North Vancouver - Canada
My first home in Vancouver was found in North Vancouver through AirBnb. It is part of the Vancouver Metro Area, but still a different city to Vancouver itself. The cities are just separated by the Vancouver Harbor and you can get to Vancouver either by ferry or two bridges. I really adore the nature in North Vancouver as well as the quietness and relaxed feeling. The three mountains near Vancouver, either for hiking or winter sport are located in North Vancouver. I lived in North Van for two month and enjoyed it a lot, but renting directly and not through AirBnb of course is cheaper in the long term, so I moved to another place in January but still visited North Van for skiing on Seymour Mountain after that.
In general, I choose the Vancouver area to stay during my Working Holiday Visa. The biggest one is for sure the location. You have diverse beaches, beautiful parks and the mountains to explore nature even further all combined with the advantages of living in a big city. The vibe of the city is very relaxed and not as busy and stressed as Ottawa or Toronto and not as well dressed as Montreal for example. Considering myself a minimalist (through travelling even more) and not as interested in fashion the simplistic style Vancouver feels more home to me. I just visited Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal only for a short time each, but that is my first impression. People in Vancouver smile at you in the street, say hi, say thank you to the bus driver and cashier and I feel they do this even more in North Van as it is more the feeling of a smaller city. So as usual, my impressions from North Vancouver from last autumn and winter.
Lynn Canyon
Those high trees are impressing.
Isn´t the color of this water stunning?
Fall tranquility.
Rainforest feels
Suspension bridge, yes, my fear of hights was present with me ;)
Halloween was around in the area.
Not a fan of this holiday, but it truly made these people creative!
Grouse Mountain
You can also hike up here, but I had a slight cold so choose the more convenient way by taking the cable car to spend a day hiking and enjoying the mountain for a full day.
View from the mountain goes in diverse directions. You can even spot Vancouver Island at the horizon.
One of the two bears living on the mountain and yes, there was a fence between us. They where short before hibranation, that is why you could see them, normaly they are spread in a large area.
Nature, I love you!
See how far you could see, in this case looking east.
Burnaby and parts of North Van and Vancouver from above.
I had the chance to get some explanations from a ranger about this cutsy. They leave them quite natural, so do not train them, even though they need to stay in captivity as they won´t survive in the wild.
What a sunset from above the city. Here you can see Vancouver downtown at night.
Lighthouse Park
A small park in West Vancouver, not a crazy hike, but surrounded by the sea, covered in rain forest and with rocks and by far my favorite park in the Vancouver area and that is why I visited it a few times already. This place calms me down oh so much. Just sitting on the rocks by the water, enjoying the view, the fresh air just makes me happy. Two times I was really happy by seeing a small group of dolphins as well. They where not very close and both times we counted three or four only, but it was magical each time. Btw. it is a great spot for a sunshine date as well 😉
Yes, technically West Van is a different city than North Van, but since it is north of the Vancouver downtown and I haven´t visited many places in that area I included it in here.
View over to Bowen Island, I haven´t explored this island yet but sure will do!
Here you can spot two of the dolphins for the first time.
Water, rocks and rainforest, what a lovely combination.
Vancouver Island hiding in the far horizon.
The lighthouse, this is what the park got his name from.
View over to the downtown.
Zoom in, you can even see the mountains covered in snow behind the downtown far east.
This far view, so calming!
Sunset ❤️
And another dophin for the second time. They were just to far apart and to quick for my camera.
I will never get exhaused from this view!
Deep Cove
Just a little hike brings you from the small town Deep Cove through the rainforst to the Quarry Rock enjoying a great view. Really enjoyed that day!
Love these reflections, water just makes me happy...
What a lovely ship isn´t it?!
Quarry rock with a great view while relaxing in the sun.
View over Deep Cove.
Look at the Skyline of Burnaby far behind.
Seymour Mountain
Went to Seymour for skiing lessons on four Saturday, each time with a different weather, each beautiful in itself. I really enjoyed it, even though I might not be the most natural in it, at the end I was quite decend ;)
Practicing on the bunny hill ;)
Some blue sky!
Yes we got wet as well...
High above the city!
Btw. this cutsy was my roommate while living in North Van :) Click on the pictures to enlarge:
The view from the waterfront of North Van to the Vancouver Downtown 😊
Side note: Yes, I am fine, things have changed in Vancouver a lot to due to COVID-19. I will talk about what changed in a later blog as I am trying to go chronological. But due to it, I have some more time, as I shouldn’t go hiking and explore the surroundings, to finally sort and edit my pictures and therefore upgrade my blog. Still going on a daily walk if the weather allows it but have way more time to get to these topics now. So further blogs, about what I have seen since I got to Vancouver will follow soon, so stay tuned.