Canada holidays

Go Canada!

Vancouver has a steaming clock. And if that’s not reason alone to visit Canada, stop reading now. Of course Vancouver has many more weapons in its arsenal of awesome things, such as Stanley Park and the North Shore, but Vancouver also has Vancouver Island.

One-hundred kilometres from the city lights, and a very pleasant 90-minute ferry trip from the harbour, Vancouver Island boasts serene forestry, mountains and placid lakes, as well as the affiliated logging and fishing communities that litter the surroundings. From scenery to sport, in Canada ice-hockey is simply hockey. You don’t need to specify the cold stuff; it’s a national given. It’s also a national obsession.

Imagine 18,000 fans screaming in your ears, the thwack of a puck and the constant hiss of razor-sharp blades - and then throw down your Canadian bucks and a buy ticket to the game. Love to ski? In Whistler, the fast descents will satisfy every powder hound. From snow to ocean, when describing Canada’s attributes it can easily sound like you’re telling tall tales and embellished lies, but then, that’s the thing about this great nation; it reads like fiction but it’s far from fictional, it really is as beautiful as everyone says.