Vancouver, British Columbia

Before going to bed, I took a sleeping tablet which I only ever use to combat jet leg, so I had an awesome sleep last night. We made breakfast in our room before walking down to the nearest train station. Fortunately for us, it takes you directly into town.

Unfortunately for me though, all that sitting on an aeroplane yesterday meant my arch enemy sciatica came back. We tried to see the sights of the city but it took a lot longer than planned, as I often had to stop and rest.

After arriving in the city, we first visited the Visitor Information Centre before heading to Stanley Park. It has been quite a few years since we visited Vancouver, and Ted was keen to see the totem poles that have made the Park famous.The surrounding parklands and lake were worth seeing too. Despite the pain I was in, it was worth seeing.

I hadn't visited Granville Island before, so we managed to work out the transportation system and catch a bus there. Whilst there, we decided to treat ourselves, and went to a third story seafood restaurant overlooking the port. We were hoping for a novel way to return to our accommodation via boat, but since there wasn't such an option, decided to take the bus and train back instead.

My sciatica was giving me all kinds of grief, so we relaxed back at our room before heading out to dinner. We like the Commercial Drive area very much - we couldn't see much last night, but during the day noticed the large number of pubs and restaurants in the area. For dinner, we headed to a cheap and cheerful Mexican restaurant named the Red Burrito.

Tomorrow we are planning to head to Whistler for the first time. There have been a lot of fires in the surrounding areas, so we've changed our return time to earlier in the day, as weather forecasts have put the area as smoky. Even so, we are looking forward to seeing somewhere new.Read more