Canada ohhh Canada. First stop- Vancouver

It has been quite a busy last few days. I couldn’t tell you how many days it has been, as my perception has been skewed by travelling through many different timezones and countries. We started in Australia at 11:45am, for a short flight and stopover in Auckland before jumping on an overnight flight to L.A. It was a nerve racking 12 hours as we pondered whether or not we would make our tight flight turn around at LAX. We tried our hardest to make it seamless- priority passes on our bags (which doesn’t actually help!), and were even upgraded to premium economy for the last part of the flight so we could clear customs first- got to love the NZ hospitality and will to help! As soon as we got our bags we sprinted to the furtherest away gate (Murphy’s law), and ended up checking in with 6 minutes to spare! Vancouver bound we were. We arrived at 6pm that evening- evening was an interesting concept at this point, by this stage I had already had 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches and was on the way to a third dinner, but it was still technically still Monday. Our mission was to stay up as long as possible to accustom to Vancouver time, so off exploring we went.

We had pre purchased concert tickets to see Kurt Vile at the Rickshaw Theatre in East Vancouver, quite close to where we were staying in Gastown. It was recommended that we ate at a place called Perch, as the area is extremely derelict and it was hard to wean the dodgy pubs from the good ones. We made our way carefully through the swarms of homeless that spewed out onto the streets. Although warned, and thinking we were accustomed to it coming from Fitzroy, Melbourne, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was happy to reach the isolation and comfort of a diner serving delicious food and $4.50 pints. We continued to the concert and plonked a beer in our eager hands. The tiredness approached and almost won over the warmer the beer became- the trick, don’t let the beer get warm. Aside from the usual imports, the beers were new and exciting so we tried to work our way through them to see what we liked.The highlight: Fat Tug IPA, Red Truck (or something like that) and PBR (apparently named the “hipster drink”-whatever that means- probably because it’s by far the nicest tasting of the cheapest!)

Kurt Vile was great, the venue was great, but we were happy to get some shut eye when midnight struck.

The next day was full of adventures.. And a lot of shopping! Not planned, but as soon as I saw vintage clothing I was off running. I have been so controlled saving for this trip, the first sniff and the money was flying! Also as the vintage clothing in Canada is wallet friendly. I walked away with shoes, a top and clots for $65, to head to their sister vintage store to find a dress and some high waisted ’80s style denim shorts. It was a vintage haven and I could have gone even crazier, but I am waiting for the next leg of our journey.

We finished the day by visiting China Town/Keefer Street- firstly a cocktail at Keefer Bar as recommended by the Wallpaper Guide (kindly gifted to me by my workmates). Then by default we went for dinner at Bao Bei a bustling restaurant serving dumplings and contemporary Chinese food. For a Tuesday evening there was a line at the door and a buzzing vibe, even though the rest of the street was practically empty. We sat up at the bar to eat, watching the bar tender work his magic. This place reminded me a lot of a typical Melbourne institution- bar seating, smaller size sharing plates, focused on the infusion of flavours. The 5 plates we shared were absolutely delicious, and we even got to try a few appetisers when the chefs thought they knew us and sent more food our way. One of those faces huh. We got some bar recommendations from the friendly people beside us (one from Canberra – small world) and the bartender and went wandering to check out the part of town.

The next day we wandered to Stanley Park and hired bikes to do a loop of the 8km track. It has been such beautiful weather while we have been here! We wandered slowly through West End and Yaletown to find the part of Main Street which we had heard a lot about. Our first stop was a cafe Gene Cafe for a cold cafe booster. We then perused the shops before stumbling upon a dingy bar that reminded me of a cross between Black Cat (Melbourne), Wunderbar (Lyttelton, NZ) and Madame Brussels (Melbourne). Even better, they had pitchers for $12- what a steal. We sat and tried Pouting (a typical dish of chips, cheese and gravy- weird but good), and played the many board games that scattered the room. We thought we best explore more before the days end, so wandered the street again and found another bar to escape the heat. After a few beers we decided to head back to the first place and collapse back into the welcoming couches. It was already after 7, this whole day light savings, light at night is confusing me, so we decided to order some food. The menu was something you have never seen before – peanut butter beef burger, maple syrup and gravy….yet so intriguing, as why would they put something gross on the menu. Of course we ordered it….good idea at the time, but once digested I thought otherwise and now the mere thought of peanut butter makes me wince. We made it home sick and exhausted after walking 17km that day!

The next day we wanted nothing but to cruise around Downtown, lye in the park and make it to the station to catch the Amtrack train to Seattle for the next leg of our journey!

Highlight: Cheap beer, nice people, cool cafes/restaurants, vintage bargains

Lowlights: Tax isn’t included in the price tags (confusing), coffee just isn’t as good as NZ/Australia (let’s be honest, it was never going to be) the homelessness (quite a rude awakening, seeing as Vancouver is often named as the #1 city in the world), and the sickening feeling of eating chicken, waffles, maple syrup and gravy. Almost getting run over every time we crossed the road and looked the wrong way!