30/12/2013 - Shopping in Burnaby - Phone purchased

Very short post for today. We tested out our bearings and caught the skytrain out to Metropolis at Metrotown out in Burnaby. This is BC's largest shopping centre.  We grabbed an egg timer for Craig (for his videos) and a phone... and had Nandos for lunch. Too bad I have the flu, otherwise we would have stuck around to explore.

We have a Canadian number now, so if you want the number just comment below with your email and I'll send it through.

Gave BodyPump a miss as my body is just too unwell to try and get through it.

Tonight we're having pasta in the hotel room and watching the hockey (Vancouver Canucks vs Philadelphia Flyers) - we put a bet on the Canucks to win.

Headed to bed early as we'd like to get up at 6am to skype with the Aussies who will be seeing the new year in 18 hours before we do. We head up to Whistler tomorrow!

29/12/2013 - Wedding Oriented Day

We ended last night with talking to our gorgeous Canadian friends, Leigh and Cory (via Viber!) - was so good to hear their voices and we can't wait to see them in a couple of days when we head up to Whistler.

I had a bit of a restless nights sleep last night. I thought it was jetlag that woke me up at around 1am Vancouver time... but when I fell back asleep and woke again at 6.45am I realised that I have been struck down with a cold. Now I understand why my ear wouldn't clear on the plane. Ugh.
 

So, after falling asleep again and waking up at 11am - it was time to head to organise our Marriage License. The process was pain free. Very easy. $100 later we have a piece of paper that will allow us to get married here. Hooray. It was a little drizzly here today - which is expected in Vancouver during the winter months. It's nowhere near as cold as I thought it was going to be. No need for thermals. Happy about that. The ugg boots are definitely getting worn in though.

 

We came back to our apartment via having lunch at Cafe Crepe. Craig had a Kokanee Beer (his favourite) in honour of Arthur's birthday back home. (HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARTY!)  I also went via Starbucks where I finally had a Pumpkin Spiced Latte. Oh how I wish that Starbucks Australia would bring this flavour back.

 

Craig gets his Ko

After a very quick dropping off of some cold and flu supplies, we went downstairs to meet our lovely wedding planner, Marcie (Bliss Events) - and we also were messaged by our officient Shawn (and his lovely wife Erica - "Young Hip and Married") to say they had a cancellation and would have time to meet us today - which was great because we could sit down and discuss various timings and what our ceremony is going to be like with both planner and officient. It was really great to meet these guys as we have been communicating through emails and Facebook for quite a few months.

These guys are amazing and we have quickly realised that we have definitly selected the right people to be in charge of our special day. :-)

After our meetings were done and dusted, we decided to go for a walk to find something for dinner. We strolled down Robson Street and did a little bit of shopping, and then walked down to the Waterfront and took a few photos. Was good to get out and get some fresh air and exercise. I can't wait to get to the gym tomorrow night to do BodyPump. It's been a week since my last pump class and I know it's going to hurt.

Canada Place

For dinner, we ended up at a Pizza place on Granville Street which had cheap slices. Dinner between us was under $10. Not the healthiest choice, I admit.

We're now back at our apartment and seem to have kicked jetlag in the butt. Hoping to wake up tomorrow and have less of a head cold. Thank goodness for NeoCitran and Tylenol.

 

28/12/2013 - We've arrived - Hello Canada!

Alright, so after a little bit of a shaky start due to the fact that my alarm didn't go off this morning - we made it out to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  We were super smiley and excited at check in - The Qantas staff member told us that Air Canada had us sitting apart on our direct flight so we'd have to talk to them in Sydney -  Next was we had to pay excess luggage - but when it came time to check our snowboard, and Craig went over to pay - turns out, we didn't have to! YES! Even if we have to pay coming home, we've had something finally go our way.

So next, we get down to Sydney and the Qantas staff member at the gate who was manning the Air Canada desk was possibly the rudest little man that we've ever had to deal with in an airport. If you're going to work in an airport, in customer service, you are going to be dealing with things like this - don't pretend to shoot yourself in the head - it's not very professional (yes, Craig saw you do it!). Anyhoo, we managed to get our seats together - hung up my wedding dress in First Class (sob - full flight meant no chance of an upgrade) and then we settled ourselves in for our 14+ hour flight from Sydney to Vancouver.

Craig is excited about Canadian beer

I requested a special meal through our 'delightful' travel agent - also making them extremely aware that I was allergic to seafood. Guess who got a fish meal for the first meal on the plane. Could have been bad if I hadn't worked out really quickly that it was fish. The cabin crew on Air Canada are always amazing, and one of the guys quickly whisked away my meal and promised that if there was a spare meal at the end - he'd bring one back for me. He did. I even got a choice of the two. :-)

Somewhere along the way - we must have had a pretty amazing tail wind, because when the announcement came in at our arrival time, we were approximately 45 minutes early getting into Vancouver. So early! We landed in the dark!

We came through customs without issue, receiving well wishes from the guy that checked us through - grabbed our bags and got in a cab to the city. Who knew that a Prius Station wagon could hold all our luggage?!

We made it to our home for the next three days (Century Plaza) and in another amazing stroke of luck - they had a room ready to go for us - so we were able to check in straight away! So good. We put our bags in, freshened up and headed out into town. Grabbed a bite to eat at A&W (burger joint) in the Pacific Centre, grabbed some groceries and headed back to the hotel. I'm still suffering a little bit from my sleeping pill.

View from our Vancouver Hotel

Which brings us to right now - we're both completely wiped out. Craig is asleep, I've had a quick nap and have washed our travel laundry. So productive, haha! So, when Craig wakes up later we'll head down the road to grab some dinner... we're thinking of grabbing a "Japadog"  which is a very famous food truck here in Vancouver. We've been here three times before, and never had one - so it's time! (http://www.japadog.com/)

We start our wedding meetings tomorrow!

At the request of our family and friends, here is where you will find our trip journal!

We will be updating when exciting things happen - travel and adventures, planning updates, as friends arrive, snowfall etc. It's pretty boring right now, but I'll have a chance to make it more stylish when we arrive and we have time on our hands.

Thank you to everyone for their messages of love and excitement! One more sleep!