Goldstream Provincial Park

- or: my knees are still shaking.

After three months in Canada, it was time for the first National Park. Well, to be more precise, a smaller one, a Provincial Park. Unlike the National Parks, these are managed by the provinces themselves.
The Goldstream Provincial Park is not far from Victoria, so I went on an exploration tour with two of my roommates. After parking the car and walking a short distance, we arrived at the Niagara Falls - ok, not THE Niagara Falls, these ones are a bit smaller ;)
We heard about the park, especially about an old bridge, from our other two roommates. To get from the waterfall to the bridge, we had to hike through the forest. Which reminded me again: I hate mountains :/ I'm just a North German lowlander, hiking up mountains is not my thing!
This hike was more climbing than walking at times, and wearing white sneakers in the muddy BC winter was definitely not a good idea :(
But after a while, we made it and there was the bridge in front of us. It's an old railway bridge that is no longer used for train traffic and has been discovered by tourism since then. Although there is a warning sign not to enter, nobody cares about it here.
I already had my first encounter with my fear of heights here in Canada last year at Suspension Bridge Park, but this bridge was much worse! With the bridges at the Bridge Park, I knew that they were designed and secured to carry people and transport them safely to the other side. But this railway bridge was not built to be walked on by people. There are small gaps between the wooden beams, through which you can look down deep (!). And even though my logical mind told me that I could never fit through those gaps, my legs were shaking like leaves. Especially the first step onto the bridge, where the gap was larger, was really difficult. But I pushed myself and at least made it to the middle :) The view from there was worth it too, but I didn't stay there for long.
After that, we walked along the railway track for a while and enjoyed the view over the park.