Birthday and Christmas in this wonderful place.

Hi,
I woke up on my birthday with my sister who made me breakfast!!
Then we dressed up warm and got ready to do what we came here for. Storm watching!!
First we went to a small beach across the cottages, we couldn't get on the beach cause of the high tide. Then we walked to the lighthouse a bit further ahead. The trail was closed because of damage from the storm, so we followed the road. There it also said to watch out. Also that this was an area with bears, wolves and cougars :) But the waves were so huge, it was really nice and stormy ocean. The water was far away so we went to sit on the rocks to take some pictures, there were a lot of people doing the same thing. You could just sit there and watch, it was so beautiful. We found a nice little bench and just sat there for a while. Then we walked a bit by the trail and took pictures.
We were there for a good part of the day, so beautiful.
Then we went back to the cottage for a late lunch. To then head back out to see the sunset on big beach a little further away. I found a really nice sea shell, but did not take it with me... The sunset was so nice, so beautiful.
After that we went back to the cottage and had a pizza with a movie.
So we had a nice evening in :)
Oooh yeah I bought myself a lemon meringue pie, but my sister is allergic so I ate it by myself during the whole stay in the cottage :)
The next day on christmas eve, we went to Tofino, known for it's surf vibes.
We stopped at one of the beaches and yes found some surfers!
The village was really nice and really had the beach village vibes. We walked around for a bit and did some last grocery shopping. Then we went back to the cottage and called home to see how there celebration was going. To then start our own cooking and celebrating. We had some food and watched Harry Potter, cause we didn't found any christmas movies on tv.
On our last day, so Christmas day, we had a late start and then went for a walk to the beach and lighthouse. We were so lucky to see a bald eagle or 3 :) We really didn't want to leave this place. Then we cooked our simple Christmas diner and watch Home alone on tv :)
We enjoyed our time in this place so much!!! We plan to come back one day, cause it was really perfect!! Best place in Canada so far :)
Love,
Sarah

My sister is here!!

Hi,
I know it has been a while, but so much happened :)
So 2 weeks ago my sister arrived in Vancouver!!
The first day we did her paperwork, so she also can work here while she stays.
In the evening we went to Aurora Winter Festival, I bought the tickets a few days before.
It was so nice with all the lights and there was a maze where we needed to help the elfs. So we put the app on our phone and we needed to find some pictures to scan in the maze. I couldn't work with it for some reason, but my sister could. At the end we would win a prize if we found everything and we did, we won some bracelets who light in the dark :)
Then we went to find some drinks and some food, there where a bunch of food trucks and it was really good food. We had a great night even when it started to rain so hard when we walked back, it was crazy!!
Her second day we went to Stanley park to walk around. In the afternoon we went to the bank to open up her bank account. We had an early night, because the day after we had to get up early to catch the ferry to Vancouver Island.
In the morning we went to the ferry stop early in the morning, but already in the bus we heard that the ferries till that point were cancelled. There was a big storm on the ocean.
So once we got there they said to wait 10min and they would let us know if the next ferry would go.
It wouldn't, the next news would be at 1pm so we went to get some shelter, because it was cold and windy. We went back at 1pm to see if the ferry from 3.45pm would go, good news it probably would. So we went to the waiting room to hear the next feedback. It said we would not go and the next news would be in about an hour. At the end the called in that the next and only ferry would go at 6.15pm and that we should get ready to board. The boat ride was wild and they said we should not walk around. We were supposed to rent a car that day, but we wouldn't make that anymore so I called them and we could get it the next day. Once in Nanaimo we got a cab to get to our hotel in Parksville, because there were no busses. After a long day we went to bed, we were so tired!!
It were some long first days for my sister, but we also had so much fun :)
Love,
Sarah

Port Renfrew and Avatar grove

Hi,
Last weekend I spent my sunday with the daughter of the couple where I'm staying doing a little road trip :)
We left in the morning to go to Avatar grove and Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.

Gnarliest tree

The drive up there alone is worth doing this, beautiful nature all along the way, we were lucky with the nice weather to.
On the way up we did a little stop along the way to see a big old tree, you would miss it if you didn't know where to stop, but of course my great guide new where it was :)
After first passing Port Renfrew to go to see Avatar grove, we did a little toilet stop and I had to go into a outhouse... That was a first hahaha, Essa (the daughter) told me that those were pretty clean, there are worse... Well  don't think I'll do that again :)
Arrived at Avatar grove we did a little hike to get to the gnarliest tree in Canada. Just being there is like being in another world, I get why they call it Avatar grove. They've put in some wooden stairs and walkways to make it easier to access, because it's really ruff nature up here, love it!!
We also had Oliver (the dog) with us and he just loved it, he kept on running up and down :)
The hike up wasn't as bad as we thought it would be and the surrounding are stunning.
After that we went to Port Renfrew and Essa brought me to a beach where they go camping once a year. This place is just breath taking. It's also at the start of the west coast trail, a famous trail in Canada, but I won't do it cause you have to go up and I don't do good on heights :)
We had our picnic on the beach and enjoyed the view. From here going straight in the ocean the next stop is Japan. You can see the west side of the island is more wild, just so beautiful, this is one of the most beautiful places I've been so far.
After showing me the little town of Port Renfrew we started to head back home.
It was a beautiful day in nature, so thankful Essa brought me here to witness this beautiful nature.
I hope you enjoy the pictures :)
Love,
Sarah

Montreal

Hi,

The past days I've been looking for a job and place to stay for the summer time.
I found a place to stay (still waiting on last details), but still looking for a job.
Saturday I will leave for 2 weeks to Ile d'Orleans for a volunteering job in a motel.
I will keep you posted on how that goes :)
After those 2 weeks I'll go volunteering in a small town moving a back down a bit, to help with dogs and feeding cows. Looking forward to that.
And end of june I'll go back to Montreal to stay at the place I found and hopefully start working in a job I'm still looking for. If anyone has some tips about jobs, it's more than welcome.

But meanwhile I've still been up to visiting a bit more of this beautiful city.
The part I love the most is the old part of time, but for us europeans this is not that old :)
Saturday i finally got my canadian phone number and after that I walked till the Mont Royal.
On top I've meet up with a friend from the hostel. I didn't know you could go up by bus (like she did) so I walked till the top. It was more than 300m high and it was really steep. Some crazy people did it while running, but most people walked and were tired like me. I was so happy there was a drinking fountain on top cause my water ran out quickly. It was a very nice view of the city.
Went to visit the Biosphere but it was closed, but got a good close look of it. But I saw a bit of the wildlife around it.
But I'll be back in summer time to see more of it and the little islands around it.
And of course my sister comes after summer to join me further on my path in Canada.


My next post will probably be next week when I arrive on Ile d'Orleans.

Love,
Sarah

What to pack for (long) travel

Hi,

So like you read on my last post I'm going to Canada for a year.
To work and travel :)
I can only take 20kg of luggage with me and thats not much at all.
So I thought to give you an idea of what I packed.
Reminding you that all the winter stuff I think of buying there.

- Underwear (10)
- Swimsuit
- Pants (2)
- T-shirt (3)
- Top (2)
- Long sleeved t-shirt (2)
- Turtle neck
- Towel
- Skirt
- Short
- Raincoat
- Jacket
- Jogging
- Sweater / hoodie (4)
- Pj's (3)
- Socks (6)
- Plaid (for winter)
- Scarf and gloves (winter)
- Chargers
- Adapter
- Shoes (2)
- Purse

In my pink bag for toiletries I've packed:
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Hairbrush and tides
- Nail clippers and file
- Lip balm
- Small shower gel

I also have a small first aid kit with me.

In my backpack I've packed:
- Small camera
- Phone
- Laptop
- Papers (all my documents)
- Gum
- Wallet
- Headphones

On the plane I will wear a comfy outfit because it's a 7 hours flight with a stop of a few hours.
I know I don't have a winter jacket or so and winters are really cold up there, but thats why I'm going to buy that stuff up there :)

I hope you enjoyed this and that maybe it can help you to have an idea what to pack.

Love,
Sarah

I'm back :)

Hi,

I know it's been a long time since I've wrote something.
Life happened you know :)
But I'm back and I have big news!!
I'm leaving for Canada for a year!!

It's with a working holiday visum and I'm just so excited.
First I'm going to fly for Montreal and stay there the first months and hopefully find some work.
It's all so new and exciting and the first time in a very long time I'm going so far and all alone.
Thats the scary part, the going all alone part.
But I'm a big girl and I always wanted to do this, so this is my chance.

And of course I'm going to write a lot more about my whole adventure and keep you updated!

Love,
Sarah