Vancouver, Canada - 29 Dec 08

A young girl stood standing in the mounded up snow with a smile so bright I swore it melted the snow wrapped up in her little pink mittens, defeating the very thing which bought about her joy in the first place. This was the scene which greeted me as I stepped out of the airport in Vancouver, which was seeing the worst (or as I would say the best) snow dump in 40 years. Given I only had 3 days here my scouting trip was pretty brief but enough to convince me to head back one day soon.. The place is the perfect blend of americanism and anti-americanism (but in the good way) that has bred a culture thats western enuogh and hospitable enough to inhale any kiwis that come near the place.





So on my first full day I headed up the very aptly named grouse mountain for a spot of snowboarding and even just waiting in the gondola queue was entertaining in itself with wolves roaming around in the tree just on the other side of the carpark (where the pic below was taken). Of course the best part was that it took me a while to notice the fence between us.





Grouse mountain is perfectly set up for snowboarders for one reason: it encourages you to sleep when youre suppose to be and get up when you feel like it, because you can keep riding til 10 at night. And i definitely recommend it. With the fog steadily setting in throughout the day (not that I really noticed), by nightfall the place looked like the inside of a ghost, from what I can guess the inside of a ghost looks like, and riding down was like screaming through a series of black holes interspersed every now and then by a small pocket of light. Id imagine it to be just like flying through space. On snow.



For most people the highlight of the day would have been the sweet off-trail powder,or finding tree lined trails empty of boarders ans skiers, but there was something else that stood out.. My answer goes to the dude at the top of the gondola queue shelling out free hot chocolate from a scuba tank looking backpack with a hose attached. Never has losing ones place in the queue and having to line up again been so benefitial, as I quickly learned.



Granville island in Vancouver is home to a huge bunch of boutique shops and granville market, where you can grab yourself anything from a cranberry and pumkin tart to sweet chili vinigarette crabs legs. And everything in between, like carrots for example.



The highlight for me though (as tempting as the crabs legs were) was definately the hat shop, which will come as no surprise to most of you, full to the ceiling of fedoras, cheesecutters, and a piano. Then coming in a close second was an amazing plate of nachoes with an authenticity that dwarfed anything I could ever imagine getting back home, and motivation in itself to travel. The exicement however, was soon met with equal dissapointment when I learnt that the granville model train museum - home to the largest model train on display in the world - had closed down the month before. so gutted. Thus in the museum mood and in need of a fix I instead got the chance to check out the local maratime museum and the first ever ship to complete the northwest passage and circumnavigate north america. sweet.



So cheers Canada, and thanks again Malcolm and Silvia.


Photos:

Canada