The Mainland

Hello everyone.
Today Alex and I moved homes, waving goodbye to Fred and Roberta and their awesome place on Vancouver Island. We'd like to thank them again for their hospitality and for looking after us so well on the first part of our trip. We doubt we'll be better looked after anywhere else.

Today consisted mainly of traveling, we caught the 3pm ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen Bay on the mainland. We followed that with a fairly epic bus adventure. We had two options, catch the PCL bus that runs literally off the ferry (you get on the bus just before the ferry docks and it drives straight out of the hold) and then get picked up at the Main St Termius. That option, although very easy, cost $28. So we opted for method 2, (setting us back the hefty sum of $5) which involved leaving the ferry terminal at Tsawwassen Bay, finding bus 620, riding that for about 20mins before stopping at Ladner where we hopped off and then waited until the 601 came in. Now hopping off and on busses doesn't sound that much of an effort. However, when you are carrying about 30kg worth of packs, daybags and musical instruments between the two of you it can be quite the awkward situation. Now we had to get off the 601 about a half hour later at the corner of Granville and West Broadway. This proved to be quite a challenge as we had no idea where that stop was and what possible time it would come up. The 601 bus was also more like a school bus than a city bus, so we were shoved into this small double seat, with bags spilling over into the aisles. (All the while two boys behind us managed to spread themselves over 4 seats, and wouldn't even move their legs which Alex had to squeeze in next to so other people could get down the aisle). So after some rather thorough map consultation in the Lonely Planet book (great Chrissie present parents!) we eventually figured out where we were supposed to pull the string to stop the bus. Getting out of the bus proved another mighty effort. I think I probably managed to bruise at least 3 senior citizens by accident as I lugged my pack down the aisle. So we walked around the corner, all the while being rather enthralled with this large sprawling city that seemed pretty normal (albeit a fair bit bigger than Perth), until we saw the mountaintops looming above the buildings. Our third bus for the day was waiting patiently at the stop. We hopped on the number 9, bags sprawling over the floor. We were fine until an elderly couple climbed on. We tried to co-ordinate ourselves to shift our rather cumbersome packs to the back of the bus by the door, praying our stop was not too far away.
Here we learnt that what they say about Canadians being a thoughtful bunch was true. A man kindly vacated some seats for us, although we thanked him saying 'Our stop isn't too far away... we hope.' A girl at the door told us our stop was coming up, and as thanks we managed to almost trap her on the bus when our bags got caught in the door opening mechanism. Another man who got off the bus a few stops later assured us that ours was only a few blocks away. With the looks we were getting we were grateful when Snt Catherines St flashed up on the overhead sign. However I managed to embarrass myself further by getting the pack caught between my legs and basically falling off the bus, guitar and daypack somehow making it out with me. A proud day for Australians everywhere. Needless to say, we were the object of EVERY person on the bus' attention as it pulled away from the kerb.

Speaking of Australians being everywhere, we are yet to meet a single other traveling Aussie. This rather upsets us, but we have at least met a whole bunch of Canadians who have been to Australia so we have had a few interesting conversations there.

Despite our wild bus ride, we did manage to make it to Amelia and Jute's apartment in downtown Vancouver. We were also super stoked to meet their dog, Maggie. Our luck in the food department continued as they very kindly took us out for a delicious Vietnamese dinner. The 4th game in the 'best of 7' 1st round playoffs series between Vancouver and St Louis was, to our delight, being played on widescreen tellys in the restaurant. I think I may have mentioned this before, but the Canucks were 3 up in the series, and it is basically unheard of to go 4 straight, so tonight was a big game. It went to an OT period after being 2-2 for most of the game and with about 5 minutes to go Burrows scored to seal the series for the Canucks. Word is people will be rioting, but the game is in St Louis so all is quiet on the local front. Hopefully we will be able to follow the Canucks as they progress through the playoffs.

So again we are so far unplanned for tomorrow, but Amelia is hopefully going to score us some snowshoes so we can take a bus up to the ski slopes near the city and play in the snow. No chance of actual skiing... too expensive. It is a pretty cool feeling to be able to look up and see the lights from the runs blinking in the sky. Vancouver itself is a pretty neat city and we hope to go out and make the most of it over the next few days.

Here are the days photos:

Alex, Fred and Roberta

Fred's shop

Alex and I inside Fred's 1966 230SL Mercedes convertible

Fred with the Mercedes

Alex and I in Fred's International truck