Dr. Stefan Christmann

July 5, 2024July 27, 2024

Black Rock

The best hotel on my trip to Western Canada was the Black Rock Oceanfront Resort at the tiny little town of Ucluelet on Vancouver Island. Its main building is located directly at the shore of the Pacific Ocean (remember, the next country on the other side is Japan) and you’ve got great views from your balcony to the rocks and the sea. The hotel contains a nice bar and a very good restaurant (a reservation upfront is needed) which also serves high-class breakfast in the morning: on a terrace with views on the sea.

July 5, 2024August 7, 2024

Malahat Skywalk

On the grounds of the Malahat First Nation near Victoria on Vancouver Island you can discover a large wooden tower, the Malahat Skywalk. It gives you great views on the Saanich Inlet, the surrounding forests and you can even look over into the United States of America – the border is very close and you can’t overlook Mount Baker in the state of Washington. To get on top of the tower you can follow a very long ramp that is winding up inside. If you’re brave you can get down very fast by using a slide.

July 4, 2024July 31, 2024

Bear Country

The province British Columbia has the abbreviation BC, but these two letters can also be read in a different way: as Bear Country. That’s what British Columbia is. When hiking on Vancouver Island or up to the Yellowhead Mountain there are typically two potential threats: cougars and bears. While cougars and wolves are mostly shy and invisible, you’ll meet bears quite frequently; black bears more often than grizzly bears. On Vancouver Island alone there are around 7,000 of them and knowing how to react and which precautions to take is a must.

July 4, 2024August 4, 2024

Royal BC

The Royal BC Museum is located at the inner harbour of Victoria. It was founded in 1886 and is one of the most important museums in Canada focusing on history, anthropology and natural history. Core of the museum and its archive are the collection of items belonging to the 198 tribes of the First Nations at British Columbia (BC). While these were sometimes bought and sometimes taken away in the past, the relationship of the First Nations and the museum of improved massively in the recent past and the items are reconnected to the tribes.

July 3, 2024July 27, 2024

The Vic

If I would look for a place to reenact some scenes of Pulp Fiction, The Vic would be my first choice. It isn’t by far a boutique hotel like how it is marketed, it rather feels like a motel at a radial road in a suburb of Victoria (on Vancouver Island). A lot of parking lots are available, the rooms are equipped with a kitchenette but they are already a bit shabby and need renovation (I couldn’t even lock my balcony door). But therefore the place also has its own liquor store, a Floyds Diner that serves good breakfast and a pub for the evening hours.

July 3, 2024August 4, 2024

Inner harbour

The main attractions of Victoria on Vancouver Island are all grouped around the inner harbour of the city. Once you’ve found your way you can observe aeroplanes and get on water taxis exploring the bay of the capital city of the province British Columbia. Next to the harbor you can find some pretty impressive buildings like the ancient house of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia or the Hotel Empress. Close-by you can also discover the Royal BC Museum with its historic collection.

July 3, 2024August 4, 2024

Otherworldly

If you arrive on Vancouver Island via Swartz Bay, plan a stop at the Butchart Gardens while being on your way to Victoria. When I imagine the inside of the rabbit hole in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland this is the place that comes most close to it. The private garden was created by Jennie Butchart in 1904 in a quarry that her husbands business had caused. You can stroll the sunken garden, a beautiful Japanese garden, a rose garden and sections focused on Italy and the Mediterranean flora.

July 3, 2024July 31, 2024

Sailing

Well, the ferry boats between Vancouver and Vancouver Island are powered by natural gas and not by the winds – but nevertheless they speak of sailing between mainland and island. There are different routes but the most important ones seem to be the one going from Tsawwassen south of Vancouver to Swartz Bay (for visiting Victoria) and the one from Departure Bay (a well chosen name) near Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay; the perfect arrival point for a trip through the Sea-to-Sky community via Squamish up to Whistler.

July 3, 2024August 3, 2024

Capilano

I’m just a tiny little bit afraid of heights, but the Capilano suspension bridge is a place to challenge me. It is located in North Vancouver and spans the Capilano river at a height of 70 meters while being 136 meters long. Dependent on who is joining you on the bridge, this can be fun or nightmare. What you might not suspect is that this bridge has a history and was first built in 1888 to access a hut on the other side.

July 2, 2024August 3, 2024

VanDusen

Since 1975 the city of Vancouver has a nice botanical garden in Shaughnessy, south of downtown. It is a beautiful garden with fantastic flowers, rivers, lakes and an Elizabethan maze to get lost in. The garden doesn’t do scientific research, it just exhibits plants in differently themed areas. There is a stone garden, a vegetable garden, giant sequoias, sino-himalayan plants and areas for the flora of Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In one section you’ll find collections of azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias; in another firs, maples, conifers, lindens, cypresses and cedars can be found.