Spring has Sprung in British Columbia, 2021

The seasons have never been so apparent than in British Columbia. The wet, cold winter gave way to a sudden burst of life as sunshine poured into our lives. Arriving in the fall during COVID made it feel as though Vancouver itself had entered into a hibernation. The streets were empty as people hunkered down in their homes waiting to come out the other side. April turned Vancouver pink with the mass blooming of cherry blossom trees which can be found all over the city. It is a beautiful sight and one that signalled the beginning of a stunning spring. It was beautiful to see Vancouver waking up and life returning to the streets. This included some impromptu concerts in our local parks and lots of events popping up around the city. To us it was like breathing a sigh of relief, as even with continued restrictions we could settle into Vancouver life a little more. 

Our amazing car meant we were fortunate enough to be able to explore further into the province. It was only April though, which we soon learnt means Winter conditions anywhere outside of the lower mainland. We therefore chose to venture close by and visit Stawamus Chief in Squamish. This town is a rock climbers paradise with the chief shining at it's centre. A grand name for a grand sight, the chief is a huge cliff that towers over the flat valley which is home to an impressive river. This rock wall is spectacular and a right of passage to climb for anyone who lives in Vancouver. James, Josh, Libe and I set off to hike the three peaks on a very sunny weekend. The good weather meant a lot of other people were there too which added to the excitement. The first climb up to the flat peak of the chief is a fun adventure, but easy enough that most people could get there. There are some chains and ropes to contend with, a smidge of scrambling and of course a significant elevation to climb, but we even saw a puppy who made it to the top. The view from this peak was otherworldly as we gazed over the Howe Sound, framed by the snow capped mountains proudly jutting out of the bright blue water below. In true Keira style, I had a bit of a panic when a small snowstorm blew in and turned our view into mist. It very quickly passed, but I'd encouraged us all to make a move to the next peak. The view from here was even more breathtaking as we could wonder at the chief in all its glory. James and Josh even lay down on the ground and shuffled over to the edge to take a look at the sheer drop below. The sun was still shining and we thought the day couldn't get better, but this was where things got interesting. We began our hike to the lesser hiked third peak but found out that at this time of year it is covered in ice and snow. We had to meander down into a valley before climbing up again, and we inevitably got a little lost. There were some teenagers ahead of us that showed us the way to the peak and eventually we followed the path to a dramatic slope where we jumped our way down to the bottom again. It was a tiring but fun day with our hiking pals. The real gem of this trip was the drive along the sea to sky which is probably one of our favourite scenic drives in the world. On a sunny day the sea is shining bright blue and the mountains are calling back with rich green, and occasionally snowy peaks. It's pretty special to live somewhere with views of spectacular mountains and a sparkling blue ocean all in one.

Spring also means that the thick snow in the mountains begins to thaw. The ski hills become a hikers paradise which led us to tackle some of the trails on local Mount Seymour. We realised that we have a lot to learn, as although summer is coming to the lower mainland in May and June, there is still a lot of snow to navigate at elevation. We had many sunny days where we explored some trails up in the clouds. This included dog mountain which is a fun and relatively short ramble through the hills to a spectacular viewpoint. James and Libe actually had a funny encounter with a Raven here when he tried to steal their sandwich, leading to screams from everyone. One day Josh and I also took on the peak of Mount Seymour which was a hilarious endeavour. It was a tiring hike to the top as we trudged through thick snow, but not as tough as it must have been for the hardcore snowboarders we saw carrying their gear to the peak. They'd even brought shovels to make jumps at the top! We scrambled to another peak but couldn't traverse the sketchy conditions to the third. In fact a confident ten year old girl who was a seasoned hiker also advised us not to carry on - good advice! Getting back down was also an adventure which involved a lot of laughing as we slid on our asses. 

In April we moved into a beautiful apartment on commercial drive. This gave us a lot more space than in the studio and most importantly, kitchen appliances like an oven, freezer and dishwasher. This meant Josh could really refine his chef skills and create some masterpieces. This included an epic tofu scramble, fried banana blossom and insanely good bean stews and curries that I dream about. It's always a joy to eat Josh's creations, in fact I'd rather eat at home than go out because it is that good! I also continued my vegan baking journey and perfected some recipes. I can make some overly gooey brownies in my sleep and ganache stuffed cookies that are pretty delicious. Josh and I also collaborate with breaded recipes and made lots of flavoured cinnamon buns - Oreo was definitely a winner. Another highlight was the creation of peanut butter nanaimo bars. This is a sweet treat that originates from Nanaimo, a town on Vancouver Island. It is traditionally a chocolate, biscuit and coconut base, with a custard middle that's topped with chocolate. I decided to change this up and add a Reese's peanut butter style middle which was divine. Baking is so therapeutic and it is so much fun to share the delicious creations with our pals.

In British Columbia the reasonably strict COVID restrictions continued into the summer which included wearing masks indoors, most activities being cancelled and not being able to leave your health district. This meant we had to explore close to home and some of those were hikes near the city like the Lynn Valley on the North Shore mountains. We thoroughly enjoyed the peace of these trails and saw some gleaming blue rivers that thundered down the cliffs full of melt water. We learnt the most exciting time of year for river sports like white water rafting is the spring and summer when the snow melts enmasse and floods the dry winter rivers with life. Another provincial park near Vancouver is the massive Golden Ears where we hiked to two beautiful waterfalls, and visited Buntzen lake. The only problem about travelling across the Fraser River to the North side is the traffic. There is only one main bridge and if there's an accident, which there usually is, then you can be stuck in a queue for hours on end. This was something we had to endure on occasion as there are a lot of people in the Vancouver area who are all desperate to get to the mountains. Whilst hiking we did see a lot of seaplane and helicopters flying around, so maybe that's a better way to travel around this bustling city. We did learn a very interesting fact about the helicopters you see in the mountains. They're are not always full of sightseers, or saving injured people. In fact they're often carrying away poop barrels from the backcountry pit toilets! Gross! 

British Columbia also has some phenomenal wildlife, some of them being seasonal visitors like Orcas and Humpback Whales. We were lucky enough to be gifted a whale watching tour from Josh's parents which left from a little fishing town called Steveston. The boat was spacious and very stable which I was thankful for, being someone who loves the ocean but always gets seasick. The sun was shining and the cold wind was blowing as we looked out for our playful friends. The boat took us along the Georgia Strait all the way down to where Vancouver Island meets the US. We could see the dorsal fins in the distance and listened as they told us about this family of North Resident Killer Whales. There are around 300 indivuals in this breeding population which eat exclusively fish. In this area there are a lot of salmon, Chinook to be precise, and the Killer Whales are expert at hunting them. Orcas are actually the most widespread marine mammal in the world, being found in every ocean, and one of the best hunters due to their intelligence. The whales eventually came a little closer to our boat that was bobbing around at a distance to give them lots of space. We were able to gaze at this lovely family as they swam around the boat, looking in wonder at the massive dorsal fins. It is always such an honour to be in the presence of these creatures and we left that day with smiles on our faces.

The start of the sunny weather meant spending a lot more time at the beach. Vancouver has some stunning beaches in Kitsalano, a previous spot for hippies that now has some of the most expensive houses in the city. We spent many days in the sun walking along the shore looking at all the baby animals. This included seal pups, baby racoons and hundreds of fluffy goslings sitting along the banks. One day James and Libe stopped to take a picture of the little goslings crossing the road. The next thing they knew a husky dog was sprinting over to grab as many of the fluffballs as he could. This was followed by a very upset owner and appalled onlookers - although the husky was thrilled with his catch. We tried to do our own good deed for the local wildlife one day when we came across a lost bunny on the side of the road. I told Josh to stop the car as I got out to coax this very domestic looking rabbit into my arms. It hopped into the bushes unafraid, which made us take a look around where we saw hundreds of bunnies on the grasses of Jericho beach. Apparently escaped pet rabbits thrive in this area, somehow avoiding the eagles, and now spend their time getting pictures with tourists. At the start of June the weather really started to warm up, so we were able to enjoy some fabulous Sunday brunches in the sun. One of our favourites was the Cidre House, an unassuming hipster pub selling every variety of cidre you could hope for and some stunning vegan brunch. Heirloom also took our breath away with carrot lox toast complete with edible flowers and some banging tofu bennies. Our weekends were often filled with walks along the beach to Spanish banks and double scoops of gelato from our favourite place, Dolce Amore. This is the best ice cream I've ever had and they always have innovative flavours, plus some great vegan options. Our favourite choices were a rich dark chocolate, Nutella inspired hazelnut crunch and a swirled peanut butter chocolate combo. 

We felt confident enough with our hiking skills to visit the other famous ski hill in Vancouver, Cypress. This is where we'd skied and snowshoed before so we knew it well. The thawing snow meant we could start hikes low down and work our way up. We began one particular hike through a misty forest which was incredibly eerie. Every sound is muffled and the shadows play tricks on your eyes. The further we hiked, the more worried we got as we knew this was the time of year hungry bears wake up from hibernation. Eventually we came out into the cross country ski slopes of cypress that we had been to before, but the freezing fog was even thicker up here. It felt like there was a bear at every turn, although there really wasn't, and we quickly flew down the trail back to the car. Libe, always our saviour, gave us their extra can of bear spray which we now take with us wherever we go. Bear spray is actually a hiking necessity and is made of a concentrated pepper spray. It has been designed specifically so it spreads wide when released, making the bear run the other way, and prevent dangerous interactions between people and bears. 

We like to take it in turns to find fun new hikes to tackle, and one day Josh was very keen to go to Eagle Bluff. This is a very popular hike because it ends at a viewpoint that overlooks the stunning islands between Vancouver and Sunshine Coast. We started the trail on a beautiful sunny weekend, enjoying the gentle incline and views of the magnificent Mount Baker in the USA. It's glorious in the summer to utilize the ski mountains for hiking opportunities, and many also take to these steep slopes to Mountain bike. It looks exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time, we definitely have a lot of respect for people daring enough to take on some of the steep tracks we saw. Once we were at the top of Eagle Bluff we enjoyed the stunning views and met some cheeky ravens. They were trying pretty hard to get into our bags whilst we took some pictures, knowing exactly what they wanted. Josh was really keen on getting lots of pictures at this spot, something I now understand, but that's a story for the next post! It is hikes like this that made us feel very happy to have chosen Vancouver as our place to live in Canada. The mild winters and warm, sunny spring and summer months were truly wonderful.

The time came to go on our first proper camping experience with James and Libe. We decided to head to the town of Hope partly because it looked lovely, and partly because it was one of the only places we could book. Reservations for campsites in BC during COVID was out of control. People were unable to leave the province, or country, so most were enjoying the sunny weather with weekend camping trips. It was crazy to be booking campsites months in advance, but we quickly filled up our summer with the planning expertise of Libe. It was a situation we now find funny, but was stressful at the time. I previously mentioned that due to COVID we couldn't leave our health authority. Well Hope is technically just outside of this area, only a couple of miles, but it's hard to know. We nervously drove there hoping the road blocks wouldn't be in place and found out it's an Inbetween zone so we could visit! Phew. 

We drove into our campsite in Hope which was green and lush, right next to the river. We were both in tents and there was a little bit of rain forecast so we decided to put up some tarp. It was like watching a comedy duo with Josh wobbling on James' shoulders as they tried to tie rope around a tree. These two were also brave enough to have a dip in the river, both surprised at how cold the glacial water was, which led to to some shrieks. They also didn't anticipate how strong the current was and during their dip were both taken few metres downstream. Hope is only a small town, but surrounded by beautiful forest, so we set off on some hikes. One took us to some lovely viewpoints where James lost his sunglasses then found them again on the trail, a common theme for him apparently. This is also where we met the infamous hiking group, fun fit Trish. These are ladies dedicated to bringing some fun and colourful flair to hiking. It was super cute to meet them and they look like they're tackling every hike in BC! We also took in some history at the Othello Tunnels which were old train tunnels through the mountains. They painstakingly carved out tunnels through the mountains which are now a stunning walk along the river canyon. It was actually quite spooky as the tunnels were so long and full of bats. We had a little snack in Hope and drove back home to rest our weary legs.

Another bonus to the sun was getting to hang out with our Vancouver family! We had some epic BBQs and picnics over Trout Lake with Alex, Lucia, James, Libe, Cam, Emily and Andre. This included some hilarious antics like driving Cam's amazing electric bike around the park in the dark, getting accidentally pepper sprayed by teenagers because of the wind direction and freaking out when we saw Elon Musk's Starlink after we'd had too many beers. It is always amazing to hang out with this crew, who are some of the kindest people we've met. It's always a little difficult to settle in when moving to a new city and it was lovely that we all found each other. This is especially true of Vancouver which in our experience was the hardest place to make friends. This was partly due to COVID, and partly due to Canadian nature. We'd often chat to people and after a few minutes realise that they too wanted to make more friends, but were a little nervous about how to do it. This sometimes made people come across as a bit cold in the city, which was certainly different to everywhere else in BC. Regardless, it made us realise that our friend Melissa is always right - if you chat to someone and get on, just ask them right out if they want to be friends. Sometimes you end up finding the loveliest people that way!

We moved further into June which was the beginning of the heat wave that turned into a lingering heat dome. We didn't know it at the time, but temperatures would soar to 45C in the city, and 50C in the interior of BC for weeks. In fact thousands of people lost their homes as a whole town went up in flames from the forest fires which increased in intensity due to the oppressive heat. It didn't rain for months and things got quite hazy and dangerous. There were three hundred deaths one weekend in the city simply because of the heat. It was stark reminder that climates are changing, extreme weather is becoming more common and lingering for longer. We were so fortunate that it didn't impact our lives or our summer full of adventures, which we talk about in the next post.