When I was young I enjoyed playing with a picture viewer. You inserted circular discs and I had a couple of sets. One was of a Batman and Robin story and was in 3d - brilliant considering that we are only now getting into 3d film. The other set had scenic pictures of Canada, Banff, Niagra Falls etc. I continually viewed these pictures and made it my ambition to one day pay the country a visit.
We here we are. In my fiftieth year on the planet I have achieved a lifelong amibition. And after a 12 hour arduous flight we are here in Vancouver, and the views and county have not let me down.
The Flight
We chose to book via Canadian Affair obtaining the cheapest price for our journey on Thomas Cook airlines. The plane did have cramped conditions (just as well that I am reasonably slim for the seats were not made for large people) but having got up at 2am and got everyone out of the house by 4am we all managed to get some sleep along the way. Thomas Cook served up a couple of edible meals and the couple who sat beside us provided some pointers for car travel and recommendations for eating out. Probably the most fantastic part of the flight was flying over Greenland and the Rockies. Flying over Greenland Alice spotted a truncated valley giving her 5 bonus points. Looking at the valley it was a though we were looking at a place where time had stopped.
Our flight elongated by having a touch down for an hour in Edmonton before the flight over the hours flight over the Rockies, where the scenery was brilliant, and finally we reached Vancouver.
Vancouver airport was very busy. One of the things we had to do was to declare that we had not carried any dairy products into the country.
The Car
In preparation for the holiday I had booked a car through Canadian Affair. It took a bit of time to find the car hire company, especially since we were so tired after the flight. The car hire company, National, suggested that as we were travelling through the Rockies we should upgrade to a SUV car - which truned out to be a Dodge Jeep. Having agreed to do this we found that the parcel shelf had been removed from the vehicle thus leaving our luggage exposed. We complained about this but were amazed to learn that the removal of the cover was normal practise as they had been stolen in the past. So we downgraded the type of car from a SUV to a Ford Fusion. It is more like what we would know as being a Ford Mondeo and we can just fit our four suitacases in the trunk. It is black and is an automatic which takes a bit of getting used to. It is a lovely car to drive.
Our First Hotel
Our first hotel is the Best Western Exhibition Park. It is situated well away from the town centre
and it took a little bit of finding but it was not too bad. The room has 2 queen size beds and is partitioned into virtually 2 rooms. The division contains the bathroom outside of which is the sink, which is strange. The room has 2 televisions, a fridge and a micro-wave. There is a filter coffee machine with coffee available but there are no filters, and there is a couple of T bags but there is no milk. There is a bath with a juccuzzi. Our first night we were so tired that having fallen asleep at 5pm when we got there we did not get up until 7am the following day, effectively a 14 hour sleep. Breakfast was small but decent enough with waffles, babels, toast yoghurt etc all available. One point of not was that there were only about half a dozen tables in a miniscule breakfast room which was very puzzling for the hotel served 3 floors worth of rooms. Still, after queuing up for a short period of time we got our breakfast.
Day 2 - Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain.
So far this holiday has mostly gone to plan. Our first real outing was to the Capilano Suspension Bridge which we found without any real d
ifficulties. This suspension bridge is a long 
wobbly bridge over a gorge and leads to a tour around very tall douglas fir trees. For me probably the most thrilling thing we saw was this bird. I thought initially it was a dragonfly it was so small but I think it was a humming bird. It just looked and acted like the bird in the Disney film - Pocahontas.
We here we are. In my fiftieth year on the planet I have achieved a lifelong amibition. And after a 12 hour arduous flight we are here in Vancouver, and the views and county have not let me down.
The Flight
We chose to book via Canadian Affair obtaining the cheapest price for our journey on Thomas Cook airlines. The plane did have cramped conditions (just as well that I am reasonably slim for the seats were not made for large people) but having got up at 2am and got everyone out of the house by 4am we all managed to get some sleep along the way. Thomas Cook served up a couple of edible meals and the couple who sat beside us provided some pointers for car travel and recommendations for eating out. Probably the most fantastic part of the flight was flying over Greenland and the Rockies. Flying over Greenland Alice spotted a truncated valley giving her 5 bonus points. Looking at the valley it was a though we were looking at a place where time had stopped.
Our flight elongated by having a touch down for an hour in Edmonton before the flight over the hours flight over the Rockies, where the scenery was brilliant, and finally we reached Vancouver.
Vancouver airport was very busy. One of the things we had to do was to declare that we had not carried any dairy products into the country.
The Car
In preparation for the holiday I had booked a car through Canadian Affair. It took a bit of time to find the car hire company, especially since we were so tired after the flight. The car hire company, National, suggested that as we were travelling through the Rockies we should upgrade to a SUV car - which truned out to be a Dodge Jeep. Having agreed to do this we found that the parcel shelf had been removed from the vehicle thus leaving our luggage exposed. We complained about this but were amazed to learn that the removal of the cover was normal practise as they had been stolen in the past. So we downgraded the type of car from a SUV to a Ford Fusion. It is more like what we would know as being a Ford Mondeo and we can just fit our four suitacases in the trunk. It is black and is an automatic which takes a bit of getting used to. It is a lovely car to drive.
Our First Hotel
Our first hotel is the Best Western Exhibition Park. It is situated well away from the town centre
and it took a little bit of finding but it was not too bad. The room has 2 queen size beds and is partitioned into virtually 2 rooms. The division contains the bathroom outside of which is the sink, which is strange. The room has 2 televisions, a fridge and a micro-wave. There is a filter coffee machine with coffee available but there are no filters, and there is a couple of T bags but there is no milk. There is a bath with a juccuzzi. Our first night we were so tired that having fallen asleep at 5pm when we got there we did not get up until 7am the following day, effectively a 14 hour sleep. Breakfast was small but decent enough with waffles, babels, toast yoghurt etc all available. One point of not was that there were only about half a dozen tables in a miniscule breakfast room which was very puzzling for the hotel served 3 floors worth of rooms. Still, after queuing up for a short period of time we got our breakfast.
Day 2 - Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain.
So far this holiday has mostly gone to plan. Our first real outing was to the Capilano Suspension Bridge which we found without any real d
ifficulties. This suspension bridge is a long 
wobbly bridge over a gorge and leads to a tour around very tall douglas fir trees. For me probably the most thrilling thing we saw was this bird. I thought initially it was a dragonfly it was so small but I think it was a humming bird. It just looked and acted like the bird in the Disney film - Pocahontas. As a light snack we bought 4 diet cokes and 4 lots of curly fries - this was $38. Any currency converter will show this to be very very expensive!
A 
short drive further up the road took us to 
Grouse Mountain. The views of the mountains from Vancouver are fantastic but there is nothing like going up one in a cable car which is ex
actly what we did. Reaching the top we did find it to be very chilly but this did not detract from the really fantastic views. We also saw 2 orphaned Grizzly Bears, a lumberjack show, and went up even higher on a ski lift.
Our day was rounded off by a drive around Stanley Park and a really nice meal at a recommendable restaurant called Earls in Robson Street.
short drive further up the road took us to 
Grouse Mountain. The views of the mountains from Vancouver are fantastic but there is nothing like going up one in a cable car which is ex
actly what we did. Reaching the top we did find it to be very chilly but this did not detract from the really fantastic views. We also saw 2 orphaned Grizzly Bears, a lumberjack show, and went up even higher on a ski lift.Our day was rounded off by a drive around Stanley Park and a really nice meal at a recommendable restaurant called Earls in Robson Street.
Day 3 - Arrival at Campbell River
There is so much to see in Vancouver but what we saw we enjoyed and everyone still had memories of the visit up Grouse Mountain fresh on our minds. The proximity of our hotel was quite close to Highway 1 a highway that meanders right across Canada. Having said our goodbyes to the hotel we joined Highw
ay 1 and ultimately Route 99 to follow the Sea to Sky Road. An early riose meant that we could allow ourselves an hour's drive beyond the ferry terminal where our ferry would take us to Vancouver Island. One of the main thngs that the guide books say is to remember to keep your eyes on the road. This is better said than done for the scenery was fantastic.
There is so much to see in Vancouver but what we saw we enjoyed and everyone still had memories of the visit up Grouse Mountain fresh on our minds. The proximity of our hotel was quite close to Highway 1 a highway that meanders right across Canada. Having said our goodbyes to the hotel we joined Highw
ay 1 and ultimately Route 99 to follow the Sea to Sky Road. An early riose meant that we could allow ourselves an hour's drive beyond the ferry terminal where our ferry would take us to Vancouver Island. One of the main thngs that the guide books say is to remember to keep your eyes on the road. This is better said than done for the scenery was fantastic. We followed the road as far as a waterfall known as Shannon Falls where we stopped for a few moments before heading back down to Horseshoe Bay.
We had pre-booked a reservation on the ferry that would take us across the Strait of Georgia to Nanaimo, a journey that had approximately the same distance as a trip from Dover to Boulogne. The trip was fairly uneventful on a calm sea but we were cetain that we were being accompanied by a school of dolphins.
So on to Campbell River. Our hotel is again a Best Western called Austrian Chalet and we are in what could be described as a maisonette. There is a living area downstairs (the wash hand basin we were pleased to note is within the bathroom area this time). There is a balcony from which there are uninterrupted views are across the Strait, and where we have seen several cruise ships whizzing past. Our bedroom containing 2 queen beds is upstairs in a loft area which also has a gallery looking down onto the living area. There is a swimming pool, putting area, and table tennis. And just along the road there is a marker indicating the crossing of the 50th Parallel.
As well as today being our wedding anniversary it is also a bank holiday in Canada, the country celebrating Canada Day. So, many people congregated in a park on the water front of Campbell River where there were live bands, stands and all sorts of entertainment.
Some of the dates on our photographs are incorrect as the camera is set up for UK time.
The finale was a firework display which was done to music ending with a rousing rendition of the national anthem Oh Canada with fireworks in red and white going of over the Strait. Brilliant.
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