1. Abundance of ocean views
Coastal British Columbia (BC) has a truly diverse and beautiful shoreline (27,200 km of it to be exact). Some magical places come to mind, like Big Tribune Bay on Hornby Island, which has been compared to Hawaii or other spectacularly rugged places like Tow Hill Provincial Park on the Haida Gwaii or Ucuelet on the wild west-coast of Vancouver Island. I guess this is why tourists flock to coastal British Columbia for a taste of fresh sea breezes, bald eagles, salmon and Orca whales.
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| Tow Hill - Haida Gwaii, BC |
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| Kaikoura, NZ |
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| Moeraki Boulders, Otago, NZ (posted with permission from Mike Ashbee) |
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| Moeraki Boulders, Otago, NZ (posted with permission from Mike Ashbee) |
One of the obvious similarities that I have noticed between BC and south island NZ coastal zones is that the ocean is nice to look at, but you don't necessarily want to just dive in. That water is cold! In BC there are really few good ocean swimming places with gently sloping sandy shores, and while in the summer the water in the inlets and bays can be warm enough to swim you will need to wear water shoes to avoid the barnacles cutting your feet to shreds. Here on the south island the water is also freezing, and at many of the beaches the undertow can be deadly . I have heard that the north island has better swimming beaches, but after watching Piha Rescue, I think I will stick to the rivers and the lakes that I am used to.
2. Numerous beautiful lakes
There is something nice about sitting near the lake in the summer and relaxing to the sounds of nature.
I was surprised to learn that BC has over 20,000 lakes! Wow! Some of them are just breath taking - the best one I've seen is Garibaldi Lake found at nearly 1,500 m above sea level. I think BC's most famous lake might be the Okanogan, which is supposedly home to mysterious 'Ogopogo lake monster' (a Canadian version of the Loch Ness monster).
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| A typical swampy BC lake (posted with permission from Mike Ashbee) |
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| Lake Tekapo, NZ |
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| Lake Wanaka, NZ |
Both BC and NZ are found on the ring of fire (see my previous blog about this here), so both of these regions have been shaped over billions of years by extreme pressure between the Earth's shifting tectonic plates. This equates to lots of mountains (many of them volcanic), glacial carved fjords, increased earthquake risk, amazing fossil beds and crazy geological formations. We have all of these things in both the south island of NZ and BC.
While the landscapes on the South Island may seem alien to some, they actually remind me a lot of my home on Vancouver Island. This is because the underlying geological forces that have shaped these landscapes are the same, and so the inland mountainous terrain or the strange sandstone formations on the coast seem familiar to me. It is really the flora and fauna that have colonized the south island that seem really exotic to me.
Sandstone formations at Castle Hills, South Island NZ
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| Sandstone formation on Hornby Island, BC |
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| Sandstone formations at Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii, BC |
4. Epic mountain biking
While I am more of just a non-technical trail rider, I do enjoy the exercise, fresh-air, adventure and nature experiences that mountain biking has to offer. Back home in BC, I have enjoyed many excellent rides at Mount Work in Victoria. For those more skilled riders there seem to be endless numbers of downhill rides. One of BC's most well-known mountain bike attractions is the summer-only mountain bike park in Whistler.
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| Mike riding the rail trail in Selwyn, south island NZ |
The south island also has a lot of fun riding opportunities (see my previous blog post here). I have yet to ride at the Port Hills in Christchurch, which is a bit more of a challenging ride then I am used to (hopefully soon). The same company that constructed the Whistler bike park has been commissioned to build a brand new bike park in the Port Hills which will be opening very soon!
5. Super chilled people
Outside of the lower mainland, most people in BC are extremely lad-back, and if you venture out to Vancouver island, you will find an even more chill vibe. People are generally friendly, kind, compassionate, socially-conscious, open-minded and tolerant. Mike and I really came to appreciate this when we went to Europe, where we found people to be generally not very friendly or even sometimes down-right rude. As we walked along the city streets of London no-one would make eye-contact or smile.
Thank goodness, Kiwis are just as laid-back as British Colombians! For the most part, the people in Christchurch are chatty, friendly, helpful and kind. In some respects, they can be even too chilled - for example, some Cantabrians do not even wear shoes in the summer.
6. Strong aboriginal culture
Aboriginal people were the original inhabitants of both BC and NZ, occupying the lands for millennia before the arrival of colonialism.
The language, art, culture and tattoos (moko) of the Maori people are central aspects of life in NZ. As a Canadian, I really appreciate the various ways that Maori tradition, culture and art is intertwined and embedded in modern society of NZ. For example, Maori phrases, such as 'Kia ora' are commonly used by everyone, the NZ All Blacks perform a Haka on the international rugby stage and all of NZ has access to Google in Maori.
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| Maori totem overlooking Wellington. |
In my opinion the culture, art, history and languages of BC First Nations groups is also central to modern day life in BC, yet many aspects of First Nations culture are not quite as prominent as Maori culture is in NZ. Perhaps this is because certain aspects of Maori culture, such as pukana for example (facial expression of stretching eyes and sticking out the tongue) are very bold and relatively conspicious compared to BC First Nations performance acts. I will however, say that BC First Nations art, especially carved jewelry, is known and appreciated around the world.
Maybe another explanation as to why First Nation culture in BC may not be a prevalent as Maori culture in NZ is that there is a higher diversity of First Nations groups in BC. The Maori are divided into separate tribes called 'iwi', yet they are all collectively known as Maori people. However, in BC there are 198 distinct First Nation groups, which speak eight different languages. While the Maori that have a signed treaty with the NZ government, very few BC First Nations have signed a treaty, meaning most of BC is actually on unceded First Nation territory.
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| Fallen Haida totem pole at the ancient village of Skedans, Haida Gwaii, BC |
7. Glorious mountains
It wasn't until I spent the summer working as a field assistant in the alpine environment that I fell in love with mountain tops. The crisp air, the stunning scenery, the quiet - mountains are just glorious.
The south island of NZ has the southern Alps, which extend for much of the length of the South Island. The highest peak in the range is Mount Cook (3,724 m). Nearby is the second tallest mountain in New Zealand, Mount Tasman (3,497 m).
'Mount Doom' featured in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is located on the North Island. Its actually called Mount Ngauruhoe (2,287 m) and is a perfectly cone-shaped active stratovolcano.
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| Southern Alps in summer, NZ |
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| View from the plane flying over the Souther Alps, NZ |
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| E.C. Manning Provincial Park, BC |
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| Field work in Garbaldi Provincial Park, BC |
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