for reading and take care!