Canada's Birthday!

It turns out that Canada has a birthday each year on 1st July and we get a public holiday to celebrate it. A day off from work is always welcome in my eyes. The occasion marks the joining of the British colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada into a federation on July 1, 1867. The British Government at first kept limited rights of political control over the new country, which were shed in stages over the years until the last vestiges were ended in 1982. Canada Day thus differs from Independence Day celebrations in other countries in that it does not commemorate a clear-cut date of complete independence.

More importantly, what did we get up to with a bank holiday..... well we decided doing a local tourist attraction was in order and we visited the Vancouver Aquarium, in Stanley Park. This was a good couple of hours looking at marine wildlife, tropical fish, frogs, dolphins and the major attraction of beluga whales. Turns out that there was a recent Beluga Whale calf born three weeks and was pride of place in the display.

A quick afternoon nap was followed by watching the Canada Day parade along West Pender Street, one block over from our building. This was a bunch of Canadians simply having a good time with a variety of floats, trucks, super cars, dancing/flag waving people and of course Santa Claus! The finale to our day was a firework display over the Burrard Inlet in Vancouver Harbour at 10.30pm and we had the perfect view from just outside our apartment. All in all a fun day and gorgeous weather to match - my first Canada day in Canada.