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18 August - 22 August - Canada- Vancouver to New Zealand - Auckland
Our hotel is very central so after a leisurely start we explored Canada Wharf, booked a day trip to Whistler for the following day & then walked along the waterfront to Stanley park & then followed the seawall around the park (9km).The waterfront is beautifully laid out with wide walkways & cycle paths & it was lovely seeing lots of people out & about. Stanley Park is an amazing resource & the walkway had stunning views.
We took Lindsay's recommendation for dinner & tried The Keg. Great service & delicious meal.
The next day we took a float plane to the ski resort of Whistler ... What a cool way of seeing the scenery. Whistler is a vibrant busy resort even in the middle of summer. They had just finished hosting the Canada open mountain bike championships & there were still hundreds of hopefuls rushing down the slopes. There is a great range of things to do but unfortunately due to cloud cover we did not go up the ski lifts & do the peak to peak gondola ride... In good weather it would be fantastic!! We had a good wander around followed by a relaxed lunch then took the Rocky mountaineer train back to Vancouver. A perfect way to view the scenery from a different vantage point. Finished the evening with a cheese board at our 'local pub' http://www.tapandbarrel.com/
The attraction of this pub is wines on tap - great selection & great way of tasting a few different ones plus the staff are extremely knowledgeable.
Our last day here dawned bright & sunny so perfect to take the bus to Grouse Mountain ... It's about 25 minutes drive from downtown city centre to the car park where you catch the gondola up to the plateau then a ski lift to the top. We enjoyed the lumberjack show, sighted the grizzly bears and finished with a cider & lunch overlooking the stunning city before starting our journey home to NZ.
22 August - back home after a great trip. Sad to leave our London family after such a wonderful time but looking forward to seeing Gen and our NZ Whanau. We were welcomed home ( at 5.30 am ) by our dear neighbour Fifi running up the drive to greet us after she had already put the heaters on. (You can choose your friends but not your neighbours - we have the BEST). Also welcoming us home were the spring daffodils out in flower - original bulbs from St Stephens cottage in Canterbury. The house was immaculate after being left spotless by Ailish & Shane who have been housesitting.
What more could we wish for !!!
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