Vancouver - it seems like only yesterday!

I've wondered several times if I should publish a blog on this trip. It feels somewhat frivolous, given the war in Ukraine. But then the war in Afghanistan or Syria never stopped me so what is the difference? Is it simply that it is nearer to home, in Europe? Perhaps, which only goes to confirm my own hypocrisy. And probably a few other people's too.

I've even wondered if we should be taking this trip at all. Originally it was to be a house swap in New Zealand, but Covid put paid to that, at least temporarily. And having tagged on a boat trip to Alaska on our way home we found we couldn't cancel that in time and so decided that a trip around the west coast of North America was the next best option to some glorious autumn travels on the other side of the world.

But should I be blogging? I don't know. So perhaps rather ducking the question, I have decided that if I am travelling, then writing about it does no more harm. Quite probably a self interested rationalisation but its either that or I shut up! And I'm not good at that!

So here we are, back in Vancouver to begin with, last visited at Christmas/New Year 2019/20 just before the pandemic struck. In some ways it seems like a long two and half years, and in other respects it has simply flown by. I am well aware that I have been luckier than many in terms of opportunities to travel, having managed a couple of motorbike trips in the UK, a beach holiday in Greece (although that was in reality a Greek Salad review trip!), and meander around northern Norway in the early part of the winter just gone.

With friends and family to see, some old haunts to revisit and some new sights to see, we have picked up a hire car (could my degradation of the environment get any worse? its not even electric!) and headed first into the foothills of Mount Seymour in Lynn Valley, North Van. First stop to see a woman known well to any one who reads this rubbish as she has featured previously and we have now known each other 40 whole years - I checked my very first passport and discovered my stamp that allowed me into Thailand in 1982, where I met Michelle on Koh Samui, long before it was in international resort of renown. Blimey, where has 40 years gone? We haven't aged a bit!

But (you can feel a rant coming on - but a short one, I promise), that was after our first brush with government bureaucracy that at least gave me the comfort of knowing that it is not only the UK that is blindingly incompetent. The details would take too long, but suffice to say our pre-travel enrolment in Canada's online immigration set up, "ArriveCAN", had us identified as an elderly couple from Mississauga Ontario. I'm willing to accept I could make a mistake but I am pretty sure I know my own name and I don't live in Mississauga! This of course led to an invalid online account and to add insult to injury we were selected for random Covid testing at the airport only for the results to be basically lost because our online account was compromised! On the plus side we eventually established we were both negative and as far as we know are free to go wherever we please now. Just worried about whether or not it will cause some computer malfunction when we try to leave! That and the fact that we don't appear to have stamps in our passports! Maybe they don't do that any more. If you never see us again, you now know why!

So to sign off for our first day, here is the rather splendid view of downtown Vancouver from where we are staying for our first few nights! Probably won't manage to blog every day on this trip (phew, I hear), but I will keep up the drivel as regularly as I can.

And last but not least some views of the beautiful Lynn Valley and the Seymour River.