First day in Canada

Of course I've been awake since 4:00 a.m., it is now 7:45 and after a rather funny than cozy first breakfast, I'm on my way to Seaplane Airport. Just a small note about breakfast, when it says 'Pure Orange Juice' on the vending machine, Canadians mean orange juice concentrate. After taking the secret to myself after my first nice sip, I could see some distorted faces. Now back to Seaplane Airport, when I arrived there, I met my friend (and former boss) Martin. Today we'll take a different kind of taxi, namely the seaplane. The pilot explains all the safety instructions to us in about 10 seconds (not that he explained little) and off we go from the water to the air. We have a breathtaking view of Vancouver, the Coast Mountains and the beautiful bay in front of Vancouver.

After about 20 minutes, the flight is already over and we land gently on the water in front of Nanaimo. Nanaimo is located on Vancouver Island, we have booked a day tour with the kayak here. The formalities are quickly done and off we go on the water. Martin and I are the only ones on the tour. The ocean here is about 18°C, so I don't voluntarily go in with an air temperature of 20°C. The plan is to paddle around Newcastle Island. On the inside of the island, there is quite a bit of shipping traffic, but the rugged sandstone of the island's coastline quickly distracts from it. Each bay on the island has an indigenous name and a legend to go with it. After a while, we come across so-called logs, which are collected logs floating in the sea. These are then towed to the desired location by tugboats. Harbour seals are frolicking on and under these logs. The seals emerge just a few meters from the kayaks to breathe. After a lunch (smoked and caramelized salmon) on the island, we continue along the beautiful outer coast of the island. Unfortunately, no whales appeared, but it is very possible to see them around Newcastle Island, as Sherly assured us.

After a very nice tour we treat ourselves to a well-deserved beer. So we can also settle the beer debts we have acquired through Swiss German language. (It's only 2 rounds that have accumulated over the day.)

Back in Vancouver, we go to Gastown (the oldest district in Vancouver) to eat something. According to Martin's recommendation, we choose the 'Lamplighter'. I immediately like the pub and the beer menu only includes beer from BC. After two more beers, we go back to Sunset Beach and take some beautiful photos before the jet lag hits me.