Monday June 22nd

We left Cottage Pirouette this morning and headed straight for Schwartz Bay. We were a little early for our ferry which left at 12 midday. Eventually we boarded the ferry and we went out onto the deck. It was quite windy like the first ferry we got to Vancouver Island, but it was much more cold and it was lunchtime so we needed to get some food, even though the ferry manoeuvred between a cluster of small islands. We weren’t sure if there were any whales or dolphins around here, but if there were, we would probably miss them.

Still, we saw 4 sea eagles on the coast of one island, swooping down into the water. Lucky we got a window seat whilst eating! Unfortunately, we took no photos as we were too busy handling our lunch..!! After eating, we sat on the deck outside, by which time we were in more open water and at some point we crossed through American territory and back into Canada. On the road map, you could easily see the tiny, tiny part on the end of Canada which is actually America. Bizarre...such a tiny piece of land....was it worth it I wonder?! What was there that decided who should have it?

We got back into the car, off the boat and towards Vancouver Airport to drop off the car. We offloaded all our luggage and got a Taxi to our last Bed and Breakfast called “Tree House”. When we arrived, we followed instructions which were taped to the front door addressed for us. We were supposed to be in “Far East I” which, when we saw it, was brighter then “Far East II” which is where we ended up instead, but we didn’t mind, it was fine for what we wanted. And the reason? I followed instructions which led us into “Far East I”. The door was unlocked, and we opened the door and went in, to see a woman sitting as the desk on her laptop. It turns out that she had booked into “Far East II” but had gone into the other. She had settled in somewhat, and after speaking to the host who emphatically apologised for the mistake, asked if we were ok with the other room, which of course, we were! I do wonder how she read “I” as “II”.....or went into I by accident. I mean, when we reserved our room, we CHOSE the room. Did she forget or something?? Who forgets THAT information?

Well anyway, the Bed and Breakfast was very nice, the decor was quite Oriental, as was the hallway, the common room and the dining room. A very, very nice and comfortable place to stay.

Tuesday June 23rd

6:00pm

Today we had a very nice Breakfast and started out on our way to the Museum of Anthropology which I had been really looking forward to. I wasn’t too fussed at first about the Museum in Victoria, but obviously during THAT visit, I had changed my mind!!

Now, we knew the Museum of Anthropology had recently undergone lots of renovations, so we knew that some part may not have been accessible. So when we arrived and got in, it looked really nice and we started looking around. Lots and lots of totem poles which I really liked, then through a temporary exhibition on Samoan Tattoos, then of course Bill Reid’s famous Raven and Clamshell sculpture which I loved. After that, we just that the ceramics gallery – that was it!

I really thought this Museum had a lot more in it – probably in the galleries which were yet to re-open, but I honestly thought that this Museum as a whole would be SO much larger. But no, sadly I think my expectations were very high after having visited the Museum in Victoria – I expected similar exhibits in Vancouver. As a result, I was unimpressed and felt let down. Still, the totem poles out the back were very nice indeed, with reconstructions of Native houses and how they would look in context. We did go on a guided tour around the Museum which was free and definitely worth doing. The ceramics gallery turned out to be a little odd because a LOT of the things on show weren’t very old........or at least not old to us..!! I had to remind myself yet again, that 100 years is OLD here in Canada......!!

Next we went on a “walk” which was in part of Pacific Spirit Regional Park. Neither of us knew what this walk would be like, but it turned out to be 390 steps down (my ankles were quite painful after that!!) and the path was uneven PLUS walking on the beach which was uneven and very pebbly. Not particularly good for a pair of painful but flexible ankles, clumsy feet and a pair of crocs...! Well, we stayed on one apart of the beach for a little while to let my legs recover, but we soon decided it was probably a good idea to get back to the B&B....

....390 steps later, we finally made it back to the top and hobbled back to the B&B for a nice rest in the “Evil bed of softness!” before heading out to dinner. The bed was a normal mattress, covered with a spongy thing which just let you melt down into it, and it was hard to get out of the bed!! The bed was quite low, the opposite of Harvey House’s bed!! The “Tree House” bed was comfortable but once you were in....you were in!!!

We managed to get off the bed and went to have dinner at “Minerva’s” – nice to finish off with Spumone Ice Cream which was a mixture of pretty much everything!!

Wednesday June 24th

5:31pm

Our last day in Canada today. What did the weather do? It rained. On the day we were going to do some shopping! Of course!! Not quite as heavy as it was when we went to Toronto for the day, but still quite wet. Still, this did not deter us! We got onto the bus and headed for Granville Island, well known for arts and crafts and suchlike. We began in “Net Loft” and discovered a shop called “Beadworks” – a shop FULL of beads!! Hooray! I was delighted. I knew Mathew was rolling his eyes...I didn’t need to see his face...!!!

BUT, as I looked around the shop, as many beads as there were, I realised two things. I could get most, if not ALL these beads from the websites I use on the internet. Secondly, I could get things SO much more cheaper on the internet. Half the price, if not, less. For example, a 16cm string of round Amethyst beads was being sold here for $44, which at the time was roughly £25. I could easily get the same thing in the UK for £6 – roughly $14.

Still, I ended up buying some beads made of wood, bone and a couple of bali beads, but I was so disappointed with the shop in general. I was expecting there to be much more unusual and quirky beads rather than anything else. I quickly came to the conclusion that it might be best for me if I don’t visit bead shops ever again, and stick to websites where they are cheaper and there is just as much choice. Beads are incredibly overpriced in actual shops, and they probably get their stock from website anyway!

We continued to walk around Granville Island but didn’t go into many more shops at all – there were lots of very nice shops yes, but the problem was: we’d seen a lot of it elsewhere, OR we’d already bought something like it elsewhere. Perhaps we were art and crafted out? It was midday and I was feeling fed up. Fed up with being so disappointed with the Museum yesterday and with Granville Island, BOTH of which I had been looking forward to! I think after all that has happened on this holiday, my expectations had just rocketed right the way up.

We got ourselves onto a bus and went into “Downtown” Vancouver, and this was where I was looking forward to doing a little more shopping. But what did I buy?
Nothing.

Yes, nothing.

Why? Well....there was nothing there! I guess I felt the same way about Toronto. Maybe we missed something, I don’t know...but I just felt neither Toronto or Vancouver were particularly exciting, and they barely had any shops unless you wanted to eat all the time. Plenty of places to eat. Okay, in Toronto we had lots of other things to do, but in Vancouver, it was the “Tower” and “Shopping” on the list.

And speaking of shopping – the shopping centres here are very different to English ones. Hardly surprising really, but the shopping malls here are underneath or on the first floor of office blocks, which I can appreciate regarding weather and temperature issues in winter...! In Toronto, I knew about an indoor shopping centre but we never went to it, I never saw it.

In Vancouver, this is how it went. There didn’t seem to be any sort of advertising or signs for any shopping malls whatsoever...unless it was from the other way. We just suddenly stumbled upon them, and there was the entrance. We ended up mostly going through back entrances or side entrances which didn’t actually look like an entrance to a shopping mall at all until you opened the door. It was weird walking down steps which we weren’t quite sure were leading us to the mall, despite the tiny sign on the wall next to the stairs...and then there we were in the mall! It just seemed that nobody wanted anyone to know where these malls were – you either knew where they were or stumbled on them by accident – which is what we did with all four of them.

Also there was only a store guide at the front entrance to a mall – nowhere else....unless they were hiding...! When IN the mall, the choice of purchases was either something to wear or something to eat. Hmmm. That was it. Rarely anything else seemed to be anywhere else really! Even outside, this was the choice of shops with the addition of drugstores and banks.

There were NO quirky little shops anywhere (I get the feeling that shops in Toronto and Vancouver may be spread out over a larger space...perhaps we were in the wrong area or something....but hey, how were we supposed to know when there are no signs and very little information to go on!), and I don’t recall seeing a music store ANYWHERE either. Perhaps these aren’t seen as mall type stores here? Or perhaps as I said earlier, they were on another street 20 blocks away which we didn’t know about! We also spent ALL afternoon looking for a bookstore...

We went into 4 shopping malls, and found a news stand / kiosk, and a bookstore which sold gifts and stationary. And one bookshelf of books. Hmmm....something wrong with that! Fed up with the search for a simple bookstore, we decided to go up the Lookout Tower which was TINY in comparison to the CN Tower in Toronto! It was still raining at this point, so we knew the view wasn’t going to be too spectacular...but we spent quite a little while up there, and noticed someone had drawn a comical stick figure in chalk on one of the car park bays on the rooftop parking lot. And we saw Gastown which we then realised was very close to the Tower, and we hadn’t realised this before!

Eventually we decided to call it a day and descended in the elevator which had its opening doors DISTURBINGLY on the OUTSIDE of the actual elevator. I stayed well back....! We found the road with the bus stop on it, and what did we see opposite the bus stop?

A BOOKSTORE!!!!

“Chapters” it was called. A giant bookstore. We had been looking for it ALL DAY and there it was, opposite our bus stop. And you’ll probably laugh at this – we didn’t buy anything!! But we did have a good look around. We spent around 40 minutes in there, Mathew saw lots of books he could have bought, I saw lots of beading books and one I was looking for on the First Nations. But the reason why we didn’t buy anything was because we can easily buy any of these books on the internet, where it is cheaper.

But that’s okay. I knew I would go home with lots of ideas anyway, and some knowledge of finding the right thing online with the right search words. So today’s lessons learned were:
1. Books are cheaper from websites
2. Beads are cheaper from websites
3. Don’t visit bead shops or bookstores – buy off websites to avoid disappointment!

We ended the day with a meal at a place we went to before, the name of which escapes me, which was like a little treasure not far from where we were staying. It was a charming place with friendly staff, a good menu filled with Mediterranean and Balkan dishes, great food for great prices. And the best thing? They remembered us from the first time round....and we got FREE DESSERT!! :o)

Thursday June 25th

8:17am Vancouver

Eugh. Early Start – nobody likes those do they? Our flight was at 9:30am so we had to leave early. Fortunately, our Bed and Breakfast did a “Bag breakfast” which was very handy for this day! We got up at 6am and left at 7am – our host had called us a taxi! When we arrived, we managed to do the self-check in thing again – but we noticed our seats weren’t together on EITHER flight! How do you book two seats on a flight at the same time and not get them next to each other?! Well in any case, it was easily rectified on the self-check in kiosk for BOTH flights.
We got to the departure lounge and we discovered our flight had been delayed by half an hour. Luckily we had a 90 minute space on Toronto for our plane to England....now it was an hour.

8:03am London

Phew! What a journey. To be honest the only things I was concerned about were my photos and our luggage – again. But we have both. Plus, I have to say that coming home was far less stressful than leaving the country. Everyone was so friendly to us as we left the country....! Surely these people on this side should have words with those who speak to customers who are leaving England. The latter should learn to smile, at least!

Anyway, the flight from Vancouver to Toronto was delayed, but the plane made up for time lost in flight...but we still disembarked with just an hour’s wait instead of 90 minutes. Good job we weren’t going to Montreal – there were lots of people on that connecting flight and Montreal seemed to be the most popular! We also noticed someone who I suspected was - and therefore I temporarily named - a Rock Star dude. He had really long dark hair, a goatee beard, and he was wearing a cream linen shirt and trousers with leapordprint shoes (!). I thought he played the guiter because I saw long fingernails on one hand and short nails on the other. After having a look at some of the people stopping to talk to him, I noticed something which I later looked up on the internet - he WAS a Rock Star dude! He was a gutarist for a Canadian band called "The Tragically Hip". And he wasn't in first class - he was in economy with the rest of us!

Anyway, I have gone off on a tangent. We had 45 minutes to get our connection by the time we had got off the plane. I was felling quite nauseous after only having eaten a (most DELICIOUS!) breakfast bagel with cream cheese and jam. And the reason for the nausea? The descent to Toronto. MAN it was rough. And I mean ROUGH. I thought I had experienced “rough” on an internal flight in America from Minneapolis to Rapid City. But seriously – that was a breeze compared to this one. The flight had a little turbulence throughout the journey, but not too bad. But we went through a very BIG part of some seriously BIG A$$ rainclouds and it actually felt like we were falling, not flying. I was glad to have my belt on, otherwise I would have not been in my seat when we came out the other side of the cloud. Imagine a roller coaster with lots of unknown twists and turns, VERY fast.....now imagine you HATE roller coasters....that’s pretty close to this plane descending into Toronto Airport. I think the Captain just looked at the cloud and said “Sod it!” and nose-dived as fast as possible. It was terrible!!!

So, by the time we had found our seats on the plane to London England, I had bought a LARGE packet of crisps and a bottle of water, and my stomach was stable, contents inside. I was hoping we wouldn’t be going through quite so much turbulence on the way up, but then again it was an International flight and a much larger plane. On the descent into London Heathrow, I think the Captain may have circled the rainclouds and waited for a gap to get through. That was fine though!

The flight to London wasn’t too exciting, although we did sit next to a very nice lady who had travelled from Auckland via Sidney, Vancouver and Toronto all the way to London in one go!! How she did it, I do not know! We tried to sleep on the plane, but I think we knew that wasn’t going to work. We tried and failed, and soon we were eating “breakfast” at 5:30am UK time (!!!!!)

As THIS plane was also late, we were now thinking of our National Express coach which left at 7:30am. We were supposed to land at 6:30am but we landed at 6:47am. We got to baggage claim by 7:05am and had all our bags by 7:25am.

We had 5 minutes.

And I cannot believe how LONG the walk was to the coach!! It was SUCH a long long way, and we actually got on the bus at 7:33am....but I think they may have been waiting for us because we had pre-booked our seats on that coach. Still, I hate rushing...but in this case I did not mind at all! We left London Heathrow for Leicester on the National Express with everything we left Vancouver with. Now we just had to endure a 3 hour coach trip with no air conditioning.
We finally reached home, Markfield, where long LONG showers were taken and enjoyed, and hair was washed, and clean fresh clothes were worn. We felt like zombies.

I had never had any trouble with jetlag before, but it took me the next week to get over it – for some reason my body wanted to sleep when my mind didn’t want to, and vice-versa. Needless to say, I felt quite rough over the weekend! But after a week, I was feeling much better and fully recovered.

So.....the question remains......would I do this much travelling ever again?

Seriously?

OHH YESSSS!!