Summer is on its way...

Well hi there everyone and happy slightly late Mothers Day to my mum and Happy Birthday to my big bro.

The weather in Vancouver over the last week has been brilliant so I have been out and about and doing lots of walking and enjoying the sunshine. It still is not very warm but the sun improves the look of the place a lot! On Thursday night I went for a walk from the hostel to the University of British Columbia campus. It was a lovely walk around the ocean’s edge and the campus itself was very nice with lots of greenery and some fantastic views. I decided to reward myself with an ice-cream after the two hours of walking and enjoyed that as I ambled back for my last night in the hostel for a while.

On Friday I headed off to my new apartment after work. I have really enjoyed my first weekend there – the novelty of leaving my toothbrush in the bathroom and not having to wear flip-flops in the shower have not worn off yet. I promise to take some pictures soon – including one of the fattest and loudest cat I have ever met!

After the big move (well OK – moving when all your possessions are in one suitcase is not so ‘big’) I headed off to meet my friend Neil for some dinner and to catch up on his travels to Tofino and Whistler. I am very glad both these places are on my to do list before I leave Canada because they sound fantastic! Neil is also heading off to Alaska before he gets back to NZ so I am quite intrigued to hear what that is like.

On Saturday morning I had to go and collect my train ticket for my trip to San Francisco. This time in six weeks I will have left Canada and will be starting my trip home via San Fran – it is very hard to believe that almost a year has gone by since I left New Zealand! After the train station and the accidental purchase of another pair of shoes (breaking the seal on the ‘I will not shop’ resolution appears to have ongoing effects!), I decided to unpack the suitcase and find out what has been lurking down at the bottom for the last six months or so. I am pleased to report that my suitcase is now noticeably lighter, after the disposal of about 4 tonnes of paperwork for hostels and travel that finished quite some time back!!!

Saturday was also Karen’s birthday so a few of us got together to celebrate in our normal style with a few drinks at one of the hostel bars. I have met some really great people in Vancouver and it was another fun night out with some of my new friends.

Sunday morning the usual suspects headed off to Lynn Canyon park to have a bit of a look. I very bravely tacked the suspension bridge and we had a lovely few hours wandering around the trails that run alongside the river and through the forest. The scenery was lovely and it was a really fun day out – even if a chocolate brownie was required on the walk home to ensure we didn’t fall over from exhaustion! Neil and I got mocked a bit for saying it but… the scenery around here is in a lot of ways very similar to the south island of NZ – although I must admit that I have never seen river water the crazy lime green that this river was!!!

Last night I had an early one in preparation for another week at work. Next weekend we get three days off and have a few tentative sight-seeing plans so I look forward to telling you all about them after that.
Hope you