We landed successfully despite flying 9/11, twice, into the US. It turns out that LA airport sucks. If NZ is the land of the long white cloud, the US is the land of the long wait queue. 10 queues we ended up on getting through the airport out to Alaskan Airline - 2 hours of rivetting experience.
Got here in the end though. The first couple of days were overcast and damp, though I think that's pretty normal for this area. You begin to appreciate subtle variations in rainfall and it was never more than a misty sort of rain you could wander through.
Vancouver was a pretty town, at least downtown, but Victoria is much nicer (downtown). We had our fun getting here though. Canadians are obliging, just not always actually helpful. We needed to hop the ferry to Victoria from Vancouver and a nice person at the motel directed us nortwards to a ferry stop 40 minutes out of town. Unfortunately it was the wrong one. Turns out Vancouver has two ferry terminals and you'd be insane to go to the one we went to (like flying from Newcastle to Sydney via Brisbane). Anyway, we got the scenic tour, which was actually quite pretty.
Got to Victoria four days ago - saw seals along the way (the ferry ride is beautiful). Spent the evening wandering around and watching local seals taking food from tourists much as gulls do over there.
Next day we went to the Bouchart Gardens - and they really are something. Absolute must-see. It was drizzling again but, surprise, surprise it started to clear. Then we got back into town and went on a whale-watching tour. Saw Killer Whales - awesome.
The following was another beautiful day and we saw Victoria in the morning in all its glory. Then had a mad, fairly stressful rush before we got back on the bus which too us back to the ferry for another magic crossing to Vancouver. This time sunny and this time more killer whales (woo hoo) just hangin' out.
Got here in the end though. The first couple of days were overcast and damp, though I think that's pretty normal for this area. You begin to appreciate subtle variations in rainfall and it was never more than a misty sort of rain you could wander through.
Vancouver was a pretty town, at least downtown, but Victoria is much nicer (downtown). We had our fun getting here though. Canadians are obliging, just not always actually helpful. We needed to hop the ferry to Victoria from Vancouver and a nice person at the motel directed us nortwards to a ferry stop 40 minutes out of town. Unfortunately it was the wrong one. Turns out Vancouver has two ferry terminals and you'd be insane to go to the one we went to (like flying from Newcastle to Sydney via Brisbane). Anyway, we got the scenic tour, which was actually quite pretty.
Got to Victoria four days ago - saw seals along the way (the ferry ride is beautiful). Spent the evening wandering around and watching local seals taking food from tourists much as gulls do over there.
Next day we went to the Bouchart Gardens - and they really are something. Absolute must-see. It was drizzling again but, surprise, surprise it started to clear. Then we got back into town and went on a whale-watching tour. Saw Killer Whales - awesome.
The following was another beautiful day and we saw Victoria in the morning in all its glory. Then had a mad, fairly stressful rush before we got back on the bus which too us back to the ferry for another magic crossing to Vancouver. This time sunny and this time more killer whales (woo hoo) just hangin' out.
Along the way we had a sudden realisation that despite what we thought we'd told our travel agent he hadn't book a motel room in Vancouver and we were meant to pick up the car that day instead of today (my mistake too because I hadn't read the documentation correctly). Despite this causing further angst it actually turned out to be a really cool mistake. We picked up our car early and booked into a different motel in Westend Vancouver and this is a seriously cool part of the city (kinda like Newtown). We loved it here. Close to Stanley Park which is huge and awesome and the motel is charmingly old and nearby restaurants are cheap and interesting. On top of all of this the weather was magic and we saw bucketloads of squirrels and racoons.
Yesterday we hit the road - practicing some interesting driving skills. Downtown Vancouver is ugly but then we got into some amazing countryside heading to Osooyos. It's the fruit and wine belt of BC and we samp[led plenty of fruit and had some nice wine. We stayed at a bizarre little place called Oliver last night. Talk about a weird little motel we kipped in. Decore straight out of the manual of off-kilter taste. Uncomfortable bed, lumpy pillows - but hey - you've got to have a least one of these nights on a trip. Oliver itself wasn't a charming town though the countryside was fascinating.
This morning hit the road early (nothing to keep us at Oliver) and we meandered through to Nelson. Really picturesque countryside - had morning tea in a charming and quirky bakery in a place called Greenwood (the bakery was the Copper Eagle). Had a great chat with the part owner (vanessa) and left her some weird foreign money as a tip (she collects it).
Nelson is so cool - you'd love it her. We've changed our plans and are aiming ti head up to Revelstoke tomorrow so we don't have a huge trip to Lake Louise.
Animal count:
Day 1 - zero
Day 2 - Canada Geese, harbour seals
Day 3 - Harbour seals, squirrel, woodpecker, black-tailed deer, killer whales (heaps of), humpback whales (rare over here), californian seal lions, Stella sea lions (huge critters).
Day 4 - Killer Whales, squirrels (two types), great blue herons, racoons
Day 5 - Chipmunks
Day 6 - more chipmunks (so far).
Amusing little thinks learned along the way:
* Don't presume people know what they're talking about despite their enthusiasm
* When asking for a meal deal - don't ask for a meal - you get the hamburger and that's it. It turns out that if you want a drink and chips - you have to order a combo - meal means meal kiddo (this combo was acutally with a coffee and donut - only in America - didn't really want all that but sometimes you've just got to go with what's available)
* There's no such thing as white coffee or coffee with milk. It just confuses people when you order it. Coffee with cream - that's what you order - that's what you get (18% cream to be exact).
* Bottomless cups of coffee are great but think twice before you have two cups and then wander around a garden when the toilets are in short supply and though there are many wonderful bushes you don't get the privacy of using them and I'm pretty sure the locals frown on misuse of their shrubbery (the situation was compounded by the drizzle and many interesting and trickling water feature).
Yesterday we hit the road - practicing some interesting driving skills. Downtown Vancouver is ugly but then we got into some amazing countryside heading to Osooyos. It's the fruit and wine belt of BC and we samp[led plenty of fruit and had some nice wine. We stayed at a bizarre little place called Oliver last night. Talk about a weird little motel we kipped in. Decore straight out of the manual of off-kilter taste. Uncomfortable bed, lumpy pillows - but hey - you've got to have a least one of these nights on a trip. Oliver itself wasn't a charming town though the countryside was fascinating.
This morning hit the road early (nothing to keep us at Oliver) and we meandered through to Nelson. Really picturesque countryside - had morning tea in a charming and quirky bakery in a place called Greenwood (the bakery was the Copper Eagle). Had a great chat with the part owner (vanessa) and left her some weird foreign money as a tip (she collects it).
Nelson is so cool - you'd love it her. We've changed our plans and are aiming ti head up to Revelstoke tomorrow so we don't have a huge trip to Lake Louise.
Animal count:
Day 1 - zero
Day 2 - Canada Geese, harbour seals
Day 3 - Harbour seals, squirrel, woodpecker, black-tailed deer, killer whales (heaps of), humpback whales (rare over here), californian seal lions, Stella sea lions (huge critters).
Day 4 - Killer Whales, squirrels (two types), great blue herons, racoons
Day 5 - Chipmunks
Day 6 - more chipmunks (so far).
Amusing little thinks learned along the way:
* Don't presume people know what they're talking about despite their enthusiasm
* When asking for a meal deal - don't ask for a meal - you get the hamburger and that's it. It turns out that if you want a drink and chips - you have to order a combo - meal means meal kiddo (this combo was acutally with a coffee and donut - only in America - didn't really want all that but sometimes you've just got to go with what's available)
* There's no such thing as white coffee or coffee with milk. It just confuses people when you order it. Coffee with cream - that's what you order - that's what you get (18% cream to be exact).
* Bottomless cups of coffee are great but think twice before you have two cups and then wander around a garden when the toilets are in short supply and though there are many wonderful bushes you don't get the privacy of using them and I'm pretty sure the locals frown on misuse of their shrubbery (the situation was compounded by the drizzle and many interesting and trickling water feature).
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