Vancouver - 2011

Thursday 10^th March 2011

After nearly 18 months since Sally left Australia on her Canadian adventure, we were actually going to see her again.  The shuttle bus picked us up at 5.15am to take us to the domestic airport for our Qantas flight to Sydney, where we had a couple of leisurely hours to make our way to the international terminal and check in for our Air Canada flight to Vancouver. 

 Our flight was as pleasurable as long distance flights can be…a bit of turbulence but nothing to worry about, a good selection of movies to wile away the time and food and drinks to keep us fuelled up…and before we knew it we were making our descent into Vancouver airport, some 14½ hours later (but actually the same day we left and the same time ie 7.35am!). 

Sally had the day off work and was waiting at the airport to meet us, so we were pretty anxious to get through Customs and pick up our luggage as quickly as possible.  But of course there was a l-o-n-g queue at Customs and it seemed to take FOREVER to get through.  I couldn’t see Sally at first but John spotted her, waving madly and grinning from ear to ear.  As we got closer though she started to cry…and I started to cry…and then I started walking faster and faster until we finally had the biggest hug in the history of hugs.  It was a beautiful moment.

We had booked into an apartment in Seymour Street for the duration of our stay so we caught a taxi there.  Naturally we chatted all the way, but I couldn’t stop touching Sally to make sure that it was all for real.  The apartment was wonderful – on the 14^th floor and with great views of Vancouver city. 

 

After about an hour we decided to wander down to Granville Street (the main street of Vancouver city and running adjacent to Seymour Street) to find a place for us all to have lunch.  Sally took us to Roxie Burger which she claimed made the best burgers in Vancouver – and she was pretty much on the mark. 

After lunch John and I were starting to wither from lack of sleep so Sally decided to go back to her place to prepare for dinner that night, and John and I went back to the apartment for a couple of hours sleep.  We woke up at 5.30pm and felt totally refreshed and ready to head off to Sally and Drew’s apartment for dinner.  This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.  We caught the Skytrain from Granville Station to Commercial-Broadway and Sally was waiting for us at the station to walk us to their apartment in Victoria Drive, about a 10 minute walk away.  It was lovely to see Drew again and we felt at home straight away – their apartment is so welcoming and cozy.  Sally went to so much trouble to cook us a beautiful meal – she made samosas followed by butter chicken and rice and for dessert we had this amazing icecream with caramel filled chocolate turtles in it.  It was almost midnight before we got back to our apartment after a truly memorable evening.

Friday 11^th March

We decided not to set our alarm and just use this morning as a ‘catch up on lost sleep’ morning.  We couldn’t believe it when we finally woke up and found that it was 10.30!  Our first mission of the day was COFFEE!  As the trendy area of Yaletown was just a short walk from the apartment we set off in search of a nice place where we could buy brunch.  The rest of the afternoon was spent just poking about around Yaletown – our favourite place was Urban Fare, a wonderful organic supermarket. 

Tonight was our chance to celebrate Sally’s (belated) birthday.  Sally chose to go to Moxie’s Bar & Grill which is the place that they had been to with Prue and David when they were in Canada.  Great choice!  The food was amazing (I got to have my first taste of ribs which did not disappoint) and we talked and laughed all evening.  Another trip highlight.

Saturday 12^th March

Sally and Drew needed today to catch up on their domestic chores so we had a day to ourselves.  So we decided to visit Grouse Mountain.  This necessitated a walk to Granville Street, hop on a bus to the Waterfront, then across Vancouver Harbour in a Seabus and another bus ride to Grouse Mountain – about a 45 minute trip to a winter wonderland!  It was a total whiteout up there.  It was majorly snowing and we had no views of Vancouver at all, but we didn’t care one bit because it was snowing!  We wandered around for a bit before boarding a tractor-drawn sleigh for a ride around the mountain – which we did three times – until our backsides started to go numb and we figured it was time to get into the warmth.  We had lunch in the chalet and headed back to Vancouver late in the afternoon. 

 

John and I met up with Sally and Drew later in the evening to take them out for dinner at a Greek restaurant in Commercial Drive.  Fortunately we were doing a lot of walking because we were also doing a lot of eating so we needed one to balance out the other!

 

Sunday 13^th March

We met up with Sally and Drew around 10am to take them to brunch.  There was a local restaurant called “The Twisted Fork” that I had read great things about that we planned to go to, but unfortunately when we arrived there was a line up a mile long outside – a good indication of how good it was.  So we opted to go to the restaurant at the Best Western hotel over the road.  The atmosphere was great and the food was lovely and we had a couple of great hours chilling out with the kids.   One thing about Canada is that all the meals are HUGE and everything has potatoes of some sort to accompany them.  We were so full by the time we stumbled out and in need of a nice long walk to pack everything down. 

Monday 14^th March

Today we decided to head down to the waterfront and take a stroll to Stanley Park.  The last time we had been down there was in 2009 when we boarded our Alaskan cruise ship, so it was nice to relive that memory.  The Vancouver waterfront is very interesting as there are signposts all along the walkway telling stories about the history of the city.  The walk took us quite a while as John wanted to read every single one.

We spent some time just sitting as well, as the views across the harbour with the snow covered mountains in the distance were really beautiful.

We eventually reached Stanley Park which looked a lot different to the last time we were there.  There were no flowers and the trees were pretty bare but it was still beautiful and there were some cute little squirrels scurrying about.

Tonight turned out to be another of those ‘trip highlights’.  We went to our very first ice hockey game with Sally and Drew – the Vancouver Canucks versus the Minnesota Warriors.  Hockey is almost a religion in Canada so the atmosphere was electric.  The game is action packed and very rough, but we loved it, especially given that the Canucks won.  There were about 20,000 people in the stadium and everyone was so excited – a top night. 

Tuesday 15^th March

This morning we wandered down to Urban Fare at Yaletown to have breakfast.  Just outside was the Vancouver Trolley Bus stop and we hopped on for the hour and a half sightseeing trip through Vancouver with a very interesting commentary.  We hopped off when the trolley bus reached Gastown in its second loop and had a wander through the main streets – lots of souvenir shops where we bought some presents to take home (mainly for Jack) and a visit to the OK Boot Corral where we spent quite a bit of time chatting with the real-life cowboys who owned the shop.  John bought a hat – how unusual.

 We had lunch at The Spaghetti Factory in Gastown and made the mistake of ordering a starter of a plate of yam fries.  Little did we realise how big the plate was going to be…

By the time we got out of the restaurant it was pelting with rain so we caught the trolley bus back to Yaletown and walked home to the apartment to pack our backpacks for our trip to Vancouver Island for the next couple of days and have an early night.

Wednesday 16^th March

Up early this morning to catch a bus to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal where we caught the ferry across to Vancouver Island.  When we visited Canada in 2009 we visited Vancouver Island, but only went to Victoria and Butchart Gardens.  This time we decided to visit Tofino which was a five hour drive from Nanaimo (where the ferry docked).  This was to be our first experience driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road.  We hired a brand new Mitsubishi Outlander (complete with GPS) and pretty much launched straight into it – a bit hairy at first but John soon got the hang of it and we were on our way.  As we made our way up into the mountains there were great clumps of snow all around the side of the road and the outside temperature gauge start to plummet.  When it got down to only a couple of degrees, it started snowing!  The drive along the Pacific Rim was absolutely breathtaking and we felt like we were in another dimension. 

We arrived at Harvey House, our B&B at Chesterman beach, late in the afternoon.  What a magical place this was…

The owners Nicki and Chris were a lovely English couple and they had this HUGE dog called Herman (made us a bit homesick for Molly).  After settling into our beautiful room on the first floor, we decided to go for a walk along the beach before it got dark.  We had spent so much of our day driving that it was nice to stretch our legs.  The beach was right out of the “Twilight” movie – as it should be because it was actually filmed there.  The sand was a dark grey colour and there were huge logs strewn all around.  Very surreal.  As this was only a few days after the devastating earthquake that hit Japan, Tofino was on high alert for Tsanamis and there were warning signs all around…

 

When tea time rolled around we were pretty hungry but didn’t feel like going out for dinner.  So we went for a short drive and came across the Wildside Café where we ordered a couple of takeaway burgers which we took back to the room to enjoy.  After a wonderful hot shower we lit the fire and hopped into the absolutely massive, high, and extremely comfortable bed and watched television before settling down for a blissful night’s sleep.

Thursday 17th March

After breakfast we took off in our trusty Mitsubishi Outlander hire car and explored some more of this gorgeous part of the world - Radar Hill, Long Beach and Ucluelet. 

 

This afternoon we took a whalewatching cruise on the "Leviathan".  It was absolutely freezing - even with several layers of clothing on, including a fisherman's waterproof jacket borrowed from the cruise company.  Most of the other passengers chose to stay downstairs in the boat, but we stood firm on the deck!

 

 

 

Friday 18th March

We spent all day today travelling back to Vancouver - a beautiful drive from Tofino to Nanaimo, a lovely crossing from Nanaimo back to Horseshoe Bay and finally back to our little apartment in Seymour Street.

Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th March

An absolutely epic weekend spent at Whistler with Sally and Drew.  After a breakfast stop in Squarmish on the way, we ended up at Whistler in time for Drew to take off for a few hours of snowboarding and Sally, John and me to take the gondola up Whistler Mountain.  It was full-on snowing up on the mountain and John and Sally just had to have a snowflight, with Sally emerging as the victor.  Then we took the Peak to Peak gondola across to Blackcomb Mountain - we were lucky enough to get one of the glass-bottomed carriages for an extra special view.

 

Tonight the four of us went on a sleigh ride...

Sunday morning was absolutely pristine - the skies were clear and blue and the snow on the ground glistened.  We couldn't have asked for a better day for our snowmobile experience...four hours of unadulterated fun as we zoomed along the mountainside...

Monday 21st March

It was back to work today for Sally and Drew so John and I went to Vancouver Aquarium.  We both enjoyed it very much, especially the otters and the beluga whales.

 

Tuesday 22nd March

Today we wandered down to Yaletown to catch the Hop on Hop on Trolley Bus. Definitely the best way to see this wonderful city.  We got off at the Police Museum, Chinatown, HR McMillan Space Center and Gastown. 

 

Wednesday 23rd March

We got up at 4.30am today and made our way - in the dark - to Pacific Central train station to take the Amtrak Cascades train to Seattle.  Sadly there had been a landslide overnight and they were bussing passengers to Seattle instead, which was of absolutely no interest to us at all because the scenic train trip was our main reason for going.  So we managed to change our tickets to the following day. Instead we went back to Horseshoe Ferry Terminal and went to Bowen Island.  What a lovely unspoilt place it was too.  We had a lovely day wandering around Snug Cove, sitting by the lagoon, walking through the Crippen Regional Park with its lovely memorial garden before returning to Vancouver late in the afternoon.

 

 

 

Thursday 24th March

Take Two..Seattle!  The train ride down was definitely everything that we had read it would be - just gorgeous.  Seattle, home to the TV series "Frazier" also gave us a great welcome.  We caught a local bus that took us within walking distance of the Seattle Space Needle and from there it was only a short walk to where we were talking a 'Duck Tour'. What a hoot!  Captain Phlip was brilliant and we laughed, sang and rocked our way around the City and the Harbour.

 

After our duck tour was over we still had a few hours to kill before we had to make our way back to the train station for our trip back to Vancouver so we took a ride on the Monorail to Pike Place Markets.  It was very late before we arrived back to Seymour Street with memories of a terrific day.

 

Friday 25th March

Today was also a very special day - a day spent with our little girl.  The three of us went to Granville Island and to the wonderful markets there. 

We also bought some goodies for dinner which was being cooked for us by Sally and Drew in their apartment.  After leaving the Granville Markets, we went our separate ways on the cute little Aqua Bus ferries so that Sally could go home and get ready for dinner.

 

Our last night in Vancouver was extra special - a great meal at Sally and Drew's place and lots of fun and laughter...

Saturday 26th March

Our last day.  After doing all of our washing and packing, we met Sally and Drew for brunch and our final look around the neighbourhood.  Dinner was a special treat in a wonderful Indian restaurant in Commercial Drive - the last time the four of us would be together for quite a while.  But, the inevitable finally arrived and we had to say our goodbyes.  It had been a very memorable and happy few weeks spent with one of the most beautiful couples we have ever known.