There it finally was: our big camping trip to lonely Vargas Island!
It started off Friday morning at Horseshoe Bay from where we took the ferry to Vancouver Island. After a short snack (or better schnack) break, we headed to Nanaimo located on the other side of the island. Even though it rained pretty hard when we arrived in Tofino, everyone was ready and excited for the adventure. So, we packed all our gear for the next two days on a small water taxi boat and after a 15-minute ride, we reached our destination: Vargas Island!
And there we were: 11 people with a bunch of gear standing on a beach on a lonely island, in the rain, watching the water taxi driver leave. Time to get active – building up tents, setting up a tarp and collecting firewood. Well, lighting up wet wood was not that easy. But our man of fire Euler was hungry and managed to get the fire started. Yeah, our barbecue was saved! Meanwhile, a crew of architects built up a tarp, so we had a place to stay without getting soaked. We spent the night staring at the campfire, eating our hotdogs and being proud of our constructions. But before everyone could crawl into the tents, we cleaned up our campsite. All food had to be stored in a food locker some metres away from the tents. This, to make our home as less attractive to wolves as possible. To be fair, the start of our trip has been a challenge, but our teamwork made it all work perfectly. Good job, guys!
I woke up on Saturday morning with the satisfying sound of someone smashing wood like crazy. Satisfying, because that sound meant there was a chance of dry wood, which meant an easy fire start and fire meant coffee. With a great team effort, our man of fire and some patience, we managed to get hot water for coffee and ‘tea wotah’ for our English man. Even Nutella was offered on the buffet – it was actually a glamping trip! As the weather forecast predicted, it stopped raining and we could finally see the neighbour islands. Really pretty!
The guys spent the morning in the island-gym, which included smashing wood in all kinds 
of creative ways. Good side effect of this workout was that we didn’t have to worry about firewood for the night anymore. After lunch, it was time to explore the island. We left our home beach, hoping we could find a hiking trail. What seemed like a trail, made us end up at a cabin that looked like a horror movie scene. We continued our way along some animal traps, under fallen trees and over stones and reached some beautiful spots. After all photo shoots were done, we returned to our basecamp. The sun was out, so we played some games at the beach and the bravest ones of us even went swimming! Later on, we could spot some sea lions passing by our coast. Burgers and potatoes were on the menu for dinner, so we enjoyed those and the beautiful view.
The evening passed by quickly with games, s’mores (yes, glamping) and loads of laughs. Suddenly, someone came back from the ‘washroom’ and noticed ‘wow, there are lots of stars out here.’ And yes, he was right! I think I have never seen a sky like this before. So we were just standing at the beach, looking up to the sky and getting excited for every shooting star that we could spot. That was just a perfect ending of the day.
On Sunday, we woke up early to get our breakfast out of the food locker and to break
down our camp. Everything was packed just before the water taxi came to pick us up again. We enjoyed the sunny ride back to Tofino, where we packed all our stuff in the cars again. Then, we headed to the beach. Our instructors were already waiting for us, 
ready to introduce us to the world of surfing! During a three-hour lesson, we learned how to get on the board and catch the best waves. At the end, some even managed to stand on the board like they never did anything else before. It was really fun! After this exhausting morning, we enjoyed lunch in Tofino and evaluated the weekend. Everyone’s favorite moment? Difficult to say, because there were so many good ones. Then, it was already time to head back to Nanaimo, where we took the ferry back to Vancouver.
It was a great weekend – I enjoyed this adventure with an amazing group to the fullest! A big thanks to all of you who joined and especially to our drivers Rick and Matt.
Catch up on some sleep guys and I will see you on Wednesday at Malone’s!
– Kerstin
INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 6N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com
Is the World Cup all you have been talking about the past couple of weeks? Well, then you might be interested in the next event I am about to mention. On Saturday evening, the Vancouver Whitecaps will play against Chicago Fire at BC Place. It starts at 7:30pm and lucky for you, there are still some tickets left! You can buy them 
It covers 15 blocks in the area and includes live music, community activities, local artisans and a wide variety of great food to choose from. Moreover, the message behind the festival will be discussed. It is opened from 12pm until 7pm and there is no entrance fee. FYI: TransLink will re-route the Commercial Drive bus this Sunday, in order for the festival area to be as accessible and car-free as possible.
On Saturday, a hike in Lynn Canyon Park was on the schedule. We met at 12.15pm at the Waterfront station and made our way to the park. We were very lucky with the weather and fortunately it was not too crowded. We enjoyed the nature and the break from the noise in the city. The picnic we had was down at the riverside where Euler led us. It was a little tricky to climb down to the riverside, but it was totally worth it. Surrounded by the trees and listening to the gurgling water, we were chatting and eating the snacks we brought. Afterwards, we went on to Rice Lake. The view was marvellous. Then, we had a walk around the lake. After three hours of nature to its fullest, we had ice cream and milkshakes at the “End of the Line General Store” in Lynn Valley. It was amazing and so tasty! If you happen to be there, try it! We were back in downtown at around 6pm. I went home and finished the day with a nice Skype conversation with my brother, but had to go to bed early because it was game day on Sunday.
If you are less interested in soccer, the Surrey Greek Food Festival might be something for you. Local Greeks that recently came to Vancouver or lived here for some generations, established this community event more than 25 years ago. You can get freshly cooked Greek food, enjoy some Greek music and just be inspired by the foreign culture. To get there, just take the Expo Line to King George and make your way to St. Constantine and Helen orthodox church. On Saturday evening at 8pm, live music will be played by Yanis Sahamis on his Bouzouki (a mandolin like instrument).
I liked the friendly people the most about Canada. The wide, the nature, the wild. All of it. But definitely not the rubbish. The most memorable thing I did was whale watching. The first thing I did when I came home was eating some real bread, no toast 🙂
I decided to go to Canada because I want to learn and improve my English and explore the second biggest country in the world. I found INTERNeX from another organization in Sweden. It was thanks to my school back home as well. I got very good support through the whole process from applying for a working holiday visa to having a place when I arrived in Vancouver and an introduction about the city, transportation, tax.
The events INTERNeX organized were the best. I attended lots of INTERNeX events. This is the best time for spending time with your friends, making new friends and welcome new people. Of course I had lots of fun during pub nights and trips. I did lots of hikes in places close to Vancouver. I have also been to Tofino, Victoria, Rocky Mountains and Whistler.
in the morning this Friday. At 7am to be exact. The meeting point is at the corner of Seymour and Cordova Street. Be there on time, because the bus won’t be waiting for you! We’ll be having lunch in Kamloops and we will arrive at our hotel around 6pm. This day is used especially for travelling, but you will see lots of beautiful nature anyway.
After a good night’s sleep, it’s Sunday already! We all start the day at 7:30am with breakfast at the hotel. We are leaving the hotel at 8am and are heading to Johnston Canyon. From 11am on, we can enjoy some free time! You have the chance to use the Banff Gondola, soak in hot springs or discover Banff by yourself. Later in the afternoon, we head to Emerald Lake and afterwards, we will check into our accommodation for the night: Mountain cabins. And because being in mountain cabins only isn’t good enough, we’ll have a campfire with s’mores and hot chocolate in the evening. The ultimate Canadian experience.
