Canadian Holiday - Day 13 : Satur day 20^th September

So comes the day of farewells. We left our hosts, Lorraine and Gordie, and their extended family, with much gratitude for a lovely stay. Photos were exchanged and scanned – a notable “find” was a picture of Lorraine’s grandfather, surveying a magnificent banquet that he’d created … we knew he was a chef, but this photo shows he was clearly a master chef.

We drove into Vancouver, heading for Stanley Park, the idea being to do a bit of sight-seeing before getting to the airport. As usual, traffic was heaviest in the suburbs, and at one time we began to wonder if we’d have to cancel plans and dash to the airport. But as we hit the city centre area, traffic started moving again, and we were able to see the Park, get out and stretch our legs, and picnic. The Park is a promontory between the Hudson River and the sea, and is one of Vancouver’s treasures. On the far side is an enormous ancient tree, which has become hollowed out; so we stopped there, and found that if we held hands and both stretched our arms out, we could just touch either side of the central hollow; and a visiting family took a photo with our camera, to prove it. There is probably a a similar shot in million’s of families albums!

The route to the airport took us more or less along the coast-side road; quite a pleasant way to go … but the last few miles were in “typical airport” geography, with a lot of urban sprawl. However, Vancouver airport is a pleasant open area; having dropped off the rental car (bye, Mustang!), we were wheeling our cases to the terminal building, and there in the middle of the airport was a garden with waterfall and totem poles – very attractive, and makes Heathrow look quite grim by comparison. To that garden formed the last two photos of our Canadian Holiday.

The flight back to the UK was tedious and long, though Air Canada’s service was faultless. We tried to sleep a bit, but it’s difficult always in tourist class. So we were glad to get out at Heathrow and walk again.

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