Social Distancing in Hope, BC

After our weekend of brunching around the city, life changed for pretty much everyone. With Covid19 going global, our world very rapidly started to revolve around the three small rooms in our 1 bedroom apartment. Richard started working from home and by Wednesday 18th March I was in the very fortunate position to be staying at home on full pay with no work to do.

As small as our apartment is, we have experienced smaller living environments which had somewhat prepared us for this confined living arrangement. In Sydney our bedroom, living room, dining room and kitchen were all the same room and shortly after that we lived in a campervan and travelled down Australia’s East Coast. Nonetheless, we were a bit concerned about being stuck indefinitely in our apartment and we’d already planned a long weekend in Hope, so after weighing up the dangers to ourselves and others, we decided to take the trip inland and socially distance in Hope, beautiful British Columbia.

The drive to Hope from Vancouver takes about two hours with no stops and once you get out of the city, is very picturesque, with lots of mountain views. We stayed in an amazing log house which we booked through Airbnb. Our host Crystal was a great communicator and we had a self check-in which definitely suited both parties as it meant we didn’t have to physically interact during the stay.

One of our favourite things about the cabin was the huge bath and although it took a long time to fill, it was so worth it!

 Amazing Bath Experience, Hope BC, March 2020

On our first evening we decided to chill, drink wine and eat lots of yummy food. One of our favourite things to order when we go out to restaurants is a charcuterie board/antipasto platter and we try and recreate them at home, with varying degrees of success, as often as we can.

The next day, we were treated to some early Spring sunshine and decided to make the most of it by exploring the area. We jumped into the car and made our way north following the winding road next to the beautiful Fraser River. Our first stop was the Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park. There is a short trail to the stunning bridge, built in 1926.

Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park, March 2020

I’m not a huge fan of bridges, probably my least favourite is the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge that Rich has made me walk over far too many times, and this one was no different. With open weave metal decking looking down into the rushing Fraser River below, I was pretty keen to get across and back on solid footing as quickly as possible! I did manage to get a couple of quick photos before totally freaking out!

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After a good hour or so exploring the area, taking photos and trying to avoid other humans, we were back in the car heading south of Hope to Flood Falls. We’ve seen A LOT of waterfalls in our time, but there were two things that set this apart from the many we have visited before. Firstly, it was such an easy walk to get to! It took us about 20 minutes and it was mainly flat terrain with a few small inclines. We are relatively unfit (mostly due to all of the cheese and wine adventures we have) and normally end up getting to a lookout point looking like complete sweaty hot messes…

Exploring Australia’s Incredible East Coast, February 2017

Secondly, lots all of our previous visits to waterfalls have been in Australia and South East Asia in hot climates. Flood Falls actually completely freezes over in winter and people come to climb it (which sounds way more terrifying than the aforementioned bridge experience!) As it is now spring, the falls are slowly melting and it was a unique experience for us to see small chunks of ice falling off the rocks into the pools below.

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Ordinarily when we’re adventuring we would stop for a nice lunch somewhere, usually a brewery or winery, and taste the local food and drink. As this is not an ordinary time in anyone’s life, we instead had to go back to our lovely cosy log house and indulge there. It was the perfect social distancing trip and we feel very grateful to have been able to experience that together. In a time of uncertainty, worry and huge change for the travel industry, we were able to feed our wanderlust in a healthy and socially responsible way. We’re looking forward to many more adventures in the truly beautiful province of British Columbia and beyond as soon as “normality” resumes.

Sunset View From Our Log Cabin, Hope BC, March 2020

#Nature #Love #Canada #Food #Life #Travel