Setting up our van

We spent what seemed like a lot of time trying to buy and set up a van, which is still in progress really… We bought a van advertised on Craigslist, after driving around to look at a few, and then pulled out the seats and Lawrie built a basic bed to put in it – high enough to put all of our stuff underneath it.

So then we bought a bunch of boxes to put our stuff in, and worked out where to put them for easiest access – so we did that with much of our stuff to be accessed by the van’s back door, but our central locking has since stopped working, which for some reason means we can no longer open the back door at all… So lying on the rather high mattress to access our clothes is where it’s at! And curtains to cover the (thankfully darkly tinted) windows are still to be finalised, but so far we’ve only had a couple of nights in it, thanks to the lovely hospitality we’ve been shown by the friends over here!

So more photos of the van are still to come, and hopefully we’ll get the back door access/central locking fixed soon somehow! J

Vancouver - June 12th to 18th - Post 3

We headed up to a lookout over Vancouver to see what the city looked like as a whole – and on the other side of the lookout there was a great view of Mt Baker, down in Washington, USA – considering our (nonexistent) views of the mountain ranges in Washington from nearby since then, I’d say we were pretty lucky! Was pretty different to see a snow covered mountain in the middle of summer too!

View of Vancouver's North Shore with the lovely mountains behind (in summer mind you!)

View of Mt Baker (down in Washington state, USA) from Vancouver

We walked around parts of Central Park in Burnaby near Ben & Anna’s place a couple of times, and had success – we saw squirrels!! We were perhaps a tad overexcited about that, but they’re pretty cute!

On our last night in Burnaby, we took Ben’s advice and headed up the road to Cypress Mountain (one of the 3 local ski fields) to see Vancouver from a lookout along the road – this turned out to be far better than I was hoping, although we could have timed it a little better! As we were heading up the mountain road, the last bit of sun (at about 9:30pm mind you!) was shining on all of the buildings, but by the time we got to the actual lookout, the sun was gone – but what an awesome spot! So we then went further up the road to the ski field itself – there are still some bits of snow there at the moment!

Out the window between the trees shot on the way up to the lookout - what the  amazing view WOULD have been like if we got there about 30 seconds earlier!

But the view without the sun was still amazing! Such a clear day too :)

Lions Gate Bridge, with Stanley Park behind

At the Cypress Mountain ski field - where part of the Winter Olympics 2010 was held

Back at the same lookout after the city lights came on!

Annnnd that’s all for Vancouver, until we head back there around August! We’ve definitely got a few more places to see there, so looking forward to that too!

Vancouver - June 12 to 18 - post 2

On the Saturday afternoon we headed to Granville Island (near Downtown Vancouver) to go paddle boarding at False Creek with Ben, while Anna stayed with Finley. Once again, it was an unexpectedly sunny and beautiful afternoon, so it was a fantastic way to see the city, without the traffic! Ben had a few worrying moments before deciding to test out the water temperature accidently, while I was a little more lucky (or just way over-cautious, definitely not anything to do with balance or skill!) and stayed mostly dry! As the water wasn’t overly warm… But Lawrie went swimming a few times (in a wetsuit that is…)

Vancouver city from on the water

Just taking off from the wharf

Lawrie, Nicole & Ben

Anna, Ben & Finley - our lovely hosts for the week - thanks again!!

On the Saturday night Ben & Anna had a potluck at their place, so we met quite a few of their friends from around Vancouver – I somehow managed to not take any photos, but for anyone who is familiar with any of the people there, we met: Tyson & Nicole, & baby Acadia; Gerard & Janelle & Claire & Julia; Stuart & Roseanne & Aiden & Gemma; Joel & Shona & Aleah; Myla; Juanita; Ted & Rachel & Carrie; Amanda, and Layne.

Went to our first Canadian meeting on the Sunday morning, and although things were a little different to home, it was so nice to feel exactly the same among people we’d never met!

On the Sunday afternoon/evening we went to a first birthday party (Julia, daughter of Gerard & Janelle), with many of the people we met the night before (a little better with names this time!) plus a few others. I did manage to get some photos this time though! Mainly the many adorable little kids, including one who was a little sceptical of her birthday cake at first…

Lawrie enjoying time with little Finley :)

Gorgeous little Finley!!

Some of the Vancouver folk

Claire, Janelle, Julia & Gerard

The Birthday girl, Julia

Vancouver - June 12 to 18 - post 1

We had a nice surprise after checking in for our flight at Sydney airport – instead of flying to Vancouver, Canada via Texas (the rather longer but somewhat cheaper way!), we were offered seats on another flight which was via Los Angeles instead – so that meant a 2-3 hours shorter flight to the USA, then another shorter flight up to Vancouver, plus flying on a new A380 instead of a 747 – we also somehow got switched to nicer seats on the top level of the plane too, so we had a pretty nice flight! (Especially when compared to flying back from New Zealand on Jetstar a few days before!)

Saying goodbye

At Sydney Airport

Our gigantic plane - we sat right near the back at the top

First impression of the roads in Canada

When we got to Vancouver, we were more than a little asleep on our feet, which was possibly less than ideal for the first time driving on the right hand side of the road! But we drove uneventfully to the home of Ben and Anna (originally from Queensland) in Burnaby (city right next to Vancouver), where they were kind enough to put up with us for the next week! It was great to finally meet them both, as well as gorgeous little Finley!

We spent much of our time in Vancouver getting set up for travelling and for being able to work in Vancouver later on – exciting things like buying a van and setting it up to travel around in, and the not so exciting things like getting a Social Insurance Number (Tax File Number equivalent) and bank account, and paying for insurance for the van (ouch! More than the van itself…) – BUT we did really enjoy our time in Vancouver, although a little more time than we expected was spent trying to catch up on sleep to feel normal again!

We went to the night markets in Richmond (another adjacent city) on the Friday night with Ben & Anna & Finley – Asian markets full of a lot of delicious food and many other useful and not so useful stalls – had a great time, and it was probably our first time of being surrounded by Canadian accents!

Busker at the Richmond Markets

Christchurch, New Zealand - 5th to 10th June

After leaving our house and spending a couple of days at Lawrie's parents' place, we flew to Christchurch, New Zealand, to get there late at night on Wednesday 5th June. We had a lovely relaxing few days there with family - Lawrie's sister Renita, husband Joel, and baby Ella who we (very excitedly!) met for the first time, as well as my sister Megan and husband Justin, who were visiting from the North Island.

Most of our time in Christchurch was spend admiring little Ella, which we discovered is something that can be done for hours on end! It was really fantastic to spend time with Renita & Joel and Ella, and see Neat & Joel as parents! And also fantastic to spend time with Megan & Justin before we left for Canada! And of course little Ella is absolutely adorable!!! So spending time with her was pretty precious!

Ella chilling out in the hanging chair

Renita loving motherhood!

Megan having a cuddle (there was definitely a line up!)

A very excited uncle Lawrie!

And Aunty Nicole

Hanging out - & Joel testing out his new bike helmet

The Martin family! Renita, Ella & Joel

We girls had a quick trip in to see the 'Pop up City' and mall, where quite a few boutiquey shops are now in shipping containers in the city centre, where the most earthquake damage was and the previous shops are now gone - it's a really cool idea! And the boys headed in to Sumner beach to watch the waves. And other than a visit to see Joel's parents at their place, visits from a few others like Joel's brother Remi, and Sam & Claire McCarthy, we spent much of the rest of our time relaxing at Joel & Renita's place with little Ella!

Part of the Pop up mall in the city centre