Aussiecaitlin's travel blogs:
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Vancouver
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I arrived in Vancouver on Monday morning after one of those bizarre time difference flights. I left 10am Monday, arrived in Honolulu at 11:45pm Sunday and arrived in Canada at 9:30am Monday... Yep I'm confused too. I stayed at the Samesun Hostel in Downtown which is on a main street but in a bit of a dodgy bit. Not as bad as the place we stayed at in San Francisco but lots of bums on the street and noisy clubs around.
I spent the first daying fighting with sleep. It took about 3 hours to get off the couch and head outside, but once in the fresh air I felt a lot better. I went and bought some warm weather gear from the outdoor shops which will be a nice little challenge to fit into my already stuffed pack.
After a long sleep, I was much readier to hit the tourist spots of Vancouver! First up was Gastown, which was named after a guy who set up the first bar of the area in the 1800's. He apparently talked so much, they called him 'Gassy jack' and became known around those parts. There's a steam clock (yes a clock that shoots steam) but apart from that, it's a pretty touristy joint, lots of cheap shops selling maple syrup and crappy tshirts. I meandered back down to Canada place which is their exhibition centre in the shape of ships sales. There was lots of info about the shipping history of Vancouver plus lovely views of the harbour. Following that, I wandered through the main shopping areas to Stanley Park, which is one of the biggest parks in North America apparently. I decided to visit the aquarium and spent a lovely few hours dodging strollers and toddlers looking at the nemos and sharks! Much more fun than the Sydney Aquarium though because I saw a Beluga Whale, which is one of those snow white artic whales that have massive amounts of blubber to keep them warm in those freezing temperatures.
Tell you what though, some girls might think they've got cellulite issues but you should see these guys! Dimples the size of watermelons!! Following that I went for a jaunt around a small area of the park, looking at some traditional indian totem poles and then headed back to the hostel. One good things is that the sun it out until about 9:30 at night so you can be out for ages and not worry about it getting dark!
Wednesday I decided to wander back to Stanley park. I walked through the hippy/gay district, not that exciting (although my room mate informs me it's pride week here next week so no doubt it would be exciting then if you're into that sort of thing). I decided to hire a bike and spend a lovely couple of hours riding around the park next to the sea wall then tried to do a bit of cross country through it up and down the bike paths. It's a lovely park, filled with lakes and woods etc.. With sore thighs and even sore bum, I tottered down to Granville Island, which is where there are some markets. There were lots of expensive crafts and gourmet foods but not much else. I did get quite excited about buying 3 bananas for 70c which is a bit of a treat considering how expensive they are in Australia right now. After walking around for a while, I decided to fight my fears and have a beer.... alone! I really wanted to try the beers from the Granville Island Brewery, which was quite like the James Squire Brewery. I enjoyed sitting by myself, writing in my book and drinking a 'New England Pale Ale' so much that I ordered another! Hey drinking alone aint so bad!
To be honest, I didn't really like Vancouver - well there are highlights to any city but I couldn't have stayed much longer than the 3 days. It's a mixture between a dirty American city and Brisbane... yeah interesting and not in a good way! There are also coffee shops like Subway and Blenz ('the Canadian coffee shop') on every corner (even on opposite corners, how much coffee does a person need?!) and there are Canadian flags EVERYWHERE.
I think they've got little America complex ("no we're not American, we're Canadian... see our flags!").
I head off to Whistler tomorrow so looking forward to that!
Latest Comments (2)
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From Mum (reply)
Jul 22, 2006 23:44 EST by pru
Grandma told me about your updated blog. Very informative I must say. Have fun on the Moose tour. Love always. Mum xo
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belrose (reply)
Jul 22, 2006 02:53 EST by belrose
great message Caitlin wonderful connection love grandma.
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