"just back from my first trip to the lovely PNW!" Vancouver by skywalkerbeth

Vancouver Travel Guide: 3,950 reviews and 8,219 photos

Float Planes at rest - Vancouver
Float Planes at rest
A flight of fancy...

Hundreds of little islands pepper the coastline out there and there are some major mountains too. I started out in Vancouver and one day took the Sea to Sky Highway to Squamish to go take a lesson in glacier flying with a CFI out there. This drive is as beautiful as it sounds but not as dramatic as the Pacific Coast Highway.

Once you are away from Vancouver it’s pretty much uncontrolled airspace but for the mountains (and there’s a stiff price to pay if you don’t heed them. “Hello friendly mountains” as my ground school instructor used to say). The airport elevation is just under 200 so the TPA was 1200. But the mountains are RIGHT there so you gotta climb immediately once you depart the pattern and don’t stop til you’re at 6000-7000 or so. There are plenty of valleys so there is space for climbing.

There is regularly a lot of turbulence from the trees on final and the mountains too, so look sharp. You have to turn base early and keep it tight or you will get blown into the side of the mountain. This would not be a good thing. It was like a roller coaster on final! And the runway dips way down at the halfway point so when you are coming in for a landing it looks really short! Just a tiny little airstrip surrounded by mountains. We flew up over Whistler/Blackcomb and all the lakes around it. Yes, the lakes are really THAT blue - no retouching. They could name a crayola crayon after it - Glacier Lake Blue.

After 3 days in Vancouver I went to Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island. A local told me the term treehugger came from there, no joke – folks chained themselves to trees to prevent them from cutting them down. The people are SUPER friendly, very laid back – I never heard the term “right on” used so much before. You know how on the East Coast a stranger might acknowledge you with a grunt? Well out there they smile and say RIGHT on. Right on! Hitchhiking? Right on! (Not a big deal, everyone does it). The area is slowly getting yuppified (million plus dollar vacation homes) but still realllly laid back. Sarah McLaughlin has a big beach house, I hear she comes out to go surfing and write her songs. My two days there were mostly rain. I did a hot springs cove tour which was an all day boat ride to/from these natural hot springs on one of the islands. Fine and dandy but it was a bit nippy and driving rain the entire day so you couldn’t even see the mountains you were passing very well. We saw some whales (oooooooh, ahhhhh) and were pretty much sopping wet all day. Hot springs was a good 1.5 mile walk back through the rainforest, very cool thing to do apart from the bit about stripping to your bathing suit to jump into the water and then having to put all your soaking wet clothes back on to walk another 1.5 miles back.

The day I left for Victoria the sun came out so I walked to the dock and took a float plane ride! Check out the photo of the bomber that went down in WWII. They just left it where it was. It crashed shortly after takeoff and everyone got out ok. Kinda reminds me of the one scene in the movie Heavy Metal though. (if you don't get this reference, you MUST rent this DVD - it's a classic!!) We also saw whales from the plane, too. THAT was cool.

After flying into Seattle from Victoria (another float plane!) I did some more mountain flying with another CFI I had looked up out there. Wow are the Cascades pretty. We flew from BFI which was my first time at a towered airport. On our way back into BFI, we were on a looooooong extended base and about 100 feet above us and in front of us, a Spitfire flew by. (EAA was having its pre-Oshkosh event that weekend in Arlington WA). That was really cool to see - I didn't get a picture because we were both gaping at it without saying a word.

Next up – a trip to Hobbitland (New Zealand). This is with the 99s so I should have some more interesting photos when I get back in September.

And now the pictures:

http://www.worldisround.com/articles/194816/

Pan Pacific: 5 star luxury on the water
Pan Pacific: 5 star luxury on the water - Vancouver

thoroughly enjoyed my stay here. a perfect location for seeing Vancouver.

Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino
Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino - Vancouver

I didn't stay here - I went for a walk on its beach!!

Pros and Cons
  • Pros:stunningly beautiful surroundings, friendly people
  • Cons:July is the warmest month of the year - high 60s/low 70s
  • In a nutshell:You'll never run out of things to do and see out of doors!
  • Last visit to Vancouver: Jul 2005
  • Intro Updated Jul 28, 2005
  • Add to Trip Planner (?)
  • Report Abuse

Reviews (6)

the view from up here - Vancouver Cable Car ride to the top! Things to Do (3)

being lazy, this is the preferable way to see the top. Had I had much more time in Vancouver I think I would have done... more travel advice

float planes!! - Vancouver float planes!! Transportation (1)

more travel advice

the float plane harbor - Vancouver sitting on the dock of the bay... Things to Do (3)

you gotta walk the Seawall! especially in the late late afternoon/early evening - the lighting is fantastic! more travel advice

see anything of interest in this photo? - Vancouver Go Flying!! Things to Do (3)

this area is just a flying paradise. mostly uncontrolled airspace (controlled only by the mountains) and stunning views.... more travel advice

Comments (7)

  • Reply
    Toshioohsako's Profile Photo
    Nov 16, 2007 at 3:30 AM

    Your plane is flying under my vancouver page. Its funny -just a coincidence.

  • Reply
    Tourtech's Profile Photo
    Jul 20, 2007 at 9:13 AM

    Hey there! thanks for the b-day wishes and coming to visit our pages! We love Vancouver and the islands. The ferry ride from Twassen to Victoria is great... Weaving through the islands near victoria. Safe travels from travelling Canadians!

  • Reply
    BeatChick's Profile Photo
    Jun 24, 2007 at 9:52 AM

    Awww, look at that beautiful, beautiful photo of the lake and the mountains - oh! What a divine meal and very reasonable. Yours sounds like a divine hotel.

  • Reply
    barney1974's Profile Photo
    Oct 17, 2006 at 12:51 PM

    You'll definitely have to do the Grind next time! It's not too bad.

  • Reply
    rwlittle's Profile Photo
    Sep 4, 2005 at 6:22 AM

    Hey, you got to visit my old home town...excellent!

  • Reply
    Radiomom's Profile Photo
    Jul 21, 2005 at 1:50 PM

    How lovely, Beth!

  • Reply
    Jul 14, 2005 at 12:01 PM

    Now that's my idea of a hotel! Glad you had such a great time

skywalkerbeth's Related Pages

Vancouver Travel Guide

 
Explore the World
Travel Destinations
skywalkerbeth's Profile Photo

skywalkerbeth

“Seize life by the tail and give it a good shake!”

Online Now

Female

Top 5,000 Travel Writer
Member Rank:
0 1 0 3 9

Badges & Stats in Vancouver

  • 6 Reviews
  • 8 Photos
  • 2 Forum posts
  • 7 Comments
  • 1,598PageViews
  • See All Stats
  • See All Badges (5)

Have you been to Vancouver?

  Share Your Travels  

Latest Activity in Vancouver

Photos in Vancouver

See All Photos (8)

Top 10 Pages

See All Travel Pages (72)

Friends

See All Friends (23)

Travel Interests

See All Travel Interests (5)

Latest Vancouver hotel reviews

Fairmont Pacific Rim
696 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 18, 2013
Georgian Court Hotel
409 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 18, 2013
Coast Vancouver Airport Hotel
194 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 7, 2013
SameSun Backpacker Lodge
101 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 11, 2013
Comfort Inn Downtown Vancouver
197 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 17, 2013
Robson Suites
100 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 10, 2013
Carmana Plaza
188 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Apr 29, 2013
Sonora Island Resort & Conference Center
82 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jan 6, 2013
The Kingston
110 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 9, 2013
Hostelling International Vancouver Central
91 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Apr 21, 2013
Best Western Kings Inn & Conference Center
80 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 19, 2013
O Canada House
241 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Apr 30, 2013
The Hotel at Terminal City Club
165 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 19, 2013
Alma Beach B&B
1 Review & Opinion