Vancouver, we lived like kings!

On the boat
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After a bit of a late night msn session, I decided to hit the sack and pack in the morning.  It would have been a great plan if I hadn't slept in.  So there was a big rush in the morning to get all that sorted!

And so we headed off (Theresa with gallon of coffee in hand) to catch the ferry to get us from Vancouver Island to Vancouver.  This is when we learned to play Yatzee.  I swear, that game is gonna take us around the world.

We got to Vancouver, and stopped to buy food and beer.  We were running quite late, so it was all a bit of a rush to go meet Mike's friend Miles.  Mike had said something about him taking us out on his boat, so we weren't too sure what to expect.  He was waiting for us at the pier, and we didn't really want to waste any more time getting changed, so Rick asked him if there were toilets on the boat.  Miles' suggestion to 'go over the side' made a lot of sense when we realised we were on regular little motor boats.  Rick only felt a bit silly.

Krista and us
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Taking the boat out was absolutely ace.  The scenery was absolutely spectacular.  I felt like I was taking part in the escape scene in The Sound of Music on water.  There was nothing around us except water, mountains and trees.  We tried to dock the boats but were informed by a gentleman who was something of an ass that it was a private dock, so we just stopped in the middle of the water and tied the boats together.  It was brilliant being able to just dive off the boat when we liked, then climb back in when we got a bit thirsty!  It wasn't so easy getting back in though.  My legs were an absolute mess with bruises that evening - anyone who saw me after that trip to Vienna, those bruises didn't have a patch on these.

What do you mean you don't like my hat?
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We headed back to Miles' house, and got ready to go out to a fashion show - one of his friends had just opened a new shop.  After that we headed to a bar, had a few beers, played some pool.  We stayed in Miles' that night, and the next morning his friend Krista, who we had met the night before, phoned to very kindly offer to put us up for the second night.  We went for some food, then headed off to Krista's.  OH MY GOD.  Her house was an actual mansion, located on the hillside in West Vancouver.  The view from the balconies (yep, there were quite a few) was absolutely incredible - the house overlooked the water and mountains in the background.  I didn't think I was going to be able to leave...

But I managed it, and we headed back into town where the Red Bull Flugtag was on.  Some of the 'planes' were hilarious.  After that we went to the Capilano Bridge - it's the longest suspension bridge in the world.  It didn't really sway that much, but I did kinda feel like Indiana Jones.

After that, we headed back to Krista's for a bbq.  It was a really good evening, the five of us sat on the balcony chatting to Krista and her brother Miles (and the two little dogs!), enjoying nice food, fine wine, and the aforementioned views.  Nice.  After a few hours we headed downstairs to play some pool, and our new favourite game Yatzee, late into the night.

Next morning we were up and out, but not before being served cooked breakfast by Krista's mum!  They were such nice people!  We headed to the local mall to meet up with Darren (Theresa's boyfriend), and set off for Whistler.

Click here for the Vancouver photos

Click here for the speedboat video