Vancouver

While we were asleep the ship docked in the Port of Vancouver. We awoke and went for breakfast then returned to our cabin collected our luggage and disembarked. We cleared customs and immigration without a hitch and regrouped with our fellow Newmarket Travellers but we had to wait a little while before our rep appeared. She showed us to our coach and we were transferred to our hotel. Unfortunately we could they access to our room until 16:00 some six hours away. I contacted my cousin Trent O’Donnell told him where we  were and he drove down to see us. We had lunch and he told us all about himself and where he fits in family tree. After he left we took a walk through the city and found the RCMP shop where I was able to gets some bits. We walked back to the hotel and gained access to our room and our luggage arrived soon after. We unpacked the stuff needed for the remainder of our stay and then went down for a drink and were joined by another couple from our group. It was a lovely evening. 

We had a brilliant night’s sleep and a leisurely start to to day. We went down to breakfast then took a walk to Nelson Park where we sat in the sunshine until it was time to meet another cousin, Mark and his lovely wife Rosheen. We had a great time talking about anything and everything until it was time for them to go. We spent the rest of the day just relaxing in the sunshine.

Monday 26th September our last full day in Canada. We joined our party outside the hotel, boarded the bus and drove to the ferry terminal. We were lucky and were able to get on an earlier ferry so we had longer on Vancouver Island. The ferry was called Coastal Celebration. It was a really comfortable vessel. We arrived in Victoria and I was able to get some lovely photos of this city’s famous sites including the War Memorial. We met up with my cousin Dot and we had lunch, after which we went our separate ways. We re-boarded the bus and drove to the Bouchard Gardens. A beautiful place full of colour. We had a couple of hours here then it was time to get on the bus and go to the ferry terminal. We boarded the Spirit of Vancouver Island and sailed back to the city. We arrived back at our hotel at 21:30 so it had been a long but very enjoyable day.