Vancouver

February 4th - 6th

Arrived in Vancouver after 24 hours of travelling and it was still the same day - very Back to the Future.

First thing that unsurprisingly hit us was the freezing cold so we were soon layered up and practically doubled in size.

Stayed in a really nice hostel which was more like a homestay as the kitchen was great and the owners were really helpful in planning the rest of our Canada tour (ie: buy wool you nutters and definitely get winter tyres).

Spent the first day wandering around the town trying not to freeze to death and went to Granville Island to check out the market and docks. Stopped to have lunch in the park and realised our mistake - stopping in the cold = death in Canada so we quickly got moving again.

Went to the Bill Reid museum (a Haida art specialist) which was great and some of his stuff was ridiculously good. Wandered into the cooler area of Gastown for a look around and had our first alcohol in about two months in the form of a couple of beers in a bar showing the Superbowl (yes, the budget is now that tight).

Hilarious watching north americans watch sport as none of them seem to take a blind bit of notice until something massive happens - like the half-time show or the adverts. To be fair though, the half-time entertainment really did put anything in England to shame (even though it was The Black-Eyed Peas and Usher).