Appearances are deceiving: on a map of Canada, Vancouver Island, about an hour’s floatplane flight from the famous city of the same name, looks small — but it is in fact the largest island on the west coast of the American continent, the 43rd largest island in the world, stretching 450 km from north to south and 80 km from east to west.
With its vast beaches pounded by Pacific swells, its coastal temperate rainforests and stands of giant pine, its maze of calm, clear waterways winding between strings of wooded islands and islets to explore by kayak, its brightly painted timber houses, and the whales, orcas, grizzlies, brown bears and seals that inhabit its waters and shores, Vancouver Island is British Columbia distilled.
