US Holiday - Day 28 - Vancouver - Day 3

Day 28 - Thursday 6th October

Ah yes, the double tap of vodka of last night certainly did the trick. I slept well last night and the double tap of Nurofen meant I didn't wake with a head ache. Stuck my head out the window and ah grey skies again. Spewing! They did say it was going to be cloudy with some sunshine but it was a uniform grey.

Organised the transfer tomorrow from the hotel to the airport so in terms of things to organise for the rest of the holiday I was pretty much done. Then tried to pick my seat for the flight from LA to Sydney. Should have down this a long time ago and the options available were ugly. Oh well, lesson learnt.

Headed out around 11am and after getting some fuel for the day I headed down towards Granville Island. I caught one of the small ferries that move people around the False Creek area. Granville Island has a nice little market on it and the food and produce looked of great quality. I grabbed some food there before heading back over to Vancouver. I then walked along the shore line again and down into Stanley Park.

I completed a full circuit of the park which was approximately 9km. By the time I completed one circuit the sun started to come out so headed back along the waters edge into False Creek ending up near the 2010 Winter Olympic stadium which is just across the road from the hotel. There is a soccer match on tonight so lots of people about.

Body very weary after lots of walking over the past couple of days. This will be the final post because I wont be blogging much about the flight home.

Thanks for listening everyone.

Cheers

Nick

US Holiday - Day 27 - Vancouver - Day 2

Day 27 - Wednesday 5th October 

Overcast day today and this was predicted. Got ready and headed out, grabbing a coffee and croissant for fuel. I then walked down towards and area called False Creek. Lots of sky rise apartments down this part of town and they all appear to be new. Along the waters edge there are separate walking and riding paths. I walked along the waters edge passing Granville Island. This has a market located on it and is a short ferry ride across from where I was. If the weather turns out well tomorrow I will look to get over there.

Kept on walking along under the Granville Street and Burnard Street Bridges and along Sunset Beach. I then headed back up into the populated areas of Vancouver and then into main shopping area. It was around lunch time so headed down to the food court that I visited yesterday and had some Chinese.

After lunch I headed into Gastown. This is an old area of Vancouver with restaurant, tourist shops, art galleries etc. That only took a short amount of time to do so headed along the length of Granville Street. Much the same as George Street in a way with at times, parts of King Cross. I then headed back to the hotel passing through Yaletown. This is a very nice part of Vancouver and has lots of boutique bars, restaurants, hair dressers, etc.

Decided to go for a bit of a walk later on in the evening. This is certainly where Vancouver excels over Seattle. I would have stepped out around 8pm and there were still lots of people out and about. I walked up to one of the main streets and then walked down one side. When I walked up the other side I noticed another street lit up with fairy lights so walked up that. I think the lights were put there to draw the punters in and it certainly did the job with me. Even thought it was Wednesday night shops are open till late, most to 9pm and others to 10pm. They do open later though, typically at 10am and I think having the shops open to later is a better idea.

To finish off the evening I walked down Granville Street again. This street to me seems like a bit of a mix between Oxford and George Streets at night. Bars, adult shops, restaurants and the odd beggar and drunken bum. Turned down into Yaletown and walked past some the boutique bars and restaurants on the way back up to the hotel. Stopped in at the bar down stairs for a steak and a couple of bed time vodkas.

US Holiday - Day 26 - Seattle to Vancouver

Day 26 - Tuesday 4th October

Arrgh. Another early morning. Woke around 6am and snoozed for the next 15 minutes. Then it was time to get up. Got dressed and headed down to check out and I was on my way to the train station. I planned my route to be as much down hill as possible and after around 20 minutes I was at the train station. I walked into the foyer and immediately saw people lining up. This appeared to be different to the Amtrak journey that I had from Boston to DC. I was always going to check in my luggage but the lines were from seat allocations. Thankfully the line for business class was shorter than that of coach and only had to line up for a couple of minutes. I was able to get a window seat which was great. I then had enough time to grab a coffee and danish before boarding the train.

Business class got to board the train first which was another benefit but it didn't stop there. More on that later. My seat was at the rear of the second carraige and was a single seater rather than a 2 seater. Slowly the train filled up and we were then off north to Vancouver. We travelled under the city for a little while before reappearing down near the piers that I had walked along on previous days. As I looked out over the water the weather looked a lot better than what was predicted.

I wanted to have a bit of a snooze along the way but thought that would be unwise as the scenery around here is fantastic. The journey north hugged the shore line and stopped at around 5-6 stops before we crossed the border. We didn't stop at that point, but instead kept on going all the way into Vancouver. Once the train arrived, all the baggage was taken off and lined up and then the business class carriages got off first. Found my bag easy enough and then we I was in front of the immigration official. A couple of hard questions later I was officially in Canada.

Got out of train station and then walked across to the Skyway which is an elevated subway system. No lifts or escalators so dragged up the suit case up the flight of stairs until he last 2-3 steps when some dude decides to help me. I thanked him and it's at this point he asked me for some change to help a homeless person. I reckon he waited for me to do all the hard work before deciding to help me. I gave him $1USD.

Caught the Skyway one stop and then got out and walked the short distance to the hotel. Thankfully when I checked in my room was available so headed straight up dropped off the bags and then headed out. The weather seemed to be getting better and better by the minute so wanted to take advantage of the improving conditions. The front desk gave me a map and some ideas of places to check out and those areas to avoid after dark.

The streets are modern and appeared to have more people on them than Seattle. Just appeared to have some more vibe than what Seattle had which is a good start. Lots of tall apartment buildings as well. Visually it is a very appealing city, again surrounlded by water. I headed to the northern part of the downtown area which had a large cruise ship moored. I looked out across a large bay to parts of Western and Northern Vancouver. Very $$ part of Vancouver.

Sea planes were coming and going constantly and this appeared to be servicing tourists and locals. I then walked down to an area called Coal Harbour. I guess the equivalent area in Sydney would be a combination of Pyrmont and Cockle Bay. I then walked back into the centre of town and went up to the top of a building that had a circlular observatory deck. Certainly some good views from there.

By this time the body was feeling a bit weary so headed back to the hotel for a nap. Crashed on the bed for an hour or two. Later on in the evening felt a bit peckish so visited the restaurant down stairs and grabbed a meal and a couple of vodkas to ensure a good nights sleep.