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Old 4 Oct 22, 01:49 PM  
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anji
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Canada & Pacific NW Epic Road Trip Sept 22 - ONE THREAD - COMPLETED!

I've decided to try doing this all one thread as it seems easier to keep track of - so here goes! Hope you enjoy reading Pre-trip is here if you want to read it
Pre-trip - https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1233359


DAY 1 – WE FINALLY GET TO GO!

After 2 years of cancellations there was always a nagging doubt in my mind that something else would happen and we wouldn’t go, again. I've had trouble with me knee and almost had an operation on it in August but it started to get better, so I called it off. Will has a dodgy back and pulled some muscles recently too and was in a bit of pain. We also have a reputation for major things happening while we are away - watch this space for three of them. BUT we did go and we had the best time …..

First job of the day, 5th September, was to lure Pepper into her cat carrier. We surprised her and she wailed all the way to the Cattery. Bless her! As she was going to be there a considerable time and they know her well, they kindly gave her a large corner apartment/cell/hotel room so she could look out onto the garden too.

Our flight wasn’t due until 5.10pm so there was no need to stay at Heathrow the night before this time. I was quite sad about that as I love an overnight stay and don’t have to worry about traffic jams making us late. The journey up the M3 was easy enough though, despite the incessant 50mph roadworks. We arrived at Purple Parking in good time and were swiftly on the bus to Terminal 5.

We arrived right at the start of check in and were through without any hassle at all. I’d done the ARRIVECAN and Verifly apps and had all the documents, but we didn’t need them. The plane was an A380 and I’d booked 2 seats upstairs in row 72 previously. I was excited about walking upstairs on a plane for the first time! I'm never going to get to turn left and sit in the posh seats as I'd rather spend the money while on holiday, so upstairs seemed a bit of a compromise

We had some coffee and a cheese and Marmite panini each at Starbucks and had a mooch about and bought some snacks/emergency food from Boots before going to our gate on the Skytrain.

Our flight was delayed half an hour but I knew we’d arrive on time in Vancouver. I saw the plane from the window – how on earth do they stay in the air?

When it was time to board I was amazed at the different doors everyone boarded by and the fact that we went straight in on the upper level – so no stairs to climb! I was very impressed with our seats – lots of space for legs and storage. Nobody sitting next to us and we both get our favourite seats of window for me and aisle for Will - no arguing! I should have picked row 73 though for less wing and a bit better spaced windows.

The flight was smooth and uneventful, taking off at 5.45. I had vegetarian Moussaka, which was yummy, and there were bulgar wheat salad (no thanks), gorgeous chocolate cherry crunch pot and cheese & biscuits – plus 2 little bottles of white wine. Will had the chicken supreme dish and also liked it. A big improvement on what we had in February!

I started to watch Jurassic World Dominion, which I’d been looking forward to, but decided it needed a big screen to do it justice. Then I began The Outfit but it was very slow and the soundtrack was so dreary. I’d lots of the films on offer, so ended up with a Spice Girls Documentary, which was excellent, and the Julia TV series about Julia Childs. Sarah Lancashire was Julia – not the best casting – and it also had David Hyde Pierce (Niles from Frasier) as her husband. I think Allison Tolman would have been perfect as Julia.

We had some great views of the Rockies and Vancouver in the distance.

On landing at 6.45pm at Vancouver we were off the plane quicker than anything, through passports and arrived at baggage reclaim within half an hour and despite some long walks – very impressive. Border control were really friendly too! Then we had to wait for ages for our cases . I guess with so many people on a plane it’s going to take a long time. Vancouver airport was beautiful.

We hopped on the Skytrain/underground to Waterfront Station. Really easy, partly overground but dark by the time we arrived 25 minutes later. I’d looked on Google maps and knew it was only a 5 minute walk to the hotel. What I wasn’t prepared for was coming out of a different exit from the station, so that confused things a bit.

We were staying at the Auberge Hotel on W Hastings Street. Perfect location for the Waterfront and transportation. It cost us $C921 for 3 nights. I’d booked all our hotels for the trip almost a year ago and had been checking and tweaking ever since. All except one were done via Quidco for cashback. The exchange rate was around 1.52 – far better than the US$ . I was very glad I’d done this as prices had shot up in the intervening months for the majority of them – it was just a shame I’d only actually paid for one of them, so the £ to $ rates, especially in USA, made it more expensive than it should have been. Oh well, it could have been a lot worse! It’s now about $C1500 for 3 nights at the same time next year.

The Auberge is a high rise, modern hotel set within offices and has use of the rather posh health club, the Terminal City Club, in the same building. Our room was beautiful and on 11th floor and a corner room. We had a good view of the Vancouver Overlook tower and could see the port too. The night lights looked very pretty. Why do so many offices leave all the lights on at night?


By this time we were exhausted as Vancouver is 8 hours behind the UK, so it was about 4.30am to us. We were too tired to go out again and so ate some of the food we’d brought with us and crashed out in the very, very comfortable beds. Roll on the next 3 weeks! 😊
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Index to all trip reports here https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho...3#post15913083
Seattle to San Francisco
Road Trip Florida 2017
New England Road Trip 2019
Florida Road Trip 2022
Canada/Pacific NW Road Trip 2022
Cyprus Chill week May 2023
Road Trip California & Arizona 2023

Edited at 04:12 PM.
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Old 4 Oct 22, 07:05 PM  
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Wordsworth
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I was so surprised by the good view of the rockies from the plane. I’m not sure why because I knew we’d be flying over them and specifically picked seats on that side. 😂
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Old 4 Oct 22, 08:13 PM  
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What a great travel day and that view of the rockies! Just WOW Your hotel looks lovely
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Old 5 Oct 22, 02:25 PM  
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DAY 2 – VANCOUVER HOHO BUS, FLOYOVER CANADA, VANCOUVER LOOKOUT & GASTOWN

We slept really well and, of course, were awake early! I got up and took some photos of the sunrise and could actually see our view properly!

Will decided to try out the pool. He usually swims about 50 lengths of the 25m pool at home twice a week. He went off at 7.15am just after it opened and was happy to see it was a huge 25m too and very smart. He spent some time in the hot tub too 😊

It was hot today and sunny – something that would happen every day until we left. We were SO incredibly lucky with the weather. I think I wore my coat for a total of 3 hours during the day for the whole 3 weeks! Temperatures seemed to range between 68 and 81 F, usually around 72/74.

We went across the road to the very popular (and therefore very good) Breka Bakery & Café for some breakfast. I started off very healthy (not to continue for long) with egg, spinach and cheese frittata bites, which were very hot and lovely. Will had a croissant and a glazed donut! We drank our coffees and planned the day. We drank our coffees and planned the day. I’d already got the HOHO bus tickets through Viator and Quidco for today and then planned the Flyover Canada, the Vancouver Lookout and Gastown.

The HOHO stop at Canada Place was only 5 minutes away, through some lovely gardens and past the Waterfront Center.
The area was busy as there was a cruise ship in. The ticket was valid for 2 days on a deal for the price of one. I’d read on Tripadvisor that the bus would be an old school bus and not in a great state of repair – they were right! It wasn’t very comfortable, little suspension, no legroom and the brakes screamed every time they were used! I'm not 100% sure it was worth the money but we did see a lot.

We’d decided to do a complete circuit to get the lie of the land and our bearings and left at 9.25am. This was 90 minutes and was a comprehensive route and informative over the speakers. We passed Coal Harbour, Stanley Park, Robson Street, Granville Island, Chinatown and Gastown plus a few other neighbourhoods before arriving back at the Waterfront, where we got off again.

Vancouver certainly earns its nickname of City of Glass. So many new buildings and imaginative designs.
It’s also a very green city as every new development must be set right back from the road, include trees and a water feature. Many of the buildings have trees on the roofs.

We had a walk around the Waterfront area and saw The Drop sculpture, the gorgeous pixel Orca, Olympic Cauldron and watched the many seaplanes coming and going. We had a coffee in the Harbour café before the Flyover Canada.


Only Will was going to do this as Soarin type rides really scare me. I think I’m going to fall forward and have been a snivelling heap twice – a full shoulder harness and I’d have been fine. There were two films showing, the normal Flyover Canada and a special Windborne, Call of the Rockies event, and he bought a ticket for both. We arranged to meet in the break between them. Off he went and I walked around the Harbour and Convention Center buildings and sat in the sun. There were lots of information points and I loved the Pooh explanation!

When he appeared again he said he felt really sick! Apparently this had happened a little in Amsterdam in April on the ride there, but he hadn’t told me. He couldn’t face the second ride and they refunded him. We went back to the hotel and he had a lie down but still felt funny. This turned out to last a full 24 hours before he felt fully well again ☹

I’d already got tickets for the Vancouver Lookout online for that day, so after a while we set out for it. As we came out of the hotel we saw these 3 dogs having a good ride!
Only about 10 minutes walk and no wait to go up in the lift. As towers go, this wasn’t a huge one but an excellent view all round. You could see for miles!

Following this we walked on to Gastown and saw the Gas Clock do its stuff. Very clever and a huge pull for tourists.


There was a lovely little café called The Trees right by the clock and we had coffees and some cake. Will regretted the cake as it made him feel worse!

Next door was the Hudson House Trading Company – an enormous shop selling everything Canada and Vancouver. I bought a baseball cap as I’d forgotten to bring one from home. I like it to hold my long hair down in wind and keep the sun off! We also got some Canada souvenir chocolate for my mum and a traditional fridge magnet (first of quite a few!).


There was a HOHO stop outside so we got the bus back to Canada Place and went back to the hotel about 6pm. Will was feeling sick and didn’t want to go out for anything else to eat. We were both really tired following our travel day so ended up just watching TV and going to sleep about 9.30pm!
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Index to all trip reports here https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho...3#post15913083
Seattle to San Francisco
Road Trip Florida 2017
New England Road Trip 2019
Florida Road Trip 2022
Canada/Pacific NW Road Trip 2022
Cyprus Chill week May 2023
Road Trip California & Arizona 2023

Edited at 04:57 PM.
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Old 5 Oct 22, 07:55 PM  
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What a great view from your hotel

The waterfront looks so beautiful and I love the gas clock and pixel Orca

Sorry your husband didn't feel well my daughter-in-law was exactly the same after Soaring and that lasted for a while, hope he is better tomorrow.
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Old 5 Oct 22, 07:56 PM  
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Such a shame your DH felt sick! My DH can’t do simulator-type rides as they make him ill. You still got a lot done though!
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Old 5 Oct 22, 10:55 PM  
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Originally Posted by P&S View Post
What a great view from your hotel

The waterfront looks so beautiful and I love the gas clock and pixel Orca

Sorry your husband didn't feel well my daughter-in-law was exactly the same after Soaring and that lasted for a while, hope he is better tomorrow.
He was the same on Mission Space years ago on the soft launch we were lucky enough to go on, although it's been tamed a bit now. I think it all stems from going on a Teacups ride with a monster hangover on NY Day many years ago! 🤣🤣
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Index to all trip reports here https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho...3#post15913083
Seattle to San Francisco
Road Trip Florida 2017
New England Road Trip 2019
Florida Road Trip 2022
Canada/Pacific NW Road Trip 2022
Cyprus Chill week May 2023
Road Trip California & Arizona 2023
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Old 7 Oct 22, 08:25 PM  
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A great travel day, how wonderful to see the Rockies from the window. Your hotel looks good, the views are fab. Enjoying all your photos from the first day, I hope the sickness feeling fades.
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Old 8 Oct 22, 12:01 PM  
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Originally Posted by OB1LukeLucas View Post
A great travel day, how wonderful to see the Rockies from the window. Your hotel looks good, the views are fab. Enjoying all your photos from the first day, I hope the sickness feeling fades.
It was lovely to see the snow on the mountains and the peaks coming up through clouds. I'd love to see the Rockies from ground level too!
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Index to all trip reports here https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho...3#post15913083
Seattle to San Francisco
Road Trip Florida 2017
New England Road Trip 2019
Florida Road Trip 2022
Canada/Pacific NW Road Trip 2022
Cyprus Chill week May 2023
Road Trip California & Arizona 2023
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Old 9 Oct 22, 03:53 PM  
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DAY 3 – BRIDGES AND OTHER SCARY STUFF!

Today the plan was to beat the rush to Capilano Bridge so the suspension bridge wouldn’t wobble so much! We were awake about 6.30am so took our time getting ready – then the phone rang …

We have a reputation for ‘things’ happening while we are away – elections and changes in Government, several celebrity deaths, bombings, Brexit (while we were mid Atlantic), Russia invading Ukraine – and it continued. 2nd morning and not left the hotel before my daughter called to say my 92 year old Mum had tested positive in her nursing home, but with no symptoms. Not the thing you want to hear at the start of your holiday! This is 2nd time for her – and 2nd time with no symptoms. She’d been out with us 2 days before we left to their Summer Fete, so maybe she got it there. Now … would we get it too as I’d given her a big hug and kiss goodbye? Luckily, we hadn’t been chosen on ARRIVECAN for random testing. I called her and she sounded a bit croaky, but otherwise was fine and didn’t know what the fuss was all about! In the end both she and us were fine 😊 😊 Of course, more ‘things’ happened later too….

We decided to skip breakfast and get something when we got there. Will was feeling better from yesterday’s motion sickness but still not right and his back was hurting too. We headed off, a bit later than intended, to Canada Place to get the free shuttle bus to Capilano Bridge. We still managed the first bus. This was a beautiful and comfortable coach, unlike yesterday’s school bus! It stopped a couple of times to pick up more people and then we were off, getting there in about 25 minutes.

We waited to go in when it opened and there were some people already there who had arrived by car. I’d already got timed entry tickets online. We were a bit early but they didn’t mind at all.
We headed straight for the bridge. I took a deep breath, a wobbly video and headed off. I was doing ok until there was a family in the middle trying to rock the bridge and take selfies! I ploughed through them with ‘excuse me’s and made it to the other side, pleased with myself. I didn’t look anywhere other than straight ahead – thanks to Wordsworth for the tip! The bridge is 137m long, so not a short walk!


Once over, we headed straight for the café and bought 2 coffees and 2 cookies in cellophane. No sooner had we put them on the table than up jumped a baby Douglas Squirrel! So cute and intent on the cookies. In an instant there was a hole in the bag and a little bit broken off. Of course, I did feed them some more too – there were 3 in total. So pretty. Will took this amazing photo of me taking a photo – I love it. 😊 We spent quite a while at the café!


After this we did the Treetops Walk. This is a series of 7 more suspension bridges, walkways and steps which are high up in the forest canopy. The bridges were far sturdier with little movement and I was fine with them.
There was also a nice pond and nature walk.
Sadly the hawks had finished for the season 2 days earlier on Labor Day. This was our first introduction to ‘big trees’. So beautiful. I’d love to know how many trees we actually saw during our trip – the mind boggles!

Then you’ve got no choice but to brave the bridge again to get back over. Luckily there weren’t many people on it and I managed to stop and look around this time 😊

By now we were hungry and shared some chicken tenders and fries. I think they were C$18 and more than enough for 2 people.

Next … the Cliff Walk. I’d been a bit worried about this but I was bouyed by my morning’s bravery so I did this too. Perfectly stable but jutting right out from the cliff. I didn’t go on the mesh bit though!

Gift shop next and a gelato each. I had coffee with chocolate shavings, which was especially good, and Will had his usual vanilla. We decided to get the local bus up to Grouse Mountain next.

The 236 bus stop was just across the road and we waited 10 minutes for the bus to come along. I tried to tap my card twice to pay but it wouldn’t do it the 2nd time, so the driver just waved us on 😊 Grouse Mountain is a ski resort in winter but there’s still a lot to do in the summer.

A large cable car, holding about 40 people, takes you up to the top.
From here there are trails and activities, again some of which had stopped after Labor Day. There are 2 Grizzly Bears which have been rescued. They have a huge enclosure but they still looked very sad to me ☹
You can take a small ski-lift moving chair ride up to the very top if you want to – I drew the line at this, no way!

We did a bit of walking and then decided to watch the Lumberjack Show – checked shirts at the ready and Monty Python in our heads! This was actually really entertaining. The two men competing were really accomplished and very strong. Another man was like the clown of the show and went up the pole like he didn’t know what he was doing and balanced on the top. I couldn’t watch this – photo by Will.


We had some coffees in the café on the outside terrace, overlooking the magnificent view of Vancouver with a deer grazing below us. It was hot in the sun, even though we were at the top of the mountain and thought it would be cold.


Going back down, there were two workers – a man and a woman - on one of the pylons (which make the car swing ☹) and the operator said we were stopping for a bit of maintenance. What!? Why not when it’s empty? They jumped onto the roof and did what they had to and then we were off again. Going back down on these things never really bothers me, it’s just the going up! You can actually pay to ride standing on top of the cable car too – think I’ll give that one a miss too. The views on the journey are just spectacular and you can see for miles.


We took the other free shuttle bus back to Canada Place. I love how it’s free and frequent for people to go to both places. A rest back at the hotel was needed.

Later we went out for a meal at Joey’s Bentall One. This was on the recommendation of Smithlane’s trip report. It wasn’t the same branch of Joey’s but the menu was the same. Thank you Alicia. We luckily got a table after only a short wait. I had Ravioli Bianco and I can honestly say it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten! Prawns, crispy onions, black truffle beurre blanc, grana Padano. So good. Will had a Butter Chicken curry and really enjoyed that too.

We fancied a drink after our meal and went to the Lions Pub, which was in the same block as our hotel. This turned out to be an English Pub with ‘typical’ pub furniture etc. Sports on the TVs and busy. We had a couple of beers and walked back to the Auberge. The 8 hour time difference was catching up with us again.

Tomorrow we would be leaving Vancouver and picking up our car. Then it’s the start of the road trip proper. We’ll be back in Vancouver again for 2 days at the end though 😊
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Index to all trip reports here https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho...3#post15913083
Seattle to San Francisco
Road Trip Florida 2017
New England Road Trip 2019
Florida Road Trip 2022
Canada/Pacific NW Road Trip 2022
Cyprus Chill week May 2023
Road Trip California & Arizona 2023

Edited at 04:29 PM.
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