Vancouver – the city in fog

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 01 February 2013. Posted in Canada

So finally we arrived in Vancouver and with 7 C (45 F) we almost felt like summer. Unfortunately it was quite wet so we wanted to go back to the snow.

Well you can’t always have what you want so we got in our rain jackets and drove around the Stanley Park. This park is big and you get a beautiful view of the Vancouver skyline.

The next day we took the bus downtown and walked around the city for hours. Actually the Convention Center East, which is built like a boat, is pretty cool. So we watched the water planes come and go and the floating gas station in front of the Stanley Park was really funny.

The old steamclock in Gastown was special and we couldn’t resist to buy some good smoked sausages on Granville Island. Got to say the city isn’t the big shot but definitely its location. Surrounded by water and the mountains just one hour away it is a great place to life.

Still our top city is San Francisco.

Unfortunately we don’t have time to see Vancouver Island or the Sunshine Coast since we are a bit behind our schedule. So we are leaving already for Seattle. Let’s see how it will be this time to cross the border into the States.

Who doesn’t know yet, we have to catch a flight on the 21^st February. We will manage a dive resort in Vanuatu for 12 months so South Pacific, we are coming!

Tranquility Dive Resort

A farm in Canada

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 21 January 2013. Posted in Canada

In the visitor center in Grande Prairie we asked the woman about the northern lights. When she couldn’t answer our questions a woman with short hair stepped over. Wondering about her accent she gave us great advices about the northern lights and the surrounding.

Suddenly she asked us if we would like to stay at a farm. Surprised about her invitation we gladly accepted. So we met Verena and her husband who came from Switzerland in late 1970s.

Their little private zoo consisting of two cats, two dogs, one big pig and a few cows was just great. We enjoyed the farm live and especially the great conversations.

It seemed that we knew each other since years and it was just a great time. But than it was time to move on and even if we didn’t find the northern lights, we found new friends.

Traveling further north we made a little stop in the nice city of Dawson Creek. Since we didn’t make it all the way up to Fort St. John we stopped behind a rest area. In the dark we saw the pile of dead dears and elks. The next morning the “Pet Cemetery” was covered in snow.

At Fort St. John we stayed at Lake Charlie to find the northern lights. During the day it was really beautiful and warm so we walked over the big lake to the other side. The first two nights were really clear but unfortunately we didn’t see the northern lights.

The last night the clouds came in and it got so cold that our generator didn’t start the next morning. -26 C (-15 F) was definitely to cold so we had to bring it in the truck camper to warm it up. We bought the generator to heat up our engine heater of the diesel truck but funny when the generator doesn’t want to start either.

After 15 minutes Micha started the generator and plugged in our truck. Waiting for our engine to warm up, our truck camper ran out of battery and we waited without any furnace. Everything is frozen from inside and we got quite cold. -26 C (-15 F) is definitely too cold for us.

So fingers crossed that our truck starts soon.

Icefield Highway

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 20 January 2013. Posted in Canada

This was definitely one of the most scenic routes we had done so far!

Following the icy road – wondering how they came up with the name – we couldn’t stop wondering about natures work. With viewing distance we passed seven icefields (large upland glaciers) and about 25 smaller glaciers.

The Weeping Wall was just incredible. Tons of ice just clinging on the rocks – water, frozen in time - and we saw some ice climbers hanging in the wall. But the Columbia Icefield with 200 km2 – the largest in the Rocky Mountains – took our breath away.

To see nature not only from the road we did a little track around the Athabasca Falls and the canyon it created was really cool. So whoever has time and is in Canada – drive the Icefield Highway.

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