Day 4 – The (Boring) Road into Vancouver

Not much to share for the day, a lot of boring driving. I had breakfast at camp since I had such a pretty view and the beach to myself. It was chilly in the morning, less than 10oC so I stayed in my warm bed for a little longer than I needed to. Cornflakes for brekkie, then on the road. I left the coast pretty much straight away and was driving through river towns, one of which was called Melbourne. Not at all similar to the Australian version, I barely noticed it as I passed through. The town of Raymond was littered with iron pieces of artwork, cut out to all shapes and sizes. The best was a man on a bicycle drinking beer. Something I would probably do.

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Once I was on the main highway heading east, there was nothing more to see. I pulled in to a few rest areas and discovered that in Washington, they ask that you please limit your stay to eight hours, but otherwise, it’s ok for you to stay overnight. I’ll definitely be using that information when I come back down. There’s a rest area right near Mount Rainier NP that I think I’ll be hitting. I stopped at a few rest areas during the drive to confirm it was a constant trend, which is was. I stopped off in Seattle to stock up on ham and cheese for my lunch wraps, which took me to the edge of the city. It has an impressive skyline, but I didn’t explore. Back on highway 5 heading north, it felt a lot like the bay area, except the speed limits are lower by about 10 mph. I kept myself entertained by listening to NPR (National Public Radio) learning about all sorts of things from the US election to the “prestige” of different language accents (the New Zealand accent has the least amount of prestige).

Close to the border, I made way for the Pacific Truck border crossing, on the advice of my Canadian mates who had had trouble at the main crossing at Peace Arch. I was nervous as I drove up. This was the first step in my visa process. When I handed over my brand new passport, the man was a little confused, since it had no stamps in it, but then I showed him my old passport and explained my story. He asked me many questions, including how I knew my friend in Vancouver that I was staying with, how much money I had, why my van was full of stuff. He was kind about it though. I think he just asks all of those questions to trip up people that are lying when they respond, “ahh, umm, err, etc.”. In the end, I got a stamp and I was on my way. I set my navigation to Sheldan’s house, only to discover it was taking me on a toll road, so I got off that and found my way along Kings Way all the way to his place in Renfrew.

It was great to see him again! He took me to Olympic Village, a fancy place in town where the rich and famous had bought out the places where Olympians had stayed previously. We had a round of beers and some Poutine at the Flying Pig, which we weren’t that impressed with, then went round the corner to Craft Brew, a much better establishment. We tasted a few beers, then settled and ordered some Fish Tacos and a burger to share. We were full and happy by the end of it. While Sheldan was in the bathroom (for the fifth time!!) I made friends with a gentleman next to me at the bar who told me stories of when he’d lived in Quebec and why he was in Vancouver. Beers empty, we wandered outside to the water that overlooked the Olympic stadium and the science world dome. It’s a city that reminds me a bit of Melbourne, with high rises next to the water. Wasn’t getting too cold at night either.

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Sheldan dropped me back to his place, then I drove over to North Vancouver to find Johann’s place. Johann is a friend of my friends in Brisbane, he lived there for a few years before I was there and got to know everyone. What a lovely guy! He lives in an absolutely gorgeous house with his girlfriend who is overseas and I had a bedroom and bathroom all to myself. What luxury! His cat Nala is his regular companion, who can’t go outside. I just hope I don’t accidentally leave the door open or anything! Johann and I chatted away until quite late, then I got my bike off the roof and the fridge out of the car and stored them in his garage. I enjoyed a hot shower then conked out in a very comfortable bed with fluffy pillows. Oh, the travelling lifestyle!