Into the wild

Wow, a lot has been going on since my last blog! I'll start with where I left off since my previous blog, where I stated that we would go to a little touristic town called Whistler the next day (July 13th)

We had a great time in Whistler! Although I completely missed the apparently beautiful sceneries of the Sea to Sky highway on the way to Whistler because I fell asleep, the weather was great and the ride was comfortable enough to be able to fall asleep. 3 hours later, we arrived at a beautiful, but very touristic small village, that looked like an adorable ski village in summer. We had lunch with the view on the former ski slope, that was transformed into one big BMX ramp because of a competition that was going on at that time. After lunch we walked around a little bit before we decided to book an ATV (quad) ride that would guarantee beautiful views at 6000ft height (about 2000m). And wow, not only was it a huge adrenaline rush to cross through mountains on small trails on ATV's, the view on top of the mountain was absolutely fantastic. We definitely had a great day in Whistler! At the end of the day we took the bus back to Vancouver, and I can tell you all, the Sea to Sky highway really is beautiful to see.

The next day we had to say goodbye to our hostel in Vancouver, because we would leave for the United States of America!! First stop: Seattle. The hostel there was located in the middle of Chinatown, and it was bizarre how elevation is used in Seattle. Very steep streets with a great variety of sky scrapers and charming smaller buildings at the waterfront. After we dropped our luggage at the hostel, we explored the city and walked downtown and to the waterfront. As it was getting late by that time, we were getting quite hungry and were told that this Mexican restaurant at the Pacific Place shopping mall would be worth our while. So there we went, hungry for nachos and thirsty for a cold beer. Unfortunately, Americans in Washington are quite strict when it comes to alcohol consumption. With a cold Corona within our reach, the bartender spoiled the moment by asking for our passports. I had 3 other pieces of identification on me, but none of them were acceptable. The bartender was very insistent on seeing our passports, which we didn't bring of course. So when we accepted the fact that we were drinking soda's instead of beers, the moment got even worse when we were told that the bartender was not able to serve us at all and we were then 'kindly' requested to step outside of the bar area, as we were not allowed to sit or stand in a certain amount of meters from the bar... Quite understandable that we were unwilling to give any form of tips to this place, I hope..

After dinner we went back to the hostel to freshen up and kill some time. Zoran was very happy that he was able to order an Uber taxi, as they do not have Uber in Canada. However, the taxi driver was having quite a hard time finding us, leading to this awkward situation when a car with an Asian looking couple stopped in front of us and appeared to be waving to us. So we walked up to their car and Zoran was about to open the back door of the car, when we saw the woman panicking and the driver locking the doors, before hitting the accelerator and taking off. Later, I discovered that the reason they waved at us was probably because we were waiting on the corner of a street, in front of a cross over point (zebrapad). Seriously, I laughed as if my life was dependent on it... THE funniest thing ever.. Just that look on that lady's face, priceless! Eventually, the real taxi driver was able to find us and we arrived just in time to see the new movie 'Mike and Dave need wedding dates'. Hilarious movie! Definitely worth seeing!

The next day we went to the Public Market at Pike Place, an enormous market with a huge variety of stands, apparently known for its fish-throwing practices on Discovery Channel (according to Zoran). We then did the ultimate touristy thing by hopping on a WII duck that showed us around Seattle over land and water, which was really fun.

The morning after we took another bus that would bring us to our next destination in the USA: Portland! There we stayed at a B&B via AirBnB, located quite far from Portland downtown. As we arrived quite late, we only walked around a little bit to the closest big street, where we had dinner at this adorable French place; La Petite Provence. After an early night we ordered an Uber taxi the next morning which took us to the Saturday Market in downtown Portland. We then decided to stand in line to get donuts from this apparently well-known donut place called Voodoo Donuts. From there, we walked to Powell's Book Store, the biggest book store in Canada. Zoran got bored not long after and decided to do some shoe shopping, but I was happy like a little kid in a candy store! However, after 2 hours I decided to do Zoran a favor and we then headed to Deschutes Brewery, where we did a small beer tasting. After dinner at the Old Town, I wanted to walk the way back to the B&B and Zoran stayed downtown a little longer in search for coffee and would then take public transport back. 1,5 hours later I arrived at the B&B for another early night, as our bus back to Vancouver would leave at 6:30am the next day.

After a long but fairly comfortable bus ride back to Vancouver, David and the kids were waiting for us at the station and took us for a delicious sushi lunch, which was so sweet of them! Truly the best sushi in Vancouver, you were absolutely right Dave! Karla was so nice to then bring us to the ferry terminal, where we would take the ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island. The way to Victoria took us 1,5h and showed us stunning views on all the smaller islands between Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

My cousin Nick was waiting for us at the other side of the water and drove us to their house in Victoria, where his wife Denise was also waiting for us. Great to finally meet them after an uncountable amount of emails back and forth..!!! And their place is truly amazing! We were able to spend our time in Victoria in this enormous room, including our own bathroom, kitchen and two double beds, truly amazing and great welcome to Victoria! It was so nice to just sit down, have some wine and to talk with Nick and Denise before going to bed after a very long day of travel. But we made it to Vancouver Island!

During the following few days, we visited both Hatley and Craigdarroch Castle (Babba can be proud of us), we rented scooters, explored downtown Victoria and Fisherman's Wharf, and had Florence over for a typically Dutch dinner, prepared by masterchef Zoran Ruttner. And last weekend we went camping! So excited to go on a typically Canadian holiday during my holiday in Canada! And it was such a nice experience!!!

We camped at Pachena Bay, where we had this beautiful camping spot right next to the beach. Nick and Denise brought a big tent for Zoran and me to stay in and it was great to be outdoors and so disconnected from the rest of the world. At night we built a real campfire, had wine, roasted marshmallows and made smores, and we even spotted a whale one evening! And bear tracks the next morning! And I actually slept like a baby in that tent! I'm so happy that we got to do this during our journey! Would not have wanted to miss this extraordinary trip!

But the Zoran's 3-week visit had already come to an end on Monday, when I dropped him off at the bus station for his way back to Vancouver. From there he would take the plane back via LA and Miami to Curacao. So I did some more exploring on my own last week, walked along Swan Lake a couple of times, did some shopping at the shopping mall and spend another day with Florence exploring some more.

And then another part of my adventure has almost come to an end already.. Today I was mainly focused on doing the impossible: packing my bags again... Because tomorrow morning at 8am I will be taking the Greyhound bus to Port Hardy, a 9h30 long trip from south to northern Vancouver Island. I will have one overnight stay in a hostel in Port Hardy, from where I will be taking the ferry to Prince Rupert on August 2nd at 7:30am. This trip will take me approximately 16 hours, but promises to be amazing!! Hilde and John will wait for me at Prince Rupert where we will camp one evening before leaving for their home in Terrace, because apparently the road from Prince Rupert to Terrace is too beautiful to do in the dark. So I'm very excited and can not wait!!!

I really had the best time in Victoria, and want to take this opportunity to not only thank Nick, Denise, Adriel and Natania for their amazing hospitality, kindness and great moments, but I am also so very happy and grateful that I was able to meet Bill, Florence, Jane, Nick, Teresa, Eva, Kaitlyn, Tucker, Liza, Ben, Claire, Vincent, Victoria, Felicity, Karla, David, Drew, Annika and Erica! I'm not even halfway my journey through Canada, but you guys have already made it an unforgettable one!!! Thank you so so much!! I can't wait to meet and see the rest of my Canadian family!

Lots of love!