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Published: March 2nd 2010
Day 14 - Wed Feb 17th
We packed up our bags and the car and decided to have one last look at the lighthouse and even managed the 2.6km loop walk again. There used to be a walkway made of planks of wood that was used to access the lighthouse back in the days before the roads were built and so we took a couple of photos of the old planks that were still visible in the trees along the way.
Back in the car we set off on our road trip back across the island to the ferry terminal in Nanaimo. We made a few stops along the way, but nothing of any interest. We returned the car to the car hire place and were glad of a lift to the ferry terminal to save our legs from carrying our bags.
Tricia kindly collected us from the other side of the water and we spent the evening catching up with her and Micky.
Day 15 - Thurs Feb 18th
Today was another organising day, doing washing, checking emails, updating the blog and just chilling out.
Day 16 - Fri Feb 19h
Today
we decided to head to Granville Island, where there is a big arts/crafts/food market and shops. For the Olympics they have put on a free tram service between the Olympic village and Granville Island, so we headed for that and experienced our first Olympics queueing experience. Luckily it was only 20 mins or so and then we were being herded onto the tram. The tram had been brought over from Belgium especially for the games and was apparently going to be returned once the games were over - how bizarre! At Granville Island we were herded back out of the tram and followed the crowds down to the market. The market itself was really nice and would have been a great place to wander around if it wasn't for the huge amount of other people doing the same thing. We saw an amazing cake stall which got us both drooling, but with all of the food places you could see how they had covered their usual prices with a new price list, which we imagine was purely for the few weeks that the Olympics were on. Not wanting to be ripped off, we didn't end up buying anything (although we
kinda regretted not buying a cake when our tummies were rumbling later on!)
We left the market and after getting a bit lost managed to find our way onto Burrard Bridge and walked all the way into downtown where we had a little wander around. It was absolutely heaving with people which was a complete contrast to our last visit the week before when it was fairly quiet.
Micky and Jake were having a boys night tonight, so Amy left them at the skytrain station and managed to safely make her way home alone. Tricia and Amy then went to the mall to buy some Olympic souvenirs and dinner, before returning to the flat to watch a film. Halfway through the film, a call came through from Micky "Um, I've lost Jake". So out there in the heaving crowds of downtown Vancouver, was a half cut englishman stumbling around with no phone to be contacted on.
To cut a long story short, Amy was panicking at the flat not knowing where her drunken husband had got to, whilst Jake was doing loop the loop on the skytrain, not knowing where he was going, getting on and off at
different stops and going backwards and forwards trying to find his way back. After two hours, he finally made it back, so Micky, who had been searching the streets downtown, was finally allowed to come home too. Although by this time, the stress of losing his friend, had driven him to have further beverages, so when he got home he was a little worse for wear! The sober girls then had to endure the drunken boys recalling each side of the story about 5 times over as only drunken people can.
The drama didn't end there though, as whilst getting ready for bed Jake lost his balance and landed in a plant pot, breaking it and a glass ornament that was in the pot. Shards of glass went into Jake's hand and foot, so there were blood spots on the floor, as well as soil, water, broken pot and glass - what a clumsy fool.
Day 17 - Sat Feb 20th (Happy Birthday Alice!!!)
The morning was spent reliving yesterday's dramas over again and Micky was voted to cook breakfast as he was the drunkest last night! We then had a fairly lazy day, visiting Deep Cove
and a nearby park, for a stroll in the sunshine. And as a special treat we went to Dairy Queen and stuffed our faces with ice cream!
We chilled out in the evening watching Olympics and then a really rubbish film called "Pandorum". It was a bit scary, so Amy was hiding behind the sofa cushions, but we don't recommend anyone watches it!
Day 18 - Sun Feb 21st
Micky and Tricia were running a half marathon today, so we went along to cheer them on. It was an early start, getting up at 7am, with the race starting at 9am, and although sunny it was very chilly. After cheering the runners over the start line we went for a stroll along the river and then found a sweet shop giving away free hot chocolate, so took advantage of that and bought some sweets at the same time. We then returned to the finish line and encouraged the runners coming back.
After the exhausting run, M & T deserved a hearty brunch, we only having done a short stroll did not, but had one anyway! Then after a relaxing afternoon, we ate more food, as Jake cooked a
roast dinner - being Sunday and all, followed by apple & blackbery pie. We are stockpiling food in our bellies, as who knows when we will get treated like this again!
Day 19 - Mon Feb 22nd
Today we decided to head for Stanley Park. On the way there we walked past the Olympic Cauldron where the flame is burning throught out the games. There has been a bit of an uproar about it because there is a large chain fence all round the cauldron, so you cannot get very close and if you want to take a photo, it will have the fence in the way. So to placate the crowds, a strip of fence had been cut away for you to be able to fit your camera through! They have also opened a viewing platform above the flames, that you can queue up for, but as the wait was 30mins when we passed, we decided to make the most of the sunshine and head for the park, rather than wait in a queue.
We strolled around the harbour and then into the park. We decided to walk half way around the sea wall and then
come back through the middle of the park. Around the outside of the park there were lanes for people to walk in and then another lane for cyclists and rollerbladers. The latter was one way though, so once you had set off you had to keep going all the way round the park (8-9km) or cut through one of the interior roads! We got a bit lost coming back through the middle, as there weren't very many maps around, so when we finally found one, we took a photo of it on our camera to use instead! But we did find a sunny bench by a nice lake, so relaxed there for a bit.
Day 20 - Tues Feb 23rd
Today was another organising day, doing more washing and then attempting to repack our bags for our flight the next day.
Day 21 - Wed Feb 24th
Our last day in Canada. We popped to the local mall to post some bits and pieces and then picked up some food for lunch. Everytime we go to the supermarket Amy eyes up the cakes as they usually look really good, but we never buy any. This time
we found a huge chocolate cake in the reduced to clear section which had been marked down from $25 to $5 - the only downside being it needed eating that day! So we decided to buy it, eat a slice each and leave the rest for our lovely hosts.
The next 24 hours or so passed in a blur of airports, queueing, customs, planes, more waiting and finally we arrived in New Zealand on Friday, having lost Thursday completing by crossing the international date line.
Highlights/lowlights:
- Hearing the Canadians cheering the goals scored in the Canada ice hoceky match which was being shown in the airport and then the tannoy calling people to their planes telling them not to worry as the game would be shown on the plane! Not on ours though, but we got an update before we took off.
- Getting fingerprints taken by US customs (not just us, everyone!)
- LA airport having absolutely no signs whatsoever to help you off the plane and to your next one. And no one to ask for help either. Then huge queues for security and Amy getting a thorough pat down after beeping through the metal
detector
- Having a spare seat on our flight from LA to NZ, so we didn't have to worry about climbing over someone else to get out and space to stretch out a bit
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peter webster
non-member comment
canada
Dear Jake and Amy-great text and photos. You made good use of your time in canada and will have a great time in canada. I travel to uk tomorrow to take stuff to the house-start of the move from germany. Mum goes to brighton on the 13th and then we go to alpbach on the 23rd. On the 5th April we head off to la chambertie for the spring- stay about 6 weeks and then back to germany to finally decamp on 29th may. We both bought some work dungarees yesterday for the gardening can,t wait to get back to our little acre Love Dadxxx