A Canadian Dream

 

This year we had our dream holiday, or at least one of them. After saving up our mortgage money for three years, we were at last off. Our itinerary was to fly to Vancouver , then spend one night in an hotel, before picking up an RV the next morning. This was to be our home for the next two weeks. The last week, we were to spend in downtown Vancouver, sightseeing on foot.

All went to plan, apart from there being a transit strike in Vancouver, which actually affected us very little. Our flight was a little delayed, but no more than usual for Gatwick, and less than on other occasions. On the flight out , we were in conversation with two retired commercial pilots, who had taken this as a last minute deal, and were touring by motorbike for two weeks.

When we first saw our RV, we thought "This is huge, far bigger than in the brochure", but it actually proved quite easy to drive- a real change from the eccentricities of the church minibus.Finding a supermarket for stores was one of our first priorities. After that it was easier to enjoy the trip.

The first week was spent on Vancouver Island. Although we have many memories, we perhaps will treasure best the days spent at the Pacific Rim National Park,

 

 

 

 

 

and the time spent walking on tlong beach , even if I did not like the walk down to Schooner Beach!,

We also loved the one night that we spent at Filongey on Denman Island.

At Filongey, we met some people who had emigrated to Canada after their marriage at the end of the last war. We spent a most interesting evening in their company

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Back on the mainland, we spent two nights at Porteau Cove,next to the Railway, and the mock up station . Whilst we were there , someone got married on the beach.We also met a Filipinos lady who ran an Indian Craft shop.(That's where your door chime came from Merywen).

Then we headed north, and stopped at Nairn Falls campsite near Permberton. That night, we camped above the river, really beautiful! That was the first night that we managed to light our camp fire!The warden said we had the best site on the campsite, and it was was here of all places that Derek met, and had a long technical conversation with, an autocad draftswoman.

We did manage to get round the other side of the coastal mountains,stopping at Joliff lake on the way

We spent one night at Lytton, then we headed back,stoppimg on the way to visit the ariel tramway at Hells Gate Canyon.

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After fearing that we would not find a site for the night,we eventually spent two nights at Harrison Hot Springs,(the only time we camped in a RV resort , as opposed to a provincial park ).Although it was supposed to be seaside , it rained most of the time

Next day, we drove back to Vancouver, returned the RV, and eventually arrived at our downtown hotel, via the airport.

Walking around downtown Vancouver is hard on the feet!Mine have still not recovered

I'm hoping that this will work : I'm trying an animation of some of the odd things we saw whilst walking round Vancouver , like a "house " boat, a stretch limo, and Miriam's coffee shop, and the gas town steam clock!

On Saturday, we took a boat up the How sound, to Squarmish, then came back via rail.

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst we were there, we did visit Shannon Falls

On the Sunday , we had intended to go to the United Church, but felt that The Lord wanted us at the first Baptist, over the road. There the sermon was on the end o1 Peter 1, and the beginning of 1 Peter 2, which was what we had to do for growth group immediately upon our return. After the service, the preacher very kindly gave us his notes, and these we did use for a session at home

The afternoon saw us taking a trolley ride, and we ended up at the aquarium at Stanley Park.

In the evening, my cousin Terry picked us up, and we went for a meal at the Bo king Vegetarian Chinese Restaurant

On Monday, we took one of the little ferries. We had hoped to visit the Space Centre was not open, but we did visit the maritime museum. ( I probably preferred this anyway stars and planets are not really my thing, although they are Derek's).As we had a round trip ticket on the little ferries, we walked to Granville Island, and spent the afternoon looking around,as well as having some lunch

Tuesday saw us on mountain bikes , riding around Stanley Park, on a day that started out drizzly, but got more and more sunny.

For our last night meal, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant. It was lovely What we did find great was that eating out only costs about half of what it does in the UK, so we returned a few pounds heavier than when we left.

We really did not fancy motorway driving, so came home via the lanes of Surrey and Kent, on a lovely summer day, stopping for a picnic lunch at Goudhurst .

I am really grateful that we had a safe and happy holiday, with lots of memories, although it seems a very long time ago now.