Hey folks. Unfortunately today was probably the least blog-worthy day of the trip... I mean, right now I am sitting in my PJs watching 'Ice Road Truckers'. Nuff said.
Alex flew out to Calgary this morning at 7:00am so she was up and about at 4:30am getting ready. I however was slack and stayed in bed until about 90 seconds before she left. So no feast for me.
I'm getting picked up to go to Camp Summit tomorrow at 12 so I had a few chores to do, buying guitar strings and my supplies for dinner and breakfast, which was two apples and a Snickers bar. (Jute and Meels have let me have free rein in their kitchen.)
So some crazy things about Canada. Everything here is big, from the cars to the seagulls, the street numbers (all in the thousands), the roads (think TransCanada Hwy) and the city. Vancouver is so much more spread out than Perth, people actually live in it so its sprawls out over a much bigger area. Also, for some reason, houses are like 87% window. There are some seriously busy window washers around here I swear.
Also they set their heaters to the same temperature we set our air conditioners. Go figure.
Anyway sorry for the boring post, but I just did chores today like buying guitar strings and deodorant, so not very interesting. Alex however I'm sure will have much more to say (the drinking age in Alberta being 18 and all.... jokes!) so hopefully she will put something up to make up for this.
Next time you hear from me I'll be at Camp Summit, but there is no saying when I might get to use their internet so we shall just have to wait and see.
Showing posts with label Vancouver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vancouver. Show all posts
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Lynn Canyon
Hey everyone. Today Alex and I embarked on a mission to see Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge. Amelia kindly gave us some transport tickets so we didn't have to spend a dime.
Cause it was my birthday we decided to buy breakfast... also we had eaten all our supplies. We had our hearts set on waffles since we went past a waffle place in Victoria. We walked up and down Commercial Drive but finally had to settle for French Toast and Pancakes. All for the princely sum of $10.00. We know how to find a bargain.
So we set off on the SkyTrain. Without meaning to, we actually committed the offence of fare-evasion (we couldn't figure out what we were meant to do with our un-validated tickets). It didn't actually matter as no one came to check, but I did wonder if there was a clause in their punishment policy that allowed for confused Australian backpackers on their birthday. I like to think there is.
So after our illicit activities on the SkyTrain we headed to our second mode of transport for the day, a strange slug-shaped vehicle called a SeaBus. It's pretty much like the ferries on the Swan, except bigger and with a weird cabin on the top. So we piled into this rather absurd looking creature as it crawled across the Fraser Creek. This time we did get our tickets validated... not as bad ass as we thought. The SeaBus was pretty good at giving us a view of North Vancouver. The city is so close to the mountains, you can actually see the ski runs from the street.
Our final step on the public transport front was the 229 bus. We had to ask the driver to let us know when the stop we needed to get off at came up. Luckily for us he was very obliging.
After a few minutes walk we reached the Lynn Canyon Park and Ecological Centre. As it was entry by donation Alex and I decided to take a look. After donating a solid 55c (don't judge us, some more rich looking people than us didn't even donate anything) we had a look around the centre and learnt a few things about Black Bears, the Sulphur Cycle and how slow Canadian forests are at regenerating after forest fires (it can take them like 200 years!!). We also saw part of a tree that was 1000 years old, like it saw the first settlers landing, as well as the start of WWI. It was pretty rowdy, nature style.
So after geeking it up in the ecological centre, we decided to head out and learn some stuff about the area first hand. The Suspension Bridge was pretty damn tall and unfortunately too skinny to be of any use in a game of Pooh Sticks (if you don't know what that is you seriously need to get your A. A. Milne on). The water was rushing like crazy down the granite stones, and even though it looked several metres deep it was like crystal clear. Alex had obtained a little booklet with some info about the trails, so we set off upstream to try and find this pool they mentioned.
A few minutes walk through the dense green forest and we were there. I swear I have never seen anything so darn green. The leaves are green, the floor is green, the water is green even the bark is green with moss, and the stones. So much darn green, so not used to it!
We got to the pool and it was so pretty we decided to chow down on the apples we bought from BuyLo Foods (we managed to spend $5 each on groceries and it will last us to the end of this week. Maaad budgeting skillz). We sort of perched ourselves on a rock and were admiring the view when these 3 kids caught our eye. They were brothers messing about on the waters edge. Their Dad showed them a quarter that someone had chucked in the pool and dared them to go swimming for it. Everyone who was watching chuckled to themselves. There was no way those boys were going in the water, it was so cold, most of it was snow melt fresh off the mountain slopes. Like icier than you can even imagine. However, one of the kids, to everyones surprise, stripped off to his boxers and was seriously about to go for it. We watched on, somewhat tranfixed. Him and his brothers messed about in the shallows a few times until one of them fully stacked it and got soaked. Hilarious.
We decided to stop being strange weirdos watching kids and take the downstream path to the Twin Falls. It was a nice walk, plenty of stairs and rocks to climb over. We eventually came to a small bridge crossing the river. To be perfectly honest I don't actually remember seeing two falls at any point so the twin thing was kinda lost on me... but the water was nice. Some parts looked like 6 metres deep but I swear you could still see the bottom. Crazy glacial water.
We decided to head home but not before we tripped out to 'Dollar Giant' - Alex and my new best friend. You can check out the incredibly healthy nature of our purchases in the photo at the bottom.
Anyway better dash, we're getting up at 4:30am tomorrow to have a feast before Alex's taxi arrives and I am abandoned for the day!!
Alex hiding in a tree stump
Alex with the creek that runs through Lynn Canyon
Me in the greenest place I've ever seen
The pool where the kids were diving for the quarter
View through the canopy
Our fab purchases at Dollar Giant
Cause it was my birthday we decided to buy breakfast... also we had eaten all our supplies. We had our hearts set on waffles since we went past a waffle place in Victoria. We walked up and down Commercial Drive but finally had to settle for French Toast and Pancakes. All for the princely sum of $10.00. We know how to find a bargain.
So we set off on the SkyTrain. Without meaning to, we actually committed the offence of fare-evasion (we couldn't figure out what we were meant to do with our un-validated tickets). It didn't actually matter as no one came to check, but I did wonder if there was a clause in their punishment policy that allowed for confused Australian backpackers on their birthday. I like to think there is.
So after our illicit activities on the SkyTrain we headed to our second mode of transport for the day, a strange slug-shaped vehicle called a SeaBus. It's pretty much like the ferries on the Swan, except bigger and with a weird cabin on the top. So we piled into this rather absurd looking creature as it crawled across the Fraser Creek. This time we did get our tickets validated... not as bad ass as we thought. The SeaBus was pretty good at giving us a view of North Vancouver. The city is so close to the mountains, you can actually see the ski runs from the street.
Our final step on the public transport front was the 229 bus. We had to ask the driver to let us know when the stop we needed to get off at came up. Luckily for us he was very obliging.
After a few minutes walk we reached the Lynn Canyon Park and Ecological Centre. As it was entry by donation Alex and I decided to take a look. After donating a solid 55c (don't judge us, some more rich looking people than us didn't even donate anything) we had a look around the centre and learnt a few things about Black Bears, the Sulphur Cycle and how slow Canadian forests are at regenerating after forest fires (it can take them like 200 years!!). We also saw part of a tree that was 1000 years old, like it saw the first settlers landing, as well as the start of WWI. It was pretty rowdy, nature style.
So after geeking it up in the ecological centre, we decided to head out and learn some stuff about the area first hand. The Suspension Bridge was pretty damn tall and unfortunately too skinny to be of any use in a game of Pooh Sticks (if you don't know what that is you seriously need to get your A. A. Milne on). The water was rushing like crazy down the granite stones, and even though it looked several metres deep it was like crystal clear. Alex had obtained a little booklet with some info about the trails, so we set off upstream to try and find this pool they mentioned.
A few minutes walk through the dense green forest and we were there. I swear I have never seen anything so darn green. The leaves are green, the floor is green, the water is green even the bark is green with moss, and the stones. So much darn green, so not used to it!
We got to the pool and it was so pretty we decided to chow down on the apples we bought from BuyLo Foods (we managed to spend $5 each on groceries and it will last us to the end of this week. Maaad budgeting skillz). We sort of perched ourselves on a rock and were admiring the view when these 3 kids caught our eye. They were brothers messing about on the waters edge. Their Dad showed them a quarter that someone had chucked in the pool and dared them to go swimming for it. Everyone who was watching chuckled to themselves. There was no way those boys were going in the water, it was so cold, most of it was snow melt fresh off the mountain slopes. Like icier than you can even imagine. However, one of the kids, to everyones surprise, stripped off to his boxers and was seriously about to go for it. We watched on, somewhat tranfixed. Him and his brothers messed about in the shallows a few times until one of them fully stacked it and got soaked. Hilarious.
We decided to stop being strange weirdos watching kids and take the downstream path to the Twin Falls. It was a nice walk, plenty of stairs and rocks to climb over. We eventually came to a small bridge crossing the river. To be perfectly honest I don't actually remember seeing two falls at any point so the twin thing was kinda lost on me... but the water was nice. Some parts looked like 6 metres deep but I swear you could still see the bottom. Crazy glacial water.
We decided to head home but not before we tripped out to 'Dollar Giant' - Alex and my new best friend. You can check out the incredibly healthy nature of our purchases in the photo at the bottom.
Anyway better dash, we're getting up at 4:30am tomorrow to have a feast before Alex's taxi arrives and I am abandoned for the day!!
Alex hiding in a tree stump
Alex with the creek that runs through Lynn Canyon
Me in the greenest place I've ever seen
The pool where the kids were diving for the quarter
View through the canopy
Our fab purchases at Dollar Giant
Thursday, April 23, 2009
More walking...
We were attempting to be out the door nice and early this morning, maybe 11am, to climb up Grouse Mountain on a trail known as The Grouse Grind. This is meant to be a gruelling climb up the mountain which is supposedly like climbing up stairs for 2 hours (the fact that it's only a 3km track might give you an idea of how steep it is!). We got ourselves all pumped up for this extreme experience, we had our backpacks with water, lunch, hats and jackets and were ready to bounce out the door when Whit went to turn off the computer. She accidentally scrolled down on the webpage and their lay some words in fine red print that stopped us in our tracks. 'The trail is currently in full closure for the winter.' So that kind of hindered our leaving the house a bit.
Instead we decided upon another day of some epic walking. No buses for us! After some quality salt and vinegar chip devouring/Sense and Sensibility viewing we took a walk to MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op). This was a rather eye opening yet devastating visit. Walking through the city block sized store, we couldn't help but notice how everything was hundreds of dollars cheaper than it would be in Australia even if it was on sale! I nearly cried.
On the upside Whitaker bought a sleeping bag for a well spent $140 dollars...plus tax of course.
By the time we got home we'd clocked over 4km and it was 3.30pm. Last night Jute had told us that New Moon (the new movie of the twilight series) was being filmed at a school 'around the corner'. This we would come to realise was a 4.5 km trek each way. Unaware of this we again set off for a test of our physical limits (I refer here to that little mountainous bike ride around Saltspring Island you may have read about). On the way we took a walk down Commercial Drive which is full of shops and places to eat. The best of which we found to be the $1 store, where absolutely everything is $1! Including Mars Bars, Snickers, Kit Kats, shampoo, colgate toothpaste, EVERYTHING. So we've planned a shopping trip there tomorrow to stock up on all the important stuff (mainly candy bars). We quickly regretted leaving our wallets at home for this particular walk.
After an hour we finally reached the school, although there weren't the tents and vans that Jute had mentioned, it was a thursday afternoon after all... but we did still have a look around the school. It is set right near the Vancouver mountains which provide a pretty epic backdrop to the place. I don't know how the students there get any work done.
So then came the walk home. It was 5.45pm by this point and we were both fairly sick of walking and pretty eager for some dinner. I proposed we try and be home by 6.30 which Issy swore wasn't going to happen but we set off at a very swift pace unwilling to try shortcuts as we had no phone or money, or sense of where we were, past the few streets we had walked to get there. After nearly collapsing on the walk and fantasising about food, Edward Cullen and not having to walk anymore, we stumbled across Windsor st (our street!). We had 5 minutes to reach home by our deadline of 6.30pm so we broke into a run and sprinted down the street. Amelia was walking into the house at the same time that we ran into view and looked a little confused as we huffed our way through the gate and collapsed in the house. By now they understood our reluctance for paying for buses, so no questions were asked.
Hi, Whit here. Alex is just having a shower so I'm finishing up. After our solid 13k day we had a delicious BBQ meal of hamburgers and chicken wings to refill the tank. Alex and I are in awe of the wonderful Canadian hospitality we continue to recieve... though I suppose Jute and Meels are technically Aussies... but either way we are super lucky and very grateful!
Catch you all tomorrow for my Canadian birthday!!
Here are the photos:
Christening the new sleeping bag
A busy Vancouver intersection... complete with mountains
Alex and I tried to be subtle taking a picture of the Twilight school, so we took this picture first
Templeton Senior School, where the Twilight film was made!!
Alex in front of TSS
Me putting my Hedgren bag to good use!! Thank you Andersons
Instead we decided upon another day of some epic walking. No buses for us! After some quality salt and vinegar chip devouring/Sense and Sensibility viewing we took a walk to MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op). This was a rather eye opening yet devastating visit. Walking through the city block sized store, we couldn't help but notice how everything was hundreds of dollars cheaper than it would be in Australia even if it was on sale! I nearly cried.
On the upside Whitaker bought a sleeping bag for a well spent $140 dollars...plus tax of course.
By the time we got home we'd clocked over 4km and it was 3.30pm. Last night Jute had told us that New Moon (the new movie of the twilight series) was being filmed at a school 'around the corner'. This we would come to realise was a 4.5 km trek each way. Unaware of this we again set off for a test of our physical limits (I refer here to that little mountainous bike ride around Saltspring Island you may have read about). On the way we took a walk down Commercial Drive which is full of shops and places to eat. The best of which we found to be the $1 store, where absolutely everything is $1! Including Mars Bars, Snickers, Kit Kats, shampoo, colgate toothpaste, EVERYTHING. So we've planned a shopping trip there tomorrow to stock up on all the important stuff (mainly candy bars). We quickly regretted leaving our wallets at home for this particular walk.
After an hour we finally reached the school, although there weren't the tents and vans that Jute had mentioned, it was a thursday afternoon after all... but we did still have a look around the school. It is set right near the Vancouver mountains which provide a pretty epic backdrop to the place. I don't know how the students there get any work done.
So then came the walk home. It was 5.45pm by this point and we were both fairly sick of walking and pretty eager for some dinner. I proposed we try and be home by 6.30 which Issy swore wasn't going to happen but we set off at a very swift pace unwilling to try shortcuts as we had no phone or money, or sense of where we were, past the few streets we had walked to get there. After nearly collapsing on the walk and fantasising about food, Edward Cullen and not having to walk anymore, we stumbled across Windsor st (our street!). We had 5 minutes to reach home by our deadline of 6.30pm so we broke into a run and sprinted down the street. Amelia was walking into the house at the same time that we ran into view and looked a little confused as we huffed our way through the gate and collapsed in the house. By now they understood our reluctance for paying for buses, so no questions were asked.
Hi, Whit here. Alex is just having a shower so I'm finishing up. After our solid 13k day we had a delicious BBQ meal of hamburgers and chicken wings to refill the tank. Alex and I are in awe of the wonderful Canadian hospitality we continue to recieve... though I suppose Jute and Meels are technically Aussies... but either way we are super lucky and very grateful!
Catch you all tomorrow for my Canadian birthday!!
Here are the photos:
Christening the new sleeping bag
A busy Vancouver intersection... complete with mountains
Alex and I tried to be subtle taking a picture of the Twilight school, so we took this picture first
Templeton Senior School, where the Twilight film was made!!
Alex in front of TSS
Me putting my Hedgren bag to good use!! Thank you Andersons
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
City Walks
Today Alex and I woke without much planned so as usual we got off to a bit of a slow start. We decided we needed to get to the Visitors Centre to get some info and a bus schedule. The visitors centre is about 6.5km away so we decided we'd take a bit of a stroll through the city on our way. We walked through downtown Vancouver until we reached the city, passing GM Place (the home rink of the Vancouver Canucks) and then onto the city centre. There is some serious construction going on in the city because of the Olympics. The 'Canada Line' train is being put in underground.
We figured out why its sometimes called the City of Glass, every building is basically all windows.
I think the coolest thing about Vancouver is how you can look up from the dirty urban tangle of concrete buildings, chain link fences and broken glass to see the unspoilt wild mountains rising from the rooftops. I think you can kind of see it one of the photos below.
So once we made it to the Visitors Centre and scored ourselves some extensive bus schedules that we could barely understand, we hit up the food court. A few tacos and some unimpressive Starbucks cake later we hit the streets with a plan to catch a bus back to Amelia and Jute's place. Because we couldn't figure out the busses (and Alex's personal vendetta against Canadian busses) by the time we walked to the line we thought we were going to catch we were a quarter of the way home so we figured we'd just walk all the way back again. I think walking through the city is a good way to orientate yourself, getting to know the street names and where some of the shops and other things are (especially the $1 pizza slice store) as well as saving $5 (the busses over here are a rip!).
So yeah not much to tell today apart from our epic walking... which I already mentioned. Oh yeah and we had pizza for dinner. And walked Maggie. Yeah...OH aaaannnnnddd, they don't have crinkle cut Salt and Vinegar chips over here!! They just don't exist. Unheard of even. What kind of country is this?
Vancouver mountains from the city
Not a great photo...not even close...but we figure we needed one of us...
Alex doing some wicked sick maneuvers on the rails of the Canucks home ground
The Canucks home rink
OMG we found Milo in Canada...for $7 a tin though...not including 12% tax, and that's Canadian dollars...:O
We figured out why its sometimes called the City of Glass, every building is basically all windows.
I think the coolest thing about Vancouver is how you can look up from the dirty urban tangle of concrete buildings, chain link fences and broken glass to see the unspoilt wild mountains rising from the rooftops. I think you can kind of see it one of the photos below.
So once we made it to the Visitors Centre and scored ourselves some extensive bus schedules that we could barely understand, we hit up the food court. A few tacos and some unimpressive Starbucks cake later we hit the streets with a plan to catch a bus back to Amelia and Jute's place. Because we couldn't figure out the busses (and Alex's personal vendetta against Canadian busses) by the time we walked to the line we thought we were going to catch we were a quarter of the way home so we figured we'd just walk all the way back again. I think walking through the city is a good way to orientate yourself, getting to know the street names and where some of the shops and other things are (especially the $1 pizza slice store) as well as saving $5 (the busses over here are a rip!).
So yeah not much to tell today apart from our epic walking... which I already mentioned. Oh yeah and we had pizza for dinner. And walked Maggie. Yeah...OH aaaannnnnddd, they don't have crinkle cut Salt and Vinegar chips over here!! They just don't exist. Unheard of even. What kind of country is this?
Vancouver mountains from the city
Not a great photo...not even close...but we figure we needed one of us...
Alex doing some wicked sick maneuvers on the rails of the Canucks home ground
The Canucks home rink
OMG we found Milo in Canada...for $7 a tin though...not including 12% tax, and that's Canadian dollars...:O
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
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
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
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