Vancouver - just like home with family!

Tuesday 30th October – Seattle – Vancouver

We had a nice lie in until about 8am before grabbing some bagels at the hotel and catching the shuttle back to the airport. We then jumped on an express bus to downtown Seattle and wandered down to the Amtrak station. We were both impressed with Seattle and likened it to Wellington, with the compact downtown area, the weather - a bit chilly and a bit of a sea breeze. We got to the Amtrak station and were both looking forward to catching a train although we were informed we were infact on a bus operated by Amtrak. We were so disappointed but the guy told us it was an hour quicker so it probably all worked out. The bus ride was pretty smooth until we got to the border crossing between the US and Canada. We had to unload the whole bus and take through our bags before being grilled for a good 5 minutes on our intentions. While we were sitting there, a man who looked slightly on the dodgy side was being refused entrance as he had many counts of drug offenses for which he did time for, in fact the police officer was naming so many charges we felt embarrassed sitting there listening. Bottom line, he was refused entry into Canada until he could prove a 5 year clean record and was politely told to remain in the US. It was all very interesting. We finally arrived into Vancouver and were lucky enough to get greeted by Maeghan and Jayne. Leigh was very surprised at Jayne as she is now almost 18 and had grown up so much wearing her work clothes, he almost didn't recognise her! We then dropped off our stuff at their home and headed out to watch Connor play football for the school. He looked pretty mean in his football outfit with all the padding. On the way home we picked up Hilda from work, so Jo got to meet her for the first time! We then carefully selected some pumpkins for Halloween and were both excited with the whole tradition. For dinner we had a yummy cottage pie our first home made meal in months and it tasted so good and Jo got to meet both Brian and William. Later on that evening we all had so much fun scrapping out the pumpkin and carving shapes to make it look either scary (boys) or pretty (girls). We even put the pumpkin seeds to one side for toasting later. They actually all looked really cool! We were a bit tired so headed to bed looking forward to our adventures in Vancouver and a bit of family time!

Wednesday 31st October – Vancouver

In the morning Jo and Jayne took a nice stroll down to the local gym, while Leigh went with Brian to help work on a house (as Brian is a builder). Jo did a very short run on the treadmill as her fitness is not very good at the moment and we did some weights before wandering home. In the afternoon Jo did some washing and caught up on emails and admin. It was a very chilled out day. In the early evening the doorbell rang, so Jo answered it and there was a couple of cute little kids saying “trick or treat”. They were so adorable. Hilda had organised a massive box of mixed chocs, so they each got a treat and very politely said thank you with their mothers yelling out in the background – did you say thank you? For dinner Hilda had made up a yummy crockpot of meat and veges. It was so good we both had a couple of bowls – well Leigh had a reason at least as he had been working all day so had well worked up an appetite. The trick or treating continued into the evening with the older and less deserving treaters popping by to test their luck. At one point Connor was acting as a bouncer deciding who would get a chocolate and who wouldn't. Luckily there were a couple left over and they were so yummy! Later on we drove down to the pool with Hilda to pick up Maeghan from work. We saw a few fireworks and some other people with pumpkins displayed on their front porches. All and all it was a very exciting trick or treat evening and a tradition we want to continue!

Thursday 1st November – Vancouver

This morning we caught a bus into town with Maeghan with the first task of exchanging our Paseos that Riff got us out in case we had difficulties accessing our cash. On route we wandered around the city and visited the Winter Olympic countdown clock which was cool. We were both very impressed with the layout of Vancouver and all the beautiful buildings although of course Leigh had seen it about 8 years earlier when he stayed in Vancouver for some time. It was really interesting wandering around as Maeghan was like our own tour guide explaining all about the history of Vancouver. We wandered down to the dock area where we saw water planes landing and looked out across to Stanley park. All this walking made us work up an appetite so we took Maeghan out for lunch to the Steamboat restaurant. It was really good food – Jo had a delicious tomato soup, while Leigh and Maeghan had quesadias. We then wandered up to Tiffany's the jeweler where Jo tried on a few rings. There was one that caught her attention, but ended up costing a small fortune so we quickly made our way to another jeweler. We had to catch a bus up to it, so looked around a few shops before doing so. This jewelers was really good as you can wander around and pick out which settings you like before choosing the diamond you want. The guy was very helpful and explained all about what you look for in a diamond and found a nice setting. In the end Jo had her heart set on one, although again quite pricey but decided that she would sleep on it as it is such a big purchase. We jumped on a bus and Leigh hoped off by the rugby club he use to play for to meet Brian, while Maeghan and Jo caught it all the way home. We quickly whipped up some pork fajitas for dinner, then raced down to the rugby club to pick up Leigh and William to head off to GM place to watch the Vancouver Canucks take on the Nashville Predators. It was so exciting to watch an ice hockey game, although the Canucks were certainly not playing their best and ended up losing 3-0. It was really cool as the Zamboni machine (well a different brand) came out and cleaned the ice and during breaks pretty girls on skates and feminine looking guys came out and picked up the loose ice. There was only one major accident where a guy got hit in the face and blood just poured out all over the ice, it was quite gross. Although we didn't win, it was cool to watch a game and it was also William's first time too! We caught the skytrain and then a bus home and had a chat to everyone when we got home.

Friday 2nd November – Vancouver

Today our first stop was heading to a pharmacy to pick up photos of our Mexico trip including the photos we took when we got engaged. It was very exciting to see most of them turned out considering we had used our brick camera (temporary replacement). Then Maeghan, William and the two of us picked up some lunch and drove for over an hour to Squamish, which is near Whistler. The plan was to climb up a massive peak which would take over an hour to climb, however when we got there, a big sign advised that you needed to have enough daylight to do the whole trip and Maeghan said there was a possibility it may run out especially with the tree canopy. So we decided just to walk to the waterfall. It wasn't a long walk but really beautiful through the forest. About twenty minutes in we arrived at the waterfall which was massive and almost elegant with the way the water fell. We all enjoyed our massive tasty sandwiches that we had purchased from the supermarket then headed back to the car taking what we thought would be a short cut, which actually ended up being through a worksite.

Maeghan drove us to look at the hill from a distance as you can see the outline of a face. We couldn't quite make it out but we did see people rock climbing, it gave us both sweaty palms! We then drove home via a bridge that the Guinness family had commissioned in order to access the many properties they had purchased. Our next stop was Kitts beach which is very beautiful and you can just imagine how great it would be to hang out here during Summer. On the way home we picked up all the ingredients to make Sushi for dinner and Maeghan bought us a little treat to try – Candy salmon, popular in Vancouver and so yummy. In the evening Hilda taught us how to make sushi and we ended up making enough for about 50 people. There were so many rolls! Hilda had also made dumplings as well, so we had those for the entree. We both absolutely loved the Sushi and probably indulged a bit too much!

Saturday 3rd November – Vancouver

Today we went for a drive around Vancouver with Brian. It was really awesome as we saw so many flash houses that were worth millions of dollars and also some of the houses he had worked on. We also made a stop at a flash supermarket and managed to scrap enough money together for a pack of licorice allsorts. Our next stop was at the BC Place to pick up BC Lions tickets who play in the Canadian Football League (CFL). We then headed home and Jo went for a run in the afternoon around Victoria Park. It was her first run over half an hour, ok it was only 40 minutes and she was very red when finished! We again indulged in left over Sushi for lunch and relaxed in the afternoon. We had an early dinner which Hilda had spent a lot of time preparing and was simply delicious – stuffed buttersquash and a broccoli salad.

We then headed with Brian down to watch the CFL game and managed to find a park about a 10 min walk from the stadium. The stadium is actually really cool as it is filled with air and the roof looks like a white dome overhead. Before the game started there was a bit of music playing and some of the players took it upon themselves to entertain the crowd with their dance moves – not sure if this was part of the standard warm up but they seemed to enjoy themselves. We were all stoked at our seats as we were very close to the ground and could see the replay screen – which is where Brian said would be best to sit. The cheerleaders kept us entertained, although we were disappointed they couldn't actually dance at all, but at least they looked nicely made up! It was a really exciting game and was slightly different to the NFL in that there are only 3 downs and the field is wider so there are more points scored. Leigh's most favourite thing when going to these matches is to buy food from the vendors who walk up and down the aisles, as you pass your money to people next to you who pass it on until it makes it's way to the vendor and then the whole thing is repeated backwards until you receive your food and change. It seems to be a well working process that everyone seems to know. Brian helped us out by explaining the rules and tactics etc. so we got a better appreciation of the game. Anyway the game was close the whole way until it came to the last few seconds and the Calgary Stampeaders had the opportunity to get a field goal but it hit the post and missed so the Lions won! Everyone cheered and was so excited, well in fact the atmosphere had been great all evening as there was a really good host who was constantly commentating and warming up the crowd, it was great! On the way home we stopped at a really cute pub and had a couple of beers and wines. It was a really cool evening.

Sunday 4th November – Vancouver

After a little lie in, we got up and quickly got ready as we were heading to the Chinese gardens to have a tour with Hilda's sister Mary. We got there a few minutes late, but were glad to find out we were the only ones on the tour. So there was us, Hilda, Maeghan and Jayne on the private tour and we all found it really fascinating – a Chinese garden in the middle of Vancouver city! All the trees and materials had been imported and laid out due to specifications. It was perfectly established and would have cost a small fortune as some of the wooden pillars were in the 20 grand region. After the tour we all headed for dim sum which happened to be located next to a very smelly Chinese supermarket. Oh my gosh the food was so good and plentiful! We had pork buns and dumplings and so many dishes that seemed to keep appearing out of thing air just as you were feeling full but looked and tasted so good.

Mary then showed us around the smelly market next door and explained what some of the items are used for. It seemed to be a very herbal way of treating health problems, but I think I would rather suffer symptoms than drink a cup of smelly feet. Jayne had convinced us that we had to try coconut buns so we headed to a cafe and bought enough for the whole family – a couple of dozen. They were so good – a white soft bun filled of very sugary sticky coconut. Yum! We then browsed around the shops in Chinatown and came across the narrowest building in the world as recognised by the Guinness book of world records. It was really cute, but must be a bit claustrophobic to work in! We spent some time in a really funky kitchen store, where we bought Hilda a gift voucher for her birthday – very sneakily! Then was our introduction to Costco – an absolutely massive supermarket where everything is purchased in bulk i.e. No products are under 4 liters! We bought a Roots rucksack to replace one of our backpacks that got stolen and picked up food for dinner. We all helped our head chef Hilda whip up some fresh pita's along with BBQ chicken compliments of Maeghan a greek salad and tzaiki. It was such a delicious dinner, finished off with some coconut buns for desert! Later on we played 500 with William and Brian – William and Jo paired up and seemed to be an invincible combination, even though William was new to the game, until Brian and Leigh pipped them at the post to take victory. They were both very proud of themselves, while William and Jo were a little gutted!

Monday 5th November – Vancouver

Leigh headed off to work this morning, while Jo went for a run then headed with the girls to get their nails down. In fact this could be a routine that is carried on for normal daily life – i.e. Leigh works, Jo is a lady of leisure. The proposal is still in the making! Maeghan got acrylics, while Jayne had a french manicure and Jo a manicure, it was so refreshing although took a while to get through the 3 of us. Afterwards we headed across to a pub, which was actually the same pub we had gone to with Brian after the Lions game. We had a wee drink and a delicious lunch before picking up Leigh from work. Brian was really hungry when we got there, so we raced home, Leigh showered and Maeghan whipped up some sandwiches. We then dropped around Brian's lunch and he seemed pleased before heading off to the Roots store. It was disappointingly closed, but Leigh was kept sweet with a slurpy he had bought from the 7-11 before getting there. We also tried the peanut butter M&M's – very dangerous! We then headed to a massive shopping mall and completely lost track of time. Jo bought a couple of tops and jeans and Leigh got jeans and tops also. Jo had a look at a couple of ring shops, which had some beautiful diamonds, making the decision all that harder as her eye seems to be drawn to the most expensive, which isn't good considering we haven't worked for 5 months. On the way home we passed by a supermarket and picked up some food for dinner. Tonight we were treated with a 7 layer dip which Maeghan made – it was yummy and had guacamole, refried beans, sour cream well basically 7 layers of total goodness eaten with corn chips (for which she shared the recipe!). We sat around and chatted for a while – time seems to fly here as we seem to be heading to bed well after midnight every night!

Tuesday 6th November – Vancouver

Leigh headed off to work again, while Jo the lady of leisure accompanied Maeghan and Jayne to the gym along with Jayne's friend. We spent a little bit of time on the cardio machines before heading off to do weights. Jayne and her friend headed off while Maeghan showed her strength and we carried on lifting weights. We then wandered home talking about how Maeghan was thinking about entering a triathlon. In an effort to repeat yesterday's performance, we whipped up some sandwiches for Leigh and Brian as they were still working really hard, so popped those around to them. We then headed off to the shops to buy some food to cook for dinner. It is so nice doing normal things again! When we got back Jo did some vacuuming then we headed down to pick Hilda up from work. On the way home we picked up a nice bottle of red to match the dinner and some beer for the boys of course. We cooked up the veges on a steamer basket on the bbq and Maeghan had cooked the roast beef in the oven. It was so delicious and nice to have fresh veges again! We then relaxed in the evening and watched some TV.

What we both found quite cute is being around younger kids, who get told to brush their teeth and go to bed, we both had completely forgotten what it is like to be around younger family members. We headed to bed again after midnight, as it's so nice chatting to everyone!

Wednesday 7th November – Vancouver

This morning was a bit of a repeat of yesterday – Leigh work, Jo leisure. In fact Jo and Jayne went for a run around the golf course by her college. Jayne ran pretty fast and at the end Jo could simply not keep up. We both got a bit tired after our efforts, so Jayne got hold of her friend in the library and we visited her before using her cellphone to call Hilda to pick us up – well it was Jayne's birthday after all so she does get spoilt on this day, although probably every other day too! We headed home and picked up Maeghan on the way. When Leigh got back from work we headed to Granville Island for Jayne's birthday lunch with Hilda. We wandered around the shops and saw totem poles being made on the way. It was a really lovely area. After working out what we should have for lunch, we ended up buying a massive pack of salmon and bagels with cream cheese. We ate these overlooking the water, it was really lovely. Afterwards Hilda headed home, while we headed with Jayne on a shuttle boat to get across to the city. The first stop was to pick up Jayne's birthday present so we bought her a wallet and a pair of earings. In the meantime Leigh had been looking at a pair of shoes, which he ended up buying as was so sick of wearing his trainers. After visiting a few more shops, buying slurpies and snacks, we caught a bus to Burger King to celebrate Jayne's birthday although we were going to go to White Spot, Brian arranged for us to go to a Ice Hockey match to watch the Vancouver Giants vs Prince George Cougars. He managed to get a couple of free tickets, which meant Leigh and him sat right down the front, while the rest of us where up high but with excellent views and all the treats also! Jayne and Jo decided that we wanted to sit in the front row right next to the players box (the boys were around Jayne's age) so we made our way and took the best seats in the house. As it was Jayne's birthday Jo arranged for a couple of the young vendor boys to sing Jayne Happy Birthday, which surprisingly they did. It was actually really scary sitting in the front row as a couple of times bodies were slammed against the wall right by where we were and also the puc went flying too. Nevertheless it was a great seat for Jayne who seemed to be attracting much of the male attention as they hoped on and off the ice. It was a really exciting game and lots of goals were scored. We allowed the boys to sit next to us in the last quarter and they appreciated the view also! Before we left, Leigh was very excited to buy a proper puc to add to our small collection of souvenirs. When we got home Hilda had made an amazing cake. Jayne had requested a crown and it was like a proper crown, it was so impressive. We decided that we have to head back to Vancouver for cake decorating lessons. Anyway we all sung happy birthday to Jayne which she loved and enjoyed a piece of cake. We again stayed up chatting in the evening before heading to bed.

Thursday 8th November – Vancouver

We headed over to Grouse Grind today which involved catching a bus, the sky train, a ferry then just as we hopped on the final bus the driver told us that Grouse was closed today due to the weather – arghh! So we quickly changed plans and headed to Lyn Valley, which was about another 20 mins on the bus. The attraction in Lyn Valley is the suspension bridge over a seemingly calm river, but deceiving as it had claimed many lives throughout the years as advertised on the board before entering. We went for a wander all around the forest, which was really cool and for some reason you could tell you were in Canada by all the flora and fauna. We wandered around for a good hour, Jo on the lookout for bears which is her new fear. We then stood in the cold for sometime before the bus arrived. We jumped off a few stops early than planned as we saw cheap sushi advertised so had some for lunch which was really good. There seems to be the best sushi restaurants in Vancouver compared to any other city we have been to, also the most competitive as far as prices. We eventually got home around 6pm and whipped up some bellinis for dinner. Everyone seemed to enjoy them although we did overbeat the pancake mix! We hung around the kitchen chatting all night again as everyone arrived home throughout the evening.

Friday 9th November – Vancouver

Today we were very spoilt as Brian drove us to the Grouse so we could complete the Grouse Grind, which is a steep walk up the hill to the very top. Brian was going to catch the gondola up but the cost was extortionate, so Leigh and I made our way to the start of the grind for the 2km hike. It was a really really hard walk and we got overtaken by so many people. We started off with so many layers but reduced them significantly as we warmed up even though there was a light rainfall coming through the trees. We were both so glad when we made it to the top just over an hour later and quickly headed off to visit the Grizzly bears (enclosed thankfully). Along the way we saw many beautifully carved wooden statues of various animals and people. When we got to the bears it was misty but you could see their big bottoms poking through the cloud. When it cleared up we realised just how massive they are and that you would not stand a chance if you came across one in the wild. We then caught the gondola back for $5, which was a good deal. Brian then drove us to the British properties which are some massive million dollar mansions all with spectacular sea views. We also saw one of the houses he had worked on. We then headed to subway for lunch, which went down really well as we had worked up an appetite. Our next stop was to Stanley park which was one of Leigh's favourite areas in Vancouver last time he was there. It was an awesome park with so much to see including totem poles, views over all Vancouver, raccoons, a rugby field and the cricket pavilion at Brockton Oval which was home to many black and white photos with the All Blacks. In fact Don Bradman said it was his favourite cricket ground as it does have amazing views.  On from Stanley Park, Brian took us out to the UBC campus which is truly like a small city with of course its quota of Starbucks Coffee houses! We then went by Connor's football practice and through around a ball for a while.

When we got home we whipped up some sloppy joes which were actually really good. Jo was really excited as after dinner we had planned to go ice skating, so as soon as everyone was ready we headed off. Leigh had ice skated before when he was in Vancouver last, but for Jo this was a new thing. We both threw on helmets then slowly made our way around the rink holding onto the wall, while William, Connor, Jayne and Maeghan were playing tag and skating backwards, they were so good! Eventually we got some speed up and a bit of confidence, but then the zamboni machine came out to tidy up the ice. They said it would make it faster so Jo hesitantly went out again, although it was actually easier. It was so much fun and we were both gutted we couldn't do this on a regular basis. When we got home Jo, Maeghan and Jayne got quickly changed as they were heading into town. Hilda was very kind and dropped us downtown and after a few drinks before entering we had a good night in a club dancing, although before entering Jo got asked for ID!

Saturday 10th November – Vancouver

We were both a little sad when we woke up as we knew this was our last full day in Vancouver. We were politely greeted with the smell of Welsh cakes that Hilda was cooking. They were so good and no food tends to last too long after Hilda has cooked. We then had a look at some old photos and Jo got to see Leigh when he was just a young lad – so cute! After tidying up we went down to the rugby club and took with us a ball and mitt so we could have catches. We've decided we want to buy a mitt and ball as it is so much fun chucking a baseball around. Leigh chatted with lots of people he knew from the first time he was in Vancouver although some didn't recognise him at first. We then headed back home after passing by the shops to pick up snacks and treats for everyone and quickly got ready to go out for dinner. As everyone had been so good to us we took the family out for dinner to the Old Spaghetti Factory, which has an original tram inside the restaurant. The food was really good especially the Sour Dough bread and garlic butter that is eat as much as you want. We all had an entree, heaps of bread, main and desert, we over indulged yet again! Jayne had requested to be the centre of attention and receive the birthday sparkler on her desert, so Jo arranged and out came all the waiters to our table to sing an up tempo Happy Birthday for her. On the way to pick up the car we stood outside a steam clock as on the hour it chimes and lets of lots of steam. Although it is a steam clock Hilda told us that they found out recently it in fact runs off electricity. The 5 minutes took ages but eventually we were pleasantly surprised at the nice chimes and steam the clock let out. We went home and chatted again in the evening.

Sunday 11th November – Vancouver – Seattle

Today was a very sad day as we had to say goodbye to the family and leave Vancouver. Firstly Jo got up and went for a short run and got back in time to say goodbye to Hilda which was quite hard also for Leigh as he had a tear in his eye! Then Maeghan and Jayne drove us down to the bus station and totally spoilt us by getting starbucks for us to take on the journey down to Seattle. Then Brian, William and Connor turned up, so it was big goodbyes to everyone! We both got on the bus very sad!!

The bus ride down to the border wasn't too bad but it took ages to get through customs! After eventually getting through Jo fell asleep for the rest of the ride so woke up in Seattle. We then jumped on a bus to our hotel and checked in before heading straight out to a shopping mall which required a couple more buses. We had been eyeing up the camera Riff and Alex purchased as it takes pretty good snaps and is waterproof to 33 feet and shockproof also. After much walking around to access the shops we got subway for dinner and eventually caught the bus back to our hotel to get into bed by midnight.