If someone were to ask me about the differences between the University of Edinburgh and the University of British Columbia they would probably regret it as I launch in to an excessively long tirade. However, I think one of the first things I would mention is the fact that UBC is a campus university. The campus does have a lot to offer, for example, on Wednesday, Mobile (a Canadian rock band from Montréal) were playing on one of the fields as part of a tour sponsored by MTV and one of the big mobile phone networks. With the concert being at 4pm in the afternoon, attendance seemed to be mostly made up of bemused people heading to the buses rather than the rock fans of UBC but it was certainly an entertaining event. These sorts of things, combined with the multiple shops, pubs, cafes etc means you don’t really need to leave campus too frequently. However, I find it bizarre that an entire week can go by without having crossed the boundary line, and so when it comes to the weekends it then seems imperative that you venture in to the outside world.
This weekend I took the venturing a step further and joined the UBC Varsity Outdoors Club (VOC) on a kayaking trip up the Indian Arm fjord. So, on Friday afternoon my backpack and I trekked in the pouring rain to catch the bus to Deep Cove, our starting point for the trip. The delightful weather seemed to be doing its best to stop the trip and when we arrived at the kayak rental shop it became apparent that any possibility of taking boats out that day were pretty much non-existent. Whitecaps plus a group of relatively inexperienced kayakers is a poor combination. Luckily a member of the group had some very well placed parents living nearby so the trip turned in to an extreme camping experience which consisted of cooking in their backyard, wine and cards, and sleeping on the floor with a roof over our heads….. So not very extreme at all! On Saturday morning we decided to give the kayaking another shot, this time with a rather higher success rate.
The Indian Arm Provincial Park is a beautiful part of North Vancouver, the fjord has steep, densely forested sides which come down to the water’s edge and there are waterfalls and seals a-plenty. This makes paddling up the inlet a fantastic experience - regardless of the excessive amount of water falling from the sky! Towards the end of the day we found ourselves needing to get out of the way of the stormy weather pretty pronto. We managed to find an area to camp just behind a pebble beach which had a derelict cabin. Derelict translating to damp, stinky and covered in glass from the smashed in windows….. Sounds nice eh?! Actually it was pretty luxurious in comparison to what might have been. As the high winds and torrential rain continued we ate our yummy camp food and settled down for an evening of chatting and singing random songs with the aid of the VOC songbook. Sunday morning we awoke to find the storm had passed leaving glass-like water and we packed up and set off back to Deep Cove.
Feeling more confident of our paddling skills and in the absence of rain we felt it was still necessary to be soaked by the end of the day. We went about achieving this using the water pumps that each kayak is equipped with as weaponry against each other. Very entertaining and leaving us all looked slightly drowned rat –ish, especially as the rain chose to join in the fun and games as we arrived at our destination. All in all it was a brilliant weekend; I met some really lovely new people who I hope to see more of round campfires and campus.
I returned to UBC soggy and in serious need of a shower and a long sleep. All those things accomplished I am now ready for the week ahead which sadly encompasses a lot of work that needs doing as the mid-term exam and essay season approaches!
