Day 18 - Vancouver

Shannon Falls
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Today all us girls - Lauren, Lauren, Charlotte, Thelma and myself took a trip up into the mountains to Whistler (and back again!). We set off after a comfortable night's sleep on an airbed with Charlotte. However, have discovered that an airbed is a bit like a mini trampoline and when either of us moved the other would almost get bounced across the room which was fairly amusing!

We had the top down on Thelma, with jumpers and the heating on in the car - I know we looked like complete ponces but it really makes taking photos easier - honest! We had some good karaoke sessions on the way up with some classics including Take That and the Dirty Dancing soudtrack - classy stuff! We were highlu amused by some of the place names on the way up which included 'Furry Creek' which we decided was just plain wrong!

Distance travelled today - technically 0, but round trip to Whistler about 200 miles

Whistler
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Whistler is a really beautiful place and after wandering around for a while we took a gondola up to the top of Whistler Mountain where it was a little chilly with some snow still around on the ground but had the most amazing views. We saw all the ski runs without any snow on them which was quite strange to see what things people will be skiing over in a couple of months. In the summer they use some of them as mountain bike trails instead and there were many people walking about wearing what resembled full body armour. I would love to come here in the wintertime and do some sports then as it is a lovely lovely place to be - very jealous of Jonathan spending 4 months there!

Laura and Lauren
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On the way back we stopped at Tim Horton's and Lauren insisted that we try 'timbits' which are like little mini doughnuts. They were absolutely hideous and the most fake tasting things I have ever had the pleasure to consume. They ranged in flavour from sour cream to cinnamon to strawberry but were not nice. After berating her choice for a while we returned to looking at the gorgeous scenery and stopped at a really beautiful enclosed bay on the way back which apparently has humpback whales although we didn't see any.

More mountains
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We are now back at Lauren's eating an extremely unhealthy, but ultimately satisfying dinner of pizza, garlic bread, crisps and dip with wine to help it all go down - yum yum!

Distance travelled today - technically 0, but round trip to Whistler about 200 miles.

Bearwatch - 0, but did see many bear danger signs and bear-proof bins - getting close!