Vancouver - The holidaying & sight-seeing begins

We started our first day by checking out the surroundings of this beautiful university. It's huge and has it's own post .... uh hum...zip code. It's bigger than some suburbs in Geelong.
A quick stop to the local supermarket to pick up some power adapters and other essentials, we quickly learnt Rox was going to be the centre of attention on this trip. People are mesmerised & intrigued by her.

We are constantly learning new things here in Vancouver. So many strange yet funny and interesting differences to Australia. The first obvious one that they drive on the opposite side of the road and we both nearly get run over every time we go to cross the road as we look the wrong way just because that is what we are used to and it is a habit. The first time I went to get into a taxi I went to the drivers seat thinking it was the front passenger seat. This may take us a bit of getting used too.
The other really funny thing was we were standing at a set of lights waiting for the pedestrian man to go green and when it did this beautiful nightingale bird sound started and Tim and I stopped in the middle of the road trying to find this Canadian delight but to our dismay we couldn't see it. A while later we were at another pedestrian crossing and what should we hear but the bird sound again, so we stopped and looked for it to again not be able to see this harmonious creature. It was only at the third pedestrian crossing that we realised the beautiful Canadian nightingale bird sound we delighted in was actually the sound the pedestrian crossing makes when it tells you that you are free to walk. We found this very humorous yet so pleasant a sound to wait for at a set of lights.
The views here are just exquisite. The mountains stand so grand with their snow capped beauty inviting you up there. There is no ugly sight here. The houses are so beautiful as well. It seems that most of the houses here are two storey with a very vintage 60's feel. Some of them are blue stone and very winter cabin looking. Tim and I rarely agree on housing but we both think these houses are to die for and of course so expensive.

We headed downtown day 2 to check out the cityscape. We are staying 100m from the Uni bus depot so we can catch one to anywhere anytime. The buses are all accessible & each one has the same system as our car, electric ramps & air compression lowering. Tim is stoked with this but more impressed by what he thought were snow plow adapters on the front of each one, but they are actually bicycle holders for passengers. How clever..but somewhat confusing. Got a bike but still need to catch a bus....hehe.


One of the bonus' about this place is that every door here is suitable for the disabled. Every door no matter where it is, it could be toilets (washrooms - the word toilet here is offensive), coffee shops, museums, clothing stores etc has a button to press if you are in a wheelchair and it will automatically open for you. If your not disabled you can choose to push the door open or press the button also. Makes it very easy for us.

Lots of things here are on sensors. The strangest thing is that the toilets are all on sensors so once you stand up to go press the flush button it has already done it for you. Tim tells me there is a man standing behind the wall of the toilet watching and pressing the button but I think he is lying to me. Then all the vanities are on sensor and the paper towel dispenser are also on sensor likes there is this invisible arm handing you a paper towel.

They have a central tower here with a revolving restaurant like Sydney, so we thought this would be a great way to see the city in one hit. Phenomenal view. Roxy loved it. First time she had been in a glass lift, so she was a bit bewildered as to why the world was getting smaller as we went higher.

Gastown was the next stop which is a British colonised quarter of the city complete with cobblestone streets (well negotiated by Mel) & ye olde lamp posts. But the shops & cafes are very Fremantle like. We found the best shoe shop ever, but pulled ourselves up knowing we already brought with us enough to make Imelda proud. Had a lovely drink in the sun out the front of cute restaurant. Tim saw a guy with a t-shirt with McCall Fire Dept on the back and thought it was a u.m short of a perfect station for Pete to work at.




The service here is like none other. If you are dining in a restaurant they ask your name and will call you by your name and remember it. They will do anything they possibly can for you here. Having managed a restaurant in WA I can honestly say in Australia we don't put the same importance on customers as the Canadians do and they are so genuine about it.

There are a lot of beggars in town here in Vancouver which alarmed me at first but then we were told that it is the only place in Canada where they can live without dying from the cold. This means they leave any type of connection and family they may have had where ever they came from. It is very sad. If ever I wanted a job here I don't think I would have any trouble given the amount of social issues here.



We caught up with a friend of Tim's from Ryla, which was great. She introduced us to another Aussie and we had a lovely time with them. It is nice to hear other Aussie accents especially when you start to hear yourself saying the common phrase here; 'totally'.




Roxy loves Vancouver as they love their Canines here and have specialty dog bakeries. We took Roxy into one to show her and they had a big glass cabinet displaying Dog cupcakes that were made with soy and gluten free. It is amazing how seriously they take their canine treats and diets. There are not a lot of big dogs here as they love their small handbag dogs.


My best discovery so far as been a shop just for ladies over six feet tall. I went nuts in this shop, so much that I thought about buying shares in the company. Never before have I tried a pair of pants that were so long for my legs that I would have to wear heels to get them off the ground. I felt normal for once. They even had track suit pants and pyjama pants long enough for my legs. I'll have to share the website with most of my dutch relatives who share the same frustrations as I do.
They love their chilli here so much so that even muffin break here has a chilli section. They have some strange food here like turkey and chicken bacon. It looks disgusting but I am told is very popular. I have tried the popular dessert 'smores' which a very sweet marshmellow dish. It was a pleasure for any sweet tooth but does not compare to Nan's fluff! Big day. Time for bed.