After several perspiration inducing questions at the border we had arrived in Vancouver, Canada. On our first night while at the CRAFT Beer Market bar catching up with an old school friend I went to the loo only to discover the Dodge was gone from where we’d parked it. An inspection outside revealed we had actually inadvertently parked in a no parking zone at the end of a long line of parking and that the sign saying as much was bent around the other way. My friend Carter got the number of the tow company and gave them a call for us. Luckily they didn't say anything about Scout who was inside the Dodge and we came away pretty scot free one hour and $90 later. There was a $50 city council parking fine but of course we wouldn't be paying that.
After spending the night at Carter and his girlfriends place we had received word that we were welcome to stay with Aleksey and Darwin at Dawin’s parents house. Aleksey and Darwin were fellow overlanders we had first met driving their Peugeot van back in Peru… now they were back home busy looking for jobs. It turned out Darwin's Mum Ipin and step dad Peter had two self contained apartments on the first level of their house. Aleksey and Darwin were in one and to our delight we were given the other one as they were in between tenants!
That evening we went out with Aleksey and Darwin to a Thai restaurant. They sat on the bed in the back of the Dodge on the way there and attempted to explain the cities large amount of one way roads and enlighten us on the reason passengers were getting out of cars at light controlled intersections and pushing the pedestrian crossing button. This is the only way to get the lights to change they said and we even had to do it ourselves a few times which seemed absurd in such a modern city.
The next morning while Darwin was preparing for a job interview and babysitting Scout, Aleksey, Will and I woke up early and set out in the Dodge for Mt Harvey near the town of Squamish. We met Aleksey’s friend Adrian on the way and convoyed to the trail head. The temperature was -6 degrees celsius but it was calm and clear. The boys set a strong pace and we made it to the 1715m summit in a respectable 6 hours. We sat down for lunch and took in the incredible views that stretched as far as the eye could see. Picturesque ocean inlets on one side and snowy mountains on the other, the vista paid for the steepness of the climb. Will and I took our crampons off a little early on the decent and both had a couple of slips with one resulting in me cracking the lens hood on Wills precious camera… opps. This is while Aleksey and Adrian cruised down the icy patches in their hire crampons that didn’t matter how blunt they ended up.
That evening we went out with Aleksey and Darwin to a Thai restaurant. They sat on the bed in the back of the Dodge on the way there and attempted to explain the cities large amount of one way roads and enlighten us on the reason passengers were getting out of cars at light controlled intersections and pushing the pedestrian crossing button. This is the only way to get the lights to change they said and we even had to do it ourselves a few times which seemed absurd in such a modern city.
The next morning while Darwin was preparing for a job interview and babysitting Scout, Aleksey, Will and I woke up early and set out in the Dodge for Mt Harvey near the town of Squamish. We met Aleksey’s friend Adrian on the way and convoyed to the trail head. The temperature was -6 degrees celsius but it was calm and clear. The boys set a strong pace and we made it to the 1715m summit in a respectable 6 hours. We sat down for lunch and took in the incredible views that stretched as far as the eye could see. Picturesque ocean inlets on one side and snowy mountains on the other, the vista paid for the steepness of the climb. Will and I took our crampons off a little early on the decent and both had a couple of slips with one resulting in me cracking the lens hood on Wills precious camera… opps. This is while Aleksey and Adrian cruised down the icy patches in their hire crampons that didn’t matter how blunt they ended up.
The next day after a restful morning the four of us gorged ourselves on all-you-can-eat Sushi it was amazing. Probably the most Sushi I have ever eaten in my life so we definitely didn’t need dinner that evening when we went out to see the Vancouver Giants play the Calgary Hitmen (Ice Hockey). Unfortunately for our first ever hockey experience the Giants played miserably and conceded goals even when the Hitmen had a man down. We still had a fun night though watching the pushing and shoving as well as the crazy interval shows.
On Saturday the 8th of February Aleksey and Darwin had a huge day planned for us in town. We started off with a walk around the 2010 Olympic village, followed by a few beers at the Granville Island brewery where we met this kinda crazy lady who was telling what we would need up in Alaska. A chainsaw and a gun were high on her list hummm. We then grabbed some lunch inside the bustling Granville Island market place, a little pricy but very worth it. Afterwards we crossed the Burrard St bridge and meandered along the beachfront until we turned back towards town. We were treated to a beautiful cityscape as the sun slowly sank behind the glass faced skyscrapers. Will trailed along behind with the camera but did manage to get a few cool shots of all the sea planes lined up along the docks.
The next day it was time to hit the road again and Vancouver also decided to send us off by turning on the taps. So after braving the downpours while trying to pack the car we said some hasty goodbyes and despite wanting to stay curled up on the sofa made for the snowy hills of Whistler.
Rochelle & Will
Rochelle & Will