Arrival

Day 1. After a very early start, a very long wait in the a airport due to a delay with the flight, and a very long flight we arrived in Vancouver. The train journey from the airport into Downtown Vancouver was easy to negotiate and the hotel was only a short walk from the station. The reception was very helpful but could not seem to get it into his head that all we wanted was a drink- for is it was 10pm- he kept trying to get us to do the open top bus tour, or to book the pre-cruise tour of the north shore. Both lovely ideas but we just wanted a drink! We finally found a pub near by and with thirst quenched we began to feel more human and able to get our thoughts together. We found where the cruise starts so will not be floundering tomorrow. A good stretch of the legs around the dock area brought us to another beer and barrel bar. We were desperately trying to keep going until what would be a reasonable time to go to bed Vancouver time even though by this time we had been up for 24 hours. The bar was lively and we got talking to a couple - Steve and Judy - who live on Vancouver Island and who have invited us to visit them when we are over there. We chatted for quite a long time until hunger and tiredness overtook us. We returned to the first bar for food where I was barely able to keep my eyes open, ate and the finally gave in and went to bed - 9 o'clock.