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Published: September 14th 2019
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We had a few things we needed to do. We needed to get all our gear from the AirBnB to the Storage facility and we needed to return the hire car (from our Whistler trip) by 10am. So to kill two birds with one stone we loaded our gear (minus the bikes) into the hire car and dropped everything off at the Storage Facility and then continued on to the airport to return the car. We caught a cab back to the AirBnB and tidied up and checked out by 10:30am.
We had a few hours left now to just wander as we wanted. We got on the bikes and muscle memory kicked in and our legs began to pedal. No urgency, no rush, just a gentle turn of the pedals. No one is in a hurry today, it's all about soaking up the last bit we can out of the day. We had nothing planned really so we thought we'd visit MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op). It's a huge store that stocks all sorts of adventure gear as well as bikes. Effectively a big toy store for the likes of us. We then continued on to Granville Island. We had
passed this place on our first day in Vancouver and had wanted to come back for a better look. It is certainly a "tourist attraction" with lots of specialty shops, but there is also a market place and plenty of places to eat. We make this our lunch stop for the day and all go off in different directions satisfying our individual preferences.
Again it's a slow amble from here back to the Storage Facility (via one last visit to the Thrift Shop of course).
Riding back on the Arbutus is a bitter sweet feeling. We know it is the last time we will be doing this. We are all ready for the holiday to be over but there is still a bit of emotion knowing that this will be the last day of our holiday.
Back at the Storage Facility we begin the arduous task of breaking our bikes down to repack them. This is actually a very big task and it takes a couple of hours. Then we have to pack all of our gear up for checking in at the airport. Finally all packed up we head out the front and try and order
some cabs. By coincidence a cab drives by and we flag it down and Jeff and Tom are off to the airport while Graeme and I wait for the one we ordered. Thirty minutes later we're still waiting. No reason to panic as we've allowed plenty of time but we decide to flag the first cab we see down rather than wait for the cab we've ordered. We're all at the airport together again and checked in. The bikes have been taken and it's all pretty quite as we wait for boarding.
It is a 16+ hour flight back to Melbourne arriving at 7:35am. And then it will be done.
Reflection:
Jeff said today we had a good plan and executed it well. As right as he was, every day had something different to throw up, whether it was the raw elation of the first days ride, or climbing a big mountain, or fighting the sandy, rocky track of the rail trail, or climbing glaciers or riding gondolas or trains, it was a constant rush! We have seen an amazing country and know there is so much we have not seen. We have met many people.
Generous, helpful people, ready to engage, a real highlight of our trip.
To my Amigos, Jeff, Tom and Graeme, thanks for sharing this journey and helping to make it the adventure it was!
Until next time . . . . .
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