Sunday, 9 May 2010

the new adventues of Phileas Fogg

A week in the life of, To Boldly Go Where I have not been Before.

Vancouver that is, British Columbia, or as I found out BC = Bring Cash, lots of it. Petrol is two thirds the price, but everything else apart from 2nd hand boats is a lot. They also add tax on to the price so you have lots of loose change and never know how much the thing will cost. But an example is a replica Canadian Ice Hockey shirt, yours for just £100, errr no thanks, I will do without. I’ll get a Red Indian t shirt instead with eagles on it.

And yes the Eagle Landed in Vancouver where my son was head hunted to work and live and raise a young family. There are lots of bald headed eagles flying around, in a very new, picturesque pacific coastline city with the snow capped Rocky Mountains as a back drop. Very clean air, and most people take a pride in their painted wooden houses and their gardens. The woodland acid soil is a paradise in May for rhododendrons, azaleas, and camellias, a splash of colours in every street. The woodlands themselves are a drive away rain forest, tall cedars that reach straight for the skies , the origin of the original nation totem poles. Oh btw it is not pc to say red Indian, it is 1st Nation, But then my life was formulated in the non politically correct era, when you called things and everyone knew that a spade was a spade.

But back to Vancouver city, less than 150 years old. And it is not busy, not masses of people in line queuing up everywhere. The sun shone, it did rain a bit overnight, it did get windy, but the sea and the mountains , well just a great view all the time. You cannot get bored with it. So this guide is not about a rough guide to a rough place. Vancouver is expensive, but nice. Most locals are friendly, but shops are not abundant, when you walk around.

Very patriotic, the Queen’s photo is up almost everywhere, there are a few pubs selling decent brews. A lot of Brits emigrate there to raise a family. I even noticed the passengers on the school bus going to the Museum of the Native Red Indians, were well behaved and their teachers spoke to them instead of screaming as they do in our educational establishments. No sign of disrupters here. There is also an aquarium where sea life is tanked up for all to see and films are shown in the Kenny Everitt Sensaround style. So when the Blue whale blows, so does the spray on your face as you sit in the auditorium ( and the seat vibrates, oooo cheeky)

But the flight is long, 5,000 miles, 10 hours, to go 8 hours time zone difference, and even longer when an Icelandic Volcano delays the flight and enforces a detour around the ash cloud. The central plains of Canada take hours to cross and has snow even in May brrrr!!

Also the Canadian Affair Thomas Cook flight, well it’s hard to sleep, the ticket is cheap so the coffee comes at £2.10 for a small cup. Screaming babies who don’t know why they are on a plane and why their ears hurt, scream as you view the movies wearing extra cost head sets, but the games and tv channels cost extra too. People going to the toilet almost non stop, some people go every hour !!! Its true, I could have been on a time and motion exercise. Then some people do their Yoga in the aisles, we picked up some weirdo’s and some objects on the gaydar !!!

This Phileas Fogg travelled solo, where, security wanted to confiscate his liquid Gaviscon, even though they did not have a stomach ache, the internet cost a pound per 10 minutes, give that a miss, and the overnight hotel internet booking meant my breakfast was a lot extra. Fortunate though as the rations were small in my aircraft seat as was my space. Not as bad as a battery hens though by all accounts.

Wish you were there, a post card from Vancouver, next stop blighty and recovering from jet lag and a travel bug !!

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