Post by piercestudios on Jun 26, 2005 17:21:49 GMT -5
I'm a Vancouver-ite myself, but I've been all over British Columbia - mostly in between the islands and such.
Seeing as how this IS a Piratey thing, I'll start with the islands. It makes logical sense, yes?
Vancouver Island is the biggest and best known. It has Victoria, which has some of the prettiest historical buildings I've ever seen in Canada. Getting there from the main land is relatively easy. You just grab a Ferry from Tsawwassen and you're there within 1.5 hours. The ferries are really nice as well. Giant, white, and almost always named after a queen.
- Don't mention the Fast Cat ferries to any British Columbian. They'll skin you - that was a major loss of tax money that.
Here's a map of the ferry routes:
www.bcferries.bc.ca/schedules/southern/
Okay. So Victoria:
www.victoriabc.com/
Absolutely lovely. mostly brick roads - I'm talking inner city here. You can take a Greyhound bus from the ferry terminal to inner city. Takes about an hour. Four lane highway if I remember correctly. There's this lovely shop in center Victoria that has christmas decorations all year around. it's the most beautiful store I've ever seen.. when you go down the stairs they have an amazing selection of nutcrackers and dolls. .. kind of creepy having a room full of dolls look at you....
But moving on (although that'd make a hilarious scene). Museums in mass quantities. If you really wanna get down to it - Victoria is a tourist city and it isn't much use for anything else. The rest of vancouver island is lovely though. very green, many many pine trees. Beaches gallor.
next island: Saltspring Island = the hippy community.
Tiny little Island with surprisingly many uphill stretches. Oh god those hills. pray you never have to bike up them. Driving's fine.. as long as you don't have a standard transmition. This is a place where people wear bright colours and tye-died clothing and grow their hair long. Basically, the majority of adults who live there are the kind who couldn't grow out of the 70's. I'm not saying all, but many. Beaches are nice though. Downtown Saltspring is tiny, but cute enough. I'll put up pictures some time. They have a weekly market in the summer, fun stuff.
Maine Island: Perfect for Camping or Kayacking. Kayacking = very popular. Anything water sports really. Outdoorsy. Beautiful island.... massive amounts of spiders though. Very green, lovely forests. There was this one place where we went hiking all the time that we called the "enchanted forest". Rock structures, pine trees, moss covering fallen trees.. hollows in trees, mushrooms growing on the ground.. everything you'd imagine an enchanted forest to be was there. Most of the properties on Maine are cabins used only during the summer months. But OH GOD the property is expensive.
Those are the three main islands really. the other ones.. like Pender, Galliano.. etc. are smaller, and really have the same mentalities to them. But Saltspring is the hippy community. Beware saltspring. They don't really like new people. Since they have quite a few more females than males in the 30-ish age group there, they pounce on any new males that come along and do NOT welcome new women. especially if they're single and pretty.
Hm okay. Main land. Tsawwassen is nice.... ish. The area itself is very nice. Right on the beach (with White Rock right across the bay), lovely to live there. ... unfortunatly they have this problem with non-rich non-white people. The entire community is pretty much rich and white. Except the Native American population which has been nicely pushed into a reserve (this is sarcasm. please pick up on it. lol). I'm trying to remember whether this community has something to do with fish, bear or eagle.. I don't remember. oops.
Up the highway a bit, to a town called Ladner. Lovely place!!! Very Family oriented. Large christian-reformed community. (I'm not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing *shifty eyes*). Farming Community. Smells like farm a lot. East Ladner is filthy rich. New houses. all look alike.
Up the highway again. Richmond. Very large Asian community. Has a very large mall. This is where people who don't live in Vancouver go to shop. Not much else to say about Richmond.
Up again! Vancouver!! Vancouver is a lovely place!! Every tourist book says how absolutely beautiful vancouver is. Oh and it is. Just don't go to East-Vancouver. Druggies... prostitutes, homelessness abound. All shoved into one nice part of vancouver where the filthy-rich West Vancouverites and tourists don't have to see them. Dear god, dont get stuck there at night.
Downtown Vancouver's nice though. shopping is nice... go to Granville Island if you get a chance. I really think it's the best part of vancouver. They have a playground in the shape of a ship if i remember correctly.
Whistler is amazing for winter. skiing etc. They give sleigh rides!! They also have the 2010 winter olympics.
One thing about BC by the way - snow? yeah.. non existant anywhere but the mountains. Rain? ABOUND! SO much rain. it's lovely. the temperature is usually pretty moderate. You never get anything over 30 degrees. celcius. Not even in the summer. I love that.
Side note: White Rock. Amazing. Right on the ocean. Steep hills. Walking is ... an adventure for your thighs and feet. But really. this has to be my fav. city (sorry ladner *sniffle*) in BC that I've been to.
Oh right. I wasn't just going on about the cities I've been to *cough*. BC has a lot of green. The majority of it is covered by pine trees. There are numerous forts to visit, massive amounts of tourist attractions, but usually combined with nature. Very nice. I love it to bits.
... damn now i wanna go back home (I'm living in the Netherlands/Germany right now. Moved last July after living in Canada for fifteen years!!!... wah..).
I'll type more some other time. I think this is getting a touch long.
Seeing as how this IS a Piratey thing, I'll start with the islands. It makes logical sense, yes?
Vancouver Island is the biggest and best known. It has Victoria, which has some of the prettiest historical buildings I've ever seen in Canada. Getting there from the main land is relatively easy. You just grab a Ferry from Tsawwassen and you're there within 1.5 hours. The ferries are really nice as well. Giant, white, and almost always named after a queen.
- Don't mention the Fast Cat ferries to any British Columbian. They'll skin you - that was a major loss of tax money that.
Here's a map of the ferry routes:
www.bcferries.bc.ca/schedules/southern/
Okay. So Victoria:
www.victoriabc.com/
Absolutely lovely. mostly brick roads - I'm talking inner city here. You can take a Greyhound bus from the ferry terminal to inner city. Takes about an hour. Four lane highway if I remember correctly. There's this lovely shop in center Victoria that has christmas decorations all year around. it's the most beautiful store I've ever seen.. when you go down the stairs they have an amazing selection of nutcrackers and dolls. .. kind of creepy having a room full of dolls look at you....
But moving on (although that'd make a hilarious scene). Museums in mass quantities. If you really wanna get down to it - Victoria is a tourist city and it isn't much use for anything else. The rest of vancouver island is lovely though. very green, many many pine trees. Beaches gallor.
next island: Saltspring Island = the hippy community.
Tiny little Island with surprisingly many uphill stretches. Oh god those hills. pray you never have to bike up them. Driving's fine.. as long as you don't have a standard transmition. This is a place where people wear bright colours and tye-died clothing and grow their hair long. Basically, the majority of adults who live there are the kind who couldn't grow out of the 70's. I'm not saying all, but many. Beaches are nice though. Downtown Saltspring is tiny, but cute enough. I'll put up pictures some time. They have a weekly market in the summer, fun stuff.
Maine Island: Perfect for Camping or Kayacking. Kayacking = very popular. Anything water sports really. Outdoorsy. Beautiful island.... massive amounts of spiders though. Very green, lovely forests. There was this one place where we went hiking all the time that we called the "enchanted forest". Rock structures, pine trees, moss covering fallen trees.. hollows in trees, mushrooms growing on the ground.. everything you'd imagine an enchanted forest to be was there. Most of the properties on Maine are cabins used only during the summer months. But OH GOD the property is expensive.
Those are the three main islands really. the other ones.. like Pender, Galliano.. etc. are smaller, and really have the same mentalities to them. But Saltspring is the hippy community. Beware saltspring. They don't really like new people. Since they have quite a few more females than males in the 30-ish age group there, they pounce on any new males that come along and do NOT welcome new women. especially if they're single and pretty.
Hm okay. Main land. Tsawwassen is nice.... ish. The area itself is very nice. Right on the beach (with White Rock right across the bay), lovely to live there. ... unfortunatly they have this problem with non-rich non-white people. The entire community is pretty much rich and white. Except the Native American population which has been nicely pushed into a reserve (this is sarcasm. please pick up on it. lol). I'm trying to remember whether this community has something to do with fish, bear or eagle.. I don't remember. oops.
Up the highway a bit, to a town called Ladner. Lovely place!!! Very Family oriented. Large christian-reformed community. (I'm not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing *shifty eyes*). Farming Community. Smells like farm a lot. East Ladner is filthy rich. New houses. all look alike.
Up the highway again. Richmond. Very large Asian community. Has a very large mall. This is where people who don't live in Vancouver go to shop. Not much else to say about Richmond.
Up again! Vancouver!! Vancouver is a lovely place!! Every tourist book says how absolutely beautiful vancouver is. Oh and it is. Just don't go to East-Vancouver. Druggies... prostitutes, homelessness abound. All shoved into one nice part of vancouver where the filthy-rich West Vancouverites and tourists don't have to see them. Dear god, dont get stuck there at night.
Downtown Vancouver's nice though. shopping is nice... go to Granville Island if you get a chance. I really think it's the best part of vancouver. They have a playground in the shape of a ship if i remember correctly.
Whistler is amazing for winter. skiing etc. They give sleigh rides!! They also have the 2010 winter olympics.
One thing about BC by the way - snow? yeah.. non existant anywhere but the mountains. Rain? ABOUND! SO much rain. it's lovely. the temperature is usually pretty moderate. You never get anything over 30 degrees. celcius. Not even in the summer. I love that.
Side note: White Rock. Amazing. Right on the ocean. Steep hills. Walking is ... an adventure for your thighs and feet. But really. this has to be my fav. city (sorry ladner *sniffle*) in BC that I've been to.
Oh right. I wasn't just going on about the cities I've been to *cough*. BC has a lot of green. The majority of it is covered by pine trees. There are numerous forts to visit, massive amounts of tourist attractions, but usually combined with nature. Very nice. I love it to bits.
... damn now i wanna go back home (I'm living in the Netherlands/Germany right now. Moved last July after living in Canada for fifteen years!!!... wah..).
I'll type more some other time. I think this is getting a touch long.