The Travelling Stevens Crew are off!

Yippee the day was finally here. Saturday 10th May was our departure date and after watching so many cruise ships come and go it was finally our turn to embark. We were able to check in any time from 12pm and had heard the lines can be rather lengthy so wandered down to Canada Place just after 11am and started the wait. Because you are leaving Canada and literally entering US as you board the ship everyone must go through immigration before boarding. This was a lengthy process as 2 ships were departing from Vancouver and many passengers are neither US nor Canadian citizens. Anyway we were finally on board by about 2 pm and immediately checked out our staterooms.

Woohoo, Deck 12 (top deck for staterooms), called the Aloha Deck with covered balconies on the starboard side, aft of ship. For all you land lovers that meant on the right facing the pointy end, towards the back. Great location for us, up one deck to food and pool deck and up one more to the kids club.

We were all starving so we thought we had better get into what everyone seems to get excited about on cruises and that’s the food. The Horizon Court was the only food available at the moment which was the ship’s 24 hour buffet!!! Here goes all the kilo’s!
A fabulous selection of all types of food we settled into the style of this cruise ship very quickly. All the staff were incredibly friendly and welcoming and considering the ship had only disembarked its last passengers that morning, everything was fresh and ready to roll! This was the service I had been missing over the last few weeks!!

Our departure from Vancouver was delayed by about an hour due to waiting for people whose connections were late but it gave us the opportunity to phone both the mums for Mother’s Day without having to get them out of bed. We toasted Vancouver and ourselves with champagne on our balconies and waved goodbye to the many people standing on the wharf. Finally we were the ones on the deck waving back. We had been told previously on a harbour cruise in San Francisco to always wave to the people standing back on land and if they wave back they are jealous of you on the ship. Hence, the kids had great pleasure counting off the waves to see how many jealous people we were leaving behind in Vancouver!


Time to explore, we checked out what was on each deck and the kids were anxious to meet the kids club staff and check out what was on offer. Mackenzie’s group was called Pelican Press in the 3-7 age group and Jaimie and Denver were in Shockwaves ages 8-12. With only 27 children on board and probably half too young to join the club, these kids were in for some attention. I thought Mackenzie wouldn’t be too keen to go off on her own in a separate group but either she has grown up more than I thought or just happy to have some time away from the other two, maybe a bit of both because she was only too keen to go off and play. It made me realise how much they have missed just having time to do their own thing, those moments have been rather limited over the last 7 weeks. We are all looking forward to enjoying some extra space and making some individual choices over the next week. The cruise has come at a perfect time in the 10 week, kids are keen to meet some other kids and we are ready to let them enjoy some kid time while we relax and have some much needed adult time. 7 weeks of 24 x 7 and we are ready to have a few hours off and enjoy a few meals on our own. The kids also need some time to relax and experience some freedom, it’s not like they can go anywhere!!

We planned to have a few days in Vancouver prior to boarding the ship mainly to ensure we were there and prepared. I had heard some horror stories about delayed flights and rushed connections on departure days that I was adamant that was not going to happen to us. We had a room booked at the Ramada in downtown Vancouver for its walking distance to Canada Place where the ships depart from. As mentioned earlier there are no cabs in Vancouver that carry more than 4 passengers so once again we had to hire a limo from the airport and thought it would be much easier and a whole lot cheaper to use our legs to get to Canada Place. Seemed a lot of others thought the same as most of the guests were either on their way to get on a ship or just getting off.
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We spent the few days we had in Vancouver picking up a nice outfit for both the girls to wear on the ship plus an extra 2 back packs. Alaska Air and United airlines have very stringent weight restrictions allowing only 50lbs per case and our big body bags weigh well over that when fully packed. With the kids smaller case packed to the limits with all the heavy gear we needed to distribute some more items so decided to get the girls new back packs rather than pay for checking an extra case.

Denver had also been promised a bike ride around Stanley Park when we returned to Vancouver as we had such average weather previously in April. The weather was noticeably better in May so we went ahead and hired some bikes for a couple of hours and cycled the perimeter of Stanley Park and along English Bay. Mackenzie jumped on a trailer behind Wayne’s bike and successfully powered him around the park with the biggest smile! Denver thoroughly enjoyed being a typical boy finding every opportunity to cut it sick - while Jaimie and I cruised along enjoying the sights and sounds of the park. Our excitement rose as we watched one of the Holland America chips head out to sea under the Lion’s gate bridge – tomorrow it will be us!!

Chatting to others in the breakfast room was very useful as we had received our passenger contract over the I’net advising that no alcohol could be taken on board. As we had only just bought 2 more litres of duty free we were a bit annoyed at the prospect of paying cruise ship bar prices onboard. Anyway the more people we spoke to the more mixed messages we got until one guy that had just got off the Diamond Princess that morning said that he had managed to get 2 litres on board without a problem. That gave us enough incentive to try our luck and thought at worst we would have to pick it up at the end of the cruise. So with a bottle of Baileys stashed in Mackenzie’s backpack and a bottle of Bombay Sapphire in Jaimie’s we successfully embarked our ship.

Fortunately we were able to check out and in of our same accommodation and store all our luggage while we went to Victoria for the weekend. What a bonus for us as we head off in the morning to LAs Vegas and it has allowed us to get back into familiar beds and conveniently get all the washing done from the weekend. Thankfully we packed almost everything up before we left on Friday so we were quite well organised and could relax tonight.

After checking about travel arrangements to Vancouver Island we were rather stunned as to how much time we would have to allow for travel. We initially thought we could afford 2 nights but ended up deciding on just the Saturday night so we were comfortably back in Vancouver to ge to the airport on Monday without the stress.

To give us more time on the island we decided to splash out and instead of booking the bus and ferry both ways we booked a seaplane that would deliver us directly into Victoria Harbour and then the bus and ferry for the trip back on Sunday night. What a fabulous plan and definitely worth the extra if anyone is planning this trip. The sea plane was not only an awesome experience, it was an incredible scenic flight to fly at that height over Vancouver, the islands and then up the coast of Vancouver Island. We even flew over the top of Vancouver airport and watched a plane taking off underneath!

It was another early start but it meant we were in Victoria by 8.30am and had decided to get the 4.45pm bus to the ferry on Sunday. This gave us 2 full days for exploring Victoria. We were all starving for breakfast so dropped our overnight bag at the Quality Inn and strolled off to a Dutch coffee shop down the street.

We had a most beautiful day, clear blue skies and perfect for walking about, checking out the sights.


We started with Miniature World at the Empress Hotel. Beautiful display of scenes ranging from Canadian history to exotic dolls houses. Very intriguing and amazing works of obsession on all the projects, some taking over 20 years to build, complete with flushing tiolets!! I think the one us grown ups found the most amazing was a complete replica of a timber mill, all totally hand made with all working pieces. It actually operated the same as a timber mill but due to fire hazards couldn't be operated but instead showed a video with the designer explaining all the working pieces. The kids loved the parade and fair ground display the best and of course pressing every button that made "something" move!

After no luck with bike hire we decided a chardonnay in the sun and a lazy lunch looking over the harbour was a must. Victoria is great for people watching, I can imagine it would be a lot like Freo in the summer, but the fact that the sun was shining, all the motorbikes were out of the garage and cruising, so there was heaps to look at. A great lunch at The Local Bar and Grill, I enjoyed the best chicken burger ever! Not your average fare, the pesto and roasted vegies made it very yummy!!

I managed to convince Wayne that a trip to the Butchard Gardens were a must if you come to Victoria so we decided to go and hire a car for 24 hours and we could get out and take a better look around.

Saturday was the warmest day we have had since we have been away, I think it was a max of 14 at Victoria but it felt about 30 for us. It was perfect for a peaceful stroll around the gardens and enjoy all the stunning areas and floral displays. The spring garden was extremely fragrant and the variety of bulbs was amazing.

The kids loved the Japanese garden the most with its meandering waterways and features. We spent a long time here and enjoyed the cool shaded areas. The kids amused themselves for ages playing leaf boat races under bridges and the open spaces of the park allowed them to let off some steam. The girls spent the entire afternoon riding their "horses" along the paths!

We enjoyed dinner at The Sticky Wicket before collapsing into bed.

Sunday morning we decided to head off east towards Esquimolt Bay not really knowing what to expect or what we might see. The map showed a light house so we thought that was a good point to focus on. We came across the Canadian Forces Naval Base and while we couldn't get very close from here the security officer directed us around to Saxxe Point where he said we could view the last of 3 ships leaving the base off to the Middle East.

There were already a few groups of people at the point so after a bit of a wait we saw the fire boat come out the bay with spouts shooting water then afterwards the navy vessel came out behind. We were fortunate to be standing next to a lady, who was also in the Canadian navy and could answer all our questions. A few minutes later 2 helicopters flew right in front of us giving everyone a wave. We all thought that was awesome and Denver nearly had kittens with excitement.

A further drive around the bay we discovered Hartley Castle and Historic Sight which was originally a private residence of a VERY wealthy family but now is part of the Royal canadian university. A beautiful building with huge grounds and once again lots of space for the kids to let off some steam. The cherry blossom trees through Canada at this time of the year have been stunning with many of the roads having them as street trees and adorning most parks around the city.

Our transport back to Vancouver was hassle free and another interesting mode of transport. The coach took us from Victoria to Schwartz Bay where it drove directly onto the lower deck of the ferry. From there we had a very scenic ferry ride through islands and across open water to Tswassen where we got back on the coach and drove off the ferry onto the highway back to Vancouver! The beautiful sunset across the water was a very special sight for our last night in Canada until the 8th May.

Ever since arriving in Vancouver and talking to people about where we had been skiing, all the Vancouverians have said you must get up to Whistler! The ski season is a little longer at Whistler ( until April 20) so we did some checking on what deals were available. We hadn't planned on doing any more skiing but thought it would be pretty cool to take a look so we can recognise a few things in 2010 when the Winter Olympics are here and checkout how it compares to Big White.

We had kept a look out on the weather for the week and decided that Thursday was going to be our best option. Greyhound buses also had a Spring ski package that included return travel, ski rental and list passes which saved us hiring a car again. It meant a big day , bus pick up at 6.30am and return to Vancouver on the last bus at 6.30pm, but we were all very excited to get in another unexpected day of skiing.

The drive upto Whistler was a picture in itself, flanked on one side by mountains and the other a very picturesque Horseshoe Bay. The only down side is just about the entire length of "mountain" road is presently messed up with continuous road improvements for the Olympics. Already the crews are working 24/7 , blasting and preparing for the increased traffic in 18 months time! Should be a good road after 2010!

Whistler was a huge surprise to us. We expected just another ski resort but it literally has its own "town" a few KMs away and then the village which is enormous. We jumped off the bus and headed straight for the Visitor Centre to save as much time as possible. There were numerous places and businesses to hire skis so we grabbed some advice and took off at a cracking pace. We were so glad to have got the early bus as we were fitted and organised by about 10.30am , amazing how long it can take to get 5 people fitted with skies. A quick caffeine fix and a bite to eat and we joined the queue for the gondola up the mountain!

The 20 minute gondola ride takes you about 3/4 up the mountain and then there are other chairlift options from there. Thankfully we shared the gondola with a local couple who were a wealth of information about which way to do things. The day was clear and bright and we were all anxious to get out and enjoy these fantastic conditions. The mountain had received 2 cm of fresh snow over night so the powder snow at the top was very special. We could see the beginning of the construction of the first ever gondola that will join 2 mountains. Presently the concrete structures have been built for a gondola that will run between Blackcomb Mountain ski resort and Whistler with only 4 pilons . At a cost of 52 million it will operate all year round and will be open December this year.

The runs were really long and some great challenging options for all of us. Once again the kids amazed us with their flair and ease and I think Mackenzie topped it on the enjoyment list and went on and on and on. She made me smile at the end of the day ( after about a full 4 + hours of skiing) she flopped on the snow with tears in her eyes, totally exhausted and said " I don't want to do it anymore". She was about 200m from the bottom!!

We loved the opportunity to ski up here but were pleased to be able to come away and still be really happy with our choice of Big White for our week long holiday. Whistler was more crowded and commercialised, lots of shops and hotel style accommodation, eventhough everyone said it was a quiet day. The true ski in and out facilities were a huge draw card at Big White and a much more laid back and friendly feel to the whole resort. It will be exciting for us to see how everything looks come 2010.

The bus trip back was a very quiet one with all 3 kids sleeping the whole way to Vancouver and climbing into bed without a word.

It was my goal to be in Vancouver for my 40th birthday, so here I am. Having this goal has kept us all so focussed over the last 18 months and it is so exciting and rewarding to now be able to share all these fantastic experiences with the family. I think it is finally sinking in with the kids as well what a significant event this is going to be in their life. Hopefully they will look back on their days in Canada and remember the special events and family time we have had while being here.

I started receiving messages from home on the 8th over here as we are about 15 hours behind. On the morning of my birthday I was showered with home ( apartment) made cards from the kids with beautifully written special messages and trinkets they had picked up for me over their last couple of days of shopping. All specially selected and purchased with their own money, I was very impressed! Wayne wrapped up my new camera ( the one that has taken all the great photos on the blog) and re-presented this to me as well with the promise of some personal shopping time later in the day! Yeh , some adult time !

My choice was for eggs benedict at a Parisienne cafe down the road but unfortunately they weren't open for breakfast. We found eggs but they were very average compared to what I was hoping.

A wander downtown through the shops was next on the agenda but again all I managed to find was a groovy hat. No-one was hungry for lunch so we decided to jump on a bus and explore. We ended up over the water at the Maritime Museum! Quite interesting and passed a few hours before we all came home for an afternoon nap.

All pre made plans seemed to go out the window. We had booked tickets for the ice hockey on the 9th. Not really what I had expected to be doing on my 40th but it was the only night we could go and it was one of our "must do's". We thought we could do an early dinner but all the kids went to sleep and we ended up racing it to get the bus to the stadium. Hence my dinner was a burger at the ice hockey and my "bubbles" was a Smirnoff ruski in a plastic cup!! lol. Wayne still plans to make up for all of this !

All in all, the ice hockey was fantastic. Vancouver Giants were defeated by Washington DC 3-2. Awesome skills and to hear the thumps against the screens had us all going ooohh and ahhhh.

Thanks to everyone that sent their best wishes for my birthday, if I haven't had bubbles with you yet, I will definitely have more than one when we get back.