VANCOUVER

Everyone was very excited about getting to Vancouver for Friday night. The last two days, since leaving Jasper were quite big days of driving with an over night stop in Kamloops.

We had been advised to not be too late getting into Vancouver to avoid peak hour traffic and we thought we were doing quite well expecting to arrive about 3pm, however we hit road works about an hour out of the city and ended up smack bang in the middle of peak hour. Our new baby, Garmin, saved our sanity and has been worth every cent! We were quite under the pump to find our accomodation and get the hire car dropped off by 5.30pm on the other side of the city. We found our accomodation, Times Square Apartments and dumped all our luggage and groceries in the garage while Wayne took off downtown with 20 minutes to spare. I think I ended up with the raw deal, 5 suitcase, bags of odds and ends we had gathered from a week living out of the car and a trolley load of groceries we had picked up for the week. Thankfully I had 3 trusty helpers to get it all in the elevators up to the 2nd floor. By the way, Wayne arrived at the car rental with time to spare! Thanks Garmin!

Our Apartment is in the westend of Vancouver only a couple of blocks from Stanley Park and Coal Harbour. We were very happy to receive an upgrade to a "large " 2 bedroom apartment and be able to unpack all our suitcases for a full 8 days. It is so nice to have a separate bedroom, kitchen, washing machine and dryer and some space! Who would think you could get excited about having a washing machine!!

Saturday came and we were all very happy just to relax and not go anywhere. We did go for a wander into Stanley Park and ventured into an area called the Lost Lagoon which had a wildlife information area a bit like Herdsman Lake. We all found it very interesting to find out about all the animals found in the 1000 acres of the park including coyotes and skunks. All we managed to find was a squirrel, white swan, various duck varieties and Canadian geese.

Sunday was another drizzly day so we decided we should grab a "sights" bus to see a bit more of the city without getting wet. The Big Bus took you around the city sights with a hop on and off at different landmarks and places of interest. This gave us an opportunity to check out most things and decided where we would like to spend more time. Gastown provided some good shopping and galleries of Aboriginal (North American) artefacts and art work and a photo opportunity of the steam clock.

A trip to the Vancouver Aquarium was on the must do list to see the Beluga Whales and we weren't disappointed. What beautiful, serene creatures they are. The aquarium has harbour seals, sea lions, pacific white sided dolphins and the beluga whales all giving a short show and information session. They were all lots of fun, especially when Denver failed to recognise the clues to move and was drenched by the beluga whale's tail! There were lots of beautiful aquariums inside as well and definitely worth a return visit if we get the chance.

We thought a trip on the False Creek water taxis would be a treat so went over to the Granville Market for a wander and a bite to eat. A very large public market with every type of ware imaginable plus the biggest crab legs ever from Alaskan crabs. They would have been about 1 metre long!!

Every morning we have woken up hoping for better weather but unfortunately it has been an unseasonal start to April with cooler than average temperatures and drizzle most days. We decided to check out what we could on the Londsdale Quay area by Sea Bus but the rain prevented us walking too far. Returning to downtown, an evening at the Imax Cinema at Canada Place to see Dolphins and Whales in 3D was a drier option.