Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
July 25, 2019
We woke early the day after our hike to Joffre Lake and the sadness of it being the last night we would spend sleeping in Buddy hit us. We had two days to make it back to Vancouver having messaged Jim and making our arrangements to sell Buddy back to him. It wasn’t far from where we were back to Vancouver but with a day spare we had one final night of camping left and we wanted to make the most of it.
We headed off down the Sea to Sky highway and back past familiar ground. Back through Whistler and it’s toy town ski resort. Back down the beautiful winding mountain road and it’s valley and glacier Vistas before arriving back at Squamish where we had stayed 12 weeks earlier.
When we stayed at Squamish before it was the ridiculously steep road and free site that rock climbers use. It wasn’t a great site to be fair. It did a job at the time for sure, but certainly no lake side views and stunning scenery. Just a lot of cliffs and boulders and some of the smelliest pit toilets known to man. We didn’t fancy that being our last experience of camping in Canada so we drove past the turn off and into Squamish town itself in search of a better spot for our last night.
We spent what seemed like an eternity searching our apps and maps for somewhere that would satisfy our need for all things outdoorsy. As the hours rolled by we were struggling to find somewhere. Eventually we decided to turn back up the highway to go and check out a camp site we had spotted a sign for when we entered the town. Squamish Valley Campsite.
We didn’t think the site would be far away but it was still a good hours drive after exiting the highway. As we arrived we were surprised to find it was a local first nation owned site, something we haven’t come across before. Other than the wild spots and the free BC rec sites the only other sites we have stayed at have been municipal ones, ran by the local council so this was something completely new for us on our last night.
It was $15 for the night and with time getting on we weren’t in any position to look for anywhere cheaper. With our fee paid up we drove round the site in search of a good place to park up and settle in. We certainly weren’t disappointed. The camp site sits right on the shore of Squamish River in the Squamish Valley, and it was perfect. Our spot was just above the shore-line with a beautiful view across the river to mountains and glaciers on the opposite side. We couldn’t have asked for anymore for our last night.
After sorting the van we checked out the wide peaceful beach like shore and started gathering our firewood for the night. We enjoyed the night as much as we could, sitting up chatting and drinking until we had no more firewood left and the embers had gone out. It really was a pleasant and peaceful way to spend our last night in the Canadian wilderness.
The next morning we were up early. We had to be. We still had a couple of hours drive back to Jim’s home in the city and we also had to make sure that we had enough time to get all the sensible stuff done. Sorting out payment for the van, cancelling insurance, sorting the paperwork out to put the van back into Jim’s name etc. We hated driving back into the city after the adventure we have had but it needed to be done.
As always Jim was great and we had everything sorted within a couple of hours. Bank transfer arranged with his bank, all the paperwork in order and before we knew it Jim was dropping us off at the local bus station so that we could make our way to our digs somewhere in the middle of the city, ready to fly out to Bangkok the next day.
I need to take a little time out here to thank Jim for everything he has done to help us. When you come on these kind of trips you do a little reading up. We had heard that the Canadians were amazingly friendly and helpful folk and Jim certainly flew that flag for being an amazing host of his country.
He did us a great deal for the van in the first place (I’ll cover costs in another post). He drove up to Squamish on our first week to check out the problem we had with the catalytic converter and then paid for the part and also to have it fitted….all of this when Buddy was now in our ownership and was nothing to do with him. He didn’t have to do that and to me that’s amazing. It shows just how good natured and helpful the people of Canada are. He agreed to buy Buddy back from us at the end of our adventure and was good to his word. He invested god knows how many man hours in making sure Buddy was safe and reliable for us for the time we had him. Buddy never let us down once, he soldiered away up and down all the harsh terrain and punishment we put him through. He was faultless (my driving skills were not!) Jim, thank you so much for everything you did for us, we won’t forget it.
If your ever planning a similar trip, let us know and we will put you in touch with him, the guy is brilliant. As he said to us, he just likes meeting new people and making sure that they have a great time in his country. You can’t argue with that can you?
So with everything done and dusted and Buddy no longer part of our little traveling family we headed off to meet yet another couple of great Canadians. Sarah, Andy and their two adorable dogs Bella and Bonnie. We were their first ever guests since advertising their home on Airbnb and their hospitality summed up the past 3 months we have enjoyed in Canada. Sat out the back on the patio sharing a few beers and some good craic was a nice way to spend our last in Canada.
The adventure in Canada is one of the best things we have experienced since starting to travel and I can’t recommend it enough. The scenery is jaw dropping, the locals are amazing and welcoming and the wildlife is unique to this part of the world and around every turn. We didn’t want it to end. If we had more money (read that as “if didn’t drink and smoke”) then we would probably still be there now. Truly unforgettable. Turquoise lakes, glaciers, bears, bison, bald eagles and hillbillies. You name it we saw it all.
When checking the map it doesn’t look as though we covered much of Canada at all but we drove a total of 8,000 miles. To put that into perspective you would cover less distance than that if you wanted to drive from London all the way to Singapore! I think that’s quite a decent adventure and it certainly feels as if we made the most of our brief time there. Hopefully, sometime in the future, we get to go back again and explore more of Canada. It’s truly stunning and we miss our days and nights in Buddy so much. Camp fires every night and the great unknown ahead of you each and every day made it feel like the great adventure that it was.
Now it’s back to Asia again to see what we can find there.
