Vancouver (Part 2) Sept 2012

Saturday 22 Sept 2012

We did some shopping in the morning and got some lotto tickets. We didn’t win the $30m jackpot last night so we are in next week’s lotto which has jackpotted to $40m. I will have to come back to Canada to claim my share (if we win) as I will be on the ship when it is drawn.

In the afternoon Davie took me down to his Legion Club (RSL Club) for a few drinks.

 He got off to a great start as he had found some old lotto tickets that had slopped down under the cushions on the lounge so he handed them in to check if there were any winners. Bingo!! One of them won a prize of $6500.  Needless to say we celebrated this win.

Sheila had a beaut Greek salad and lamb dinner waiting for us when we got home. We continue to celebrate Davie’s win with a few more drinks. I got to bed about 11pm.

Sun 23 Sept

OMG I woke with a hangover so after a glass of water I went back to bed for a few more hours. I got up feeling a bit better about 9am and Sheila cooked up a healthy brekkie of scrambled eggs on toast. After a shower and freshen up Davie and I went down to the Farmer’s markets and a walk along the waterfront.

It was beaut to have an easy day and an alcohol free day for me. Sheila made a fantastic roast beef dinner with all the trimmings.

We had a relaxing night at home and I was in bed by 9.45pm.

Monday 24 Sept

Slept in and woke feeling in top form at 7.30am. Marvellous what an alcohol free day does for the body and the head.

After brekkie we set off to the Lotto office to pick up David’s winnings before going over to Grantham Island to have a look around. 

The markets were very colourful and busy. We had a fantastic seafood lunch at Bridges Restaurant.

In the mid afternoon I went over to visit Maurice and Brigit (who I met on the World Cruise last year), they live only 5 minutes from Davie and Sheila in West Van. They have a great apartment with fantastic views over the ocean so we saw the ships departing the port as they passed bye. After some yummy seafood savouries and a few Guinness they took me down to the Cactus Club Bar and Grill for dinner.

 It was great to catch up with them and even though it had been 19months since I last saw them it only seemed like a few weeks ago.

I was home in bed by 9.45pm as we have a full day tomorrow with a trip to Victoria on Vancouver Island.

Tuesday 25 Sept

Well we were all up early at 6.00am to get ready for the big day trip to Victoria Vancouver Island. We had an hour and a half drive to catch the 9am ferry, then we had a 2 hour ferry ride out to Vancouver Island. We had brekkie on the boat. The ferry ride was very pleasant and seemed to go very quickly.

We toured the Island and did some shopping in Victoria. I got another polo shirt to add to my collection. Then it was time to do the 110km trip from Victoria to Nanaimo to catch another Ferry to Horseshoe Bay just near West Vancouver.

On arrival back Sheila insisted I go to a t-shirt printing shop to have my own Sir Pat t-shirt printed. Well it was a comedy of errors as the bloke didn’t have a good grasp of English a bit like Manual from Faulty Towers. Anyway after about 50 minutes I lefy the shop with something like what I wanted. It is one of the most expensive T-shirts I own. Clothing is so expensive in Canada and then they have to add on all the taxes.

We had a quiet night as Sheila and Davie made a big homemade pizza feast and we had a few drinks. After the long day we were all pleased to have an early night.

Tomorrow morning I go into ‘Sir Pat’ mode and join the Volendam for the 24 day cruise back to Australia. I cannot thank Davie & Sheila enough for their hospitality and kindness over the past week.

Vancouver and Volendam Cruise Sept 2012

Tue 18 Sept 2012

I was up at 3am even though the alarm was set for 3.15am. Why is it I can never get a good nights sleep when I have an early flight. The cab arrived at 4.15am to tale me to the airport, and after check in I only had 10 minutes before the boarding call. I had left my pass for the Qantas Club at home so I went up to the Qantas Club and the kind lady phoned her counterpart in the Brisbane International Club so that when I arrived here I was allowed to use the facilities of the Qantas Club here. I had 2 hours in Brisbane before the flight to LA departed.  So that was a bonus.

The flight to LA was a long one of 12 and a half hours. As usual the light was full so I went on early and settled into my seat which I thought was very flash for an economy seat. I had settled in and about 15 minutes later a very annoyed Aussie house wife with her henpecked hubby came along and wanted blood as I was sitting in her seat. I showed her my boarding pass and said isn’t this 39D, she screamed at me and told me I was sitting in 30D her Premium Economy seat and I had to go back to cattle class and find 39D. Her hubby felt so embarrassed for me so he helped me gather all my things and take them back to the very cramped economy seat.

The lady sitting beside me was great company for the flight. She was an Aussie but had lived in Houston Texas for the past 20 years and was going home after visiting her family. With the exception of the cramped seating the flight was ok and seemed to go quickly even though I only had a few hours sleep.

The arrival at LAX was one of the best ever and I was out of customs in 20 minutes after getting off the aircraft. I had to walk down to terminal 6 to transfer to the Alaskan Airlines flight to Vancouver. The check in went very smoothly and I had a great w to meeting up with Davie in the indow seat and a spare seat beside me so I had heaps more room than the Qantas flight. I had to listen to my own music as they did not have any entertainment at all and you had to buy any food but soft drinks were free. Overall it was an enjoyable 2 and a half hour flight.

It was along process to go through the Immigration and Customs at the Vancouver Airport, I don’t know if too many flights landed at once or if most of Officers were at lunch as our arrival was at mid day. Anyway it took about an hour from leaving the flight to catching up with Davie who waiting for me.

Its always great catching up with good friends and Davie and Sheila made me feel at home strait away. A good cuppa tea, a shower and great company had me sparking again after the flights. 

Davie had a few cold Guinness ready and Sheila had a beaut lamb and vegie dinner ready to assist with my recovery.




 It is now 10pm so I think I will call it a night and it is still Tue 18 Sept. (36 hours after waking up in Cairns to leave on this trip).

Wed 19 Sept

What a fantastic 9 hours sleep I had and touch wood no signs of jetlag. Sheila had a big brekkie ready for us to start the day. The clear blue cloudless sky promises great mild weather for the day.

We went visited Deep Cove today a beautiful beachside suburb (a very layback picturesque community) a short drive away from West Vancouver. 

After a walk around we had coffee on a side walk café and watched the passing parade. I enjoyed a maple syrup doughnut (Sorry Dr for I have sinned) but it was very enjoyable.

We had a very easy relaxing evening at home; well Davie served me a few Guinness. Sheila prepared a great chicken salad for dinner and we then had a few night caps before an early night.

Thursday 20 Sept

I awoke about 7am and Sheila served me a nice cuppa tea before Davie and I set out for our 3 mile walk along the water front.

We set off to Bellingham across the USA border at 9.30am after Sheila had served us bacon and egg muffin which was very yummy.

The drive down was held up as a result of a land slide however we arrived at the cassino only 15 minutes late to meet Judi.

Meeting up with Judi was like catching up with some one as if the past 10 months had evaporated and we started off where we left off even though we were at the Silver Reef Casino. It was a pleasure and heaps of fun to be in her company again.

We had a great seafood banquet which went down very well and then we tried our luck at the Pokies (slot machines). I made a donation of $8.00 and Judi won her money back.

We called in at Costco to stock up on a few supplies before leaving Bellingham. The prices there are much cheaper than Canadian prices so it was a  good opportunity for Sheila and Davie to stock up for Thanksgiving with turkey and other goodies. 

The long drive back went fairly quickly as I dosed my eyes a few times along the way. We arrived home to have a few Guinness and a BBQ dinner. May I say Davie and Sheila did a great job with BBQ.  We were visited by their son Scott his wife and 2 kids. What a fun night we had it was mid night before I called it a night.

Friday 21 Sept

We had a well deserved sleep in this morning and I didn’t wake up until 7.45am to an overcast and cooler day. After a Sheila’s big hot brekkie we drove down to the nearest Apple outlet to pick up Sheila’s grandson Ryan. He had gone down there at 5am to line up for the release of the Iphone5. He was second in the line so he was lucky and got one.

Today Davie drove us out to the visit the Britannia Mine and Museum. The visit included an underground inspection as well as entry to the Museum.

 It was very interesting and educational. The 45 minute drive out was spectacular with the mountains and the views of the sea and the off shore islands.

We had a ‘Happy Hour’ drink on our return prior to dinner. Sheila cooked up a beaut meal of pork chops and vegies. After a post dinner drink we had an early night as we were all a little tired.