We woke up around 11:00 today, had some cinnamon buns for breakfast and then, once we were ready, we went out for a walk.
The weather was much better today, and actually quite pleasant, so we had a nice long walk.
We walked to Stanley Park again, coffee in hand, and just had a nice long walk and chat.
Whilst we were walking back towards home, we heard loud Christmas music, as well as some loud engine sounds. We were confused, but then out at sea we saw a coast guard boat/hovercraft with someone dressed as Santa on top.
Very random, but fun!
We walked back home and relaxed, then Kim made African-Style stew which was similar to the previous one she made and it was delicious!
We watched some TV, relaxed and headed to bed at a decent time.
Kim has just a dayabd a half of work this week, and Curtis has 4 days.
Curtis went to work about 45 minutes earlier today as he was leaving early.
All of the day was working on the application, which does a lot more now and is really starting to take shape.
Curtis got a lot of that done and then it was 14:30 already, which was when Curtis was leaving for the day.
Kim’s Day
Kim didn’t have to work today, so she slept for a while, waking up early afternoon.
Kim cleaned the apartment from top to bottom and then packed the remainder of our items so we were ready to go.
Victoria Again!
We left the apartment to catch the bus which will take us to the ferry.
We had to wait for a long time for the bus, around 40 minutes, but it made it much worse that it was raining…A lot…The whole time.
We found shelter nearby and stood under that as we were very wet and very cold.
Eventually, the bus arrived, but we then got stuck in traffic for a lot of the journey, meaning we missed the ferry and had to wait 2 hours for the next one!
We eventually got onto the ferry and had the buffet food as we were so hungry! It was a Turkey dinner, but we also had salad to start and some dessert.
The ferry arrived in Victoria and we walked up to Linda’s apartment and it is so nice to see her again, even though it’s only been a couple of weeks!
We are here until Sunday afternoon, so plenty of time to spend time with her.
We hunkered down for the evening and were quite tired! Linda seems to have some plans, so we’ll wait to see what we do!
We were up at 09:00 to get ready for brunch/breakfast. By the time we both got ready it was around 10:30 and our brunch/breakfast time was at 11:00, so we all started the walk down.
Our brunch was in a hotel in the restaurant called Vista 18.
We got some coffee as well as a hot chocolate for Kim. This place was called Vista 18 due to being on the 18th floor, therefore it had some great views!
Curtis had eggs benedict with bacon & homemade breakfast potatoes, which were basically just potato chips.
Kim had a breakfast with bacon,eggs, pancakes and the same homemade potatoes.
Linda had the french toast which looked great! All of the portions were huge and it was an incredibly reasonable price.
We were very full after breakfast and so we went for a walk downtown to burn it off.
We walked around a few shops to pass time and Kim also managed to buy some exercise gear she needed.
Foot Massage
Kim and Linda went for a foot massage at 13:00. The original booked time was 13:30, but they couldn’t wait so changed it to 13:00.
Whilst they did this, Curtis went back to the apartment and relaxed.
Time To Go
Once we were all back in the same room, we didn’t have long before we had to say goodbye to Linda and walk down to catch the bus.
We said our goodbyes and wandered to the bus station.Once at the station, we waited for a little bit and then boarded. The bus was very busy and very hot!
Once we arrived at the ferry port, everyone was way too hot so temporarily disembarked the bus to get some fresh air.
There was a small delay on the boat bring offloaded as the police were waiting for a car to speak to the driver, so we had to wait for that to be dealt with before we could board.
Ferry Ride
We got on the boat and sat charging our phones. We were able fully charge our phones, which was a result!
It was incredibly loud and busy on the boat, but it went quite fast.We loaded back onto the bus and headed towards home.We got back home and it was nice to be back, but we already miss spending time with Linda!
We stopped in at the supermarket for a bit to do a small weekly shop and to get some food for dinner.
We ate our dinner and caught up on some TV and YouTube videos before we went to bed, ready for work tomorrow.
We woke up fairly early, had breakfast and then did some chores around the apartment.
After we finished, we walked down to meet Linda at her hotel.
It was hot again today, but we decided to walk along the seawall. We walked all the way to the seawall from the hotel and then down to the seabus where we caught it to Graville Island.
Granville Island
When we got there, we scoped out a coffee place once we found one, all three of us got an iced latte.
We had a bit of a wander around but then wanted to get out of the crowds, so we continued around the seawall and towards our apartment.
We stopped in at our apartment to have a sit down and some water as well as to show Linda around.
We had only been walking around for about 1.5 hours in total, even though it felt like a lot more!
We relaxed here for a couple of hours but all started to fall asleep so thought it would be best if we went outside again.
We went for a walk down to the city, to the hotel Linda is staying in, where we had a dinner reservation.
Amazing Dinner
Kim had been to this restaurant with work before and knew it was tremendous so she recommended that we go.
We got there at 16:30 but our table was booked for 17:00. We were so hungry after all our walking, so we decided we would sit and have dinner then!
We got sat and got a cocktail each. Kim and Linda had a Piña Colada and Curtis had an Old fashioned.
We waited a little bit but then ordered our starters. We had chicken wings, amazing sourdough with butter and honey as well as some tempura salmon.
The salmon wasn’t great, but everything else was so good. (We forgot to get photos of that as we were so hungry!).
For mains, we got Korean chicken, a salad and mac & cheese. All of these were great, but the mac and cheese was phenomenal.
We had such a great night and whilst we were full, all three of us shared a dessert because it would be rude not to.
We got a chocolate mousse with lemon creme and some ice cream of some sort and it was incredible, but we are glad we only got the one!
We said goodbye to Linda as she leaves early tomorrow and we waddled home.
Curtis got on the train and it turned out to be a bit less busy.
It felt like Curtis got to work pretty quickly today!
Once he got in, he grabbed himself a coffee and began working. He had some things to finish off from yesterday, as well as a bit more to learn.
As well as work, Curtis had some admin to get sorted, mostly new starter related items.
Meetings
Curtis had a couple of meetings, the first being a video call with all the IT team so they all met eachother and the second was another IT meeting but this time it was project related.
What A View
Curtis was able to get a photo of the view, which he has right behind him when he is sat at his desk…it shows Canada place and any boats that are there, as well as the seaplanes!
Purchasing
Curtis then got to work and the afternoon was pretty busy. Curtis picked up quite a few tickets and got to work on them, as well as figuring out what to do.
Curtis was then shown how purchasing works and had to get some stuff purchased for the office.
The end of the day came quickly and then Curtis headed to get on the train.
Train
The train wasn’t too packed on the way home, so that made the trip a little less stressful.
Kim’s Day
Kim did a bit less today, but didn’t get a lay in.
Kim took the dog out for a walk and then after the walk she took the train to the shopping mall to look for a work top.
Eventually, Kim was able to find just 1 top and then went to the supermarket.
Our Evening
Kim met Curtis from the train and we walked to the bank to get some banking sorted.
We came home and had a ceasar salad for dinner.
We watched some TV and did a bit of money admin before we went to sleep.
We ate our food, paid and then left. We had a couple of hours to kill before we were getting picked up, so we walked around for a bit and then decided to go for a coffee.
Coffee Stop
We found a place called Mammoth Espresso.
Curtis had a cappucino and Kim had an iced vanilla latte.
We wasted a bit more time and then went to the hotel to get picked up.
We waited for about 10 minutes and then the bus arrived. It was a decent sized bus and the driver had the same name as Kim!
We waited for a while and picked up a few people én route before heading on the way.
The Journey
It took about 45 minutes or so to drive up to where we were doing the swamp tour.
Our driver was very knowledgable and was telling us information about everything we passed and the difference between different places within New Orleans.
Swamp Tour
We got to the swamp tour area with the tour company (Cajun Encounters Tour Co.) and waited for a while whilst they organised.
We were finally called by the captain and off we went. There were 20 people on our boat and shortly after boarding we were off.
The first stop was to look at how they catch crawfish and we saw some in the trap also. They’re basically small lobsters.
We then moved on to our first alligator of the tour. This one was a decent size, around 10ft and the guide we were with fed it some sausage. It was happy with this and we got to see it jumping for the food.
We left this area and had a bit of stroll around the water. It was quite peaceful, until we turned on the engine and went pretty fast to get to the next area.
In the next area, we went through a bayou which was quite thin. After that, we stopped and waited for a long while to see if we could see any wild boars, but none appeared. We did see a baby alligator though.
We left this area and started heading out. As we did so, the storm started to roll in and then eventually, so did the rain, thunder and lightning.
We saw some houses which have no road access. They do have electricity and well water, but to get to and from the land they must use a boat.
We did a bit more fast boating and then headed back to the dock as the storm was getting worse.
We got back and got absolutely drenched…
We waited for a while for the bus to arrive and, once it did, everyone boarded whilst very wet.
All-in-all, the tour wasn’t that great. We were only out on the water for around an hour or so and only saw some trees and 2 alligators, and we got wet. But, of course, it is nature so you can never guarantee what you’ll see.
Dinner
When we eventually got back to the centre, it was still raining but a little less bad then it was before.
We found a place called Oceana for dinner. They sell pretty much anything you’d want as well as traditional New Orleans food.
Curtis got crawfish fettuccine and Kim got blackened chicken fettuccine. Both meals were actually great and then Kim had a banana and strawberry ice cream cake.
Home Time & Packing
We will be flying out of New Orleans tomorrow, after a fun filled and busy 6 days.
We got an Uber home from the restaurant and then packed up our things to leave early tomorrow morning.
This is the final stop on our US trip as we head elsewhere for our next adventure!
We took the tram to the city this morning and then had to take another tram to get down to where we needed to be.
We got there at exactly the time we needed to be and then had to stand in line for a while.
We eventually started to board the boat to Alcatraz Island (which means Pelican, by the way!).
The Arrival
We arrived at the island fairly quickly and there were a lot of people!
We first had to stop at the entrance and get a brief talk from a park ranger as Alcatraz is a national park.
The first building itself is quite daunting as thst isn’t even the prison! There is a cool sign at the entrance, too;
Theatre
We made our way up to the theatre and got a seat whilst waiting for the introductory film to play.
The film was about 15 minutes long and just explained the history of Alcatraz.
Workshop
We moved on from here to one of the workshops which was only open for a brief time today.
Along the way, we saw the power station, remains of the officer recreation hall and the former firing range.
The Power Station
Recreation Hall For Officers
We entered the workshop and it was pretty damaged. Most glass was smashed and there were sinks and toilets leftover, as well a sign, for some reason!
There was an art exhibition in another room in here, but it was pretty unrelated to the workshop.
This is the place in which prisoners would work, making things, sometimes for the military but also worked in the laundry area.
There were some incredible views from this island, especially with the weather we had for the start of the day!
The Prison
We walked up to the prison, getting some awesome photos on the way.
The Cell Block
The First Lighthouse In Western America
We got to the start of the audio tour, which was in the shower block of the prison, where there was also clothes from the prison times.
We went from here up some stairs and into the main prison block.
The audio guide told us multiple stories and information about different cells and locations around the prison, including solitary confinement, attempted escapes, living conditions and more.
A Prison Cell Which Someone Escaped From
Solitary Confinement
A Solitary Confinement Cell – Nicer, But The Prisoner Spends 24/7 Here
The Main Hallway
We moved through the library and we were then told about a part of the prison that has marks on the floor from grenade blasts which were thrown in during an attempted escape, via a hole in the roof.
We saw the visitation station, followed by the officer area and then the officer’s control room.
The final area was the most dangerous – The dining hall. This was where everyone ate and therefore had cutlery. A lot of the kitchen equipment is still there, along with a board of the menu for breakfast.
The food was the best here out of all the prisons, so much so that the guards ate the same as the prisoners.
Former Inmate
There was a former inmate, now in his 80’s, who was signing books. He has written a book about being in Alcatraz. His name is William Baker.
The ingredients are fresh and made to order, so it’s fast food, but fresh!
The burgers and the fries were terrific. The fries don’t look great, but they were fresh and delicious!
Cable Car
We were well filled, so we left here and planned to head home, but then saw the old cable car and had to jump on! Our transport passes got us on, too, so that’s a win!
These cable cars were 146 years old and the only city to have them was San Francisco.
We eventually got a chance to ride it hanging off the edge, which was awesome!
New Shoes
We got off the cable car in the shopping district and got Curtis a cheap pair of shoes for summer.
Curtis’ current shoes have lasted well, but they’ve hit the end of their life, so new shoes it is for Curtis. He got some nice Levi’s shoes, weirdly. Just $20 though!
Rammed Tram
We took the tram home, but this was at around 19:00 so it was absolutely rammed for a while.
We got home and were incredibly tired…we have been on our feet for over 9 hours, so laying down and watching TV was great.
Interestingly, we chose to sleep on a double mattress on the floor as it seemed more comfortable than a sofa bed and boy, were we right!
We had a terrific night of sleep and woke up pretty fresh this morning.
We had some cereal, watched a YouTube video and then got started with the day.
We decided we would check out a place called Granville Island.
Getting To Granville Island
We walked, almost directly straight, to a ferry port which had a ferry leaving every 5 minutes to go to the island.
We jumped on the boat to the island and paid our $5.50 return before jetting off.
Our Boat
The Island
We got to the island and firstly thought how awesome it looked! Compared to the city, everything was so small and hip-looking.
We went for a wander around and first entered a market in which there were shops from local artists that have made all different things from jewellery to clothing.
We walked out of this area and into the general public market. This place had a lot of different things, including food, fruit & vegetables, meats, cheeses & coffee.
We walked around this for a while and then went outside and looked at the backstreets.
These streets didn’t have too much, but there was a blacksmith which was cool to see!
Kim got to see a couple of dogs, too. A malamute and two Australian shepherds.
The Malamute
Australian Shepherds
We grabbed a slice of pizza and a coffee and just watched the world go by.
Just before the flight, whilst waiting, we found a whisky tasting station in duty free, so we thought why not!
We got a few shots of whisky to try, mostly expensive whisky, one of which tasted like bacon which we do not recommend.
We eventually got on the flight, which was actually a pretty good and easy flight, though we didn’t sleep we much as we wanted, or really at all!
We watched the film Night School and Kim watched a couple of films whilst Curtis tried to sleep.
We had 2 meals whilst on board. Curtis had chicken tagine with couscous and Kim had pasta bolognese.
We then had breakfast. Curtis had the safe option of museli and Kim had the scrambled eggs which were not good at all.
Once we landed in Vancouver, we had to wait a while whilst other planes got out of the way and then we were able to exit.
We got through customs and immigration pretty quickly, collected our bags and then had to figure out what to do next.
We found the right bus but had to buy a ticket, so we went inside the terminal to get them and then back out onto the bus.
We got the bus to the ferry port and once we got there we changed buses to get into the ferry and across the other side.
We got onto the ferry and grabbed a much deserved cappucino each and relaxed as we sailed across the water.
Once we arrived, we got back on the bus and that took us to Victoria!
Along the way, we saw a car crash happen which is not good!
We got to the Victoria bus station and figured out how we get to where we are staying, which we luckily did.
We are staying with Kim’s great aunty Linda, who we stayed with here on a holiday before. We haven’t been here in winter so we saw excited to see what is on offer!
We had a delicious chicken dinner and chatted with Linda for a while before hopping in the shower after our long journey.
We got into bed which was lovely and comfy and got a couple of outstanding admin tasks completed before heading to bed.
We don’t have much planned just yet, other than getting some sleep!
We left the hotel nice and early, around 07:30 and then drove to McDonald’s to get a spot of breakfast.
After breakfast, we drove a car park over to the supermarket where we got some meat for the BBQ.
We left the supermarket and made the drive down to Bland Bay. A lot of the roads were gravel, but it was good fun! It was a straight road for 100km, so it was at least easy.
We got out to Bland Bay and just chilled out for a few hours in the blazing sun. It was delightful!
We were then told about a cave that we had to see in person as it was beautiful! With that, we all hopped on the boat and headed out there. The waves were causing our boat to bounce all over the place which waa great fun!
We arrived at the small, secluded beach and it was stunning!
We then had a look at the stream leading to the cave, which was also filled with rocks and seaweed, and it was quite choppy, with big waves rushing in.
That being said, we eventually started making our way out into the water, consistently getting stabbed by the sharp rocks. Josh then said he saw a stingray, which froze us both and we decided we weren’t moving!
We waited a while and saw nothing, so all got moving again. We swam the last part into the cave and it was well worth it! Unfortunately, we didn’t get any good photos of it, but there was a deep pool of water with light perfectly shining onto it from above. Beautiful!
We got in the water and chilled a little, before we got back out and had to make the treacherous swim back.
The swim was actually ok, but we did get stabbed by multiple rocks again.
We got back on the boat and headed back to the house.
We then got the BBQ going and Josh cooked up a storm! Once we ate our food, we had some games of Cards Against Humanity and Josh sent out the Contiki to catch some fish.
As they were bringing it back in, there must’ve been a shark on it, or two, as the power pulled the whole whinch down the bank and the contiki went underwater! There was a made dash to pull it in and it eventually relaxed, but most of the hooks were gone from the line! Another eventful weekend here so far!
We packedup the outside after this and then went inside for some sleep, after we got some great night photos!
Mr & Mrs Hale 