Big HI from friendly Vancouver! Where you can get drive-thru coffee and Reeses peanut-butter confectionary on every corner!

So first things first. We manage to arrive safely in BC no thanks to New Zealand weather. Due to horrible rain and low cloud in Wellington I was unable to fly down and meet my sis for lunch and I couldn't join Steph for the start of the big trip. But never mind!! Instead I had a lovely lunch with my parents before boarding the plane for Auckland.

( Ek is jammer ek het jou nie gesien nie Annsuli. Baie lief vir jou! xox )

Nikki's mum, Carol, kindly picked us up from YVR airport and delivered us safe to Nikki's condo in Maple Ridge. We left Auckland at 8pm on the 4th of August but arrived at YVR 2pm on the 4th! We gained a whole day! Time difference does my head in! Another thing that does my head in is that they drive on the right hand side of the road which makes it a bit of a challenge to sit quietly in the passenger seat coming from NZ.

The weather in Vancouver is lovely and warm. Today was a smooth 24'C. Unfortunately BC has been short of rain and therefore a bit dry. As a result of this there are a few fires burning in the Interior of BC leaving the city in a smokey haze. With the haze you'd hardly know that the city is surrounded by mountains. At least today we could partially see the mountains while galavanting through the city. I can just imagine how stunning it must look when they are all covered in snow. Maybe a return trip back in winter?

On Thursday, 5 August, we went exploring with Carol and Nikki's sister, Racheal. We took the skytrain into Downtown and a seabus over to Lonsdale Quay where we had a yummy lunch at the markets. After having a quick look around we headed back on the seabus and made our way across to Granville Island. The Granville markets are amazing! The fresh fruit and vegetable stalls are bountiful, and the gourmet food stalls are fascinating. The in-between flower stalls just add to the vibrancy and life of the place.

On the way back to the skytrain we stopped off at Gastown and walked along the paved roads till we found the statue of Jack "Gassy" Deighton, the man who established the fist saloon in Vancouver. Gastown is lovely and the colorful hanging baskets really add a nice touch to the history filled streets.

Friday 6 August: After a bit of a sleep-in we hit the streets of Vancouver again but this time with Nikki. We drove to Downtown and spent the afternoon shopping on Robson street. Apparently anybody that is somebody (or wants to be) hangs out here. It is easy to see this is where the money is with the Ferraris parked along the street and designer shops on every corner.

The afternoon turned out lovely so after our shopping expedition we drove along the seawall system in Stanley park. Stanley park is huge! It is bigger than Central park and is largely surrounded by water. Very much reminded me of driving around the Bays in Wellington. We were lucky enough to spot a raccoon on our drive through the park. Funny little creatures. We ended up lazing in the late afternoon sun at English Bay enjoying an ice-cream. The summer afternoons are similar to NZ in the fact that it stays light until about 9pm. Which means that we can really make the most of our days, so on the way back to Maple Ridge we stopped in Chinatown. The Chinatown market was a bit smaller than anticipated but still exciting!

Till next time!