Photos refer my Facebook page
DAY 1 - Friday 17th January 2020
I only had about 5 hours sleep but it was a very good 5 hours sleep. I was up all night packing whilst watching the SBS Food Channel.
Prebooked a return ASN Shuttle picking up from home at 7.45 am to Sydney International Airport. On time pick up and arrived at Sydney Airport way before 9 am before check in actually opened. Traffic was great all the way to the airport despite the rain - yep it had to rain quite substantially the day I depart Sydney and in the the middle of forcasted thunder storms around noon. Now you know why I am concerned.
A quick sit down and answer to my manager's email. I will refund the $6 in $2 coins she gave me after work yesterday for a luggage trolley at the airport - not needed due to diversion of traffic to the airport via arrivals instead of departures - there were plenty of dumped free trolleys around to use.
Load the luggage trolley and head to check in gates. Waited until it opened. Asked for assisted check in as everytime I use the Air Canada automated check in kiosks they fail for me. Bags tagged boarding pass received it was time to head for the bag drop counter. Passport and boarding pass presented and checked, 2 checked in bags weighed (oops main suitcsse was a few kg over but still ok ) and carry on tagged. Off to drop my oversized ski bag off ( which was not so oversized this year!)
Next to dump my luggage trolley and head for departures gate and go through security. Yep shoes off, laptop out, and empty my water bottle before going through security.
I still kept beeping and was wondering why - I had to surrender my passport and boarding pass to security but kept an eagle eye on it! I had forgotten to take it out of its xray proof cover! oops.
Shoes on and everything repacked ( there has got to be a better way to clear security) onto my next stop breakfast of a sausage and egg McMuffin and a bottle of cold water - absolute rip off!
Head for the lounge area near gate 59 - yep it is a long walk and eat my breakfast - add a byo banana- always carry fresh fruit with you when travelling.
Flight has been delayed a little but not as late as previously informed online. Still worried about taking off during thunderstorms though.
Admiring the Chinese (Luna) New Year decorations around the airport full of red and gold colours for good luck - yep I will need this.
Waiting waiting waiting........
TBC.......
Still waiting to board - a gate change to 56 from the original gate 59 and an estimated delayed departure time of 1.20 pm.
Finally boarded the plane. Found my seat right near the back of the plane in the middle row of 4 seats seat 43G - aisle seat with right leg out.
So tired I fell asleep - no blanket just my inflated neck pillow which kept deflating only to be woken up from a flight attendant dumping down my special meal with a rather big thump. This was the first of 3 meals - sleep thump sleep thump. I really liked the first meal a non lactose herbed tomato sauce chicken with root vegetables with what looked like a mixed bean salad accompanied with a soy dressing of some sort and a chocolate brownie with some sour berry of some sort in it. I ate it all!
Next was a snack - a prepackaged sandwich with a spread of some sort - yuk not so nice therefore I only ate half of it but when the normal meal service passed me I was offered that as well. No thanks this 'snack is always a sandwich and served at night so you can't make out what you are eating.
Breakfast - chicken mushrooms a hard boiled egg and some sauted green leaves - not bad again served with a bread roll and canola spread.
An hour later, the flight lands in Vancouver and as soon as it hits the runway there is a clap from the passenger(s) across from me. No one else claps but the plane landed safely at its destination on a runway covered in snow 1 hour and 5 minutes late.
Because this year is a very short last minute vacation, there is no pressure for me to get anywhere or see anyone as soon as I arrive therefore I take my time. I grab my bag from the overhead locker a few lockers down as the overhead locker above my seat is filled with spare yellow life jackets (so this is why nobody wants to sit in the last 3 rows of the plane because there is no overhead storage lockers - they are all full of safety equipment or delay supplies in crates ( one overhead locker was full of red crates with marked "tarmac delay snacks" on them!). Also do not select the middle rows of seats on an Air Canada flight select seats in the rows left and right of the plane as the overhead lockers are much larger. No wonder some carry on sized wheelie suitcases didn't fit!
A much needed toilet stop then fill in the electronic landing card before going through security/immigration and luggage claim. Nothing to declare but my luggage was one of the last bags to show up on the baggage carousel - Remember the first in last out principle . I was one of the first people to check in at Sydney International Airport at the Air Canada check in/bag drop counter therefore my luggage was last to appear on the baggage carousel at Vancouver International Airport ( just before the baggage carousel shut off which means all luggage is now off the plane).
DAY 2 - Friday 17th January 2020 Continued (Technically still day 1 ie Thursday 16th January 2020 )
After arriving in Vancouver on the same day you departed Sydney, it was time to grab a taxi to where I will be staying overnight before heading for Whistler for the week on Friday morning. Taxis from the airport to downtown Vancouver and to different areas of the mainland of Vancouver are costed according to zones. It usually cost between $30 and $35 from Vancouver Airport to downtown Vancouver. It cost me $32 ( a few dollars cheaper then last visit). It is ok if you don't have cash Visa is accepted.
Arrive at the HI Downtown Vancouver and it is too early to check in so I dump my bags into storage and prepay my 2 stays there so I don't have to worry about it upon my return from Whistler a week later. I am given a card to access the kitchen and the toliets to have a shower. I pull out a change of clothes, a towel and some toiletries from my carry on wheelie bag to have a shower before heading off to organise problematic stuff.
Problem # 1 which was suppose to have been refunded by now but has not. I was charged the full non member rate at HI Downtown Vancouver upon prepayment of my 3 nights stay when I should have been charged the members rate. I produced my YHA card but it was not accepted due to the expiry date on the back of it. I am sure I am a current YHA member as I just stayed at YHA Melbourne Central in November however was never issued with a new electronic membership card. This excuse was also not accepted by the HI Downtown Vancouver reception desk. I then went to email YHA Melbourne Central inquiring about my YHA membership and was sent an email response with a copy of my electronic YHA membership which does not expire until September 2020. I was therefore in the right and forwarded a copy of this email to HI Downtown Vancouver for a refund of the difference. Since arriving in Whistler I have received a response however am yet to see the physical refund of $18 .
Problem # 2 My Scotiabank account has been closed therefore I had to reopen it at the closest Scotiabank I knew of which is not the branch listed where I had opened my account at. The branch I opened my original account at has been closed for 2 years. I opened the account but had to come back and line up to deposit some money into it. In the mean time I went to Charlie's Currency Exchange nearby and exchange some Australian dollars for Canadian dollars. Apparently they have one of the best rates in town and handy as the Scotiabank won't exchange Australian dollars.
Next onto get a new sim card from London Drugs. They recommended this prepaid sim card to me last year I was here and it is quite good and value for money. No more expensive Rogers or poor coverage and problematic Fido mobile service providers. They all use the same networks anyway! For $40 you get unlimited text messaging local calls within Canada and 4 Gb of data - enough for my 1 or 2 weeks stay in Canada as there are wifi hotspots everywhere. I also purchased a swingaway jar opener to try which I meant to purchase last year but forgot.
I was feeling a little hungry so next stop was to first check my balance remaining on my Compass card and then head to the Independent Supermarket on the way back to the HI Downtown Vancouver stopping at the old Marketplace IGA which is now just called an IGA and rather boring.
From The Independant Supermaket on Davie Street It was a small lobster bisque and Italian Melt Panini for dinner at under CAN$10. Nice and hot and great for a freezing cold day in Vancouver covered in snow. I was about to be charged the full amount for the soup and panini but there was a clear special soup and panini sign up which was taken down immediately after my purchase. They had to honour my purchase.
As soon as I got back to the HI I ate my dinner in the dining room in solitude before heading upstairs to Room 324 for a reorganisation of my wheelie bag and backpack for my trip to Whistler and a early night. There is only one other girl in my 4 share female room.
Sleep sleep and more sleep!!!!
DAY 2 - Friday 17th January 2020
Finally off to Whistler this morning but before I leave I wake up early, have a shower, do a final pack before heading downstairs for a complimentary breakfast before collecting my luggage from storage checking out and calling a cab for 10 am. I requested a cab 40 minutes before the coach is due to depart from Burrard Station for Whistler. By 10 am the cab still had not arrived outside the HI so I began to panic and tried to call an alternative cab only to be on hold the entire 15 minutes right up until the taxi arrived outside the HI. I hang up the phone and load my luggage into the cab bound for the coach stop at Burrard Station. Such a rude taxi driver would only drop me on the corner next to Burrard Station so I had to drag my luggage with me across the road to where the Skylnx coach to Whistler departs from. I have not yet exited the taxi when a guy off the street opens the taxi door and sits down before realising that I was still in it and my luggage is still in the boot.
I asked the taxi driver for a receipt and he ignored me so I had to ask him again. No tip for him. I hooked my bags together and dragged them across the road to where the coach was due to arrive at 10.40 am. A Canadian local spots me struggling with my luggage and offers me a hand and I advise him that I should be fine and just have to cross the road and thank him.
There are other people waiting for buses and coaches to different destinations. The most popular being the Capilano Suspension Bridge which provides a free shuttle bus and of course Whistler. Most of the people waiting were bound for Whistler on the 10.40 am Skylyx coach however there are other cheaper shuttle buses to Whistler such as the one waiting there which looked like a white school bus - the driver only had one passenger and was poaching for customers and advised me that he also dropped off door to door in Whistler. Maybe next time I said to him.
A white unmarked Universal Coachlines Coach stops outside the side entrance of the Hyatt Hotel next to Burrard Station and the driver just leaves after locking the coach just before 10.40 am. Is this our coach? It turns out no it is not, our Skylynx coach to Whistler is parked a a short distance behind it and everyone starts to walk towards it dragging their luggage with them only to walk back. The coach is late and the driver very sloppy with not tagging luggage and checking his manifest before people boarded. No directions of where to go when we arrived in Whistler that afternoon.
The driver of the white unmarked coach finally returns and moves his coach. Our coach driver is very unimpressed.
It is 11.11 am and we are still parked outside the back of the Hyatt Hotel entrance next to Burrard Station. I am unsure when we are suppose to arrive in Whistler but I thought it was suppose to be 1.30 pm. It states on our ticks to be ready waiting for the coach 15 minutes before departure time. I was there around 10.30 am. Late arrivals were still arriving after 10.40 am.
The driver points out a few points of interest along the route ie The Sea To Sky Highway. If you haven't driven along this route before it is a must do. The scenery changes from rain to sun to snow.
Arrive at The Village Gateloop Coach Terminal on time and I transfer onto another bus as I had booked door to door return transfers.
First thing is dump my bags in the foyer of my apartment block. Next find the check in desk down the road. It is still too early to check in. 4 pm is check in time with no guarantees of early check in. It used to be 3 pm.
Time to go to the supermarket. When I arrive I am shocked to find it is no longer a Marketplace IGA it has been renovated and renamed Fresh Street Market. New owners and new interior. The old chaurlfts hanging from the ceilings with dummy in full ski gear sitting on them have all been removed. It no longer had the wide variety of products it used to carry as an IGA supermarket and it has become more expensive. I found butter cheaper at Whistler Village Grocery store! I didn't even like the bread there. The only thing I liked from Fresh Street Market was the frozen pizza dough at around CAN$1.50 a round I purchased it twice as it was so good.
Back to my apartment it was time to unload my groceries and drag my luggage to my apartment. One lift is out of order so there was a long queue for the other one. I am on the 5th floor so I hope when I check out I don't have to drag each piece down 5 sets of stairs!
Again I am a little annoyed I was not advised in advance that the 20 year old lifts will be partially out of order during my stay. At least the pool and hot tubs are working during my stay! Just as well I held off paying my maintenance fees this year into after my stay. I still had to pay a holding deposit upon checking in though.
I unpack and relax and have an early first night in Whistler. Initial photos of the view taken.
DAY 3 - Saturday 18th January 2020
It was time for some exercise so today I went ice skating at the local indoor outdoor ice skating rink in Whistler Village where the Olympic Plaza is. It is snowing quite heavily as I skate. Everyone is out playing in the snowplay area next to the ice skating rink behind Marketplace Village North.
It snowed last night and it snowed today and continued to snow.
DAY 4 - Sunday 19th January 2020
Today was a do nothing day. I slept in as I think the jetlag was finally kicking in. Today it was a baking and cooking day. I made a yummy chocolate blueberry chocolate chip and banana cake covered with a vanilla and lime butter cream. I also made a chicken noodle and vegetable soup. The cake was made with the under AUS$1 cake mix I bought wirh me from Sydney and the free packet of vanilla flavoured icing sugar mixture I got from last year's Sweet Expo and also bought with me from Sydney. I opened my balcony door to quickly cool my cake down before icing it. The iced cake tasted even better after leaving it in the fridge over time. I almost forgot, I made a a shallot capsicum and mushroom pizza as well - all gone but I did save some for the next day. I love baking when I am in Whistler. Another snow day today.
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