Advertisement
Published: August 6th 2007
Edit Blog Post
The Hummer
At the top of Cougar Mountain in Whistler. Well we are still in Vancouver but we have moved to ANOTHER place! This time we should be here for two months (up until August 13th). It is a one bedroom apartment still in downtown but in the west end. It is a nicer aspect than the last place and it has some views out to the water and sunset which is very nice. Still expensive but as we mentioned in our last email it has been really difficult to find share or cheaper accomodation. Apparently the rental market is similar to back there- 97% occupancy rate.
We experienced a bit of drama prior to moving in however, which was not funny at the time but was the next day! The night before we were to move again we tucked into our temporary bed early (9.30pm) as we had not been getting enough sleep each night, come about 11pm or there abouts we were awoken by the phone ringing. In Emma's drowsiness (and wisdom) she tried to ignore it but then decided it best to pass her phone to Karl to answer, which he did. It was Shirley, the lady who we were to be subletting the apartment from. Karl
Squamish
This is the highway with the mountains in the background. We stayed in the building on the left then passed it back to Emma who through her daze understood that Shirley was out with a friend and had lost her keys. She has no other way of getting into the apartment other than the keys I just picked up from her the day before. So she proposed that her and her friend come to where we were staying and pick them up and then we would meet in the morning.
Only thing was she was due to fly out to China (where she is originally from) that morning, we both had to work and were not so comfortable with her having our rent and us no keys. So we make our way down in a zombie like state to meet Shirley and her friend, we open the apartment to let her in and then head off to catch a taxi home. By the time we get home it is well after midnight and we will be up in less than 5 hours. Emma then digs through her bag to get her phone only to find that she must have left it in the back seat of Shirley's friends car- what a twist of events.
Anyway all
The start of the climb up
Hiking the 'Chief' in Squamish is well and we got to move in the next night with no problems and Em's phone was there waiting as promised. Geez it made us realise how much more professional and easy it is to rent in Australia- oh to have rentals through real estates again (didn't think we would hear ourselves say that!)
We were able to get away last weekend to Whistler and Squamish. We went to Whistler as this is where the Hummer tour operates from, a present from Emma to Karl for his birthday. Emma ended up doing it too and it was a lot of fun. The guide went flying through the backcountry of Cougar Mountain the next mountain over from Whistler. We were hoping to see a bear or other wildlife but I think that they would have been scared off by the black flash of the Hummer. It was quite strange being in Whistler again, the mountains looked more like a golf course compared to the snow we were used to seeing on them. All the snowboard/ski racks had been replaced for bike racks as it becomes a huge mountain bike park in the summer.
We spent the night
Nearly there
As you can see it got pretty steep near the top of the first peak so they had chains to assit you in Squamish which is a small town between Whistler and Vancouver that is well known for its rock climbing, moutain biking, wind-surfing and hiking. We awoke to more drizzling rain on Sunday and thought we would have to abandon our plans of hiking and head back to Vancouver. We were just about to get on the bus when it started to clear so we thought we would take the risk and climb what is known as the 'chief'. It was a pretty steep and slippery climb but so worth it for the view from the first peak was beautiful. We are inspired to come back for another weekend and hope for good weather to allow a full weekend of hiking. The hostel we stayed in 'Inn on the Water' felt more like a hotel and would recommend it to anyone seeking a place to stay in the region.
That is about it from us for now, hope all is well with everyone and keep us up to date with what is happening back home.
Karl and Em
Advertisement
Tot: 0.088s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 15; qc: 57; dbt: 0.0517s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Chris
non-member comment
Hummer Tour
Glad to see the hiking boots getting an outing-looks like fun. The chain bit reminds me of Mt Warning-just with a different view.I Wish I was there doing the climb too.The Hummer-well no comparison to OUR new Mazda Tribute.The photos are great and always look forward to your updates.It must be good to have permanent home for awhile.