BC’s oldest cache, from February 2001, is an ammo can in Pacific Spirit Park near UBC: https://coord.info/GC1DD
Yes! Tons of great caches nearby to explore. Personally, I think anything put out by layzee_bones is worth finding. Is there any type of cache in particular you’re interested in? Or just starting out in the hobby?
There’s lots of areas with clusters close together, lots of parks worth visiting! If you’re new, I’d recommend sticking to larger sizes (i.e. not micro) as well as low difficulty rating. And caches in the woods might be easier than urban hides to start off