Birthday Celebrations in Canada!
Trip Start
Oct 07, 2009
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2
Trip End
Oct 21, 2009
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
I arrived on Wednesday evening and just chilled with Aziza and Dallas (her boyfriend who lives in OZ) we went to the movies, was cool with me as I was quite tired from the flight. On Thursday the rest of the international guests arrived, Don and Amy from London and Aziza's good friend Tracey from Perth. That night we all went out for dinner along with Aziza’s Canadian friends for her (pre) birthday dinner. Also in attendance was her sister with husband and 8 month old baby.
Early Friday we all piled into Senior (Aziza’s very old 6 seater car with lots of character) and went to board the ferry for Vancouver Island. The crossing took 1.5 hours. I was under the impression that the Island would be small, I was wrong, it is huge! We were staying in the wop wops in this amazing coastal house, which had stunning views across the sea to the mountains in America, the house was decked out in lovely furniture and lots of ornaments, books, nick nacks just like a real homely home. The bedrooms were wonderful, big beds with pillows, feather quilts and teddies! It was so peaceful! O and of course how could I forget the Hot Tub, which was outside! We got good use from it in the evenings after long days out sight seeing!
While on the Island we went whale watching, we saw 3 whales about 100m away, we watched them surface about 3 or 4 times. They put on a good show for us splashing their tails and waving their fins. While on the 3 hour tour we also saw an Island full of sea lions! They were huge, smelly and noisy. Also a big cluster of sea birds doing thier thing out on the water and seals chasing fish. It was an awesome tour, very personal too as it was just the gang of use with the driver on a small inflatable boat. Sunday we attended a little Baptist church just down the road, it was nice. After church we drove to the capitol, Victoria for lunch and a quick look around.
On Aziza’s Birthday we did our own winery tour. There were lots of wineries on the Island, all in close proximity. To add a bit of fun to our tour we popped into a tat shop and brought some cheap headdresses, masks, glasses etc it made for some much fun and laughter being dressed up. The next day we went ziplining, where by we were driven up in a quad bike to the start of the lines, we were hooked onto the lines, let go and went flying through the trees, it was lots of fun, the instructors were very friendly and informative, it was a great way to see the forest. In the evenings and for breakky we did our own cooking so needless to say we ate well! We also had a Thanksgiving roast with pumpkin pie, as it was the Thanksgiving long weekend.
Tuesday we headed back to Vancouver.
Wednesday Aziza took us to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, very cool and to Grouse Mountain, which we reached the top via the cable car we had lovely views down on Vancouver as we went up, when we got to the top we were in the clouds and mist as it was a rainy day. On the mountain in the winter is skiing etc and there also lives two grizzly bears, I got to see one of them, impressive creatures, big and scary! That night for dinner we went to a place called Earls for dinner, they did the best ribs. The meat just fell off the bone! Amazing! I tell you the food and the service of it in Canada is outstanding compared to London. I guess the tipping culture installs insures this!
On Thursday Aziza spent the day with Dallas, as he was leaving that evening. It was nice to for us to get amongst the city and really check it out. Don, Amy, Tracey and I went into Downtown and hired bikes for the day, first up we went to Stanley Park, the equivalent of Hyde Park, very lovely, beautiful trees with autumn leaves, we cycled around the parameter which was along the water front, all very lovely, with views across the harbour to North Vancouver and the mountains. We stopped along the way for a bite to eat in a very posh teahouse. I had soup with a melted gooey cheese sandwich. We then cycled about Vancouver to Chinatown, visited the Japanese Gardens and back to the harbour for a few drinks before returning the bikes and heading up to the revolving restaurant for the sunset. That evening we met up with Aziza for dinner on Grandville Island – not really an island but a piece of land that sticks out, it is arty and has a nice produce market during the day, also has great view of the city buildings on the other side of the harbour.
What a beautiful city!
