Bye Bye England!
The views over Canada were spectacular though, and coming into Vancouver was amazing. It's incredible how the city hugs the mountains and faces right onto the sea.
After departing the plane and receiving the third degree from the border lady about how long we'd been together and how we'd funded our trip, we took the Skytrain to the city centre, but as always our first view of Vancouver from the ground was rather uninspiring. Why is it that you walk out of an airport for the first time and all you can see are car parks and dull grey buildings?
Luckily, however Vancouver has a ferry as part of its public transport system, which is quite frankly awesome. As you go across the bay you can see North Vancouver nestled against the backdrop of the mountains, it's pretty spectacular. We sat on the other side and watched the Seaplanes land and take off, enjoying a nice view of Downtown, whilst being serenaded by Panpipe classics such as ABBA and John Lennon. You know, as you do.
ABBA always brings a smile to my face, whereas it apparently induces some kind of facial contortion in George.
We then met Mark, Mark and Jen are generously hosting us this trip, and their house is gorgeous. They have this beautiful garden with a creek (stream) running through. The only slight worry is the bear sighting sign right by the house... When I asked about running trails Jen told me to talk to myself to make sure I don't get attacked by a bear, which doesn't concern me at all.
They also have a gorgeous Australian Sheep dog called Ola, who ran away after about an hour. Looking for her was certainly one way to get to know the neighbourhood. She is a super energetic dog, but also hates it if you touch her frisbee... Don't touch her frisbee!
At this point we collapsed, briefly resurfaced for dinner some tasty cauliflower and kidney bean curry. Then passed out by about nine. It was insanely necessary, I'd reached zombie stage.
This morning we headed into Vancouver, and went on a fruitless search for pancakes, bacon and maple syrup, but settled for a tasty brunch. We then began to wander round and see the sights. We stuck to downtown and gastown as we spent a rather large amount of time looking for a map. In fact when we asked a shop assistant where to find one it took a minute or so to clarify what we were asking about.
There's a real mix or achitecture which makes walking around quite pleasant. A real juxtaposition between old and new.
We hit Gastown, which the oldest part of the city, and in parts overly touristy, but we hung around just long enough to see the steam clock in action. Every hour it steam sings the Big Ben chime, but make sure to stand back as it sprays really far, as I found out to my cost.
Next we ended up in a Sports bar and ironically ended up watching the football, the Granville Island lager which is locally brewed definitely made up for it though.
Then we headed over to Chinatown, which quite frankly wasn't that impressive, but the Dr. Sun Yat Sen garden was a gorgeous tranquil spot in the centre of the city. Designed in the traditional style, and filled with plenty of people enjoying the peace and quiet.
Also the biggest Koi carp I've ever seen.
We had a healthy late lunch post massive brunch in this really nice deli/cafe called 'the salty tongue'. It was really cool with everyone sitting along one long table, and a local chef started up conversation with us. As soon as he found that George studies Audiology he essentially asked him to diagnose what were his apparently multiple ear problems. Fortunately he had to leave.
Now we're home and I am ready to crash again!
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