Vancouver!

What a whirlwind few weeks it has been! Now we're back from our epic trip home we are ready to get caught up on blogging, starting with our brief but action packed stopover in Vancouver.

We loved it! Vancouver really is Auckland on steroids with a stunning harbour, amazing parks, cycle and walkways everywhere, fantastic eating and drinking and mountains within touching distance of the city.

Arriving at our hotel at about 4pm on the Friday we set straight out for a run around Stanley Park - not having had much sleep on the plane due to excitement we weren't sure how it would go but it was well worth it - the park is huge and gave some great views of the city, harbour, a bit of beach time and some glimpses of First Nation art in the form of some impressive totems.

Another City of Sails - Northern Hemisphere style!

Loved these totems

Canadian Geese... in Canada!

Laid back beach

After a quick shower and spruce up we caught the bus into town and headed straight to Steamworks Brewery (thank you Hannah and Jody for the recommendation). A few yummy Canadian craft beers, some calamari and chips later we were ready to head into Gastown to sample a bar or two before heading to bed.

Happy boy!

Not all consumed by me, promise

Next morning we were up bright and early to make the most of our one day in British Columbia, commencing with a proper 'diner' breakfast - eggs benedict for me (with a healthy included side of fried potatoes...) and corned beef hash for Matt.

YUM!

Walking along the shoreline from the West End we found the miniest ferry ever to take us over to Granville Island, famous for its market, quirky shops and boutiques.

Teeny ferry

Spending a couple of hours on the island, followed by a stroll through historic Yaletown, we found ourselves catching another ferry, this time to the North Shore (yes, there's one of those in Auckland too!) home of the famous Grouse Mountain, ski field in Winter, general fun place to go in summer.

Tourists who didn't fancy catching their plane sweaty caught the cable car up the mountain, we hiked up instead... It turns out this is one steep mountain, an hour later we had completed the 'Grouse Grind' and were ready for a sit down.

So many steps! Definitely glowing...

In true Canadian style, our rest was accompanied by a lumberjack show, complete with chopping, sawing, log running and tree climbing. Honestly, the show was beyond brilliant - we loved it (mainly due to the Canadian sense of humour used throughout - turns out the obviousness aligns nicely with ours...). Unfortunately cloud cover meant we weren't treated to views from the top, but seeing the grizzly bears and catching the cable car back down ensured our visit was complete!

Strong men!

This guy was rather lovely!

Catching a ferry back to the other side there was only time for a quick Japadog (Vancouver famous Japanese hot dog - the best thing Matt has ever put in his mouth apparently) a walk along Coal Harbour to complete the day's loop and we were picking our bags up and heading to the airport...

A fantastic day and a bit, and a great warm-up for our time in the UK.