Relatives & Road Trips

Chapter Two - Vancouver to Revelstoke


On Tuesday 21st we arose early (I breakfasted before 6am) and headed to the airport to pick up our transportation for the next 5 days. We must have wronged them somehow, because the folks down at Alamo had decided we were in some way deserving of a PT Cruiser. We named him Phelps- it seemed fitting. After a bit of introduction -and Gaby having to enquire as to what Phelps prefers to drink, petrol or diesel- we were on the road to Chilliwack.
Despite my arguments that there's nothing good in Chilliwack, the comedy value of the name won and we stopped off at The Minter Gardens, where Ritchie paid nigh on $50 to drag us gals round some distinctly average gardens. Considering we had just been to the Sun Yet Sen Classical Chinese Gardens, I left unimpressed.
Back on the road and the road in this case was the Coquihalla Highway which, as well as being fun to say, had some sort of Shakespeare theme going on - Othello, Shylock and Lear appearing on road signs along the way. This took us to Merritt which was the designated lunch stop for day one. Please don't go to Merritt; it is a nasty little redneck town covered in gaudy spray-painted portraits of country music stars in a piss-poor attempt to lend it's title as "Country Music Capital of Canada" some credibility. We ate our sandwiches in a McDonalds parking lot then got on our way.
A theme was emerging as we neared Kamloops which was susposed to be another stop off point, but it was pretty much just a dull mixture of the industrial and the retail. We just drove through and on to Salmon Arm, which I had been told was nice. Apart from a slightly scenic pier and beach, Salmon Arm conformed to the day's disappointing tone.
On to Revelstoke, which wasn't disappointing- hurrah! It is a quaint little town that gets most of it's business from the ski hill during the winter season and (I'm assuming) people like us in the summer months. It is cradled between some mountains which, coupled with the old Western town-style houses makes it a pretty little place. Our accommodation was Poppi's Boutique Hostel, which we found easily, unlocked and empty with a note saying she'd be back soon or we could call her cell (from her house phone). We figured we could go explore the town and get some food for dinner then head back, which we did and caught her just as she was on her way out for dinner. It turned out we were the only guests that night and we had the run of the place. It was a 3 floor detatched building with the top floor reserved for Poppi. All the rooms slept 2 and were very clean, light and airy, with blown up photos of cultural scenery on the walls, for example there was a Taj Mahal room, a rainforest room and mine was a Greek street scene. All in all it was a great place to stay and I'd definitely recommend it. I thoroughly enjoyed a night in a proper bed with a feather duvet.
In the morning we had some breakfast and then went for another walk round Revelstoke with the intention of going to the museum. The museum didn't look worth the admission so we didn't bother and got some tea in another Secret Garden tea shop (of no relation to the Secret Garden Tea Co. I went to for my birthday) instead. Then we were on our way once more.

A sight I wouldn't wish on anyone

I wouldn't be too thrilled to see this again either

Some Canadian highway scenery

Merritt

The Coquihalla Highway

Roger's Pass

Roger's Pass again

Salmon Arm's greatest asset

Poppi's Boutique Hostel

My room in Poppi's

And that concludes Chapter Two. Again it has become time for me to feed so you can find out about the Revelstoke to Radium adventure when I think you're ready.

Relatives & Road Trips

Disclaimer
The 'G' button on my laptop is misbehaving so any misspellings involving that particular letter are not entirely my fault. I do, however, remain responsible for any other errors.

Foreword
I do not believe I am in possession of the mental stamina necessary to detail all of the adventures of the last week or so in one superblog. I have therefore decided to split it up into as many chapters as I feel are required. This may be two, or it may be more. I ask for your patience and understanding and in return hope to provide you with not only interesting (if one-sided) conversation but also a powerful tool of procrastination.

Chapter One

Ritchie and Gaby arrived on April 16th and since then I've been playing host and guide, and been taking another look at Vancouver through tourist eyes.
I went and claimed them from the Greyhound Station around lunch time and safely delivered them to their lodgings at my house. After relieving themselves of the burden of baggage we took the bus to Robson and had a wander about the shops before going for dinner at the Templeton, where Debbie took me and Greg when we first arrived. I think the Templeton was a hit and I certainly enjoyed my pesto lasagna.
I was working on Friday so I needed a plan that would keep them occupied in a foreign city for a few hours, and they needed a map. The answer came in the form of a trip to the Granville Island Public Market were they could sample the veritable feast of fantastic foodstuffs and tourist tat. Once we'd had our fill, they headed off to the Aquarium and I went to work my (what seems to have been my final) shift at work. They swung by Steeps for some dinner location advice and once I was done earning we reconvened at Save on Foods. Ritchie seems to have a bit of a softspot for Save on Foods and in particular, the bulk foods section, where you can take as much flour/granola/pasta as you need from pick 'n' mix-style dispensers. Simple pleasures.
Saturday was a day I had been waiting for since I first researched things to do in Vancouver, even before I arrived here! It was time. The weather was good and it was time to go to Sun Yet Sen Classical Chinese Gardens. Although small, and requiring a visit to the outskirts of Cracktown, the Sun Yet Sen Classical Chinese Gardens are awesome. It costs $10 adult admission but for that you can spend as much time in the gardens as you want, get a 45 minute guided tour of the place AND complementary tea! I daresay I was in my element.
The Gardens themselves are beautiful and -unlike the Chinese Park next door, which is free- composed of materials mainly imported from China. The tour was informative and, primarily because the guide was Dutch, funny. It was definitely worth the wait and I highly recommend a trip here for anyone visitin Vancouver.
After this, I was pretty keen on taking advantage of the $2 swimming at the Aquatic Centre so we had a brisk walk to English Bay and I swam my heart out while Ritchie and Gaby took a boat tour of False Creek. This was followed by Spaghetti Bolognese at home (masterfully cooked by Ritchie, and without any pepper no less!) and a few drinks with Ralph, Leah and Neil at The Railway Club. Ritchie and Ralph are consequently BFFs, all thanks to their shared brand of extremely low-brow humour. What can you do?
Sunday was another busy day; I really noticed how long it takes to do things in Vancouver, due to the distances between everything. Gaby was pretty keen to go to Gastown to buy some tourist souvenirs and so that's what we did. I took this opportunity to get my tourist on and buy some of the unnecessary space-clutter that I didn't buy on arrival- the cosiest hoodie on the face of the planet and some magnets. Some planning of our road trip commenced at the Tourist Information Centre and since we'd got that sorted we treated ourselves to some of 'Vancouver's Best Cheesecake' at Trees Organic Coffee on Granville Street. It was pretty good, but I think the tiny Cheesecake I had at the Public Market was better.
For dinner, we had some proper sausages from the Public Market with mashed potato and onion gravy. I thoroughly enjoyed this, as they just don't have proper sausages in the supermarkets over here and it makes me sad. More trip organising accommodation booking followed this. Plus vodka and Cats of the World card games.
On to Monday, which was a day of little tourist tasks; a walk around the shops on Main Street (which don't open until 11am, by the way) and the Totem Poles at Stanley Park. I discovered that the digital zoom function on my camera is actually pretty good and so took pictures of the totem poles for the third time in 5 months. We were going to dinner at Vij's and they don't take reservations so you have to get there early (5.30pm) to be sure of a table so we just headed home for a quick-change after the totems. The food at Vij's is fantastic. We had the paneer (a type of Indian cheese similar to mozzerella), portobello mushroom, and pakora dishes to start and all of these were pretty damn good, especially the paneer. For mains I had lamb with a fenugreek sauce on a bed of spinach potatoes, Ritchie had beef in a tomato sauce and Gaby had the pork with dates and cashew nuts. The meat was the most tender and well-cooked I've ever eaten and I think the meal overall might have been the best I've had, it's certainly up there among the best. It was pretty pricey but definitely worth it. I'll be thinking about that for a while yet.
Gerhardt, the Dutch tour guide at Sun Yet Sen Gardens had informed us of a suspension bridge in the Lynn Valley in North Van., which serves as a cheaper (free) alternative to the Capilano Suspension Bridge which costs $40 per person. Tuesday was a fusion of families as we teamed up with Debbie and her parents to go over on the Seabus to see what it was like.
The suspension bridge itself wasn't particularly spectacular but the forest it was in was pretty and it was a warm and sunny day. It definitely made a nice change from being in the city and was nice to get some fresh air. On the way home from that, we took another quick walk through Gastown for some more tourist shopping and then we stopped off for a visit to the Queen Elizabeth Park to see the impressive view of the city. We didn't have long here either since we had a dinner reservation at Lombardo's (the downtown branch of Debbie's work) for another great eating experience but I wanted to show it to Ritchie and Gaby while they were here. As I said, dinner was fantastic and then we headed home to prepare for our excursion to Eastern B.C., which shall be documented in the next installment.

A 75Lb chocolate egg at Granville Island Public Market

Me at the Sun Yet Sen Classical Chinese Gardens

Sun Yet Sen Classical Chinese Gardens

Me exploring the digital zoom at the Totem Poles in Stanley Park

Seabus banter

The downtown Vancouver skyline from the Seabus; The Harbour Centre Tower and Canada Place

Downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park from the Seabus

The Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge

Debbie, her dad Billy, Ritchie, Debbie's mum Annette and Gaby on the bride

A tree growing out of a tree stump

Gaby and Ritchie at Queen Elizabeth Park

I have to eat now so that's all you're getting for the time being. I'll take a day or so to recover from that regurgitation and will get right on to Chapter Two...

A Mind Ill At Ease

This entry comes from a sense of duty to you the reader, rather than because I have anything that interesting to say. Haven't really been doing very much since the last post; hung out at Queen Elizabeth Park when it's been sunny and have been working. Went out for some beers on Thursday and Saturday nights which was pretty decent but that's about all the excitement.

Today I'm feeling a wee bitty out of sorts. Partly through hangover tensions and partly because I'm uncertain of my plans for May and this unsettles me. I need to book a flight before the cheaps ones fill up but I don't know when for. It's between the 20th and 27th but I'm not sure if I'm going to have funds or accommodation for an extra week if I go for the 27th. Worst case scenario is I have to pay for a hostel for the week but then there's food costs to think of an I'm not sure if I want to or can pay for that.
I'm also sad to be thinking of going home. Recently I've started to make some friends and it sucks that I'm going home just at this point. I think because Debbie and Greg are staying I'm getting jealous of them and it's sort of playing on my mind.

I guess I'll get over it.

Anyways, here's some photos for you.

There's blossoms everywhere at the moment and they're so pretty!

The Conservatory at Q.E. Park

Debbie in a tree

The city and some old folks

A pond

Ritchie and Gaby are coming up on Thursday- excitement!

What You Share With The World Is What It Keeps Of You.

Since going to the Swap Scavenger Hunt I've been all high on the act of friendship forming and I think it's changed me somewhat. Couple that with the acute awareness of my time here coming to a conclusion (through monetary constraints and the desire not to draw it out) and you have me making plans to travel to Vancouver Island and sleep on the couches of strangers (albeit willing strangers).
Basically, what's happened is I've decided I want to go to Vancouver Island and spend my remaining funds on that, then get a flight home on May 20th or May 27th rather than look for accommodation and stay here longer. Go out with style, I guess. Rather than spend loads on travel and accommodation, I figure I'll rough it and take public transport as much as possible and take advantage of the kindness of strangers.
Plan as it stands is to take the bus to the ferry terminal at Tsawwassen then take the ferry to Swartz Bay then another bus to downtown Victoria. I will then stay on the couch of a willing participant that I located through the Couch Surfing website named Bryan, this accommodation will be free. I was originally thinking of going to Tofino, further north and on the West coast of the Island, because Debbie and others have said it's cool there. The return coach trip there would be $111 though, and considering it should cost me less than $20 to get from Vancouver to Victoria, I don't think it's worth it. Instead I'm thinking of going to one of the Gulf Islands which are between the mainland and Vancouver Island, and which the ferry goes to. My couch surfing host Bryan used to live on Salt Spring Island so knows about that and says he could probably set me up with accommodation there, so I've told him what I'm looking for (nice beaches on which to read, some stuff to do during the day and some shops) and asked if he knows which Gulf Island is best for me. He's basically my personalised tourist information and I'm pretty smitten with the whole couch surfing concept at the moment. Hopefully terrible things won't happen to me.
After that I'll head back to Vancouver and hang about for a few days (either in a hostel or with someone I know a little better than Bryan) then catch a plane home.
I've done some calculating and even if I go to Tofino then the whole thing is just a little over budget, and that can be taken care of by the lovely people at Mastercard. But if I go to Salt Spring and get free accommodation then I'll be underbudget and may get to stay in Vancouver for a few more nights, and say goodbye.
This does mean that dad might have some people sleeping on his couch though, in order to level out the karma.... I jest. I can hold that off until I have somewhere of my own (I like to call that period The Very Distant Future Unless I Win The Lottery).

So that's what I've been spending my time doing lately, and it takes up more of it than you might think. I've had no unused minutes in the past few days. It's been good but my head's all full. I managed to get a lot done today though, as I had a day off. We have a house viewing tomorrow so I've been cleaning like a crazy person so the landlords don't have an excuse to hassle us. It's pretty darn spotless, if I say so myself. Floors hoovered and washed, surfaces washed, bathrooms disinfected, soapscum removed (thanks to the wonderous Tilex), mirrors windexed, fireplaces swept out... I'm quite the housewife; there's even a freshly baked loaf on the counter.
I did take a break today though in order to attend the Pillow Fight Club event that happened. I'm not really sure how or why it was set up but one of the people I scavenged with through Swap told me about it; a 'spontaneous' pillow fight taking place in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery on Robson Street. At 3pm everyone just runs in shouting "pillow fight" and starts pummelling strangers with pillows. Odd, but fun.

The front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Normally there's too many tramps sitting outside for me to take a photo without the fear of camera theft, which is why there has been no prior photo.

Pillow fighting

The new Andrex Puppy?

Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG; I kid you not) from afar

Last Sunday I had a terrible day involving being locked out of my room but having to stay in the house and I got cabin fever pretty badly so when I was reintroduced to my house keys I went for a wander along the beach at English Bay and watched the sunset. This is kinda what made me want to go to the Island, I wanna see more of B.C. if it's anything like this.

I'm pretty excited about going on our trip eastward with Ritchie and Gaby too. I'm gonna continue with the poverty diet and cut down my swimming so I can save up my wages for it. S'gonna be goooooooooooooooood.