Advertisement
Published: August 20th 2016
Edit Blog Post
Hi Y'all, August has finally arrived and we're starting our long planned holiday in Canada. I'll be revisiting friends I've seen here before but it's Liz's first time across the pond. Our itinerary is as follows:
Fly to Vancouver, 1 full day sightseeing. Pick up hire car and ferry to Vancouver Island to stay for 10 days with my good friends Larry & Judy in Port Alberni. 2 day trip to Ucluelet on the Pacific Rim. Then back across on the ferry to the Sunshine Coast and Whistler, Kamloops, Clearwater, Jasper, Banff and on to Calgary. Stay with my old colleague Tony Thomas for 2 nights before flying home.
Lots to see and do along the way, beer to drink and food to eat?? I'll post a few times with photos as we go. So, the flight over with Westjet was fine, on time and nice new plane. Westjet is a Canadian domestic carrier just starting intercontinental flights. I made the mistake of reading a few reviews last month,
people were complaining about lateness and teething problems. Like Easyjet they charge for checked baggage and meals so we planned accordingly. No drama. Landed on time and after the usual bureaucracy of immigration and customs (they missed the 48 Oxo cubes I brought in for L&J?) we got to the hotel, for 2 nights. Had nice fish and chips and local brew beer at a pub grille on the side of the river. Usual sight you see her of huge rafts of logs held in the river awaiting a trip to the lumber mill.
Friday we were up early and into Vancouver on the Skytrain. We walked to Granville Island and had brekkie in the Market Place. Then walking and more walking! on reflection we did a bit too much but saw plenty of English Bay and Stanley Park. As you can see the weather was perfect.
Bus into the city proper and Gastown for beer and shopping. In places there was only a thin veneer of smartness or tidiness to the streets there. Managed to wander into a back alley that was straight out of some crime movie in NY. We had a regroup in a park to decide where to go. We sat down and gradually realized we were surrounded by some less than desirable "colorful" characters. Several were enjoying "relaxing cigarettes". Others were practicing their most colorful Queens English at the tops of their voices. We moved on.
Saturday morning we picked up the hire car from Avis at the airport. I was at my most charming and friendly with the counter clerk and consequently got upgraded 3 times to a gurt big SUV at no extra cost, more toys than the Space Shuttle. Result!
Really nice 2 hour ferry ride to Nanaimo (can you believe it - great food on a ferry!!) and then drive to L& J via Goats on the Roof country store in Coombs.
Great to see old friends again, its been 4 years.
That'll do, blog again in a few days.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.09s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 14; qc: 55; dbt: 0.0431s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb