In French, there is a proverb that says: "Grass is always greener elsewhere..." It might not be the case here in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. Indeed it rains a lot! And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. The city is know as the wettest city in Canada, with 2,590 millimeters of annual average precipitation. To give you a better idea, it is what falls on London in four years time, or on Brussels in three years time! People say it is even on the podium at a world level. I keep wondering how this is possible to have even wetter cities on Earth!
According to the records, it is regarded as the municipality of Canada which receives the least amount of sunshine per year. Only 1,230 hours a year, meaning approximately 100 days (a bit more than three months). Depressing? Honestly, yes. At least at the beginning. Then sometimes, rain stops and you go better. But lack of sun is problematic. It causes lack of vitamin D, which could cause severe illness such as cancer or dementia. And psychological, it's kind of hard that you can't see the sun a lot, always clouds at the horizon and wet cold.
But at least you meet warm people to warm up. My host is Sunflower (quite ironical as a first name for this place). She is very active. As a lot of people around, she works in the fish industry: she controls whether the fishermen respect their quotas. But she is also very much involved in two organisations: a musical one and an anti-poverty charity (after school activities for the kids in need, social work with their parents). And with her friend Laura, they go hiking quite often. I went with them. Gorgeous trails. And I admit that we eventually saw the sun at some point.
I also met her daughter, son-in-law and grand-son. Sunflower will go to Paris with her daughter and grand-son next July. So we discussed a lot about this trip. I tried to give them the best tips possible to discover this wonderful country of mine! OK, it's twice smaller that British Columbia (and 20 times smaller than Canada) but it is also full of richness. I hope they will like it as much as I like this first step in Canada!
According to the records, it is regarded as the municipality of Canada which receives the least amount of sunshine per year. Only 1,230 hours a year, meaning approximately 100 days (a bit more than three months). Depressing? Honestly, yes. At least at the beginning. Then sometimes, rain stops and you go better. But lack of sun is problematic. It causes lack of vitamin D, which could cause severe illness such as cancer or dementia. And psychological, it's kind of hard that you can't see the sun a lot, always clouds at the horizon and wet cold.
But at least you meet warm people to warm up. My host is Sunflower (quite ironical as a first name for this place). She is very active. As a lot of people around, she works in the fish industry: she controls whether the fishermen respect their quotas. But she is also very much involved in two organisations: a musical one and an anti-poverty charity (after school activities for the kids in need, social work with their parents). And with her friend Laura, they go hiking quite often. I went with them. Gorgeous trails. And I admit that we eventually saw the sun at some point.
I also met her daughter, son-in-law and grand-son. Sunflower will go to Paris with her daughter and grand-son next July. So we discussed a lot about this trip. I tried to give them the best tips possible to discover this wonderful country of mine! OK, it's twice smaller that British Columbia (and 20 times smaller than Canada) but it is also full of richness. I hope they will like it as much as I like this first step in Canada!
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