Onward to Vancouver.

Good plan today….breakfast was served from 6.30, we Skyped the Mangans, went for breakfast, had to leave by 7.  Easy?  No. Got away at 7.20am for a 10 minute drive to the airport, had to be there by 8am.  Easy?  No.  There were major constructions going on at the airport expressways, there were signs to everything everywhere.  

Kylie (the SatNav…it’s a long story and I only know the end…) was telling me one thing, Pam was telling me another, Cath was telling another, the signs were telling me another….needless to say there was no option and I got lost.  Finally located Avis in Terminal 3….he told us we had to return the car to Terminal 1.  Easy? No. Just keep to the right he said, you’ll be good he said.  Twenty minutes later we found Terminal 1 rental car returns…tempers were frayed and it was all my fault!!!  Made it into check-in with time to spare, through security and half an hour for coffee and debrief.  It was decided by the majority that it was all my fault.  We all felt a little haggard by the time we checked in.

This is what we looked like after spending half our life driving around in circles at the airport.

You’ll be pleased to know we had a good flight to Vancouver, 5 hours of smooth flying.  Got picked up at the airport by Stacey, a friend of the Mangans, she drove us to the motel.  It was good having a local with us who answered all our questions about Canadian way of life.  Things like tourist areas, traffic regulations, housing and all the good eating spots - she was a mine of information!!!

Looking lost and tired at Vancouver Airport, all good, found Stacey.

Stacey and Cath spent a bit of time together while Pam and I walked around Gastown which was an old derelict part of the waterfront until the 60's when the locals got together and revamped all the old buildings and made it into a very upmarket area with shopping and apartments.  Kept going to the harbour area to find our departure point for the cruise tomorrow.

We planned a trip in the gondola up Grouse Mountain for tea but there was a huge thunderstorm roll in about that time so we ended up with tea in the city, hopefully an early night tonight and a lazy morning before we embark at about 11am on the Radiance of the Seas ship for our cruise which leaves at about 4pm.

The 'Gas Clock' in Gastown, actually an old clock run by steam, you can see the steam coming from the top.

Stacey and Cath.  Cath had 1 wine...really, only 1.....

Happy night all 'round in Vancouver.  All very tired after a long day.