It was another good sunny day a week before, on a Sunday - too good to waste lazing inside a house. And so like what we've been doing the past couple of sunny weekends, we decided to set out early morning for a drive to Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver. It was a good hour drive from Richmond (ok, that's just my estimated time) and so we got there at a good time, when the sun's rays still wasn't harmful to the skin.
Like all parks or lakes that we've been to, it was quiet, and surprisingly so, not much crowded. There were a few families and some recreational group of friends who went there to scuba dive. The park is surrounded by the Horseshoe Bay, near the BC Ferry Terminal, where you take ferries to go to Vancouver Island. So seeing a speedboat or a jetski in the waters comes as a no surprise. Of course, there's also the occasional BC Ferry ride which would startle the calm waters and send big waves to the shoreline for a couple of minutes. Other than that, it was a really calming place, quiet and reserved.
But Whytcliffe, as it is appropriately named so, is famous for the little cliff in the waters, which visitors could climb and get a full 360-degree, panoramic view of the place. Granted, the way to the cliff is no walk in the park, no land, just rocks - small and huge ones - that you step onto and hope they don't give out on you. Haha! But you'd feel they're pretty sturdy once you step on them so you don't really have to worry. One thing you need to be cautious about though, is you slipping, if you're wearing shoes that don't have that much grip on the stones. So be careful on not stepping onto ones that have grown moss on them. Balance is key as well so be sure you're packed full with that skill. It may sound that it is a treacherous trek but it isn't really, those are the only points you need to remember to ensure you don't fall in the shallow waters.
With getting to the top of the cliff as the main event in the park, we started walking the rocky path, unaware that it would actually be a tiresome task. Not halfway yet there and we were already reminding each other to be careful and watch our step. As we neared the cliff, we looked back and joked about how it would be a very loooooong way back, even though it wasn't even one kilometre! We reached the start of the climb and it was a bum as I realized I can't go up as I was wearing flip-flops, not much good on a climbing a cliff. Only my dad, brother and uncle went up and us girls just took pictures, talked as we waited for them to go down. So unfortunately, I didn't have a photo of how it looks like from atop a cliff and we also didn't see the wild seal that they warned was living in the area. Sad face. Oh well.
And here we go, time to look at photos! ☺
See, I wasn't joking when I said it was a very rocky path
My dad and brother atop the cliff
My brother overlooking the "sea" (Haha, he'd be mad to see this photo here but his face doesn't show anyway, so whatever)
Tree on the cliff