Exploring west and north of the world’s second largest country

If you read my travel bucket list post or follow me on Pinterest you’ll have seen that there are few experiences I’m yearning for that are distinctly Canadian. So yep, you guessed it, I’m off to Canada this month with JJ (my handsome partner and best travel buddy) – we could not be more excited!

Did you know that Canada…..

+   has the longest coastline of any country in the world
+   shares the world’s longest land border with the USA
+   has more lakes than the rest of the world combined
+   has 47 national parks and 4 marine conservation areas

Enough of the factoid geekery. Without further ado, our 3 week trip to western and northern Canada looks a little something like this:

WEEK 1 – Vancouver, Vancouver Island and Glendale Cove, British Columbia
Activities; urban exploring, beach bumming, poutine scoffing, grizzly bear and orca viewing
WEEK 2 – Winnipeg and Churchill, Manitoba
Activities; Mountie watching, polar bear viewing and snorkelling with beluga whales
WEEK 3 – Whitehorse, Kluane National Park and Wheaton River, Yukon Territory
Activities; hiking and any bonus wildlife viewing

These are the bucket list items I’d love to cross off, but as they’re all very nature and/or weather dependant if I manage 2 or 3 out of 5 then I’ll be very, very happy:

+   Aurora borealis – Churchill / Yukon Territory
+   Grizzly bears in the wild – Glendale Cove B.C. / Yukon Territory
+   Orcas in the wild – Vancouver / Vancouver Island
+   Polar bears in the wild – Churchill
+   Snorkel with beluga whales – Churchill

This trip isn’t all about the bucket list, incredible scenery and wild things, we’ll be in Vancouver during the Celebration of Light festival and we’ve got ourselves tickets to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride in Winnipeg! Also, can we please talk about Poutine? Any country whose national dish is cheesy hot chips with gravy gets a big thumbs up from me.

I’ve wanted to go to Canada since I was really young, I think 6 or 7 years old. My Dad was offered a work opportunity in Canada, my parents asked if I wanted to go and I was 100% on board. I remember my Mum asking me “Are you sure you want to leave home?” and “Won’t you miss your friends?” I was thinking to myself “I’ve already secretly packed a bag, let’s go on an adventure!” We didn’t move to Canada, I got over it, but never got over the desire to visit someday.

If you have any tips about any of the places I’m visiting on my upcoming Canadian travels, I’d love to read them.