Spending the evening with Jo.
Drinking wine.
Eating cheezels, BBQ Shapes, lamingtons and vanilla slices.
Reminiscing and laughing about life in London and elsewhere in the early 90's.
- Getting drunk on fermenting wine in Strasbourg.
- Jo and the pretzel man at Oktoberfest I Munich
- lots of beer at Oktoberfest
- New Years Eve in London
- concentrating hard at work in London
A quick flight from Melbourne, (seriously quick, our one hour flight arrived 15 mins early) above the clouds and I'm home.
In my childhood home, sleeping in my childhood bedroom. Although the room has been through a few changes since I left. The wallpaper and the bookshelf remain the same.
Between jet lag and insomnia I didn't sleep all that well in Melbourne, but it must be something about the comfort of home - I've had two relatively good nights sleep.
No exciting touristy stories to tell, this trip is not about that. Yesterday I spent the day with my Mum and Nan. Today I'm home doing laundry and re-reading some of those books on my bookshelf.
The weekend will be all about hanging out with childhood friends.
We should be starting our descent into LAX about now. Instead I'm still on the floor of the departure gate at YVR.
It's grey and wet outside, but look. Our plane just arrived. So we'll be leaving soon. Better late than never. And it means I won't be hanging out at LAX for 7 and 1/2 hours.
So Kim dropped me at the airport around 1115am. Plenty of time for my 130pm flight from Vancouver to LA. PLENTY OF TIME as my flight has been delayed by 2 hours.
So I'm hanging at at YVR, eating my free lunch (Alaska Airline gave me a lunch voucher), using the free Wifi and waiting. There'll be a lot of waiting today.
Ah but it's all fun, at least I'm going somewhere warm and sunny.
Yep, got my priorities straight. 6 bottles of Granville Island Honey Lager.
Wrapped in newspaper, in a ziplock bag, then two bottles in a shopping bag and finally wrapped in a piece of clothing.
Not so much that they don't break, but do when they do break. The shattered glass is confined to one area.
Also that half if the suitcase are 10 bags of Hershey Kisses, 4 hardback books, assorted shark crap, baby crap, and other odd useless gifts.
My suitcase is at 45lbs/20kgs with no clothes. Looks like I'll be wearing the same outfit for 3 weeks.
I'm only taking one. They all pack well. They are all easy care. In fact they are all pretty much the same shape and length, just different colors.
Ignore the bad hair day pony tail. It'll get felt with before I leave for the airport.
Over Christmas I won a $25.00 gift certificate to Bloom Essentials.
Today I went to get a pedicure. Gone are the snowmen and snowflakes. Now I have blue and gold toenails. Perfect for summer.
This week I'm wearing snow boots. Next week I'll be wearing flip flops. I hope.
Jane and Cindy sent me Bandit Roads for Christmas. Jane wrote a note, "Mexico - somewhere we all know and love - a different viewpoint (unfortunately)." How true.
I've travelled quite a bit in Mexico, not just to coastal resorts. I love the culture, the history, the people, the food. I've seen wealthy Mexico and not so wealthy.
Luckily for me I have never experienced any of the crime that is now associated with Mexico even when I travelled in the Sierra Madre.
Bandit Roads sure highlights some of the not so desirable Mexico - drugs, bribery, rape, murder, robbery. But the author also meets some truely friendly and generous locals, who give him places to stay, act as your guides, take him places he would never get to on his own.
This is not your normal travelogue, but it was a good read. Despite the subject, I even laughed.
Regarding a cattle ranch that the owner wanted to turn into a eco tourism venture - "It sounded good to me, although it was a long drive on a bad road to get there and there was no law or emergency medical services, a lot of rattlesnakes and scorpions around the house in the summer, and some of the neighbours carried machine guns and crack pipes. Perhaps it was more of a niche market than the mainstream eco-tourism experience."
I travelled on the Copper Canyon railway from Los Mochis to Chihuahua with a couple of nights in each of Creel, Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez in 1997. Here is what the author had to say about the tourist train.
"Nor did most of the tourists have the vaguest idea that they were passing through one of the biggest marijuana and opium producing regions in the world, with roving bandits and a murder rate far higher than the worst American ghetto."
"Bandit gangs used to rob the train regularly, sometimes masked, sometimes wearing military uniforms but with tell-tale sandals. They would go through the carriages demanding money and jewellery at gunpoint, sometimes making their escape on horseback."
"According to newspaper reports at the time, on both sides of the border, masked bandits with automatic weapons stormed the train in November 1998, jumping aboard as it slowed down in a tunnel and spraying bullets around to announce their presence."
It goes on, the bandits shot and killed a Swiss tourist. The mafia executed the bandits. "The train robberies, and especially the murdered tourist, had brought unwelcome attention from the authorities and the media at a time when many mafiosos were investing and laundering their money through hotel building and other projects in the booming new tourist economy in the Copper Canyon country.....don't mess with the tourists. If you mess with the tourists, you mess with the mafia."
Sure glad I read this book after my travels and not before.
We had 24 hours in Whistler.
First stop? The Peak 2 Peak Gondola.
Running from the peak of Whistler Mountain to the peak of Blackcomb Mountain it's quite the feat:
2 of the gondolas have glass bottoms. If you miss those, who just want a solid floor, you'll still get 360 degree views of the Whistler Blackcomb area.
There's was still enough snow at the top for a snowball fight.
And quite a bit of Olympic nostalgia.
Whistler Sliding Centre
The summer pricing for the Peak 2 Peak is $44.95. And there was a small discount for purchasing the ticket on the train. I think it was worth it. It's one of those things that you've got to do at least once.
Back at the beginning of June Rose and I and Barb (my mother in law) had the opportunity to travel on the Whistler Sea to Sky Climb. It's part of the Rocky Mountaineer Company.
I have driven the Sea to Sky highway so many times in the last two years, I've lost count. For a while there I commuted from home to Whistler at least once a week sometimes more. Driving might have been quicker, but it's certainly not as fancy.
The station in North Vancouver is more of a platform. We were grateful it wasn't raining because there really wasn't a lot of shelter. Fitting a train load of guests under the tent or the little hut would have been amusing though.
Our train manager for the day was Wade. Wade was on our training trip back in April, and he's usually on a different route to us, so it was fun to see him again. Wade and the crew called the all aboard, and we pulled out of the station on time.
Travelling northbound we were seated in the Dome service. A single level coach with big panoramic windows, nice wide seats and lots of leg room.
Our morning begain with the safety announcement (just like on airplanes), a toast, hot towels and breakfast.
Breakfast was an omlette and bacon with fresh fruit and a hot cup of tea. And was much needed after our hurried late start from home this morning. Barb sat back and relaxed, while Rose and I explored.
On the Whistler service they have an open air heritage observation carriage. We spent quite a bit of time in here.
Drinks are complimentary in the Dome service, but only Barb could partake. As Rose and I are staff, we have to be available in an emergency situation (even when we're not working and travelling as guests), so we couldn't drink. We tried to tell Barb, she had to drink our share as well, but as it was still morning, one glass it was.
One of the things I like about travelling on the train is the number of people that come out on their balconys or stand at their windows to wave. Everyone's happy to see you.You don't get that when you're driving. Normally they're honking their horns, or a giving you a not so friendly wave involving fists and a few choice words.
Passing under the Lions Gate Bridge and over the Capilano River we are on our way. Through the Horseshoe Bay Tunnel, past the ferry terminal and into the beautiful Howe Sound.
When you drive the Sea to Sky Highway, you get glimpses of the scenary, or you can stop at the pullouts but for the most part you are concentrating on driving. On the train you can just soak it all in. Some of the highlights include Porteau Cove, Britannia Beach, Squamish, Mt Garibaldi and Brakendale
We tried to pick out climbers on the Stawamus Chief but it was so cloudy and we couldn't see any.
When you drive to Whistler you don't get to see much of the Cheakamus Canyon. But from the train it's spectacular.
From the road you can walk up to Brandywine Falls. On the train, you go right over the top. The Falls were named after two surveyor groups who bet on the hieght of the falls (60 metres/195 feet). Once group bet brandy against the other group's wine.
3 and 1/2 hours after we left Vancouver we arrived into Whistler Station at Nita Lake. There are buses that transfer you over to the village, where you can roam at will, ride the Peak to Peak Gondola, visit the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre, talk a walking tour or book a glacier flightseeing tour.
For the majority of guests the Whistler Sea to Sky Climb is a day trip. Travel up in the morning, spend a few hours in Whistler and then ride the train back. Although there are a few, like us, who break up their trip and spend a night or two in Whistler. We spent a night in Whistler and took the train back the following afternoon. We travelled home in the Classic Service.
If we'd have thought about it more and there had been the availability we would have traveled to Whistler in the Classic Service and home to Vancouver in the Dome Service. Why? Mainly for the food. In the Classic Service the meals are all prepacked and drinks are $6.00. The meal in the afternoon was a sandwich, nothing wrong with it, just fairly standard. We missed afternoon tea in the Dome. It was too early in the morning on the way up to enjoy much in the way of alcoholic beverages, whereas in the afternoon Barb might have had a glass or two more of wine with her tea.
So Dome or Classic? The staff are great in both. The open air coach means all round views from both services, but the glass domed roof is nice. Our personal preference was for the Dome service. You'll have a great trip whichever you choose.
