Next stop…Vancouver Eh!
We arrived in Vancouver Eh at 10am on the 16th June. And WOW, what a beautiful city! Strangely it about 9 hours before we had left Japan. We got out of the airport and saw the cab rank to our left and the limo rank to our right. We went to ask about the price of a limo into the city. Being $48 for a cab and $67 for a stretch limousine we rode to our hotel in style! A full on stretch limo with disco lights, a bar and adjustable screen between us and the driver.
We did the tourist thing, rented bikes and rode 10kms ride around Stanley Park. Lots of squirrels, Totem poles and a busker stacking rocks. We laughed a lot and saw heaps – float planes, the harbour, sun bathers on the beach as it was summer (at a mild 15 degrees plus). Sarah’s epic biking skills were impressive. She only broke her bike once and crashed into Nathan once but that was entirely his fault.
We met a man with a pet Iguana riding on his shoulder and of course had to befriend the iguana. The water front precinct was sensational. Maybe the prettiest harbour we have seen.
We were wandering along the waterfront in search of refreshments when we found a lovely looking bar and grill on the wharf called ‘Lift’. We sat out on the patio around a fire having some lovely cocktails and struck up a conversation with two Canadian guys sitting across from us. Very pleasant!
It turned out that Lift was THE bar of the rich and famous and the two guys, Dave and Alfred, were head chefs from the most happening restaurant in town.
They organised for us to be “VIP”ed at ‘Coast’ that night. Later conversation revealed that many a celeb (such as U2, Michael Buble, Zac Efron, the Supernatural boys and the Twilight guys) frequented this restaurant.So off we went for dinner at Coast. We were taken up into the special VIP dinning area that overlooks the rest of the restaurant. What an amazing night. Brilliant food and ambience.
Being ‘VIPed’ is great!!! As is time travel.
June 16th was a surreal day. We really thought we had all died in a plane crash and were living in some fantasy land. A 42 hour day (19 hours in Narita, plus a 9 hour flight, plus another 14 hours in Canada) and every minute was fantastic!!! Did we mention how amazingly nice Canadians are?
Granville Island and Vancouver Island
17th June was Orca Day. A great walk around the harbour followed by a water taxi across to Granville Island started the day nicely. The famous Granville Markets were great.
The most amazing food and many arts and crafts. Sensational salmon jerky – spicy, sweet (known as salmon candy), hard, chewy, and so on. There were the most amazing pastries and every kind of bread you could imagine. The fruit, especially the berry range was mind blowing. The crafts were amazing as well. A man was selling leather bound books. It was deer skin and had been salvaged from a ship that sunk over 100 years ago. The hides had been under water since then and when they were dried out and tanned he was still able to make them into something stunningly beautiful. We made a great picnic of fresh fruit, pastries and a variety of jerky. We got to spend all day chewing on lovely treats.
Our Orca cruise had many interesting points. The very shallow bottomed boat for a 2 hr (each way) trip in open ocean and a guide who was always trying to tell us what a great day we had. She thought she had tele-coercion powers. Then there was the skipper must have failed high school geometry; he couldn’t even judge 100 meters (more like 300) and who must have had ADHD.
Every time we saw something good he would move away to have a squiz at something else. The whales would be right in front of us and he would drive off to look for more elsewhere. Then, just as the Orcas were building up to start playing he decided to head back to Vancouver. All this aside, we certainly saw Orcas. There are three resident Orca pods in the area, J, K and L. They sometimes form up into a super pod. On this day the super pod had formed and around 85 Orcas were around us. They were simply brilliant. We noticed there was no I Pod. Maybe the salt water would effect an iPod? Yet another fantastic day!
Every time we saw something good he would move away to have a squiz at something else. The whales would be right in front of us and he would drive off to look for more elsewhere. Then, just as the Orcas were building up to start playing he decided to head back to Vancouver. All this aside, we certainly saw Orcas. There are three resident Orca pods in the area, J, K and L. They sometimes form up into a super pod. On this day the super pod had formed and around 85 Orcas were around us. They were simply brilliant. We noticed there was no I Pod. Maybe the salt water would effect an iPod? Yet another fantastic day!As the ship sailed away from the dock there was a sail away party. There were waiters walking around with cocktails, people lining the docks, the parks and the bridges to yell and wave goodbye. Of course we didn’t know anyone, but we still got into the spirit. Sarah did the Titanic thing, yelling “I’ll’a never forget’a youew” in a strong Italian accent to no-one in particular. Sailing out of Vancouver Harbour was wonderful. Under the bridge, past Stanley Park and out to sea. We took photos on the bow in a huge wind, coo-eed to walkers on the bridge and drank cocktails on our deck.
It was an great day and we did see many Orcas.
17th June – ship day. We started the day with dropping laundry to the cleaners then a visit to the Aquarium.
Then ship time. Boarding was in a huge hall where we sat in rows then moved forward in blocks every 15 minutes or so. We ran around oohh-ing and ahhh-ing. It was amazing.
“Muster” – life boat drill was fun then off we went.
As the ship sailed away from the dock there was a sail away party. There were waiters walking around with cocktails, people lining the docks, the parks and the bridges to yell and wave goodbye. Of course we didn’t know anyone, but we still got into the spirit. Sarah did the Titanic thing, yelling “I’ll’a never forget’a youew” in a strong Italian accent to no-one in particular. Sailing out of Vancouver Harbour was wonderful. Under the bridge, past Stanley Park and out to sea. We took photos on the bow in a huge wind, coo-eed to walkers on the bridge and drank cocktails on our deck.
It was then time to hit Cascades, the buffet style restaurant. It was massive, with great food for every taste – salads, fruits, pastries, greasy food, roasts, casseroles, Chinese, halal, Indian, cheeses, dessert bar and so on. Open 20 hours a day. No one was going to go hungry.
It was then off to the serious business of exploring the ship. Between drinking a few more cocktails we went to find our rooms. Our room was fantastic, at the back of the ship with a huge balcony and great water views. We could sit and watch the wake. It was incredible.
Nathan’s room also had water views…coming from the toilet. After many failed attempts to call maintenance for help, he opened a door that said “Staff Only” and grabbed a guy in a white uniform. The man came in, observed the scene and called someone on a special phone. Standing there in poo water, he then introduced himself as the Captain. Meeting the Captain on a cruise ship is a big deal. And Nathan got him into his room!
We went to a ‘Meet and Mingle’, where they do a hard sell of on-board facilities. They also do many raffles. Nathan won a prize in the day spa’s raffle. He won a free facial…funny. Everyone cheered for him. He later went outside and lost the voucher overboard to the wind, but they gave him another. There was a huge crowd around when we went back to explain so of course he got another big cheer. He did have his facial though we don’t think he is a convert. We all then went to the spa. Nathan and Raina had deep tissue massages. Sarah had the sampler pack. A head, neck and shoulder massage – a hand massage – a foot and ankle massage – a deep conditioning hair treatment – and a facial. She enjoyed it. We all decided that she had the better deal. The ship was amazingly steady with very little movement. Occasionally you would look out the window and get a shock as the world was moving by. . Nathan got an upgrade to a new room! He was moved from an inside room to an Ocean View room. A huge porthole! Good Work. Sarah quickly found herself a ‘Sugar Daddy’ oil baron. He told her that he would like to take her home to Louisiana with him. Did you know that when you eat alligators, they taste like chicken at one end and fish at the other? The things you learn from potential Sugar Daddys.
19th June. Sea Day and Nathan’s Birthday.
This was a full day at sea, steaming up the coastline to the Inside Passage. No land in sight. A full day to explore the ship. Sarah saw whales while working out in the gym. Raina and Nathan played Bingo! Raina won a round (but not the round with the Royal Suite as the prize). Just $160US.
There were only 40 Aussies on the ship so we were starting to stand out by this time. Sarah played Dodge Ball. She nearly had her head knocked off but did meet lots of young people. We all had a few cocktails – they were only about $6 and were huge. We relaxed and all had fun.
Then it was off to dinner for Nathan’s birthday. We went to “Chops”, one of the specialty restaurants. Silver service! The food was unbelievable, the ambiance was amazing and we drank Moet and Chandon. Seeing Sarah knocking over a full glass of Moet was a bit sad, but oh well. Once again the alcohol was not wasted on us. The waiters all sang ‘Happy Birthday’ as well as any acapella troop.
Sarah sang for us in ‘Whale’ and Nathan ate 4 desserts. What a great night!
We joined in on the evening activities. Raina made the semi and Sarah made the final of ‘Finish that Lyric’. Raina got the crowd of 1000 people to sing Happy Birthday to Nathan. But he was passed out on a lounge. Sarah made it to the finals of the Karaoke. Cocktails are a good warm up. When Nathan woke up and joined in, everyone sang Happy Birthday to him AGAIN. He was becoming well known. Sarah went out that night and met heaps of young people, including Canadians that actually said “Vancouver eh” and “doone toone”. She was stoked and many late nights followed.
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