After been away from Canada for two years having lived there for two years previously, I was well overdue for a trip out there.  I flew into Vancouver where my good friends Alex and Jo were waiting.  I would be staying with them while in Vancouver.  As Alex wasn’t working at the moment we spent a few days in Vancouver playing the roles of tourists very well me despite the fact that I had  previously lived there and Alex currently was living there!:P  We took in the sights walking around Stanley Park sea wall and visiting Horseshoe Bay and Whytecliff Park on the North Shore.  A trip to the North Shore also involved a compulsory visit to Greenleaf Brewing.

Loads of micro-breweries have popped up around Vancouver in the last two years and there wasn’t exactly a shortage before.  Four have appeared in Port Moody and what could be a better plan than taking the Sky Train out there on the new Evergreen Line (which I worked on) to check them out.  It was a pretty surreal experience to be riding on the line that I helped build.

After a few days me and Alex went on a trip road trip east in the direction of the Canadian Rockies!  Since it was Canada’s 150^th birthday this year, you can get National Parks passes for free so taking advantage of this was a must do while I was there.  First off we stopped near Golden where Alex’s friends John and Steph were currently living while they worked for a dog sledging company that run tours in Lake Louise.  We had a good time hanging out with them, dog sledging and hiking.  They even cooked us dinner and let us crash at their cabin in the woods with huskies and all!

We then based ourselves over in Banff and Lake Louise for a few nights.  It was great to be able to drive through the epic Rockies again.  Over there we got a bit of hiking done including Yates Mountain near Canmore which was brilliant and it treated us to amazing mountain views!

We also hiked Tunnel Mountain in Banff where we were not treated with good views (a tad cloudy) but Lake Minnewanka near Banff was pretty spectacular.  This was the second time I have been there in winter and it did not disappoint.  Near Lake Louise we hiked up to Lake Agnes tea house which wasn’t open, can you believe it!:P  The walk up there was really peaceful, wandering through a snowy winter wonderland.

On the way back to Vancouver we opted for the southern route for a change of scenery.  Heading south from Golden, there were stunning mountain views as we drove around the outskirts of Kootenay National Park.  We then took the free ferry from Kootenay Bay to Balfour on our way to Nelson and the views from this were beautiful.  Ten points to the tourist information centre who recommended that we took this ferry.

We stopped over in Nelson which was a nice bohemian feeling town and of course another brewery visit was had.  Once back in Vancouver me, Alex and Jo had a few more tourist filled days where we visited Granville Island, many more micro-breweries, Queen Elizabeth Park, English Bay and Deep Cove.  And of course, no trip to Vancouver would be complete without a hike up one of the North Shore mountains for which Dog Mountain on Seymore was chosen.

It was really nice to visit Vancouver and western Canada again as the last time I left was in a bit of a hurry.  It was really good to catch up with friends and it’s always a great and reassuring feeling when it feels like no time has passed.  I also re-appreciated how unique Vancouver is in having so much natural beauty right on its doorstep.