Vancouver

It was with some relief that we re-entered Her Majesty's kingdom upon passing over the dotted line between the USA and Canada. Welcome back to metric units, union jacks and universal medical care. Unfortunately mother nature does not respect national boundaries however, and the rain that characterises the Pacific Northwest is also a noticeable feature of Vancouver in Winter.


Our hosts Dave and Dan!

We were lucky enough to catch fellow expats Dave and Dan for a brief time in Vancouver before they headed back to Oz for a few weeks. Dave and Dan are quickly becoming proud citizens of British Columbia, and were somewhat pleased (I think) to be able to show a couple more newbies around their adopted home town. We are also now heavily indebted to Dave and Dan, after 'dossing' at their apartment for nigh on a month! Note to karma police: We WILL be accepting visitors once we have a place to live!


Vancouver's waterfront

So, Vancouver. I have to say that it's a town that has grown on me. Out of my grey and soggy first impressions, I realised the city's spectacular location, being surrounded by both calm waterways (False Creek and the Straight of Georgia) and snowy capped mountains (complete with ski resorts). There are open spaces everywhere, from the seawall promenade running around most of the downtown area, to Stanley Park, a huge park (twice the size of Centennial Park) right next to the city. The place is incredibly clean and well maintained, with flowering gardens bursting into life everywhere now that Spring is here. It's easy to get around, with a great bus/train network and only one (federal) freeway in the city. You can be on the ski slopes in half an hour from the city, or at Whistler in about 1 1/2 hours.


Biking in Stanley Park

The distinct downside is that there doesn't seem to be much professional work in our areas. So while we could become ski bums along with a lot of other aussies here, it wouldn't be great for our bank balances. Speaking of snow though, we've made the trip up to Whistler a couple of times so far (love being able to day trip to the snow) to try out the 2010 Winter Olympic runs. Happy to report that everything was up to our high standards. Although perhaps they could make the snow a little softer for those hard landings.


Stylin' up at Whistler


Hit the play button above to see Jenai in action


And hit this play button for Matt

Our time in Vancouver has been spent with Jenai doing lots of job hunting, interspersed with urban explorations, a bit of time at Whistler, and a couple of trips out of the city. Plus a lot of waiting for Matt's visa etc to come through. But as I say, not a bad place to have to spend a few weeks.

All the photos:

Vancouver