Friday 13^th September – Vancouver

Well apart from the weather letting us down, I will be having words with whomever is in charge, the city itself is very pretty. One thing we found really disturbing was the blatant drug use in the streets, on the way from the airport we saw several groups of people smoking meth, next to their little shopping trolleys filled with their possessions. Oh Canada.

The Uber driver mentioned a few streets we should stay away from. Essentially stay in the nice areas and you will be fine. The few days that we were in Vancouver, whilst I saw the drug use and it was prolific, we were pretty much left alone.

Yes, drugs are legal in Canada, including alcohol, tobacco, cannabis (for recreational use), prescription-grade narcotics. There are some restrictions, and the sale of drugs remains illegal. There is a time-limited trial that allows adults to possess a combined total of 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA without being arrested or charged. Yep, you read that right.

We arrive at our hotel, Wedgewood Hotel and Spa (Wedgewood Hotel & Spa | Vancouver Boutique Luxury Hotel) if you look at the website you will see footage of Jason and I arriving, pretty bloody nice! A man in a lovely suit and top hat sorted our bags and the staff were all very friendly and helpful. The room is massive with two large queen beds in it. YES, I get my own bed (I would regret that – partially – later on).

Dumping all our bags it is time to get a SIM card. Following the advice from the lovely hotel angels we arrive at a very large mall. And, in very large malls, comes a lot of shops. Where there are a lot of shops, there are a lot of shoes to be bought!!

We had not quite made it so far as to purchase a SIM card before I was distracted by a shoe store. In I pop. BUT, I did not buy any shoes (are you proud, shocked, disappointed, a combination)!!! I bought a new jacket, which seems a little left field, it is a lovely jacket though. Photos can be sent upon request (Kirsten G, if you are reading this, you would love this jacket, if I had not deleted Teams I would have sent you a photo already).

Jason patiently waited outside, and we continued on to the SIM store. With that sorted, we are connected, I have working maps, I can now plan the path to the shoe store I really wanted to visit. The home of Fluevog Shoes. How coincidental, it is within walking distance. SURPRISE – not really, homework had been done of course.

We walk the streets of Vancouver, that sounds more dodgy than it actually was, and the streets down by the waterfront are so pretty. We pass a steam powered clock. Very cool, I don’t see the point, but it was pretty and there was steam powering it, so, you know, as advertised.

There were some very inviting looking bars with signage for local craft beers. I promised Jason we would be back. Continuing the mission to Planet Fluevog. We arrive, a little damp, and I have a lovely time trying on shoes I can normally only see online. Jason was very helpful, no really he WAS, and suggested ones that I might like. He is such a good man.

After trying a few pairs (understatement) and with the longevity of my marriage in mind, I decided on a pair and off we went to find him a beer. He had been so well behaved, he really had earned it. Plus I needed to celebrate my new purchase. If anyone is interested in these crazy shoes look here: Calgary Shoes Store | Fluevog Shoes (oh boy there is one in Calgary!!!). The new pair I bought are these ones: Emmeline – Red/Black | Mary Jane Heels with Appliqué | Fluevog Shoes

On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at Rogue Kitchen and Wetbar, possibly one of the weirdest names… wetbar? It was pretty cool though, great service, we ordered a couple of snacks to see us through until dinner, without realising that the snacks were the size of dinner. Jason enjoyed a couple of local beers, I supported the local wine industry and we made our way back to the hotel.

The day is done and so are we.

The bed is so comfortable. NIGHT!

Saturday 14^th September – Vancouver and Whistler

OMFG, slept like a log.

Unfortunately so did Jason, who was practicing the Walford Throat Singing all night. The down side of separate beds? I cannot shove him from across the room, luckily the beds come with 100 fluffy pillows, all of which can be used as projectiles! And no, it didn’t work. God bless earplugs.

No trip to Canada is complete without visiting Whistler, or so everyone told us. I booked us a sightseeing tour to Whistler that included a the Sea to Sky gondola ride at Stawamus Chief Provincial Park, unfortunately the weather was not playing nicely and the majority of the views were obscured by fog and rain clouds.

What we did see what pretty stunning though and it must be incredible on a clear day. We did a couple of walks at the top, to see the views of more clouds with an occasional peak at the harbour and the Stawamus Chief a granite monolith that looms over downtown Squamish (I love these place names). The second largest of its kind in the world – sweet.

Even though we could not see the amazing views we did see SQUIRRELS. All is right with the world, we did not see any bears. Which we are really keen to see, though not too close up.

One of my favourite signs on the handrail at a lookout point “gravity works – don’t put stuff on the fence”. HAHAHA.

We caught the gondola back down again, it was a bit creepy, very Stephen King. Absolutely quiet and descending into the fog, you could not see anything other than the cable 3 metres in front of you. But unlike a SK novel, we made it down unscathed and there were no monsters or murderers waiting in the clearing to get us. That would be quite a different blog post.

Back on the bus and off to Whistler. I would like to tell you that the weather cleared and we enjoyed a sun filled day exploring this beautiful village, but that would be a crock of shit. The skies opened and we just zipped up our rain coats and got on with it.

Our guide had been telling us about Tim Bits. Yeah sounds really dodgy right? Tim Hortons is a Donut place, they do a bunch of other stuff, but donuts are the key business. Apparently Tim Bits are not parts of the namesake served on a stick, but essentially donut holes. He was selling them up and making them sound amazing. I made a mental note to myself to get some on the way back to the bus.

The press is right though, this place is stunning. It must be absolute madness in winter when everyone descends on the village for the snow filled slopes. All the buildings have the chalet feel about them, and the place reeks of money. After wandering the town, doing a few walks finding now squirrels or bears, we found Whistler Brewing Company (this was no coincidence as you can imagine), and Jason tried out some of their craft beers. We had lunch as the fire burned and a small train made its way around the track above our heads.

A break in the weather and out we went, we were wrong. If anything the rain got worse, undeterred we explored a little more before declaring the rain the winner and retreating to another pub. Oh the hardship.

I popped into Tim Hortons on the way back to the bus, very excited about picking up a box of Tim Bits – sold out, nada, nothing, zip, no bits of Tim to be found. Well fuck!

The last stop of the day was Shannon Falls Shannon Falls Park | BC Parks, just near the Sea to Sky gondola, by this time the sun had broken out and it was clearing. So the walk to the falls was really pleasant, we could see the gondola and I noticed it had stopped moving. In fact, it had not moved since we got there. Just goes to show it could be worse! WE may not have gotten the view, but at least we got out! 45 minutes and they were still stationary, bugger.

And that was it, end of the tour, it was good. We got to see some areas we would not have gotten to on our own. The weather was crap but shit happens and you just have to go with it. We toured with Grey Line Westcoast – would definitely recommend Vancouver Hop On Hop Off Tours | Gray Line Westcoast Sightseeing.

Back to the hotel with just enough time to change before our dinner booking at Joe Fortes Joe Fortes | Vancouver Steak & Seafood Restaurant. On their website it states “Seafood and Chop House” what the fuck does that mean? Probably pays not to ask, much like the wetbar. File it away and move on.

We wanted great fish and this place did not disappoint. We had fresh halibut and it was GOOD. So it should be for the price, but really enjoyable. An excellent way to finish the day.

What is with the pricing in Canada, it drives me fucking nuts! The prices you see in the shop, any shop, does not include tax. I mean fucking why? Is it because the tax is optional, ummmm, nope. It just makes everything look cheaper than it is.

Then there is tipping! A confusing and frustrating practice because people in the service industry do not get paid enough to live. If only there was a way to increase the minimum wage eh?

<RANT>

I get that the pay is pittance so if you have good service this should be rewarded with a tip. But why, for the love of Pete, would I tip the person who just sold me a bottle of takeaway water? 18% is the standard so everytime I am eating out it’s a mathematical exercise to figure out what we are spending. Here is the price, plus the national tax, plus the local tax, plus the tip. With the exchange rate… fuck off!

</RANT>

Anyway, it was a lovely day, with great food and wonderful experiences. We are truly lucky to have this opportunity to explore the world. So be grateful Jo, you grumpy woman.

15^th September 2024 Vancouver

Happy heavenly birthday to my mum, who would enjoy this blog but probably tell me off for too much swearing. I can actually hear her sometimes as I go off on my many mental tangents. Amused but trying not to be.

Today the weather gods have decided to cut us some slack! The sky is clearing the temperature is warming, and we have some very cool things to do today.

On our way downtown we pass by a Tim Hortons, whoop whoop, we can get some Tim Bits and Jason can grab a coffee. Expectation was very high, the reality was very low, Tim’s Bits are not all they are promised to be. We had a couple and binned the rest. Apparently the coffee was not up to par either. Oh well.

I booked us a seaplane tour over Vancouver, Jason and I have always thought seaplanes look super cool, so the opportunity to go for a jaunt could not be wasted. It is not cheap, but also not outrageously expensive.

Our flight was delayed, goodness knows why, but this turned out to be a good thing because the longer we waited the clearer the sky got. Silver lining my friends!

Finally our boarding group was called, can the pink boarding group please meet at gate 2, it is an actual gate that takes you down to the jetty where the plane is waiting.

The little seaplane, seats 16 including the pilot (kind of essential that person), really was built for smaller people. Poor Jason, it was like watching Kermit the Frog ride a bicycle – his knees up around his ears and generally out of place.

We take off from Vancouver harbour and do a panoramic tour above the city. Really beautiful and the clouds had cleared for us. The whole experience is about 30 minutes and well worth it. The pilot was good value and was from Australia, this will become a theme.

 There is some time to kill before our next adventure and lunch is on the agenda. Not wanting anything too substantial after last night’s dinner we stop at Subway. And what an interesting experience that was. The poor girl behind the counter struggled with our accent and we with hers.

The best part of the interaction…

YG probably 13 years old: What kind of cheese would you like?

JKW old and grumpy: What kind of cheese do you have?

YG probably 13 years old: We have white, orange, and red.

JKW old and grumpy: You what now?

YG probably 13 years old: White, orange, and red.

JKW old and grumpy: Oh, um, white?

Seriously Canada, what the actual fuck. White is not a type of cheese it is a colour. 21% of your country speaks French, did you stop there and not take on any other attributes?

Bemused I take my wrap with my white cheese and retire outside. To be fair the cheese tasted kind of like cheese, and the wrap hit the spot.

Next on our activity list was Flyover Canada, the Uber driver had recommended it, we had no idea what it actually was, but the reviews were good. We lined up and were shown into the first room. A very loud and interesting video was played and I had no idea what it was trying to tell me, surely this could not be it?

After the video you are lead into another room, seriously if we were not in Canada where everyone is nice, it may feel like you were about to disappear, never to be seen again.

This time you are strapped into chairs, everything tucked away in a baggage holder, and the adventure begins.

It was bloody magical. It’s a 4D, immersive, flying experience where you zip around the entire country, seeing all aspects of life, the different geographical aspects of Canada from the rockies, to the plains, to the ice, and it is incredibly well done. For about 10 or 15 minutes. I cannot recommend it enough. Let Wonder Take Over | Flyover in Vancouver (flyovercanada.com)

Now it is time for a walk along the water to slowly make our way around the city for some sightseeing.

At the beach we stop at the Cactus Club for a drink and a snack. People watching and doing our best not to be judgy. When a man comes along walking his cat, his cat that is wearing a yellow cap. Yep, cannabis is legal in Canada.

Our end goal is to make it Granville Market on Granville Island, apparently it is very pretty and has a lot of local fish restaurants that will not break the bank. What I do love about Vancouver is their dedication to Happy Hour, most restaurants and pubs will have a Happy Hour menu with food and drinks at reduced prices. One of these is the Vancouver Fish Company The Vancouver Fish Company Restaurant & Bar – Home of amazing seafood and West Coast hospitality! (vanfish.com), the guide from yesterday recommended it (granted he also recommended Tim Bits, so the scepticism was real).

Granville Island is a collection of boutiques and farmer’s market stalls. Loads of tourists and locals make their way to eat and shop. It really is super cute and worth the visit. The walk took us around an hour. We booked in to maximise the Happy Hour deals and after a brief wander around the island settled in for a very early dinner.

In this instance the guide was spot on. The food was VERY good, a range of oysters, prawns, fresh salmon, and fish and chips (halibut). After a couple of hours we waddled out of there very happy with our life choices.

Instead of walking home we decide to jump on one of the tiny little ferries that zip between the island and the mainland, it really is a 3 minute journey to each stop, so not far, and these boots are tiny, the seat 12 people and a serious wave would cause concern. But it is super cute and we enjoyed the views.

There are also bicycle type contraptions that you can ride on the water. You peddle, they move. So funny to see a group of people, fully dressed in long pants and button down shirts, cycling their way along the water. No, I had not been partaking in any cannabis.

We disembark the, no doubt VERY safe, boat and walk the 2kms to the hotel, past the meth users and their shopping trollies full of treasure. Just sad.

Good night Vancouver, we leave tomorrow.

16^th September 2024 – Goodbye Vancouver

Today is the day! The day to test my reaction times and my mental fortitude. We have rented a car to drive from Vancouver to Calgary over the next 7 days. Left hand drive and all that good stuff. Eeek, it has been a long time since I have last done this.

Our pick up time was 830am, though I saw the company opened at 800am so we arrived early. That’s a no! 830am means 830am. So we sat and waited until they wanted to talk to us.

Of course the pick up time involves peak hour traffic. I can report that it went well. There were no incidents, and I successfully got us back to the hotel, bags were loaded. We farewelled Vancouver and started the 4 hour, 411km, journey to Kelowna.