We have befriended a stray. Who's not too dis-similar to 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' (for those of you who remember this stupidly out of date cartoon). He's big, He's red. He enjoys being taken out for trips. In return he offers us sporadic security (to the tune of alarm bells), and has taught us the ever so fun game of 'Guess how much longer till I run out of gas'. If you haven't already guessed it, Sam and I are now the proud owners of a new car. A Pontiac Montana who's petrol gauge is completely useless nonetheless. At the grand old age of 25 we are now both in the 'two car family' category. Despite the fact we're childless and somewhat nomadic individuals who are forever giving hostel addresses (as our own) to banks and insurance providers.
Clifford is more than a car. He's a home. (Although I'm not quite on the property ladder yet). In that we've removed his back seats and arranged Clifford's interior for open plan living. Let me invite you in to our bedroom, come wardrobe, come kitchen, come house!
So we hit the open road in our Chariot. The road trip has begun! First stop, Squamish. We waved off Vancouver only to be reunited twenty short minutes later. Grid layout = No roundabouts. If you're going the wrong way, you will continue to do so for some time. Road signs here are also discourteous. Directing you somewhere before abandoning you no where. But we made it onto the sea to sky highway. Arriving in Squamish, Clifford sniffed out his first campsite and we set up camp in the wilderness. Clifford didn't really understand the ambiance of the forest, with his intermittent alarm bells blazing (yes it appears we bought a Pontiac Montana with a slight default). We made a fire and cooked dinner.... well, we lit the stove and emptied some nutritious tinned delights into a frying pan that we 'borrowed' from a hostel. Trips to the toilet revealed ominous 'Bear in the Area' posters so we swiftly locked ourselves in Clifford and settled down for the night...... Awful! Absolutely freezing!! Neither Sam or I barely slept but we both spent the night silently beside each other giving the pretense that we were in fact effortlessly dreaming. Better that than succumb to the fact we were indeed awake. The sun finally arose and we sheepishly headed for Whistler. Unbeknown to us Whistler was extraordinarily close. Given that Whistler is a ski resort upon a mountain, this meant that we had in fact slept extraordinarily close to the snowy surroundings. Hence the cold night - school boy error! Warm showers awaited us.. bliss! In fact this hostel is equipped to cater for all your needs. Should you require an emergency tampon you can purchase them in the vending machine along side your chocolate bars and drinks. Optimum convenience!
Whistler is the 'Diagon Alley' of winter sports. A characterful village with every shop uniform in appearance. It's winding paths are full of people lugging ski's and snowboards dressed in colours not out of place on a highway maintenance workforce. It's winning feature is the ski lifts that collect passengers from within the village. Sweeping them off their feet from just beside the many shops and restaurants. You can literally ski then shop. Whistler seems to be all about the convenience it would seem.
The road trip continues....
We have since travelled through Lillooet, Kamloops, Chilliwack, Harrision Hot Springs, Vernon, Revelstoke and Golden. Staying in a mixture of hostels and campsites. Each town offers us something unique, with varying degrees of success. Whether it's a snow covered town with multicoloued housing reminiscent of Balamory (Vernon). Or a summery hot stay besides a lake (Harrision Hot Springs). First shot of our long awaited 'We're in a Canada and here's an unnaturally blue lake' was found in Lillooet. Unfortunately, we found ourselves without a toilet camping in Kamloops but so far every annoyance has it's redeeming feature. Having to awake early for nature wee's to avoid running into other campers ended up in a 7am trip to McDonald's. Swings and roundabouts.... Cheese and Pickle.
Honestly though, I cannot describe to you how beautiful it is to drive across Canada. It's ever changing landscape has us convinced we're travelling through countries... continents even! All within in a matter of hours. Vast frozen lakes that stretch out before us soon turn into snowy creeks. Ravines follow the motorway until we are met with luscious green pastures and rolling hills. Desolate, dry and dusty plains greet us only an hour later. Before we know it we're winding up a mountain along a sheer cliff edge. Road signs change from 'Stop' and 'No U-Turn' to 'Avalanche Area' and 'Falling Rocks'. We're back in the inescapable snow! Clifford is certainly being put to the test!
Next stop.... Banff!
Clifford is more than a car. He's a home. (Although I'm not quite on the property ladder yet). In that we've removed his back seats and arranged Clifford's interior for open plan living. Let me invite you in to our bedroom, come wardrobe, come kitchen, come house!
So we hit the open road in our Chariot. The road trip has begun! First stop, Squamish. We waved off Vancouver only to be reunited twenty short minutes later. Grid layout = No roundabouts. If you're going the wrong way, you will continue to do so for some time. Road signs here are also discourteous. Directing you somewhere before abandoning you no where. But we made it onto the sea to sky highway. Arriving in Squamish, Clifford sniffed out his first campsite and we set up camp in the wilderness. Clifford didn't really understand the ambiance of the forest, with his intermittent alarm bells blazing (yes it appears we bought a Pontiac Montana with a slight default). We made a fire and cooked dinner.... well, we lit the stove and emptied some nutritious tinned delights into a frying pan that we 'borrowed' from a hostel. Trips to the toilet revealed ominous 'Bear in the Area' posters so we swiftly locked ourselves in Clifford and settled down for the night...... Awful! Absolutely freezing!! Neither Sam or I barely slept but we both spent the night silently beside each other giving the pretense that we were in fact effortlessly dreaming. Better that than succumb to the fact we were indeed awake. The sun finally arose and we sheepishly headed for Whistler. Unbeknown to us Whistler was extraordinarily close. Given that Whistler is a ski resort upon a mountain, this meant that we had in fact slept extraordinarily close to the snowy surroundings. Hence the cold night - school boy error! Warm showers awaited us.. bliss! In fact this hostel is equipped to cater for all your needs. Should you require an emergency tampon you can purchase them in the vending machine along side your chocolate bars and drinks. Optimum convenience!
Whistler is the 'Diagon Alley' of winter sports. A characterful village with every shop uniform in appearance. It's winding paths are full of people lugging ski's and snowboards dressed in colours not out of place on a highway maintenance workforce. It's winning feature is the ski lifts that collect passengers from within the village. Sweeping them off their feet from just beside the many shops and restaurants. You can literally ski then shop. Whistler seems to be all about the convenience it would seem.
The road trip continues....
We have since travelled through Lillooet, Kamloops, Chilliwack, Harrision Hot Springs, Vernon, Revelstoke and Golden. Staying in a mixture of hostels and campsites. Each town offers us something unique, with varying degrees of success. Whether it's a snow covered town with multicoloued housing reminiscent of Balamory (Vernon). Or a summery hot stay besides a lake (Harrision Hot Springs). First shot of our long awaited 'We're in a Canada and here's an unnaturally blue lake' was found in Lillooet. Unfortunately, we found ourselves without a toilet camping in Kamloops but so far every annoyance has it's redeeming feature. Having to awake early for nature wee's to avoid running into other campers ended up in a 7am trip to McDonald's. Swings and roundabouts.... Cheese and Pickle.
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| We're in Canada and here's an unnaturally blue lake |
Next stop.... Banff!
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