Hi
Short one as this was a short stay. After Whistler, Mike and I headed to Vancouver for a brief stop through before heading to New York. We bussed back from Whistler and found our hotel located excellently on Robson St, which is a significant shopping street in downtown Vancouver.
That night, we walked around a little to see the shops, which all open late, before turning in ready for a big day the next day. We got up to a rather dull looking day but headed down the main mall to the sea bus which is a ferry to the other side of the river. From here we took a bus to the Capilano Suspension Bridge and tree top adventure. For $24.95 plus tax each, we got to walk over a 450ft high suspension bridge which was cool and do a tree top walk. It was very pretty bus also very expensive in my opinion. We opted not to go up Grouse mountain as visibility wasn't flash.
We headed back into downtown and had a look around Gastown and Chinatown before walking in and out of the shops down Robson St. Next we headed to Granville Island which is a little island where they have a big market selling everything from food to knick knacks to excellent (and expensive) stone carvings. That night, we met up with family friends who gave us a home cooked meal which was nice.
Our final day in Vancouver isn't much to write about. We basically got up, did some last minute shop browsing then met up with the same friends who drove us around Stanley Park before dropping us at the airport to fly to New York.
Next update in 2008!
Happy New Year!
Dave
Hi all
Mike and I have just spent the last 5 days up in a ski resort called Whistler, which is located north of Vancouver in Canada. We stayed at a little bed and breakfast just outside of the village called Renoirs which was very nice.
We'd come to Whistler for one main reason, skiing. That, and a white Christmas. Day one, we wasted no time in getting our ski hire and heading up the mountain. In Whistler, you have a choice of two mountains, Whistler or Blackcomb. Day 1 we chose Whistler. Visibility was fabulous with clear blue skies. After remembering how to ski, we both proceeded to carve up the mountain, even venturing up to the peak and then leaving the marked ski run and heading into the powder in the Symphony Bowl. Skiing through fresh soft powder is awesome. It's very quiet, you can't see your skiis and you have to be careful with your turns or your ski digs in and you go down, which is a soft landing anyway.
Day 2 we headed to Blackcomb which is a steeper mountain and had some really good runs. This was also Christmas day and it snowed all day which made our Christmas very white indeed. Each day, we had a few stacks and were rather tired at the end of each day. We finished with some apres ski at the base of the mountains in the Village. Day 3, Boxing Day, we headed back to Whistler for some more powder up the top and more great long runs down below. We found a great run called peak to creek which is about 11kms long and took us quite a while to ski. We later found out our B&B host had once done it in 6 mins on his snowboard but this was when the mountain was closed to the public (he's a snowboard instructor).
Day 4 was our final day on the skis and we did Blackcomb again. We started getting a little adventurous and attempted a few black runs, did some tree runs and mainly skied medium runs. A few of these included moguls, which really aren't fun to ski down. The old legs and knees sure took a beating on these. Our final day in Whistler saw us head out on a snowmobile for a 3 hours wilderness tour. Snowmobiles have to be the most dodgy things I've ever been on. They feel completely out of control because they plane all over the place as the steering skiis hit existing tracks on the trail. However, they are an absolute ball, they really hammer along. Mike took a wrong turn and got bogged which I laughed at but this was nothing compared to my stack later on.
After dropping back from the group to give us some space to really open up the taps, I floored it down a straight up towards a big right hander but when I went to turn, the snowmobile had other ideas and I ended up rather deep into a snow rift and under a tree. I was so buried in snow that Mike barely saw me, noticing only my red backpack. I was completely uninjured with the snowmobile taking most of the brunt and after Mike and another bloke helped me drag my snow mobile out, we carried along. The guide saw where I went off, gave me the thumbs up and we all went along laughing at my stack.
After snowmobiling, we did a little shopping in the village then took the bus back to Vancouver. Still no pics up yet sorry folks.
Til the next update.
Dave
Hi all
Well, I'm off again but this time on holiday with my brother, Mike. We left Perth in the early hours of Dec 20th and flew via Sydney (and a 5 hour layover) to Los Angeles, arriving 6am on Dec 20th (thanks to gaining a day). We first hit up our hotel which was behind the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Nothing flash but very well located. Given nothing in Hollywood opens til 10am, we spend the first part of our morning walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard looking at all the stars and getting familiar with our surroundings.
We entered The Guinness Book of Records store for a tour around there once it opened and then to the Hollywood Wax Museum. Amazing how they can get wax people to look so much like the real things. Next we headed for Santa Monica to visit a ski shop to buy some gear we needed and while we were down there, we checked out the beach and pier. Wasn't a very nice day though weather wise with dark skies and rain. We hung around walking the streets and malls checking out the shops and restaurants, grabbed a bite to eat and headed home. Both of us were pretty worn out and rather jetlagged.
Day 2 saw us head to Universal Studios. We had pre-purchased front of line tickets which were worth their weight in gold. So cool. Literally walked straight in on every ride and every show. Had a great day for it and did all the usual rides + studio tour. Very interesting and parts of it certainly came back from my memory of visiting in 1993. Everything is done there so well with no detail spared.
Day 3 had us renting a car (nothing exciting) and driving (exciting? maybe stressful) to Six Flag Magic Mountain, which is a roller coaster theme park out of LA. This place ROCKS. Biggest, scariest, first, highest, fastest are some of the words that feature in the roller coaster descriptions while names such as colossus, goliath, scream, viper and tatsu are the names of these beasts. By far and away my favourite was Tatsu. This roller coaster loaded you into a chair that hung by the rail above so you were seated. However, once everyone was strapped into the seats, your feet get raised behind you so you are almost in a "flying" position (ie, think of laying on your stomach but with your lower half in a seated position and then dangling looking at the ground). Awesome ride, pulled some serious G forces and had the biggest queues, although we did get through all rides at least twice or more and every ride sitting at the front.
Our final day in LA isn't much to write about. It basically involved me returning the car from the previous day, then Mike and I heading to LAX to check in to fly to Vancouver. Of course, we were selected for a "random" additional security check but otherwise, made it all without fuss. After a rather hairy ride in a bus to Whistler, we made it to our next location.
Sorry folks but as yet, no pics. Stay tuned for my "Christmas Special", live from Whistler.
Merry Christmas!
Dave
