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Published: November 28th 2011
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By the time we touched down in Vancouver we’d managed to convince Emilie to change her flight thus spending 3 days in Vancouver with us. Checked into the YHA Central on Granville Street right in the heart of the city and soon discovered the many Irish bars around. These came in handy for the Rugby World Cup matches and also for eating cheaply. It didn’t take us long to take off on foot and discover Canada Place (the waterfront structure), Gastown and Chinatown. A homeless man offered his assistance to help us find our restaurant (Wild Rice, modern Chinese and very good) but sent us in the exact opposite direction. We’d already given him a dollar before we’d realised, such mugs! Our first impressions of Vancouver are that we really like it but there are far more homeless people about and the streets are a lot dirtier than home.
Early the next morning we jumped on a tour to visit the much famed village of Whistler. We weren’t expecting the breathtaking scenery of the fjord and forest covered mountains on the way. The whole journey was fabulous including stops at a cultural centre and to view some waterfalls. We drew
the short straw on guides though and had to listen to drivel such as “If we’re lucky today folks we might see some brown bears, like one or two would be lucky. If we’re not lucky we might see no bears but if we’re really lucky we might see three or even four bears. It’s possible we might even see six or more bears.....” We were just plain lucky in the end, we saw two bears. This sort of commentating did not stop, except for taking breaths, the entire time we were in the bus. He was a really friendly guy though so I guess all in all it wasn’t too bad. We got to go see where the ski jump was hosted at the 2010 Olympic Games and Green Lake just outside Whistler which aren’t normally on the agenda. We got the extras because the Peak 2 Peak gondola was closed and so time needed filling. While in Whistler we chilled watching the downhill mountain bikers jump down the hills in one of the last few weeks before the snow season began. It was a pity we didn’t have enough time to give it a go, looked awesome.
That night we watched Ireland get beaten in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals by Wales in Doolin’s pub on Granville Street. The atmosphere was electric. After, we retreated to Johnny Foxes across the street to claim some much needed seats and watch France trounce England. We still had a great time despite the disappointing results. The next day we weren’t good for much so hopped on the city tour bus and stayed on for a lap with a stop in the middle to browse the biggest souvenir shop ever. That night our goal was a movie and good pizza. For a while it was looking like too tall an order. We tried to get tickets to the Vancouver Film Festival and after being sent on a tour of city cinemas it transpired there were no suitable movies on that night. We then walked all over the city following our Vancouver booklet for Italian restaurants but most looked fancy and expensive and we just wanted a decent cheap pizza. Finally, on our retreat back to our hostel we found a multiplex cinema next door to a fantastically priced but still yummy Italian called Earls. Hurray!
The next morning we bid
Emilie adieu, but it was easier knowing we’d see her in a week in Toronto. We spent the day in Stanley Park walking around and eating lunch. The view was fantastic and we were very lucky with the weather. That evening we treated ourselves to a $10 Thanksgiving dinner at Johnny Foxes before heading to the train station for our epic 3 day / 4 night train journey across the country. We had to check our bags through to Toronto and make use of their canvas carry-on’s to store our clothes under the seats. Not much storage space in the sleeping carriages. The atmosphere in the sleeper class waiting lounge was buzzing, passengers asking each other of it was their first time doing the trip and the like. Once on board we were treated to complimentary sparkling wine and hors d’ourves in the dome car. They were great. Unfortunately it was dark so we couldn’t see anything but everybody was definitely getting in the mood.
For the next three days we enjoyed fabulous and vastly contrasting views (Canadian Rocky Mountains (day 1), Prairies (day 2) and Lakes & Forests (day 3)), great food and more bingo than we’d suspected.
We also spent quite some time sleeping, reading and playing scrabble but nowhere near enough time walking. The train was delayed right from the departure time so most stops were completely cut or drastically reduced in time. The smokers complained but also the non-smokers, as its difficult walking up and down a rocking train. It is, on the other hand, very nice to go to sleep on a rocking train. We had all our meals in the dining carriage, which was silver service, and played a sort of musical chairs – sitting with a new pair of passengers at each meal. It was roulette-like, sometimes lucky, sometimes not. Highlights of the great train journey were; our short stop in Jasper surrounded by the Rockies, sunrise and sunset on the Prairies, our friend Anna surprising us in Winnipeg with her Dad, Jim, for a very quick drink, the leaves turning red and orange in Ontario and wine & snacks in the dome car watching the amazing landscape zoom by.
We spent a week in Toronto checking out the city and pondering whether we wanted to make it our next home. We spent a night with Ash’s Uncle Michael checking out
the Library bar of the impressive Royal York Hotel and dining in The Danforth with some of his friends. We had a really fun night catching up. Emilie made it down for the weekend as we’d hoped so we visited the Steam Whistle Brewery for a tour and some drinks then met her sister, Harmony, and our friend Marya for dinner and many, many drinks downtown. While in town we also wandered around the University of Toronto campus to find the halls Ash stayed in back in 2002. Joy (friend we stayed with in Melbourne before leaving Oz) arranged for us to meet her best friend, Michael, and he filled us in on life as an expat over dinner & drinks on two separate nights. Anna arrived back in town for our last few nights so we hung out with her and enjoyed her fabulous cooking.
It wouldn’t be a complete trip to Toronto without a visit to Niagra Falls so one day we visited them on a tour including Niagra On The Lake and a vineyard warehouse for a tasting of the local, delicious Ice Wine. The falls didn’t disappoint, they are epic. However, the weather was miserable
for quite a bit of it. The leaves were changing colour here too so I guess there are pro’s and con’s to visiting in October. On our last morning we got up very early to catch a train to Windsor. Ash’s Uncle Paul was awaiting us on arrival and whisked us across the border in the city of Detroit. More on that family fun later! The jury is still out on Toronto as a future home...
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Whistle stop tour
Thanks for the read and photos. You were so lucky to see the bears! What a journey - loved the snaking photo.