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em & ck : THE BIG TRIP!!
*cringe* our 4 o'clock wake up call had arrived, we lugged our stuff downstairs, stole some teabags and waited for our limo to arrive, yeah that's right, we travel in style! We arrived and checked in to the airport very quickly and waited for our flight to Calgary, then onto Abbotsford. After landing at Abbotsford airport, we began to deboard the plane, only to be ordered to "STOP" by aiport staff to avoid being jet blasted by another plane that was about to take off! One woman, however, failed to hear and continued to wander aimlessly across the runway!
We were greeted by Liz at arrivals and drove to her house. We went to get some supplies for the barbi that evening and also picked up their dog Sasha from the dog groomers, smelling all lovely and getting a bit friendly in the back seat! In the evening we met all the family including Auntie Gwen, and more and more and MORE cousins and relatives!! We had a great meal and got to know everyone, and had a "fruit pizza" for dessert mmmm! (Liz can we have the receipes for the cookies, the fruit pizza and the banana loaf! Thanks!!) Later that evening, we went to Jen and Mark's place to drug Em up with cold stuff, and got to travel in a huge monster truck which we abseiled out of!
Next day, Em set the alarm for PM instead of AM...and so we failed to wake up as planned, nevermind they're very laid back in Canada! Liz took us to Fort Langley, where we didn't actually go in because we are too stingey! We then headed to Auntie Gwen's and Susan's for some tea and to plan our trip to Vancouver the next day. We had a barbeque in the evening where Jen joined us again.
The next day we awoke to an empty house, but were greeted by Sasha, had some breakfast and prepared for our car journey to Vancouver driven by Suzie, who doesn't believe in maps or directions, she just "feels" her way! We had many laughs and almost crossed the border into America - we did have our passports though!
We eventually, after a scenic drive, arrived at our hostel the Cambie Seymour in the very centre of Vancouver. We found our room at the very top and very end of the corridor...no elevators! Our simple room had big bunk beds, with no barrier on the top bunk. We spent the evening determining whether Em would suffer fatal injuries if she fell out in the night. Much to Clare's amusment Em stayed close to the wall that night! We went out to have a mooch around when the heavens opened for the first time on our trip. Literally pissing down, monsoon style!
We awoke early and took full advantage of the free tea and muffin breakfast and went to Gastown to book our Vancouver trolley pass to take us on a tour all over Vancouver. We got on a trolley to Stanley Park, with a driver we couldn't understand and who Em thought reminded her of "the home alone kid". We went to the Vancouver Aquarium and went straight to the Beluga Whale show, which was impressive! We fell in love with the otters and saw our very first Huntsman Spider, thankfully in a box! The dolphins were very cute and we felt sorry for them being in small areas...it did rekindle Clare's love of these animals!
We headed back to the centre and went to Canada Place by the water to watch the sunset. Then going to the Imax theatre to watch Deep Sea 3D wearing very fetching massive glasses.
The next day we got our connector ticket to Capilano Suspension Bridge and Treetop Adventure, and inadvertantly managed to get our two day trolley pass extended to three!! The Suspension Bridge was amazing, and suprisingly wobbly! We continued to the treetop adventure area and followed the bridges suspended high in the treetops in the forest. In the evening we went to the lookout in time for sunset.
Today was Mother's Day, only in Canada though. Em thought that she should send a card home for her Mum, until a wise old CK reminded her that we had already HAD mother's day in England....duh! We caught the trolley to Stanley Park where we hired two "7 speed cruisers" just like the bikes in Now And Then!! We slowly rode around the park, along the seawall path, going under the Lion's Gate Bridge and then stopped off for some lunch on a bench over looking the beach. We continued cycling for some while, not actually realising that we had left the park, we followed detour signs around the harbour area and through construction sights ending up by the Science Centre miles over to the East of Vancouver, only THEN did we notice we couldn't see much greenery and decided to get the map out. After realising we were WAY off course, we turned around and headed back along the path we had taken...it's a mini adventure! Once surrounded by trees again we turned right and followed another path that led us into the park, the route we were planning on taking the first time, we blame the sign posts...or lack of them!!
The next day we woke up and checked out of the hostel at 10 grabbing our last free tea and muffin, and waited outside to hail a cab...which we need to improve on...as one approached and made eye contact Em looked at him and shouted "Can we get a ride?"
We then waited for our greyhound coach to take us to Whistler...
Us xx
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