Tourist bonanza: Space Centre

We had an evening visit to the Space Centre, which again, is a 15 minute walk from our apartment.

I'd already been here once before; it was David's first visit.

However, it was great for me because they were doing a specific, one-off talk (that I hadn't seen before) about 'Who made the constellations?' 

And actually - turns out that what we learnt in school was wrong. It wasn't the Greeks; it was the Minoans. You learn something new every day.

We then went to its observatory where you can star-gaze using the most enormous telescope I've ever seen:

 

Interesting & surprisingly educational evening.

CS

Tourist bonanza: Vancouver aquarium

I'd been looking forward to visiting Vancouver's aquarium - and I wasn't disappointed.

What I hadn't expected to see what such a wide range of sea life.

They had beluga whales, which are startlingly white:

They also had a tonne of other gorgeous wildlife to admire. Here are some of my favourites - a sea turtle:

Jelly fish - they're pretty to look at, not so nice to touch:

Blue parrots:

Sea otter:

CS

Tourist bonanza: Habour cruise

Our next venture was with Habour Cruises - an hour long boat ride off the coast of Downtown Vancouver.

This was our mode of transport - a steam boat called The Constitution:

The tour included an excellent guide that told stories about Vancouver along the way. For us, it was nice to see our beautiful city from another perspective.

We also visited Canada Place - one of the city's iconic buildings - to earn another stamp.

To recap our challenge, we've been given a 'passport' which contains many tourist attractions which we can visit for free in the next six weeks. Each time we visit one, we get a stamp. If you get 15 stamps, we get free access into all attractions for the rest of the year - an incredible deal!

Let the game continue!


CS

Tourist bonanza: Hall of Fame

Our next stop: BC Hall of Fame, a sports museum in BC Place, the main sports stadium in Vancouver.

We got a sneak peak of the stadium from the museum. Check it out:

The best thing about the Hall of Fame? You can get involved in the sports - here is David scoring a goal against a computer-generated goalie:

David also re-lived his ice-hockey days:

Meanwhile, I tested myself against the clock on the running track (I went so fast the camera couldn't keep up!):

A fun time & definitely worth a visit for sports fans.

CS

Tourist bonanza: Science World

We ventured to Science World - a fantastic place for kids and also for Charlotte & David as it turns out.

The museum is designed to teach kids about science; we used it to play games against each other.

My favourite was the Hamster Wheel where you had to run as fast as you can to generate energy:

Meanwhile, David was having a blast on a giant size computer that senses your motion:

We then went head-to-head on a few competitions:

• Who was the calmest? I won, despite us both thinking David would
• Who had the strongest grip? David won, but only by a point - it was close!
• Who was the bendiest? I won, not a surprise
• Who could jump the highest? David won, predictable given he's a foot taller than me
• Who had the quickest reaction? I won twice - delighted with that!
• Who had the strongest arm strength? I won the first game and David was adamant that the machine must be broken. So we swapped sides and he was right; he won the second game by a long way...

We then went to the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition, which is only on for a short time at Science World. It was inspiring - incredible that one person could be an artist, scientist and inventor in only one lifetime.

CS

Tourist bonanza: Maritime Museum

The next part of our 'be a tourist for a month' adventure took us to the Maritime Museum, which is only a ten minute walk from our house.

Phil in New Zealand - if you're reading this, then we spent a lot of time talking and you and your museum while walking round!

We were surprised to be greeted by an enormous boat on entry:

David's favourite part was undoubtedly the old maps - showing how the city has changed over the last century. The city barely existed over 100 years ago and it's now the most densely populated city in Canada. Crazy.

The museum also had an Inukshuk - a Canadian symbol to help travellers find their way. Inukshuks are every here - people love them! This is what they look like:

We then jumped on a False Creek Ferry to get to the next part of our adventure. The ferry was so cute & the people were friendly:

CS

Snow shoe grind

Good Friday night activity; the snow shoe grind on Grouse Mountain.

This essentially means walking up the side of a mountain with snow shoes on - and it was much harder than I thought it was going to be. You have to dig in your toes so you don't slip.

Check us out on the move:

It only takes an hour but it's worth it. Check out the views from the top:

Going down was funnier; it's difficult not to slip so we both resorted to sliding on our bottoms down the hill. Very time efficient and easier than using snow shoes.

Our reward at the end? 'Sliders' - a Canadian treat meaning mini burgers - in Altitude, a bistro on top of Grouse Mountain. Delicious! We pictured them next to a salt and pepper pot to give a perspective on size:

CS

Tourist bonanza: Botanical Gardens

Best job perk ever - for the next six weeks we get free admission into all tourist attractions in and around Vancouver. Incredible.

Today we went to UBC Botanical Gardens, which is a seven mile bike ride from our apartment (and we did this journey on a hangover, feeling every mile intensely).

The gardens were delightful! Full of a huge variety of flowers, plans & trees. This was my favourite flower - remains me of a Christmas decoration:

We also did a 'tree walk' across a number of cleverly constructed platforms. Check it out:

Overall a worthwhile visit & one which we hope to go back to see again - with a large picnic in hand!

CS

Ain't no party like a 'wetsuit party'!

This feels more like a confession than a tale.

Today we went to a friend's party dressed in wet suits...first piece of evidence:

Second piece of evidence:

Why you may ask?! Good question. You can tell from the photos that it was fancy dress. The theme was 'The Olympics'.

David and I hadn't planned our outfits. So hours before the party, we were struck with a genius idea: wear wetsuits and be 'triathletes'!

Needless to say, arriving at a posh building wearing a wetsuit and goggles was embarrassing.

I also had rather drastic sunburn on my face after having skied in Whistler all day. I didn't notice - and everyone put it down to us suffocating in our costumes.

Worth pointing out: David removed his costume within 30 minutes; I kept mine on for four hours.

I think our friends loved the smell of rubber that followed wherever we went...

Good advice for future: wetsuits are not good attire for parties.

CS

Maplewood & Mother Nature

On Sarah's final day, we went to Maplewood Conservation Area to see what wildlife we could find.

We weren't disappointed. Between Maplewood & Stanley Park, we spotted seven bald eagles & saw these lovely creatures:

We chilled in the sun watching the deers for ages - and they came so close!

A special way to end Sarah's visit...

CS

Sights from Seymour

We went to the top of Seymour - one of the three mountains in on the North Shore - to take in the view.

However, the shoes Cathy & Sarah were wearing were rather unfortunate:

Yes, there is actually snow in Cathy's golden shoes. Both girls said they had 'feet freeze' (the equivalent of 'brain freeze') on their tootsies.

The girls managed to put on a full smile for the camera despite their pain:

CS

A glimpse of Deep Cove

To continue on our sight-seeing tour during Sarah's visit, we went to Deep Cove - a stunning little village just 35-40 minutes from our flat.

Check out the pictures here:

We were only here for a couple of hours but everyone fell in love with the place. We'll be coming back - and next time we'll have kayaks with us!

CS

A visit to outer space

Today we turned into five year olds again and visited the Space Centre in Kitsilano:

It was rather telling that other than us, there were three different schools - with children aged seven and below - inside the centre.

It was a fun visit & we sat inside the planetarium and learnt about the stars and planets. Did you know Pluto is no longer listed as one of the nine planets in our solar system? Instead it's lumped in with 'other planets' as they've found dozens more. Who knew?!

Naturally we rushed around the museum with full enthusiasm and played with all the games - including pretending to be an astronaut:

Loads of fun. Jo & Pete, if you make it out, Matilda would love this place!

CS

Exploring Van's drinking establishments

For four days of Sarah's visit to Vancouver, I had to go to work; not ideal, but that's life.

We made up for it by hitting the town/bars in the evenings wherever possible. Here are a few of the places we visited:

This was The Cellar Jazz Club in Kitsilano on West Broadway, which is said to be one of the top 100 jazz venues around the globe. It was a special night of exceptional food and wine coupled with live, mesmerizing jazz. The venue takes the music seriously - you cannot talk when people are playing; a nice touch. We'll definitely be going here again.

The Sunset Grill in Kitsilano. It's a traditional pub that plays all hockey games - a good choice as we both became avid Canucks fans for the week (as the Stanley Cup has started). The staff had great banter and Sarah - who would talk to a wall if left alone - made many friends throughout the evening. She also managed to swindle a free drink called a 'paralizer'.

The boathouse on Kitsilano beach; always stunning. We watched our second Canucks game here while taking in the views of the moutains/sea etc.

The Smoking Dog Bistro in Kitsilano. It seemed like a good choice until the mussels made me violently ill within the hour. Not a great experience, but the venue and staff were lovely none-the-less.

Milestone Restaurant is a chain in Vancouver, like Earls. Good food & chat but not as spectacular as some of the other venues.


CS

Gifts from the UK!

I wanted to say thank you for a couple of gifts we've received from the UK to brighten up our somewhat sparse-looking flat...

Dee, Bob, thank you for the duvet set - it looks divine!

And Sarah, loving our Vancouver painting - it's a great addition to our living space & is now proudly displayed on our wall:

Thank you!

CS

Spain hits Vancouver....

A momentous occasion; Sarah Spain (my best friend) visited Vancouver.

The first few days have been excellent. We went straight to Whistler and spent the Easter bank holiday weekend on the slopes.

Here are a few snaps of us:

And while we spent time on the bunny slopes, David tackled the jumps:

It was the first time I'd stayed the night in Whistler village & it was great fun. The Irish Bar - Dubh Linn Gate - was a good giggle, had live music & authentic 'Irish' men.

We were also persuaded to try 'Mojos' - a dodgy nightclub which resembled 'The Pig', a dodgy Austrian pub we frequented on a previous ski trip at school. The oldest person, other than us, can only have been 19 years old at the most. Yes - we felt like we were in an episode of 'Cougar Town' and didn't stay too long.

All in all it was an excellent weekend. Looking forward to the rest of the week.

CS

Got my dance shoes on...

I thought it was about time I got back into dancing. I bravely put on my gear & headed to Harbour Dance for a hip hop class:

Ignoring the fact I hadn't danced in four years, I thought I'd easily get back into the swing of things.

I walked into class & it was like a scene from 'Step Up to the Streets'. I used to go to Pineapple regularly and I never saw anything like it. People had their groove on before the class had even started & were performing for others.

Needless to say, I struggled to keep up with the choreography - and experienced my first bout of back pain afterwards.

Vicky Hatcher - if you are reading this - I may need some more dance lessons from you!

I'll definitely give it another go, however next time I'll be in the beginners class where I belong...

CS