Doug and Kerry Hudson in Canada

Canada was the first destination on our world trip. Looking back and trying to remember why we chose to go there first, it was probably the idea of the mountains and lakes that appealed to us. April and May also happened to be a really good time of year to visit, being neither too hot nor too cold. So it was that on the 15th of April 2002, we left our homes, jobs and friends behind in England for the first adventure of our year: Canada.

First of all we arrived in Toronto. Far from being freezing cold as we had prepared for, it was actually enjoying a major heatwave. During our stay there, we took the opportunity to Niagara Falls.

From Toronto we flew to Vancouver on the west coast. We spent over a week in this beautiful city surrounded by mountains.

We then hired a car, and travelled in a big loop taking in

Vancouver Island, including Victoria and the Pacific Rim National Park,
the rest of British Columbia, including the ski resort Whistler and the town of Penticton, nestled among the orchards of Lake Okanagan,
across the Rocky Mountains to Calgary in Alberta, then north along the Icefield Parkway to Jasper,
back into British Columbia to Prince George and then Prince Rupert, where we took the ferry Queen of the South down through the Inside Passage to Vancouver Island,
and back to Vancouver.

From Vancouver, we took the bus south to Seattle, where we began the next leg of our adventures: the United States of America.

We loved our time in Canada. In the twelve months of our travels, we never experienced such wilderness as we found during those first few weeks in Canada. We also found the people to be so welcoming and intelligent, incredibly respectful both of other people and the environment. And what an environment! If Canada wasn't so far away from our families, we could quite happily move to live there.

World Trip >> Canada

Last updated: Sunday August 27, 2006