My first visit to Canada was in 1993. We only visited three provinces (Ontario, Alberta and British Colombia) but were swept away by the space and the natural wonders. In Ontario, the Niagara Falls and Algonquin National Park were absolute highlights, and Toronto was an attractive city.

But Alberta and BC offered even more. Most of my time I spent in the Rocky Mountains. Driving around the national parks Banff, Jasper, Yoho en Kootenay was like driving in a postcard decor. Much we could see from our camper when driving the famous Colombia Icefield Parkway and we even saw the occasional bear or eland. But the true taste of the country you can only get when you go hiking for one or more days.

In the years to follow I visited Canada only on 2 business trips to Toronto. But during our world trip we spent several weeks in Canada again, 10 years after my first visit. Did things change? No, not really. This time we travelled by car through Alberta, BC, Yukon and North West Territories before entering Alaska (USA). We made our way back via British Colombia. The more north we went, the less people we meet. It's true that 80% of the Canadian population lives near the border with the US. Can't blame them: temperatures are devastatingly low up north! Only the Inuit survive…

We made it all the way to the Arctic Ocean via the famous Dempster Highway to a place called Inuvik. Here we experienced the 24hr daylight phenomena. After that we continued to the Alaskan Highway into the US. Back in BC we spent quite some time in Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

In 2004 we visited Canada again; Marieke's sister is living in Alberta in the Rocky Mountains and on our way from Mexico to the Cook Islands we made a family visit. In Mexico it was 34 degrees Celcius. In Canada it was 15 below. And on the Cook Islands it was above 30 again.

Our last visit to Canada dates from May 2007. Again for a family visit but this time together with Kiora. And of course we took the time to travel along the Colombia Icefield Parkway once again. Lake Louise, Lake Morraine, Peyto lake, Mount Edith Glacier….it is still as beautiful as 15 years ago!