There's no place like home

Last day in Vancouver, last day away from home but need to make the day count since I wasn't flying out until 11.40pm.

Got on the Big Bus, a hop on hop off bus that gives you commentary as driving along. I was a bit chilly to start with and the outside seats of the bus were wet to begin the day so looks like the company isn't that organised.

The bus drove through the "ritzy" area of Vancouver (Westend) and I thought it was going to tour through Stanley Park too but I misread the fineprint and apparently they only do that in their peak summer season!


I got off the bus at the Vancouver Aquarium and the displays and animals were excellent. I was lucky to catch the talks on the dolphins, otters, seals & sea lions and the beluga whales! All good.

Got back on the bus as it toured around much of the city (didn't do the Art Gallery loop since there was a demonstration on there [something about capitalism]) and took the bus down to Granville Island. This is a market type of neighbourhood with lots of arts shops and organisations as well as general tourist shops and also a fresh food market. It has a really nice atmosphere.

I decided to take a normal city bus back into the centre of Vancouver because I wasn't sure of the frequency of the Big Bus (They were coming at half hour intervals, but I wouldn't know whether I'd just missed one or if one was due any minute)

Got off the bus at Gastown (Named after "Gassy" Jack Deighton [I hate to think how he got THAT name] who established the areas first saloon [read Pub]) and looked around. There are a lot of tourist kinds of shops here and I'd noticed on my bus tour earlier that there was a shop that sold Waffles and Maple Syrup and I had still not had that yet and was about to leave. Did a little shopping, waffles were very nice and then started walking in the general direction of my hotel.

On the way, Walked down Robson Road to kill some time as it was 6.00pm and I wasn't being picked up from the hotel until 8.30pm. I also noticed a Safeway (Like Coles & Woolies) store on Robson and was still to get Jenn's Turtles (haven't seen them anywhere yet, no not real turtles, they are chocolates [Jenn and turtles in the one sentence, of course they're chocolates!). Found turtles (Yay!) and made my way back to the hotel via a stop for dinner.

This has been a really long trip but has been an incredible experience. Wish Jenn had come, but I reckon I'll have more luck next time. I'll be so glad to be home surrounded by family and with everything familiar. I've seen some excellent things and enjoyed avery minute, but at the end of it all, those we care about are those we want to be with and have around us.

Yes Dorothy, there's no place like home, but not in Kansas. The places I've been have been so different in many ways to home but in my humble opinion, we are very lucky to live where we are and to enjoy the lifestyle we lead. The glittering jewel that is Sydney can not be surpassed and in our humble little hamlet of Bonnyrigg we have all that we could want or could need.

Suspensions and suspense

Second last day and I went up to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park to look around. The suspension bridge is 450ft (137m) long and about 250 ft (76m) from the river below. It was absolutely fantastic although I was a bit surprised that it did make me feel a bit uneasy as I was walking across and it was swaying side to side.

In 2006 a huge tree fell on it and it didn't break! They have since done some repairs etc to make it even stronger!

The park also had a series of 7 smaller tree-top bridges that interconnected and they were really good. Reminded me of Peter Pan.

The Cliff Walk was their newest attraction and while it was higher off the forest floor (400ft - 122m) and it was thinner and at times had a glass floor, it didn't sway at all and so did not give the same sense of unease as the main bridge.

Next stop was Grouse Mountain. There was a big cable car that had to be taken up to the top and the views overlooking Vancouver were fabulous. It really wasn't laid out very well but they did have a couple of bears (of which I saw 1) in a 5 acre enclosure.

People can, and do, hike up the mountain and they have daily 'records' displayed. The quickest today were around 30 minutes. Me? I'll take the cable car.

Came back into Vancouver by bus then a Seabus (Ferry) and booked my ticket to the Ballet tonight. Alberta Ballet Company performing "Love Lies Bleeding" with the music of elton John and apparently loosely constructed around the story of his life. really looking forward to it.

Tomorrow is my last day in town and the plane doesn't leave until 11.40pm so will have to pack and leave my bags at the hotel. Do some sightseeing during the day and then head out to the airport at night.

REALLY looking forward to coming home. I miss everyone but it has been a great holiday.

Tour to gardens and Victorian times

Arrived in Vancouver and just had a bit of a look around by walking down the street. My hotel is on one of the main streets that lead down to the harbour.

Looked around an area called Gastown, which is very much like our "Rocks" in Sydney but much bigger and better laid out.

Organised a tour for my second day over to Vancouver Island. Bus picked me up and we boarded a ferry that held over 2000 people and the cars/buses/trucks to go with it!

It was a 90 minute trip on the ferry across.

We first went to Butchart Gardens. It has been established over 100 years and was orginally owned by a person who mined limestone there to manufacture cement and the garden was a way to make the environment left more pleasant. It's still owned by the family!

The gardens are superbly maintained and I think they said there was a team of about 55 gardeners that work on it, and I'm not surprised.

There are different themed spaces in the gardens and the Japanese section would have to be one of the largest. The Rose section was not anything special since it really was the wrong time of the year for them, only a few buds on bushes, but lots of bushes that you could see had been pruned to prepare for winter here.

The sunken garden was probably the most spectacular especially with the trees that were changing colour in it and a really impressive fountain that 'danced'.

Last stop was the city of Victoria. It was much bigger than I thought! Looked at least twice the size of Calgary! Very busy city but with a lot of historical elements to it on a pretty harbour.

While in Victoria went to the Museum of British Columbia. some interesting exhibits, particularly of the First Nations (Indians) people.

On the waterfront, there was a statue of Captain James Cook! Who knew he had ties to the area.

Emblazened on the plaque:

“After two historic voyages to the South Pacific, Cook was cruising the awters of the Pacific Northwest on his third and final voyage, with his two ships, Resolution and Discovery. He was searching for the Western exit to the legendary Northwest Passage. In March, 1778, they put into Nootka Sound for repairs and to trade with the native people, with him on the voyage were Mr. William Bligh as Master of the Resolution and Midshipman George Vancouver.”

On the way driving back to the hotel on the mainland, came across these fields of flowers. Did I say flowers? They are pumpkins ready to harvest for the upcoming Halloween!

High times

Back in Banff the next day and I rented a GPS tour guide that would tell me where to go (In a nice way I hope!)


It first 'took' me to a park near the town centre and its was nice to see some Elementary (Primary) School students doing some fitness activities with the wonderful backdrop behind them.

Then on to the Banff Springs Hotel that was one of the first large hotels built for the town to encourage tourists. The founder apparently said "If we can't export the scenery, we'll have to import the people" (Thanks GyPSy!).

It then took me over to Bow Falls, the site of many a derring-do by such damsels a Marilyn Monroe and Lassie!

A drive around the golf course and GyPSy told me that I should be able to see some wildlife and what would you know! Deer and Elk and whatever the hell they are!

Time then for the cable car adventure up to the top of Sulphur Mountain. I really thought I'd be taking a short trip up then turn around and come straight back down but to start with, the trip up must have been about 15 minutes or so, which gives you some idea of how high it ended up going.

The view from the top of Sulphur Mountain (named for the sulphur springs that come out of the mountain and 'feed' the hot springs below) was spectacular. I was beginning to think that I was only going to see snow on the hilltops from a real distance but it was really nice to be up close and not in miserable conditions.

A short trip from the cable car (once I'd made the return trip) was the Upper Hot Springs. I thought it would be kind of cool (pardon the pun) to go for a swim with snow covered mountains in the background.

The water was 39 degrees C and pumped from the springs that flowed from the mountain. There were quite a few people there but was a nice experience.

The GPS tour took me on a few different sights but before I knew it, it was nearly 4pm and after the Hot Springs, I must say I was feeling a bit tired and still had a 90 minute drive back to Calgary!