13/06/15
As a real life grown up I have to pick my holiday destinations carefully. Gone are the days of last minute flights and open ended tickets. A new era of bill paying and holiday request forms may have begun but that won’t stop me flying half way across the world to spend what little money I have. The holiday decision making process may have been more complicated than picking somewhere sunny and far away but I couldn’t be happier with my choice – we’re off to Canada!
Canada ticks every box; there are beaches, mountains, outdoor activities, amazing views, animals that can kill you, so much food that it could kill you and... it’s home to these guys! I’ve loved these Canadian music makers for the past 15 years and a nation that can produce something this good has got to be worth a visit.
The holiday planning process began quite a few months ago. There were flights to book, hotels to reserve, restaurants to research and routes to plan. Rory and I did this on an almost nightly basis. We slowly went through each thing until there was nothing left to do but pack our bags and so, after a full day at work we got home, finished packing and set off on our latest adventure. JR, in his wisdom, booked us a hotel near the airport so we made a beeline for the first of many hotels. The hotel was a bit random and could definitely be a filming location for The Shining 2 but the room was cheap and cheerful. One thing I thoroughly enjoyed was when 1am rolled around and I’d just started drifting off to sleep the phone went and reception asked me to move the car twenty feet from the long stay to the short stay car park.
Despite the late night interruption we managed to wake up and arrive at the airport with time to spare. A quick McDonalds breakfast helped pass the time nicely and it wasn’t long before we were on the plane, buckled in and up in the air. The ten hour flight was direct to Vancouver airport and it was fairly uneventful. We’ve heard some questionable things about Air Transat and as the tickets were a good £300 cheaper than the other airlines we weren’t expecting much but the flight was smooth, we had individual TV screens and the food wasn’t too bad. One slight hiccup was the air hostess spilling hot coffee all down Rory’s back but he’s a good sport and after some free apology Pringles we went back to enjoying our cheap, turbulence free flight.
When we arrived in Vancouver we cleared security and picked up our rental car. I’ve been really worried about driving in Canada so I sat in the airport car park for a while, getting used to the car and trying to figure out what P R and D mean – it’s park, reverse and drive for those who are interested. With Rory as chief navigator we pulled out of the car park, joined the flow of traffic and eventually found our hotel. To be honest, it was pretty horrific. Everything started well but then SatNav went crazy, road works took over the city and a confusing one way system meant we couldn’t figure out how to get on to the right street! Thankfully we arrived safe and sound and once we’d dropped off our bags we set off in search of an adventure.
Without much of a plan we managed to find the seafront – the skyline is really impressive and I loved the boats, especially the little houseboats. The night was warm and the place was buzzing, I hate to say it, but Bangor Marina could learn a thing or two from Vancouver! We then set about exploring Gastown. According to Wikipedia, Gastown was Vancouver’s first downtown core and is names after “Gassy” Jack Deighton,a Yorkshire seaman, steamboat captain and barkeep who arrived in 1867 to open the area’s first saloon. It’s a really nice area with plenty of old buildings and lively pubs and restaurants.
When we’d had a good look around Gastown we decided to take a look at China Town. I’ve heard great things about it but it borders a pretty dodgy area that we’d been told to avoid. So here I am, looking as touristy as can be, with a big DSLR camera hanging around my neck and I walk in to what can only be described as the ghetto. The place was grimy and grotty and everywhere you looked there were homeless people. We even came across security guards who were patrolling the area, stopping the homeless people from coming across to the tourist friendly Gastown. After a few attempts we finally found China Town, only for it to be a bit of a disappointment. Maybe we came on the wrong day or maybe we just needed to explore a bit more but after walking though the dodgy neighbouring streets we didn’t fancy hanging around so we headed back to the seafront and had dinner.
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