Coastal BC is definitely the most NZ-like part of Canada

If you want good coffee in Canada it’s everywhere except Tim Hortons.

In terms of  Europe, if you hit the east coast, Newfoundland specifically, you can take a short ferry ride over to the Islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. They are French Territory Isles. As expected they speak French (and English), use the Euro, drive cars manufactured in France (and others), required to display French license plates on their vehicles, street signage is in French etc etc. There is lots of great French foods, festivals etc. You often see cars with France license plates in Newfoundland when people come over from the islands to shop. I think you will need your passports to enter, though Canadians don't.

Campbell River would have been a perfect spot to live for First Nations, the east side of the island has much drier weather, less fog, calmer seas and more hours of useable sunshine for growing. Add some big shallower beaches and some flatter land along the shore and it's pretty much perfect. I think there are four of five rivers there that all have salmon runs, and I think four different species use the rivers and at different times of year. The gradient and aspect of the land allows for the use of the forests for their resources, flat land for farming, shallow beaches suitable for aquaculture - all of which the Salish bands excel at. Salmon fishing is huge in Campbell river, locals will freeze a good part of their catch, but drive around any neighbourhood and you will find people smoking salmon, making candied salmon and even on fancy barbecues, cooking their salmon on cedar planks - all traditional methods of cooking and preserving salmon the at have been used for thousands of years in the region. You'll also see salmon included in all sorts of art, it is integral to life in many ways.
Regions like that would have been settled because of resources and geography, lots of tectonics were involved in the creation of the west coast, which means many seams of minerals have been pushed close to the surface. The forests were logged and the rivers and oceans were the only way to move the lumber. It is not unique to the island, but many Canadian towns and cities remain "hubs". There is so much land between towns that smallholdings, farms, ranches etc are numerous. When you see what appears to be am outsized industrial area or a mall or shopping centre that seems incomprehensibly  big, it is because they are serving a region, not just a town. A town of 5,000 people might be the shopping/services hub for many, many times that number of people.
Next time you go into a supermarket, take a look at the staples. You'll find that supermarkets typically have more shelf space set aside for full sacks of things like flour or sugar than they do for regular bags. 20-30lb sacks are perfect if you have to drive into town for supplies. You may also notice that'll supermarkets carry canning supplies too. Soon they will be increasing their stock, especially as the peach harvest in the Okanagan approaches, then peaches are sold by the case and you'll see everybody in the supermarket parking lot loading up their vehicles to take them home and can them.  Some of the "settler" or homesteaders ways are still ingrained in the urban population too.

Happy to see you enjoying Campbell River. I moved here from the Rockies a few years ago and absolutely love it! Since you spent a good amount of time talking about it, I thought I'd let you know that the safe moorage info you shared is a myth. While boaters have a common-law "right of navigation" to anchor temporarily for safe harbor or emergencies, they don't have the right to park a floating home long-term, tie off to public structures, or occupy the water space for free. They may get away with it for a while, like RV's that park in lots but from a legal standpoint float homes and floating accommodations must be moored in approved marinas or designated water lots, and generally require long-term leases or licenses from the province. Have fun out there!

Tofino and Ucluelet give me Byron Bay or Noosa vibes.  I can definitely see Burleigh Heads in the port area of Campbell River.  If you make it out to eastern Canada, you will feel a more foreign vibe.  In Montréal, Québec City and indeed throughout Québec, street signs will be in French, and along the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia coasts, fishing villages and rural Acadian towns will give you a different feeling than BC or the West.

Bonjour, I like this long form rough edged stream of thought kind of style, it’s very entertaining. Glad you’re enjoying Canada! You should check out Kingston in Ontario, it’s our original capital city from way back in the 1600’s before it was moved to Ottawa to protect the government from possible invasions from the Americans. It’s not a place many tourists ever visit or know about but I think it’s worth a stop if you’re driving through and interested in some Canadian history. I would strongly recommend going to eastern Canada if you’re looking for a more foreign vibe or streets with character western Canada is extremely new and has only really recently been settled.

lol as a Canadian who has been across our nation, when I went to visit New Zealand [especially the south island] I commented on how it felt like somebody just squished our east coast to the west coast with New Zealand having just a smaller bit of everything we have in Canada hehe

You'll find across Canada that land acknowledgements are done at many public events, educational settings, on some TV newscasts, government meetings and events etc to recognize Indigenous peoples and their traditional territories.

مريض المعده ❤

Perhaps a helpful word for what you're looking for is "exotic?"
More than just foreign, but also exciting/interesting/intriguing.

Welcome to our beautiful city by the sea :) we do have grizzly bears here now they swam across from the mainland, we also have coastal wolves  here on the island :) enjoy your visit !

Did you check out Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park?
Huge tides.

You need to go north to have a more unique experience. Yukon and NWT are amazing. Go to Dawson City. 24 hour daylight in June, amazing auroras in Aug. The north has the best wilderness, festivals, friendly people, etc etc.  Definitely go north.

Hi Cory!! Any update on the drone? Were you ever able to find it? Hopefully you got it replaced. 🙏

The west coast of British Columbia, including Vancouer Island where you are in this video, is well known for being almost exactly the same climate and geography as New Zealand. Also both countries have had their native populations basically eradicated through disease and conflict, leaving barely any physical traces of the rich cultures that used to thrive there many years ago. Yes they're still present but certainly a minority presence in modern society of both countries. So of course a Kiwi in Vancouver Island wouldn't feel like they are traveling at all! They're both British colonies with temperate climates, not hot not cold, ocean, and forested mountains. Try moving further north or east (or both!) and you will for sure experience difference scenery. Although given the prominent British influence, most cities will have a similar feel, aside from cities in Quebec and perhaps further on the east coast.

I understand what you're saying about the area unchallenging areas that you're traveling.. One thing is there actually so tourist?
Are such tourist areas that they've been worked at so that it's easier for tourism or people from other countries to find things.. Tell me that everything is so commercial. But I think the words you're looking for is you want something more challenging. O k so you can go to nepal. Mongolia. Or some african countries. There is a lot of danger of human kind and there is a lot of perilous travel. Especially if you go to pakistan or even india. And some of the smaller countries. I take a lot of travel Vlogs, online, and it's a amazing to travel to some of the areas where the photographer takes you.. They're like you're doing. They're walking tours but boy on some of them. You're taking your life into your own hands. So continue enjoying the Calm ness Of canada. Canada's known as the country of nice people. We pride ourselves on having good manners being hospitable in doing our best to help where we can.. Not everyone but generally. And by the way, thank you for traveling to Canada. I have a son who lives in campbell river.

Europe was around...long before Canada...so historical buildings of that time don't exist here so much...we are a young country, so unless you go to eastern Canada, like Quebec city, you won't come across many historical buildings.  Like everywhere in the world now, unfortunately, dodgy exists...you have to be careful, no matter where you are.  Since 2019 when covid effected the world & slowed it down, as we were recovering from that, a war was started in Europe and then

A change to another countries leadership came in...& the world is now at a unfortunate standstill. So progress is not happening as it should. BC is a huge natural vastness...not tropical, historical like Europe...but known for the much untouched natural qualities...still lucky to have so much pristine land.


I appreciated your observation and thoughts in regard to that...like someone coming up with a plan to create a business to deal with the possible influx of boats in the water and waste management.

I can see how you felt the cities or towns don't differ that much from Australia, with my daughter traveling in Australia
I understand what you are saying...
For those who travel this world...it is such a learning experience about our world...for those who don't get to travel this world, video's you share with those, get to see more of this world...
Take care...
It will be interesting to see where you go next...

Sealions  - and seals have been culled in many places around the world, populations can explode and fishermen often feel the are competing for fish. The resident whales here don't eat seals though, so would not have been upset by a reduction in seals - in fact they may have enjoyed the extra fish. It is the transient killer whales that eat seals and things and I can't really see a reduction in numbers effecting them that significantly, they only eat a minute number of them compared to the population, they also have a vast range that goes from top to bottom of the North American coast. They also travel around 100 miles a day - like other dolphins and whales they have "unihemispheric slow-wave sleep" meaning they more or less sleep each side of their brain individually, they can happily keep swimming 24 hours a day. If a community like Campbell River could eliminate every seal or sea lion in a hundred miles, the transients could blow through that in a day.
If you dig a little deeper, I think you'll find that fisherman also regarded the killer whales as competition for the fish and were killing them too. Something people don't like to talk about. Until the mid to late 19th century the world was lit with whale oil - whale meat was sold as pet food when I was a child, and I think it was used as a lubricant into the 1980s.
In Antartica - where there are no trees, they solved the problem of fuel to render the fat from whales by burning penguins - nice fatty birds.
The industry only died when humans discovered oil and its by products and set about destroying the entire planet rather than a few select species.

11.95 for a croissant
Bonkers......