We met our travel group in the evening on our first day and, unsurprisingly, it turn out that they’re a lovely bunch of people and we have plenty in common. There’s only one other mother-daughter combo on the trip and, as seems to happen with startling regularity, it turns out we’re closely connected. Both mother and daughter (Lorraine and Bron) were students at the school where I teach. Lorraine was a student there in 1936!

The dinner was excellent and our tour guide, Carmen, was very genial and spoke in a loud voice and encouraged everyone to ‘smile and be on time’. Words to live by. We went around the group (34 people in all) and introduced ourselves. I told everyone that Mum brought me because I am her favourite child, which got a laugh. Nearly everyone is Australian, although there are a few Brits as well. After only one day it all feels very comfortable and everyone is happy to chat. I’ve even picked up some tips on pruning raspberries from one of the men – I can’t imagine that sort of information gets passed around on contiki tours. Their loss!

The breakfast buffet the next morning was excellent and Mum and I were one of the first tables seated. We probably ate too much, but lunch and dinner weren’t provided. I contemplated putting a danish in my pocket but decided against it, which was wise. We’d already swiped a couple of apples from the pool area anyhow.

Our bus tour of Vancouver started at 9am and not one person was late for the bus, which gave me a warm feeling inside. First stop was Stanley Park, a promontory of land that is mostly woodland. We looked at totem poles, which I would’ve appreciated more if I’d known anything at all amount them, and took photos of the city skyline across the water. The park was almost choked with blackberries, raspberries and ivy – it seemed surprising but maybe they are native plants here? We also saw black squirrels darting about the place.

One thing we noticed about the city was how very green it all was. Well-established trees everywhere and beautiful flower baskets and beds, and yet also heaps of rubbish on the streets and in some parks. The buildings were very similar to many in Melbourne and if it wasn’t for the mountains in the distance and the disturbing amount of homelessness, it could’ve been any Australian city.

We stopped at Granville Markets, which are a mixture of arts and crafts, and produce in a cute waterside enclave. Pictures probably tell it best. I still regret not buying some punnets of fruit, particularly since I’m typing this at 3am and my stomach is growling.

We also drove through China Town, the third largest in North America. Then through Gas Town, a kind of cutesy, touristy section with a gas-powered clock. Clocks are such stupid tourist attractions that I am constantly disappointed when I see people standing around, blocking the footpath, waiting for them to do whatever half-assed dinging they reliably do. At least they’re free, I suppose.

After the tour, Mum and I returned to the waterfront for lunch (salad and soup – it was a blessed relief to eat a single bowl of food) then walked back to the hotel via the world’s most chaotic second hand book store – and I know what I’m talking about here, I’ve been to a lot of second-hand book stores. This one looked like they’d filled up the shelves then just started hurling books through the door. After spending several minutes looking for the cashier’s desk I realised it was a pile of books with an EFTPOS Maxine perched on top. Still, the place had an outstanding sci fi collection and I bought three since my kindle doesn’t seem to want to download new purchases.

I took this photo right in the front of the store, further round it’s like a book-avalanche ( the best kind of avalanche, really).

I had a bit of a snooze in the afternoon, then a swim, then back out for dinner and then we went to bed at about 11pm. I woke up at 3:30am and have now spent 3 hours blogging. Please forgive all the typos I am too tired to notice!

Next: one of the tour highlights begins with the Rocky Mountaineer, one of the world’s greatest train journeys, or so I’ve been informed about twenty times in the last day and a half. We’ll see!

WordPress has subtly reminded me of the wisdom of saving my posts by losing several thousand words I typed last night. Still, I’d had half a bottle of wine (conservatively estimated) so they probably weren’t very good words. I’ll try again!
So, we arrived safe and sound on Sunday, but with about four hours of sleep achieved between us, which was about a quarter of what we’d hoped. For all my excitement, business class turned out to not be great, just not as purgatorial as economy. Still, if someone told me I had to spend 15 or so hours in my favourite chair at home I’d probably be cranky by the end of that too, so I’m not holding Air Canada responsible for the ordeal.

The food, and not having to climb over anyone, ever, were probably the biggest bonuses, especially after drinking bottomless champagne and having to make frequent bathroom trips (I might have been slightly responsible for the lack of sleep). I don’t think I mentioned in the last post that mum and I got told off by another passenger for talking while she was trying to sleep, despite the fact that it was 6pm Sydney time, she was three rows away and they give each passenger noise-cancelling headphones, earplugs, regular earbuds, and the noise of the plane was such that I could barely hear mum when we tried to talk to each other from half a metre away. Still, I tried to feel sorry for the lady and imagine how painful the genetic splicing with a bat must have been.

We are staying the first two nights at the Four Seasons, which is in a great location in the middle of downtown. Mum decided she was too tired to come out for lunch with Step and I, so after Steph met us at the hotel bar ($17 for a glass of wine – jebus) Mum went to bed and we headed to Steph’s favourite ramen place in the city. I might’ve only had two bowls of ramen in living memory, but after watching three seasons of Netflix’s Chef’s Table, I am pretty much a qualified food critic and can confidently say it was outstanding and assure you all that the umami flavours were both complex and well-balanced. Jinya Ramen was the name of the place.

Steph was in fine form and positively glowing with vitality. Even though I felt like the human equivalent of a banana you would find in the bottom of a child’s bag at the end of a school camp, spending time catching up with an old friend who was so happy and was doing what she loved was very uplifting and I was glad to have had the opportunity.

Next: we meet the gang and find cheaper wine!

Business class time, that is. As you can see in the photo below, it doesn’t matter if it’s 8am, we know what to do when we get access to a first class lounge and and an unlimited bar. When we arrived at 7am and saw the bar (you can help yourself to whole bottles of champagne!) Mum said it was too early for wine… so she had a scotch, and while getting this drink met another person from our tour (Warren) who was also helping himself to the scotch and this small incident probably illustrates the nature of our tour group quite neatly. Note that by 8am it apparently was time for wine. I fear for my liver.

Many, many years ago I was upgraded to business class on an ancient JAL plane flying from London to Osaka. I think the lady at Heathrow felt sorry for me because I was six hours early and couldn’t check my bags in and go back to London to do sightseeing like I’d planned. On that plane business class was upstairs, which felt very fancy, and it turned out that there was only one other person in the whole section. The seats were wider and leather, but that was about it. The highlight of the flight was seeing a vague suggestion of the Aurora Borealis while flying over Siberia. How times have changed!

Each seat is in its own little semi-cubicle and the seats go completely flat. The tv screen is bigger than those really big iPads, and the chairs have (fairly crappy) massage functions. There is a nice menu and you can have your meal whenever you want. The food was great and the servic was excellent. There were also little snacks available whenever but I somehow ended up having my entree (below) twice as I’d asked for my meal to be served later but then got the entree anyway. I suffered through it very reluctantly, as you can imagine.

Salmon and fennel salad, green salad, sourdough roll and French champagne. Not bad!

I do have to say though, that their tv selection is nothing special. A whole bunch of Canadian shows, the obligatory ten episodes of Big Bang Theory, and movies I’m not interested in. Which is fine. I have given myself a bunch of jobs to do while I have nothing better to do – like deleting stuff from my phone and finishing my library book. Sometimes I pride myself on my packing and other times I bring a half-read library book across the world, knows I’ll finish it before I even arrive at the destination.

We left at about 10am Sydney time and will arrive two hours before we left, at about 7am Vancouver time. Which means being on a plane for 14 or so hours and having to try to get a full night’s sleep before landing, as we have to fill the whole day when we get there as our tour group meets in the evening and we can’t check in until 4. I have arranged to catch up with Steph, a Canadian friend who lived in Australia for a while some years ago. She’s going to take us somewhere for lunch and I’m going to attempt to find a phone card so I have data while we’re on the road. This is normally Luke’s purview when we travel, so I have no idea where to go but I shall rely on the kindness and advice of Canadians, which I’m sure will be accessible and plentiful.

Now to try for some sleep!

It’s 5am and I’m lying in bed at the Rydges Hotel at Sydney airport. Mum is sleeping beside me and I’ve given up trying because we have to be up at 6 to pack our gear and head across the road for our 15.5 hour flight to Vancouver.

We’re off to Canada and Alaska for three weeks because Mum was watching tv three months ago and decided she wanted to see Burchart Gardens on Vancouver Island. Dad didn’t want to be bossed around in a tour group for three weeks and, rather conveniently, I’ve taken this year off work – so here I am. Luke is, of course, dying with loneliness and jealousy, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

So far the trip has comprised of a blessedly incident-free flight from Melbourne to Sydney via Qantas. After the complete debacle of my last flight on Jetstar (they cancelled my flight to Sydney to go to my grandfather’s funeral and it cost me $700 to buy a replacement ticket and I got there with one minute to spare and a set of stress-induced stomach ulcers) I will never fly budget again.

Airports – simultaneously the most exciting and boring places in the world.

The first real treat of this trip (apart from seeing Mum, of course) is that we’re flying business class. Mum was stiff and sore after coming to England in 2013 to travel around with Luke and I for a few weeks, so this time (possibly her last time as she says she feels she’s getting too old for it), we’re doing it in style. A style which I, sadly, cannot afford to become accustomed to. But that’s ok, I’ll just make the most of it this time. I’m not entirely sure what ‘making the most of it’ will entail, but I’ll try not to arrive in Canada with a hangover.

Even before the excitement of business class seats, is the new and (hopefully) thrilling experience of using the Qantas Club Lounge (note: ended up being the Air NZ lounge). Neither Mum nor myself have ever experienced a private airport lounge before, and if it doesn’t look like a quintessential English gentlemens club with leather seats, crystal decanters and a cheese trolley, well, I shall write a stern email.

Anyhow, time to brush my hair and try to make myself look like the sort of person who flies business class all the time. Wish me luck because I have no idea what I’m doing!