Travel Journals - Vancouver bits, and the journey home.
Over the past few weeks, I've uploaded my travel journals. I'm hoping to get the accompanying photos uploaded at one point, but with 1.4 GB of photos, that's just taking way too long.
02-Jul-2008Vancouver
Second day now in Vancouver (yesterday was Canada Day)
The hotel is nice enough, though it is smack in the middle of Junkie Central (no pun intended there) Most of our food so far has come from the Hotel Pub (Good yet inexpensive food)
Didn't really do too much yesterday (we landed in Vancouver after a 5 hour flight) mostly, we stayed at the hotel and rested.
Earlier today, we walked to Stanley Park (about 1Km away) and visited Vancouver Aquarium. And its true the world over, tourists suck, crowds are crap, and otters are a whole heap of fun to watch. Got to see the beluga baby they have there, then we headed back to the hotel.
Seems to me that the War on Drugs (tm) hasn't had much of an impact over here. It has to be the greatest concentration of junkies I've seen in a long while. They're pretty brazen too over here, lighting up crack pipes within arms reach of Vancouver policemen. Mind you, there seems to be a lot of police patrols going round.
03-Jul-2008Chinatown and the VAG
Woke up late and headed to Chinatown for breakfast. Ate in a place inside of the Tinseltown mall. After breakfast, we walked to the VAG (Vancouver Art Gallery). Yup, its a pretty unfortunate acronym. Looked for a post office, but we couldn't find one.
The VAG is kinda cool (fnar fnar). There was an exhibit on Comic Book and Animated Art called Krazy. We bought the Catalogue for the collection. It was strange being in a museum and looking at art which brought back so many memories (what with things such as Macross and Astroboy on display). Overall, very damn cool.
After wandering around the Gallery, we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap. We then headed out again to catch up with B's friend Leanne at a bar called Milestones. Good food, bit pricey, but definitely worth it.
Leanne then took B and I on a quick tour of Yaletown before retiring at a bar with a rather cute barmaid (hey she kept flashing her cleavage at me). Aside from the staff, I'd recommend the bar due to the Whisky they have. After the drinks, Leanne drove us back to the hotel.
04-Jul-2008Tours and more walking
Walked around town again today and booked tickets to Vancouver Island (Where BC's capital city Victoria is located). We then headed to Granville Island (kinda like an artsy market place) where we found a post office... B was getting tired of carrying all those bloody postcards around.
After having lunch, we headed to Chop Shop which is a rockabilly barbershop setup like an automotive bodyshop out of the 50s. While there I got my head re-hawked by a cool rock-a-billy barber. :)
Overall, it was a kinda lazy day with mostly chores being done. We did manage to get a small ferry back from Granville Island to Yaletown.
05-Jul-2008Saturday with Leanne
Got picked up from the hotel by Leanne, who took us for a quick drive around Vancouver. B now has some photos of sites used in the filming of Supernatural. We had breakfast at a Dutch pancake place, then drove to the film studios where Supernatural is filmed in Burnaby. After a looksee, we headed to the Burnaby historic township (kinda like a mini Sovereign Hill) where I got into a conversation with the site blacksmith, while the ladies explored a bit. In the afternoon, we headed off to Steveston and had a look around at the old shipyards and cannery. Apparently they filmed some of Supernatural there too.
Had dinner at a lovely Greek place, then Leanne took us around while B took photos of more Supernatural locations.
We then headed to Leanne's to chill for a bit (got our first cat contact throughout the whole trip!) and from there we headed back to the hotel. Had an early night as our sea-plane flight to Vancouver Island was leaving early the next morning.
06-Jul-2008Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Sea Ferries?
Visited Vancouver Island by seaplane to Victoria. I'd write more about the plane trip, but as usual I was fast asleep after 5 minutes of being in the plane. Apparently I missed out on some seriously awesome views. From my seat, I have to say it was an awesomely smooth ride, especially for such a small plane. Once at Victoria, B and I walked around exploring the city, then made our way to the Museum. On the way we witnessed a Lion Dance. I really liked the Museum, it had probably some of the best dioramas I've seen. The painted backgrounds and the taxidermy made you feel like you were outside and looking at live specimens.
After the museum, we had a quick lunch, then headed to the coach terminal (bus ride to the ferry). As usual, I fell asleep on the bus, so I don't know what the rest of Vancouver Island looks like. But I can say that the hotel and legislature building in Victoria was rather impressive.
Boarded the ferry and B and I watched it casting off. The trip was kinda awesome despite all the passengers. It would make a great place to run around if it were a little more empty. Once we got to Tsawassan, our coach took us to Downtown Vancouver. Where we took a Skytrain to Granville Street.
From there we headed to Gotham Steakhouse (yep you guessed it, another Supernatural related spot). I totally recommend Gotham as a restaurant. It is very classy, the surrounds are opulent, the food is great, and the service is awesome (and cute) Very much worth the price of food. Its odd really, from the outside it appears to be any other downtown office buildings. Inside, you've essentially stepped into another world.
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel through Chinatown and the night market. Very busy day indeed!
07-Jul-2008Kinda Lazy day...
Didn't really do too much today. We headed to Science World in the morning (similar to ScienceWorks back home). Its cool, especially since it is set inside a geodesic dome. At the entrance they have a Rube Goldberg Machine which makes noises with rubber balls. Inside there are many different labs where kids of all ages can play around with science. My favourite bits were the Shadow Room and the Fulcrum display (where you get to lift a 200kg weight). The Disney Exhibits were cool too. After examining stuff there, we headed back to the hotel for a "Not-Stand-Up". B then spent the evening with some of her friends.
Back at the hotel, I ended up experiencing some aspects of the local street life. I had to walk a fair bit just to get a pack of smokes, and ended up having conversations with loads of street folk, followed by dinner by myself at a rather good Vietnamese restaurant.
Then I joined B and her friends and had some coffee before heading back to the hotel.
08-Jul-20082400
Slept in a bit, then we checked out of our hotel. Had a stroll to Chinatown to rent a car (we're flying out late so it made sense) From there we headed to the 2400 motel to check in. Very cool place which lots of shows have used for location shoots. Had breakfast at Top's Restaurant (a quaint diner type place). Spent most of the day just lounging. Had dinner at a pretty good Japanese place just down the road. BC Rolls are awesome! Prior to dinner we popped into a pub for some bevies.
When we got back to the 2400, there were some folk setting up a dolly, we guessed to film something for film school. After a bit, we headed out to search some location shoots for Supernatural, but as our luck would have it, we didn't get to see any. Got a bit tense while driving around, as I almost hit a biker dude and his pillion. With that in mind, we headed back to the motel, and prepared for our 17 hour flight back home in the morning.
And so ends the travel journals. Yep, I did sleep a whole lot on the flight home.
02-Jul-2008Vancouver
Second day now in Vancouver (yesterday was Canada Day)
The hotel is nice enough, though it is smack in the middle of Junkie Central (no pun intended there) Most of our food so far has come from the Hotel Pub (Good yet inexpensive food)
Didn't really do too much yesterday (we landed in Vancouver after a 5 hour flight) mostly, we stayed at the hotel and rested.
Earlier today, we walked to Stanley Park (about 1Km away) and visited Vancouver Aquarium. And its true the world over, tourists suck, crowds are crap, and otters are a whole heap of fun to watch. Got to see the beluga baby they have there, then we headed back to the hotel.
Seems to me that the War on Drugs (tm) hasn't had much of an impact over here. It has to be the greatest concentration of junkies I've seen in a long while. They're pretty brazen too over here, lighting up crack pipes within arms reach of Vancouver policemen. Mind you, there seems to be a lot of police patrols going round.
03-Jul-2008Chinatown and the VAG
Woke up late and headed to Chinatown for breakfast. Ate in a place inside of the Tinseltown mall. After breakfast, we walked to the VAG (Vancouver Art Gallery). Yup, its a pretty unfortunate acronym. Looked for a post office, but we couldn't find one.
The VAG is kinda cool (fnar fnar). There was an exhibit on Comic Book and Animated Art called Krazy. We bought the Catalogue for the collection. It was strange being in a museum and looking at art which brought back so many memories (what with things such as Macross and Astroboy on display). Overall, very damn cool.
After wandering around the Gallery, we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap. We then headed out again to catch up with B's friend Leanne at a bar called Milestones. Good food, bit pricey, but definitely worth it.
Leanne then took B and I on a quick tour of Yaletown before retiring at a bar with a rather cute barmaid (hey she kept flashing her cleavage at me). Aside from the staff, I'd recommend the bar due to the Whisky they have. After the drinks, Leanne drove us back to the hotel.
04-Jul-2008Tours and more walking
Walked around town again today and booked tickets to Vancouver Island (Where BC's capital city Victoria is located). We then headed to Granville Island (kinda like an artsy market place) where we found a post office... B was getting tired of carrying all those bloody postcards around.
After having lunch, we headed to Chop Shop which is a rockabilly barbershop setup like an automotive bodyshop out of the 50s. While there I got my head re-hawked by a cool rock-a-billy barber. :)
Overall, it was a kinda lazy day with mostly chores being done. We did manage to get a small ferry back from Granville Island to Yaletown.
05-Jul-2008Saturday with Leanne
Got picked up from the hotel by Leanne, who took us for a quick drive around Vancouver. B now has some photos of sites used in the filming of Supernatural. We had breakfast at a Dutch pancake place, then drove to the film studios where Supernatural is filmed in Burnaby. After a looksee, we headed to the Burnaby historic township (kinda like a mini Sovereign Hill) where I got into a conversation with the site blacksmith, while the ladies explored a bit. In the afternoon, we headed off to Steveston and had a look around at the old shipyards and cannery. Apparently they filmed some of Supernatural there too.
Had dinner at a lovely Greek place, then Leanne took us around while B took photos of more Supernatural locations.
We then headed to Leanne's to chill for a bit (got our first cat contact throughout the whole trip!) and from there we headed back to the hotel. Had an early night as our sea-plane flight to Vancouver Island was leaving early the next morning.
06-Jul-2008Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Sea Ferries?
Visited Vancouver Island by seaplane to Victoria. I'd write more about the plane trip, but as usual I was fast asleep after 5 minutes of being in the plane. Apparently I missed out on some seriously awesome views. From my seat, I have to say it was an awesomely smooth ride, especially for such a small plane. Once at Victoria, B and I walked around exploring the city, then made our way to the Museum. On the way we witnessed a Lion Dance. I really liked the Museum, it had probably some of the best dioramas I've seen. The painted backgrounds and the taxidermy made you feel like you were outside and looking at live specimens.
After the museum, we had a quick lunch, then headed to the coach terminal (bus ride to the ferry). As usual, I fell asleep on the bus, so I don't know what the rest of Vancouver Island looks like. But I can say that the hotel and legislature building in Victoria was rather impressive.
Boarded the ferry and B and I watched it casting off. The trip was kinda awesome despite all the passengers. It would make a great place to run around if it were a little more empty. Once we got to Tsawassan, our coach took us to Downtown Vancouver. Where we took a Skytrain to Granville Street.
From there we headed to Gotham Steakhouse (yep you guessed it, another Supernatural related spot). I totally recommend Gotham as a restaurant. It is very classy, the surrounds are opulent, the food is great, and the service is awesome (and cute) Very much worth the price of food. Its odd really, from the outside it appears to be any other downtown office buildings. Inside, you've essentially stepped into another world.
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel through Chinatown and the night market. Very busy day indeed!
07-Jul-2008Kinda Lazy day...
Didn't really do too much today. We headed to Science World in the morning (similar to ScienceWorks back home). Its cool, especially since it is set inside a geodesic dome. At the entrance they have a Rube Goldberg Machine which makes noises with rubber balls. Inside there are many different labs where kids of all ages can play around with science. My favourite bits were the Shadow Room and the Fulcrum display (where you get to lift a 200kg weight). The Disney Exhibits were cool too. After examining stuff there, we headed back to the hotel for a "Not-Stand-Up". B then spent the evening with some of her friends.
Back at the hotel, I ended up experiencing some aspects of the local street life. I had to walk a fair bit just to get a pack of smokes, and ended up having conversations with loads of street folk, followed by dinner by myself at a rather good Vietnamese restaurant.
Then I joined B and her friends and had some coffee before heading back to the hotel.
08-Jul-20082400
Slept in a bit, then we checked out of our hotel. Had a stroll to Chinatown to rent a car (we're flying out late so it made sense) From there we headed to the 2400 motel to check in. Very cool place which lots of shows have used for location shoots. Had breakfast at Top's Restaurant (a quaint diner type place). Spent most of the day just lounging. Had dinner at a pretty good Japanese place just down the road. BC Rolls are awesome! Prior to dinner we popped into a pub for some bevies.
When we got back to the 2400, there were some folk setting up a dolly, we guessed to film something for film school. After a bit, we headed out to search some location shoots for Supernatural, but as our luck would have it, we didn't get to see any. Got a bit tense while driving around, as I almost hit a biker dude and his pillion. With that in mind, we headed back to the motel, and prepared for our 17 hour flight back home in the morning.
And so ends the travel journals. Yep, I did sleep a whole lot on the flight home.