So our arrival back into Canada was welcomed with some traditional English weather... that's right, you guessed it... lots of rain. So the first few days we keep under cover by lazing around Rebecca's apartment and catching a flick down the cinema -there was a close shave when we almost went to the last Canadian Porn cinema!ha ha. We entertained Beck when we dressed up in our recently purchased Grey's Anatomy scrubs, she gave us surgical masks, and i think you'd agree that we look the real deal.

We caught a bus into the city and didn't really know where we were heading, expect downtown. In hindsight we really wish we had paid more attention to Becca's direction, because we couldn't have ended up at a worse part of town! We walked about 6 blocks of East Hastings, and for those of you that aren't familiar with the name, it's not only the worse street in Vancouver, but it's reputation has spread throughout the land and is arguably the worst street in Canada! We were seriously scared. For about 4 blocks we did not see a normal person, unless you call druggies and prostitutes normal. There must have been some sort of soup kitchen just opened up, because they all came out of the woodwork and did a zombie march towards us! Great first impression of Vancouver, but as you can tell, we weren't at all traumatized by the experience!!!

But as they say, things can only get better. And they did, as the weather cheered up, the city is sat just between the ocean and the mountains, so the views around are great.

Saturday we went on a scavenger hunt in the town that Smallville is set! It was the really great fun. We had 100 things to hunt for from Random Photo's-Random Items-Random answers to random questions and 3hours to do it in. So our team headed for the nearest thrift store and raided all the old bit and bobs we could find. Funniest moment: one item was a love not from a team member to another team member. So Tara handed a note saying "Dear Steve, i never believed in love at first sight until i met you. Love Tara x " But Steve didn't realise that this was one of the things to hunt for and he just looked at Tara like she was crazy and nervously said "Gee, thanks, thats the nicest thing, i'm really flattered" You should have seen relief on his face when we explained it was actually part of the Scavenger hunt. ha ha.

Our team came in second, but our theory is that the guy that organized it was on the winning team... mmmm. Anyway, it was loads of fun.. and if anyone wants to organize one, i'm in!

So the next day after the meeting we then took a walk at Victoria park with some of Rebecca friends visiting from Calgary, followed by a delightfully entertaining meal at Becca's, filled with drama. After getting scared to death by her resident mouse, Stuart, the oven then decided to catch alight. But fear not, the house didn't go down in flames and we didn't have to call for a pizza. It was actually deliciously chargrilled. We then spent the evening beating the boys at cards.

By Monday the weather had improved and we went for a walk down Stanley Park. The park has a real buzz to it, and I'm not talking about the bee's. It's about the size of downtown Vancouver and is sat on the peninsular with a bridge connecting to North Van. We took a walk around the sea wall, and there were lots doing the same, with skaters or cyclists running us down too. In the summer this is a place i would be spending most of my time, with lots of activities and things to see, although being close to the city, you didn't feel like you were anywhere near one. We then looked at some market stalls on Granville Island, then heading back to make some dinner. Later we went to the boys house and played rock band. Rockaloola... i was getting withdrawals! They had a Mexican brother staying with them, and he was so funny. His name was Noe, but we just called him Pedro. That may well be offensive in his country, but he didn't seem to mind. Tara taught him how to play snap and he was like a kid that just learnt about Candy! funnier still, was when he put his music on and started singing along (slightly off key) to some 80's mood making music.

We heading up to Whistler for the day and on the way we saw a sign for Shannon Falls. We were impressed with the waterfalls made from the rainwater overflowing onto the rock faces on the road, but when we saw this... it was awesome. 3rd highest waterfall in BC. and over 1100ft high. So we took a few pics and headed on the road again for whistler.

We arrived had some lunch and had a look round. They had a snow dump the week before and everyone had got excited, but a few days later the rain washed it all away. Although it was out of season, there was still the buzz at the resort, with lots of other people milling around and doing lots of other activities. Me and Beck decided to go zip lining. So we harnessed up and went up the mountain. We did about 5 Zip lines in total and flew between Whistle and Blackcombe mountain, over Fitzsimmons Creek. The longest was 1100ft in length and about 100ft from the ground. But i was more scared of the bears, you are never less than 1km for a bear up there, and as it got dark, i was imagining a bear jumping out on us. Last zipline was freestyle, so we went across upsidedown and spinning around. awesome! Whistler is preparing for the Olympics games next year, and on the way down from the mountain we pulled over and watched some of the athlete's testing out the luge for the first time. They move flippin fast, but didn't catch sight of the Jamaican bobsleigh team, slightly disappointed, but there's always next time.

Spent next day chilling out and went for a drive down the beach. We saw 2 Bald Eagles. They were huge! Becca decided we need some culture in our lives, so she took us to an undergroud jazz bar. It had a cool atmosphere, but the band that played were hysterical. Firstly they asked everyone to not talk, and if anyone has met Tara, you'll know that would be torture, then they sang random French songs, and pulled funny faces when they improvised. "take that pipe outta yer mouth... you hound" was one of many funny lines. The guy on the table next to us was "in the zone" eye's closed, shaking his head to the rhythm of the night. We couldn't even look at each other without laughing.

Although Vancouver was a wet week, we had a nice relaxing time, and timed it well as Rebecca had the week off. So she came with us to our next stop Vancouver Island. So we caught the ferry early Thursday morning and headed across the water to the island... but you'll have to wait for our next entry for that!

Hope your all well and enjoying our photo's!

Wish you were here!

Love Tars and Jem

xxx