Category: Canada

Goodbye Canada

It’s now time to say farewell to Canada!

We’ve all had a great time here and seen so much and visited so many places.

I liked Canada because there were really cold swimming pools, we got to see the CN Tower, and it was a nice place.

Sam

It’s been great to catch up with my Canadian family, old faces and new. Special mention to Cousin Shirley who has looked after us and shown us around lots. We hope it was as much fun for you as it has been for us!

I liked Niagara Falls and Metrotown and the monkey bars in all the parks.

Martha

Seven weeks in Canada has given us a taste of life out here which we have thoroughly enjoyed.

Now it’s on to our next leg of our adventure – Hong Kong and China!

Sunset at Kitsilano

Cousin Shirley took us to Granville Island where we caught the last serving in the food market and had an evening walk around the island. On the way back through Kitsilano we saw an incredible sunset.

  • Silo Giants, Granville Island
  • Looking along False Creek
  • Sunset over Kitsilano

Whistler

We headed North out of Vancouver along the Sea to Sky Highway and arrived in Whistler 2 hours later. It was a beautiful journey up and a beautiful day to explore the mountain.

I’d been up to Whistler twice previously. The first time was for a few days snowboarding in the winter and the second time was on a day trip in the summer, although I still managed to do some snowboarding up on top.

This time there would be no snowboarding!

We bought our Peak 2 Peak tickets in the village (which was full of mountain bikers and trails coming down) and then took the Whistler Village Gondola up to Roundhouse Lodge (1850m/6069ft).

  • Whistler Village
  • Lots of bikers
  • Whistler Village Gondola
  • The Olympic Rings
  • On the Peak Express Chair
  • View of the Skybridge

From there, we had a small walk down the Peak Express Traverse to catch the Peak Express chair lift up to Whistler Summit (2182m/7160ft). From there we walked on the Cloudraker Skybridge and stopped at Raven’s Eye (both of which were not there the last time I was here).

  • Top of the World Summit
  • Martha’s rock art
  • Mini inukshuk
  • The top of Whistler Mountain
  • The Cloudraker Skybridge
  • The Skybridge and Raven’s Eye
  • On the Skybridge
  • On Raven’s Eye
  • View looking down towards the village
  • The top of High Note Trail

We then did a walk along Mathew’s Traverse Rd and then Pika’s Traverse Rd back to Roundhouse Lodge.

After a little rest we got the Peak 2 Peak Gondola over to Blackcomb Mountain (1850m/6069ft). This also wasn’t built when I was here last.

The gondola back down towards the village wasn’t working so we got the Peak 2 Peak Gondola back to Whistler and then got the Village Gondola back down.

We had a great time at Whistler. The weather was great, the views were spectacular and I got to see parts of it that I hadn’t seen before. You can’t ask for much more.

UBC And Panoramics And The Beach Sunset

Today we went to lunch with cousin Shirley and then we went for a walk around her old university (University of British Columbia, UBC). We saw some totem poles and then we made panoramic photos. We did it so that we appeared twice in one photo!

We played on the beach and saw a lovely sunset in the evening.

  • The Clock Tower
  • The Rose Garden
  • Totems at the Museum of Anthropology
  • Haida mortuary totem
  • Memorial pole of Chief Kalilix

Returning to Vancouver

Today we arrived back in Vancouver. We had a final look around on the ship and then left. It was sad to leave because we enjoyed it. My favourite bit was the swimming pool, the buffet and the TV.

We got a train then a bus and walked to a youth hostel and also went to the beach for the rest of the day.

  • Saturday
  • Final look at the outdoor pool
  • Final shower
  • Leaving our ship at Canada Place
  • HI Vancouver Jericho Beach
  • Locarno Beach

Leaving Vancouver for Alaska

Today we left our house in Vancouver and went downtown to catch our ship to Alaska.

When we saw the ship we were amazed at how big it was!

When we got on (after all the long queues) we found our room and then went in a freezing swimming pool on deck 9. There was also a hot tub that we could warm up in.

Afterwards we went into the dining room and had some food.

  • Our ship
  • Leaving Canada Place
  • Leaving downtown
  • Going past Stanley Park
  • Swimming pool, deck 9
  • Relaxing in the hot tub
  • The Dining Room, deck 3

Lots More Relatives

Today we met our auntie Jennifer, Uncle Jonathon and our cousins Rachel, Lauren, Olivia and Ellie at Queen’s Park in New Westminster. There was also a petting zoo there. At the petting zoo we stroked goats and kittens.

Then we went to a little park next to the petting zoo and then we ate pizza. Next we went into a water park and we got soaked! We had a great time!