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Well how do I summarise our holiday. Scenic, mountains - loads of mountains, glaciers (Bern said she's never been so cold when we walked on one) snowy topped mountains, beautiful waterfalls, lush valleys and historic towns. Wildlife wise we seen deer, elk, eagles, moose, bison, wolves and even bears. One munching on vegetation on the entrance to the Icefields highway and the other on the side of the road driving to Whistler. We turned around to try and get a photo just in time to see the mummy bear and her cub walking off the road into the trees

Good company, thanks Amy and Andrew, never done so many 'happy hours'. We even did one on our own in Granville Island, Vancouver.

Signing out for this holiday so goodbye and hope you enjoyed our blog

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Thurs 10th Oct.

Well our last day today. Our flight leaves at 1955 this evening

Have managed to get a late checkout from our room and currently in Templetons Diner having breakfast. The Diner dates back to 1934 and still has a lot of its original features, tables jukebox etc.

Also walking here this morning we passed the Penthouse Nightclub, which is just down the street from our hotel. This nightclub is infamous as hosting many famous people in its day, including gangsters. The owner at the time was sat in his office one day when the baddies came in and shot him dead. He must have upset someone!!. His sons had promised him that they would continue the business after his death and that's what they have done. It remains a nightclub to this day.

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Some other facts learnt on my tour

The main income/Industry for Vancouver is firstly the Port. Every car from the far east - Japan S Korea etc comes into Canada via Vancouver as well as lots of other goods.

Second is tourism. The cruiseport alone handed 300 ships this summer season, with each ship bringing $3 million into the City.

Granville Island which we visited on Monday is the 2nd most visited place in Canada after Niagra Falls

Third is the film industry. The tax breaks provided by the Government plus a large number of resident film workers technicians etc and studios mean Vancouver is used in the making of numerous films allegedly set in the US. It even has its own 'Vancouverwood' Walk of Fame

Also the Belmont Hotel (see picture) which is very close to us is where Michael Buble was discovered, and he still lives in Vancouver

The last picture is our hotel

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This video shows a steam clock, one of only 5 still working in North America

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After Gastown it was through varios areas of Downtown Vancouver consisting of skyscrapers, hotels and shops both upmarket and affordable ones.

The style of office blocks and apartment building favour floor to ceiling windows. The reason being Vancouver gets 200+ days of rain a year and this design allows maximum light into the rooms.

They only get 2/3 days of snow a year, even though being close to the mountains, so the locals are not used to overly cold weather

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Wed 9th Oct

Hop on hop off bus day today with commentary, so likely to be hitting you with some facts.

Got the bus just around the corner from our hotel which was nice and handy, and off we go. After a few points of interest first stop is Chinatown which is the second largest Chinatown in North America after San Francisco. The Chinese were brought into Canada to work on the railways - they were given the worst jobs and surprise surprise the lowest pay. They were however given a plot of land 4 blocks by 4 blocks in which to build homes and live.There was the usual entrance gate and a variety of shops selling dead and dried up animals fish and fruit, plus other Chinese stuff, but not great for photos.

I then walked 3 blocks North to Gastown. The area was inhahabited by immigrants from the UK and developed by one man who liked to take, hence the name Gas as in 'gassing' Town. The area is now listed as an historic area all the buildings have to be preserved. The last picture shows the building that Houdini did hi infamous trick of being in a straight jacket,hung and suspended from the top and escaping.

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Tues 8th Oct - Have wheels will travel.

We were due to use the hop on hop off bus today but unfortunately Bern not feelong too good so managed to transfer our tickets till tomorrow.

Instead I went down to the Waterfront and hired an e-bike, and you'll be pleased to know a helmet. There is an area of Vancouver called Sydney Park which has a walkable and rideable sea wall around its edge. As its 8 miles long I opted for bike. After an early lunch I collected my bike and it was straight onto the seawall route. I did the full route plus an extra bit along past Granville Island and The False Creek. I stopped mid way for a coffee and a comfort break. En route back I went via Lagoon Lake and Beaver Lake rejoining the seawall and back to the cycle shop. Probably around 15 miles and around 3 hours. The bike did make it easier although the battery was nearly out by the time I got back. I then walked back to the hotel to enjoy a rest.

Got back and Bern was feeling much better

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We were then off to Granville Island, the other end of Vancouver Downtown, so I noticed that the subway had Granville as its second stop so tickets bought we head off and get off at Granville. Only problem it was Granville Street (not the Island) and only 1 block away from our hotel. We then caught a bus and luckily our train ticket worked for the bus too.

A short walk from the bus stop and we were on the island. It was quite a cool touristy area with quirky shops, breweries and restaurants. We caught the water shuttle for a 40 minute return trip around false creek, taxie in that although it looks like a creek/river it is a dead end and you have you turn around. It gave good views of the city and views not likely to be seen from the land. The trees are really starting to change colour here. After this we went to The Vancouver Fish Co for an early dinner. Bern had haddock and chips and I had a very tasty seafood Linguini.

It was then a taxi back to our hotel.

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Mon 7th Oct - bus, train, boat and taxi.

After a nice breakfast out this morning we caught the bus down to the Waterfront to Canada Place to go on Flyover. This is very much like the Soar ride in Disney. There is a 180° bowl shape screen and the seats you sit in are suspended and move while you fly over various sceneries in Canada. It was very good. First picture is the Canadian Pacific Railway Station.

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Luckily our room was ready so we dropped our stuff and went out. We went down to the waterfront, which gives views of the mountains that form a backdrop to Vancouver. There was a cruise ship just leaving Canada Place. Although a Sunday it was very busy everywhere. A little later I popped out to get my steps up and had a wander around.

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Sun 6th Oct

Today we head to Vancouver. Andrew has kindly offered to drop us off at our hotel. We left around 10am and stopped off at a waterfall and several viewpoints en route arriving around 1pm.

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Sat 5th Oct

A better forecast today thankfully. Amy, Andrew and myself went for a walk this morning. The plan was to walk up the mountain road to try and get a view down onto Whistler. We walked for a bit but the views were obstructed by pine trees so we gave up and took a trail, which is a ski run in the winter, which led back down into the village. We then walked down through the village to the Olympic Squre where they had the finish line for a 50K run that was on today. All of the gondolas/lifts are closed until the ski season starts on Nov 22nd except for the chairlift that takes mountain bikers to the top of a trail they then ride down. One of the pictures shows the queue for this lift. It was certainly busy. Also this weekend is the last for mountain bikers hence everyone taking advantage of it. In the afternoon I thought I'd take a ride on the free shuttle bus. The bus stop was opposite our accommodation so I sat and waited for a bus which arrived about 35 mins later. I duly got on the No 5 bus thinking it would be a loop ride, but no it went 1 stop up the road, everyone got of the bus and the driver told me it was now chaging to the No 7 route and I would need to catch the No 5 from the next bus stop! I could have walked it in 5 min. The ext No 5 bus came along and to I caught for the 4 minute ride to the farthest point away from our hotel. I then got off and walked back, the roads lined with numerous accommodations and lodges.

In the evening we went out for a nice meal as it was our last day together. Tomorrow we head to Vancouver.

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Fri 4th Oct

Rain forecast today so I decided to visit the Indian Culteral Centre across the road from our accommodation.

There are 2 local Indian tribes, the Squamish (their uniform is in first picture - the blanket wrap, made for a chief took 4+ years to make) and the Lilwat (their unifrm in the second picture.) The Squamish inhabit an area from Vancouver up to Whistler and the Lilwat inhabit from Whistler north up to Pemberton. They recently put aside their differences and agreed to share resources and allow inter- tribe relationshipships, and allowing each other to hunt and forage on each other's land. The Cultural Centre is a joint venture by both tribes to share and educate their history and traditions. Whilst the other Canadian territories agreed treaties with the Indian tribes in the 1900's, British Columbia only agreed treaties with their tribes in the early 2020's. Current indians are trying to pass on the language, traditions etc to younger members and continue their legacy.

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Thurs 3rd Oct

Nice sunny day today and we went out for a walk to the Lost Lake. The trail started near our accommodation and we walked out to the lake then around it and back. About 1.5 hours altogether. From one side of the lake it looked blue and from the other green, weird. In the afternoon Bern and I popped into Whistler village for a bit of fresh air and a look around. I had a beavers tail, which is a sort of pastry but cooked in what I think was boiling water, but it came out crispy. Then covered with loads of stuff. In my case peanut butter sauce, reeces sauce and peanut m&m's.

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Tues 30th Sept

A chill day on Tuesday.The forecast was not great and we had showers in the morning. I went out for a walk and checked out the Fairmont Hotel and the Four Seasons Hotel which are next to us, and then had a quick wander around the area to locate the path to the Lost Lake trail. We will be walking there another day. We went out to an Irish pub for dinner in the evening.

Wed 1st Oct

The weather was a bit better today with sunshine, but low clouds hugging the mountain tops. Amy, Andrew and myself went out for a couple of hikes. First we went to Brandywine Falls. It was a short walk to the falls and then we walked onto another overlook that looked out over the valley. We then did another walk which took us to a train wreck. In 1956 a train travelling to Vancouver carrying lumber had been delayed so the crew tried to make up time. They were travelling at twice the speed limit when the train derailed. In order to clear the single track asap they offloaded the cargo, salvaged 5 box cars, but another 7 were too badly damaged so they pushed them off the rail line into the forest. Over the years they have become an attraction to tourists, film crews and graffiti artists.

It was a then a quick stop at the supermarket for our dinner roasted chicken baked potatoes and salad.

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Mon 30th Sept

A nice lazy start to the day then off to check out Whistler. Planned to do a gondola ride to the top of the mountain this week but they all closed on 22nd so that's not an option now. Had a walk around the town area. Saw the Olympic Rings which are a leftover from hosting the winter Olympics a while back. It's a bank holiday here so the place was fairly busy. Lots of shops but mainly outdoor clothing, mountain biking and skiing as you'd expect. The trees are starting to have a bit more autumnal colour now with the reds starting to appear. The first picture is where we are staying