What a long day! The flight from Sydney was uneventful but there wasn't much sleep to be had. I don't know why. I like that particular flight because there is usually a lot of 'lights out' time but there were some very noisy people on board. When we got to LAX, the usual immigration queue was there but after a while a lady told our line to go up to the US residents queue which was practically empty. Once we cleared immigration we headed to Terminal 2 where Westjet was. There Westjet check in hadn't yet opened so we stood in the queue for over an hour. The staff finally appeared & then there was something wrong with our reservation. In the usual American style, we weren't told what was happening & had to ask what the hold up was. It took quite a while for them to sort it out but the upside was they waived the $50 checked bag fee.
The flight to Vancouver was only 2hrs 17mins but we were delayed leaving as the pilot was given a different route to take meaning the plane needed more fuel before we left.
It was lovely seeing snow capped mountains as we approached Canada & then again around the airport. It was only 8 degrees when we disembarked.
Our hotel is very conveniently located near the Main Street of Vancouver. After a quick refresh we headed out to look around and get our bearings. By 5pm it was pretty dark but there were fairy lights in the trees most of the way along the street. it looked very pretty. We wandered in & out of some shops and found a little Italian restaurant for dinner. Walking back to the hotel, we came across Robson Square which is transformed into an ice rink in winter. It was only $4 to hire skates so I had a couple of spins around the rink. I haven't skated for years & wasn't very good but it was fun! There aren't a lot of Christmas decorations around which surprises me.
Tomorrow we are planning a city day - get on the hop on hop off bus to see what is around & then get off at the places we want to explore.
But first, sleep is needed!