Vancouver

Our arrival was so exciting that we all coped reasonably well at 3am (Sydney time) on very little sleep. Hurrah to adrenalin!! Thankfully we found a five seater taxi with wheelchair access right outside the airport & our apartment was made available to us well before our check- in time- blessings! We decided to explore our little English Bay neighbourhood & gather some groceries before catching up on a few hours of sleep. We staggered through the supermarket in a jet lagged daze & collected all sorts of Canadian novelties- maple syrup (naturally), waffles, breakfast sugar (AKA Cap'n Crunch & Lucky Charms), bagels....what!!! No bacon!!! We somehow forgot the bacon. 

We have a great view over the bay & we are an easy walk to restaurants, Stanley Park & the city centre. Walking all the way to Granville Island was ambitious, but we managed :) 

The best bit is that we got to celebrate our anniversary twice! Once on the flight (oh joy) but then we got the 14th all over again in Vancouver. We enjoyed a Mexican feast for dinner & even got free dessert! We have never experienced such outstanding customer service. Even when there is no tipping involved everyone has been so friendly & helpful. One lady even ran up alongside Eric while he was pushing Campbell & stretched her umbrella over his head. Good people here in Vancouver. 

Exploring the city some highlights were 'Chapters' where Campbell found a pile of new books and 'Golden Age Collectibles' where Drew & Joe stocked up on some must have items. 

Granville Island had a Kids Market which was obviously a hit! Lots of lovely shops to explore on Granville Island but we got there late in the afternoon, it was raining & we had done A LOT of walking, so we opted for a ferry ride back to the city to head back to the apartment. We have a full kitchen in the apartment so it was nice to relax in front of the TV with a home cooked meal after such an exhausting day. 

We discovered this fantastic community garden in our way back downtown. 

And the streets are paved with rainbows...

Today was spent in Stanley Park, and we still didn't get to see it all. Everything shuts down in January so the miniature train & horse drawn carriages were not operating but we loved the Aquarium & squirrel spotting. 

The bike hire in Stanley Park looked like fun & there were lots if bikes around. We could have had access to a hand cycle bike for Campbell but it's not something he can do independently- certainly a great option for somebody a bit more enthusiastic & energetic. The sun was shining for us today & so far the weather has been quite mild- not too cold at all! 

I also loved wandering around Wholefoods Market today- so much organic goodness!!! 

We are still not sure what we will get up to with the rest of our holiday, but Vancouver has been wonderfully welcoming so far.