Vancouver, Canada

The 7:30am alarm I set dragged me out of my comfortable bed feeling like I could do with 3 more hours sleep. This was not an option as we only had till 3pm to complete our wizz around taster of Vancouver. Opening the curtains I was met with a cloudless blue day and we have been told that the weather these two days has been exceptionally good and warm for this time of year. Lucky – lets hope for more of those in the UK vs. the other option (umbrellas and macs packed).

Breakfast is not included in our superior room with a view, so after coffee from our little machine we headed down stairs and across the road to a breakfast and hamburger place called A&W or something similar. We ordered a full Canadian and OJ to share which cost a grand total of $9.50. The portions are HUGE here. The Canadian consisted of; two buttered toasts, two eggs easy over, 2 breakfast sausages, 2 bacon strips, 2 slices of tomato and some jam. The juice was about 400ml jug. Breakfast really hit the spot as we both felt a little sluggish and after that we were ready to hit the pavements with gusto.

After a final pack and check out we left our bags at the hotel to pick up later and around 10m we headed in the opposite direction to yesterday, to another water side where you can catch a water bus to Granville island for a couple of dollars. The morning was absolutely beautiful with lots of relaxed folk walking their dogs or taking in a lazy breakfast at a cafe. The areas we have seen have been very clean and airy and not really a lot of traffic or fumes.

Granville island has markets and reminded us very much of a Melbourne or Adelaide market. The food stalls were divine with Canadian salmon in various ways including maple syrup smoked which of course I had to sample. Nice but not as moist as you get at home. We decided to grab an early lunch and spoilt for choice we settled on a French place called ‘L’Epicerie’ (yes Lili) and shared a smoked pork pulled chewy bun, with Argola cheese, caramelised onions, dijon, mayo, lettuce and tomato, $8.50 Nom nom, sorry it disappeared before the camera came out. We also got a punnet of fresh blueberries which were large and very sweet, $3.

After lunch we got the water bus back over the way to the edge of a waterfront walk around the bay. Lots of people were out enjoying this particularly warm weather and even venturing out into the water for the braver ones. We were heading around the corner a bit to find some Totem poles. This was actually an over ambitious plan as we ended up running out of time to get back to the hotel and leave the city by 3. We should have got a bus over to the other side of the peninsular instead of trying to walk it. Long story short we finally quite weary, hot and sweaty got to the poles at about 2:15pm and whilst I took a couple of shots Vern took the initiative to go to a souvenir store and ask them to call us a cab as we were about 6kms from the hotel at least and there was no way we would make it back in time, even if we had the energy.

The 2hr walk around the peninsular was nice, and we passed through natural woods, lagoons with Canadian geese and I even got really close to a couple of Giant blue Herons who have little fear of people over here – unlike our small very timid grey ones. The high hills and mountains that surround the city make it scenic from every angle and the harbour was a calm green. Lots of little mussels hug the rocks and we saw crows cracking them open and eating the sweet morsels inside. The water is not very clear though, and we didn’t see fish life of any description which was odd. There is an abundance of luxury vessels that Vern lusted after and he notes that most had green algae and barnacles on them which indicates that they do not get out often. In some respects views around the waterfront and the piers is similar to Auckland.

Our taxi got us back to the hotel just on time for us to grab our bags and walk back to the train station, our legs protesting after having a little rest. We had essentially been walking for about 4.5hrs so have done pretty well today. At one part of the station the escalators down were broken which was very challenging with our 20 kilo bags – different from out last trip where we packed a lot lighter and smaller at probably 13 kg max. Together with our small back packs I feel I have been on boot camp the past 24hrs. Its all good though as it will counter act all the great foods negative impacts and get me back in condition which has lapsed a bit of recent.

Timings continued to go well and when we checked in we found we were sitting in different parts of the plane. What? I do not fancy snoring and dribbling on a strangers shoulder or vice versa so we put on our most needy and polite expressions and asked if it was possible to change as the electronic system said there were no side by side available. It must have worked as the nice British Airways bag check in lady went out the back and came back with two new seat allocations side by side. Magic. We got through the security checks and had time to grab a coffee and share a chicken burger and massive onions rings from the same chain we had breakfast. We were quite hungry having shared meals today and it would still be a few hours before our little airline meals.

Ou thoughts on Vancouver are that it is a very nice city, with a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. There were quite a few homeless and disenfranchised but overall tidy, clean and safe feeling. The city centre has lots of shops that looked worth exploring and the waterfront, islands, and parks worth exploring. I would probably have 2 or 3 days here before heading out to the country. The dining was very good and reasonable, with a focus on fresh, organic, and locally (Canadian) sourced. The fly-over experience which show cased the absolutely stunning scenery a bit further afield confirms our desire to come back for an extended Canadian holiday sometime.

I am writing this on the plane – in fact all the blogs so far as I haven’t had time to do them prior to now. I aim to upload this at Heathrow with the free wifi. This plane is a jumbo but is cramped as sardines literally. Vern’s shoulder is overlapping mine and even though the young man next to me is slim and narrow we are joined at the shoulder and arm rest. I feel really sorry for him as Vern and I are shamefully less than fresh after our exertion today. Only saving grace is that we cant lift our arms as there is no room LOL.

The service is great and Air NZ could learn a thing or two about it. To be frank the the last 4 times I have flown Air NZ I have been unimpressed. I find the staff a bit lazy and aloof. The food for dinner was not bad on BA tonight – not quite as good as Air NZ but tasty none the less. Chicken with vege on a nice seasoned moist rice or vegetarian tomato and cheese pasta which was very nice actually. Both had a little Caesar salad and a yummy choc mouse cake with a caramel drizzle like a Hershey chocolate pie from BK’s. Plenty of juice and water and very good hot leaf tea! Vern and I do not drink alcohol on planes to improve our hydration and condition at the other end. We are taking the Katmandu ‘No-Jet lag’ herbal pills again and they are doing their job well, seriously they are great and I would not like to travel without them.

Well that does me for today, I will catch a movie and then hopefully a couple of hours sleep before we land in Heathrow. The flight is only 9 hours, so a third less than a day ago, and it will be Canadian time 3am in the morning, which is British time 10am. Apparently we have a tail wind so we are expected gain 40 minutes. Our bags are already checked through to our Aegean Airlines connection and we have a 4hr wait till we board our flight to Athens. That one is a little under 4hrs, arriving there at 10:30pm local time or Canadian time 11am. Plan there of course is bed and we are staying at the airport so its a 5 minute walk which will be appreciated I am sure.