My journey to Whistler; exploring Vancouver

October 26, 2017

Sunday 22nd came round incredibly fast; time to fly! Soon enough I found myself in Gatwick South with a very laden trolley; a bike bag, snowboard bag, suitcase and hand luggage. After waving goodbye to the parents I set off in search of the well-hidden Transat check-in desks. While all the other operators are upstairs, open, signposted and easy to find, Transat are tucked away downstairs in an airport version of Harry Potters cupboard bedroom.

Check-in sorted, things became very normal and routine for an airport and I was soon on the other side of security trying to find Owain and Alice; 2 of my future housemates. We'd only been talking for 3 days, but coincidentally we were getting the same flight to Vancouver. Upon meeting up I discovered my 5 hours of sleep the previous night had been a luxury - they were both functioning on 2 hours each after spending all night packing and moving the last of their accumulated items out of their flat!

Yup, all that is mine...

With a 2 hour delay thanks to a landing gear malfunction, we got to Vancouver late. To help offset this, customs was an absolute breeze; I was prepared with all my documents, but from what I could see, only my POE (point of entry) letter was checked. The customs office ran a computer check on me, stamped my passport, and I was free to go, legal to work in Canada!

I had been going to meet a friend at the airport, but as things hadn't worked out due to the delay, I was now going to be making my way across Vancouver with my mound of bags alone. While Alice and Owain headed off to meet their friend I set about finding how I could get to my friend apartment via public transport. A train into the city followed by a bus the rest of the way, how hard could it be?

My first real view of Vancouver

Once I got off the train at Waterfront, that idea quickly went out of the window. A taxi (cab) was deemed a far easier solution, and $19 later, I was there. After a catch up on the last 4 years (we met in Tijuana during the road trip Zi and I took across the States), it was time for food. Contrary to popular belief, these days I'm not too fussy in what I eat, so my first meal in Canada was actually a vegan burger accompanied by purple potatoes. A few years ago that wouldn't have even been thinkable!

These trees were beautiful, pity about the tourists!

The boring but useful part:

My next priorities; get my SIN (social insurance number), a phone contract and a bank account set up. The SIN number is easy, take all your paperwork and passport to one of 2 offices in Vancouver and sit down for a long time. Eventually they summon you over and ask you for your Canadian address and to see all your paperwork. Et voila, done!

Once that is sorted, you can do the other two items. At the time of typing Virgin mobile are offering the best deal, so *boom*, once again, I'm done. (bloody expensive compared to the UK though, $55 p/m for almost the same deal that costs me £7.50 p/m with Giffgaff. Tariffs go up and down in price here though, and come Dec the price will drop again apparently)

Now for a bank. I went with CIBC as they offer 1 year free banking*, as long as I don't forget in a year, I'll be fine. I also had to make an appointment, so that killed off half a day. The second half was much more fun:

*In BC (if not the whole of Canada) they charge you per transaction you make on your card, meaning you have to constantly carry cash around. For example, 12 card transactions costs $5 unless you have a certain amount in your account at all times. Thieving barstewards!

Very autumnal. Snow in the distance too!

With all that hard work done, it was time to explore! From 'home', I walked until I came to Hastings park and then I carried on walking away from the hubbub of town, the clanking of the docks and constant traffic. I was finally getting to see the nice parts of Vancouver.

From a treehouse in the woods

If you take one of the buses from Vancouver centre over to Stanley Park you'll be on a 405 hectare spit of forested land that separates English Bay from the harbour. With virtually no buildings, it's a hugely popular national park, and one of Vancouver's most popular tourist attractions. The highway cuts straight through the middle and over a bridge from the other side into North and West Vancouver, this is where you'll also find the infamous Capilano Suspension Bridge. These two areas don't even feel as if they are part of the city and are much more typical of what you'd expect Canada to be - houses with plenty of space set back from the road, densely surrounded by tree's and a feeling of seclusion.

On my last day in Vancouver (Wednesday) my friend and soon-to-be-housemate Candace and I took the bus to Grouse Mountain to do the challenging 'Grouse Grind' climb.

And this bit wasn't even steep...

We made the climb in a pretty respectable 1 hour 25 mins, just in time for the sun to start burning some of the mist off exposing other peaks around us and revealing the bear pen. I got to see my first Grizzly bears!

There is no path to walk back down and so I took a downwards gondola for possibly the first time in my life. From here it was back to Vancouver again, and it was time to pack back up for the transfer to Whistler the following morning. Part 2 coming soon.

Extra photos below: