Mountains, lakes and the ocean

Some observations about Canada:
- It is very very big. You knew that, I knew that, but still. It's big.
- It is VERY EXPENSIVE here. Like, a tub of butter/spread costs about $3.50. For reals. And the exchange rate isn't *that* good, although I am useless at working stuff like that out. Unless stuff has got seriously expensive in the week I have been away, it's really quite pricey out here.
- It is a new place. We're on the West Coast, so obviously the most recent place to be "settled" but still. You don't find yourself falling over old churches like you do at home. Or anything old, really. Quite a contrast to Rome, where we were earlier in the year (I wish I was as jet-setting as I sound!)
- Tax is not added. So, you see something that costs $2.50 and you take it to the till. But it doesn't cost that much, because they add the tax at the till. It's about 12%, so not loads, but still enough that getting the correct change out is a bit complicated if you don't have good maths brain like me. And it's just annoying - it doesn't cost $2.50, so don't say it does!

So, after the wedding on Saturday, and some mooching on Friday, we had to travel to Squamish, which is between Whistler and Vancouver going North up the coast.

We looked into renting/hiring a car but it was extremely expensive, so we naively thought we'd be OK. Ha. Ha. Ha. HAHAHAHAH.

Still, we were innocent at this stage in proceedings. So Sunday morning we battled across Vancover with our baggages and got to the Greyhound station and queued up and got on the bus. I'm sure the journey was very beautiful but I was mainly concentrating on not vomiting everywhere as the road twisted and turned, the bus shook from side to side and the air conditioning was blowing a gale against my ankles. Did I mention I get car/coachsick? It was was HORRIBLE. When we arrived I sat down on a bench and Rob went to explore a bit.

It is very beautiful here, surrounded by mountains, some of them snow-capped. But I felt a bit weird, sitting outside a drugstore with two cases and rucksacks, reading a book, as people passed by to do their shopping.

Rob came back with a map to the hotel. We walked. We could not find the hotel. I'm not sure what happened next, but we went to a cafe where I had a fruit and brie salad (YUMMY! *and* healthy!) and they called us a taxi.

The hotel was up the freeway/highway and really rather far away. This is when we realised a car would be somewhat handy. Oops. But it was so expensive!

Squamish is developing as a town, or should I say *was* as the money has run out. Outside our hotel is a big pile of rubble where two restaurants were meant to be. But they never got built. The taxi driver was very nice and optimistic, while my heart sank into my boots. The hotel is literally in the middle of nowhere. Walmart is sort of over the road, but that's not exactly a destination!

We checked in, drank some tea and went to Walmart. Which is basically Asda without any fresh food. Very strange. We got some fake Leibniz biscuits, which turned into dinner. I did some internet research which turned up a local car hire and some stuff to do, so I felt a bit better, although a bit nervous as today is a bank holiday (BC day).

So, today, up we got, had breakfast and got a taxi to the Adventure centre, which is a like an awesome tourist information office with a cafe, gift shop and people who will let you hire bikes. Hurrah! We had a moment's trouble with a cash point that wouldn't give either of us money, but we paid by card and off we went. I asked one of the workers there about crossing the freeway/highway and he was like, "Eh it's no big deal!" but as far as I was concerned, it was like crossing a motorway! There were traffic lights and it was fine. Hurrah, we were off!

Then Rob fell off his bike at a junction changing gear. But he was back on and off! Hurrah! We rode around a bit, and down to the "beach" where some dogs were playing which was cute, and we got this picture of Shannon Falls, the third largest waterfall in British Columbia, doncha know? ;)



Then we went into the town and Rob got some cash, hurrah!

We had lunch at cafe called Zephyr which was full of hippies and served things like raw lasagna. We had falafel wraps which were thankfully warm and served with nacho crisps.

Back on the bikes for a pootle around town and then we decided to go to the Spit which the taxi driver had told us about. The trail started off as asphalt, then turned into hard earth, and then turned in more or less shale, which kicked off a hell of a lot of dust when cars went past.

We stopped off at a little section of the path to look at the view:



I was worrying about the bike tyres, but they survived and we got there. There wasn't much there, really, I was expecting something structural beyond portaloos, but the view was amazing:



We stopped there for a few minutes, watching the people, but it was seriously windy so we came back. The Spit is a man-made structure out in to Howe Sound, I think especially for aquatic stuff. It must be great if you do that stuff.

Ride back was ok, and much quicker than the ride down there. Here's me on my bike:



We had a drink at a place called Howe Sound brewery, returned the bike, got some gifts and taxi-d back to the hotel. I think we are going to Wendys for dinner. Wish us luck.

And wish us luck for hiring a car tomorrow, we'll be a little bit limited without one!!

Holiday

Posting here as my usual blogger is borked. Effing DDOS.

Hey y'all, hope this week has treated you kindly. What a pain in the butt about the DDOS.

So, before I forget everything, here is an update of what I've been doing the past few days, for myself, but of course if you're interested, you are more than welcome to read.

So, Saturday afternoon we go to the bus station to Gatwick. Bus journey ok and we check into the Gatwick Hilton as our flight necessitated an early start, and hey the holiday always starts the night before, right?

Had dinner and tried to get an early night but completely failed. Hilarious in light of recent bed times.

The check-in desk was pretending to be another airline which was annoying, but we got the bags checked in, and went to departures to eat breakfast and hang round. I also managed to buy two pairs of shoes at this point as, the holiday starts at the airport, right?

Plane journey was ok, and we had the seats by the emergency door. Hello leg stretching! The guy next to us said he had to pay extra for the seat but we were just nice to the man on the desk, and checked in straight after him. Hurrah! I didn't watch any films, but read my book and dozed. It was 9.5 hours which is way long but we eventually arrived in CANADA.

And..OMG! The airport!!! There are jellyfish on the way to the immigration desk. Everyone was walking past it being all, "I am immigrating to Canada, I must not look at trivialities like jellyfish!" But I was like "CANADA IS AMAZEBALLS! Jellyfish! In the airport!!" So I stopped to look. And there are waterfalls, and trees and all sorts of random amazing shit in there. I could quite happily have stayed at the airport! Long queue to be asked weird questions about what work we do ("Er, physicist and equalities officer" I bet that meant a lot to her) but I did see Ginnifer Goodwin in the queue, being all loud.

So, Skytrain into town and then we went straight to the first eatery we saw which was a microbrewey and I had my first enormo-Canadian meal:



That's a Canadian there, behind me. A real one.

Rob's friend Dave who is getting married on SATURDAY came to join us and was very nice and told us where to go and we chatted for a bit and I was a bit tired and intense. But he hailed us a taxi to our hotel and off we went.

Our hotel was just around the corner really, but my bag was a bit too heavy to pull and it was hot. The hotel is AMAZEBALLS and has a nice double bed, and bathroom and kitchenette and FREE WIFI (hence this post). At 5pm I lay down and aimed to have a nap. Rob went exploring and had a nap also. We woke up at about 3am, had a chat and went back to sleep.

Woke up again at about 6.30 and went to breakfast about 7.30. Very strange indeed, considering what a slug-a-bed I usually am. But jetlag does very strange things to you!

So, Monday. We walked north to Stanley Park along the seawall and there were lots of fit people jogging and walking their dogs at 8.50 which confused us. But a world where people are jogging at this time and not going to work is a good one in my book. Stanley Park is this massive forest with an aquarium in it, so we walked around that and saw lots of little squirrel things that look like chipmunks. Then we went to the aquarium. Somehow we forgot about queues and screaming kids, particularly as the park was empty. But the aquarium was PACKED! Here are some pictures:



These are beluga whales. I do think it is cruel to keep them here in captivity, but they are quite rare and they did a little husbandry show which was cute and there was a lot of screaming. Well, the whole aquarium visit was overlaid with screaming, kids banging on the glass and generally acting like amazing contraceptives. I generally like children, but it was so busy, there was no respite!

Then we saw the Amazon section, with a sloth, which made me think of my friend Nina.



It's at the top of the shot with it's head in it's food. Parakeet below. Then we saw otters:


They seemed a bit weird and depressed, doing repetitive behaviours, but they are also rare. Bigger cage needed there I think. Then we went to see a bird show and they had a turkey vulture and Harris Hawks and a bald eagle. Awesomes!

We came back to our hotel for a bit then went to see Rob's friends Alex and Heather. Heather very kindly picked us up and I sat in the back with their 6 month old daughter Madilynn who is GORGEOUS. We made friends, but then she got all weirded out and cried for about 20 minutes. Oops. They were really lovely and it was just a casual evening and both Rob & I were very taken with the baby. We had to go home about 8pm as we were falling asleep, and that is what I did as soon as we got back at about 9pm. I did brush my teeth this time.

Tuesday
Got up about 7 again and went to Gastown, which is where the city was born and has lots of tourist tat shops. Anna-heaven! I got some magnets and key rings for people, and also a babygrow for my future niece/nephew with Canada on it. Oh, and Canada pyjamas. I had to stop then. But it's all so AWESOME!!!
Anyways, I had, in the background, been having hair traumas as it was in badly need of a wash. I mentioned this to Barbara and she said to stop any black woman with nice hair and ask where where she got it done. Except, weirdly, there are VERY VERY VERY few black people here. Lots of Chinese people, and Asian people, no black people. I did not want to be going to a wedding with bad barnet, believe me. So, toddling round Gastown there's a huge Aveda salon and through the door I spy a black woman, actually working there. We walked on a bit more then back past so in a pop, screwing up my courage...and ended up getting a blowdry. They had students who needed practice so a very nice man called Johnathan from Hawaii washed and dried my hair. PHEW! It wasn't perfect (not enough grease on it) but I got a head massage and at the end the blokey put makeup on me. Oh, and it took TWO HOURS, poor Rob, but my hair is sorted. Phew!

Then we had lunch and went to Rob's friend Dave's flat, which was surprisingly small. Then he took us on a walk round the sea, ending up in Granville Island, which is becoming one my new favourite places!


Look at the amazing fruit and veg in the background.

We had a poke around and then a drink at the microbrewery and got an Aquabus home and into bed by 9pm. Jetlag, man. Kicks your butt.

Wednesday
We got up a bit later today, had a really good lie-in, although you're only allowed to take 20 minutes at breakfast as the room is quite small for the size of the hotel and they ran out of bagels. SADFACE. So we agreed to be a bit earlier. We were meant to go to an art gallery but we hung around in our room a bit and emailed friends who were arriving this day. Then we went shopping and got Rob some jumpers and I got a Canandian skirt and a couple of tops for work which match my airport shoes perfectly. It all comes together.

We met our friends at their hotel and took them to Granville island on the aquabus where we had lunch and a pootle around. Then we went back to our respective hotels before reconvening at a pub for dinner. We stayed on Granville a bit longer, and I bought a hat for the wedding. It was quite expensive, but hey, I'm on holidays! This is a terrible picture of me, but shows the hat:



And on the Aquabus. Bloody loved the aquabus - check out the background too:



It was a bit sunny.

So all the people going to the wedding mostly arrived on this day and met up at a pub for dinner/sort of stag for Dave. When we went in, we explained we were with a party who were already there...no, we didn't know where they were sitting. But it was a big group of English people...She immediately knew where we would be. Ha! I had a salad and it was the biggest bloody thing you've ever seen! It was the size of a salad I'd put on the table for a four person dinner! It was very yummy but I couldn't finish it and wasn't really the type of thing you'd take home to eat again. Not good value for money. Everyone was very tired but we left at 10pm and walked down the main street as it had all lights. It was a bit rough thought. Bed at 11pm, latest since we got here. Feels like a weird badge of honour!!

Thursday
Today!
I got up about 8am to get going to the Museum of Anthropology but Rob was wasting time so I went to breakfast on my own (he had blueberries from the market on Granville Island and was happy for me to go, I wasn't being evil) and that was fine.

This is our street, Hornby:



We eventually got going, taking a train then a bus out to the university of British Columbia where the museum is situated. We took a bit of a walk round the campus which has amazing views across the bay and this lovely rose garden:



Sorry about the two uggers ruining the view:



When we got there we couldn't figure out the money to pay which made the man laugh. It's like toy money!!

Then we joined a tour and learned about the different tribes, and their art and saw loads of totem poles and boxes, blankets. It's such amazing stuff, I really love it and it's everywhere here. They call the indigneous people First Nations, which is nice. So we learned a lot there and had a look around the rest of the museum. The most famous artist is Bill Reid and there's some of his stuff there, including a massive sculpture which I took some photos off. I can't get the photos off my camera to post here, so you'll have to wait.

Edit: Finally home, so pictures:

House posts


VERY famous sculpture by the VERY famous Haida artist, Bill Reid.



This relates to a story a bit like Noah & the whale.

And the outside of the museum, which I assume was designed to look like a traditional First Nations house, there were totem poles out here too:




But here are the gifts I got for myself - a hummingbird brooch and frog fridge magnet. Good examples of the First Nations art. I thought the frog was funny for our fridge, considering how many have ended up in our house! And a hummingbird in purple and green seemed way to auspicious not to buy (purple and green are the colours of women's suffrage, and my trade union, hummingbirds are the national bird of Jamaica and in First Nations lore bring good luck. I will wear it on my first day back at work - maybe it will make me invisible!)


We had lunch there and then got a bus to Kitsilano beach, which was AMAZING. There's a huge public swimming pool and the sea and mountains. See:



God, this place is amazing! I doubt anyone said that about the Tropicana at Weston (RIP Tropicana). We were already a bit pooped, but we walked round the coast for about an hour, through Vanier Park which had this sculpture in it (plus Canada geese)



and back to Granville Island for a late lunch and a bit of a mosey round the shops again. I bloody love Granville Island!!

I bought these chocolates today, it's Pride week this week, and we've been on the Aquabus about five times.



Back at our hotel now and the plan tomorrow is to go to Capilano Park where there is a massive suspension bridge that my parents went over 40 years ago! And a Go Ape type thing, so it should be a bit of a challenge and something different. Then a BBQ pre-wedding and wedding on Saturday. We are going to Squamish, which is up near Whistler on Sunday so that will be a lot more country and quite different again. I just love being here, being away from all nasty work and just experiencing something different. I feel very lucky and just love it!!

ETA: So here's a couple of pictures from Capilano. Frankly, we were not overwhelmed by Capilano and as it was $32 to get in, we determined to make the most of it. I think there was a bit of a missed opportunity, really, as there's a treetop walk which contains next to no information about what's there, and I'd be happy to learn about the different types of trees and shiz like that.

View from the bridge:


They had this cliffwalk thing so we went on that. It wasn't as scary as it looks, although the bits with glass for flooring were a bit trippy:



And if you read all that, well done!!