Day two in Vancouver saw Ilze and I embark on a guided tour of Squamish and Whistler. The tour bus did not call at the Auberge so we waited for it at the very Swanky Fairmont Hotel which allowed Ilze to swan in the foyer in front of the posh shops. She preferred Gucci bags, priced from $35.000.00. The Prada were a bit OTT.

A stunning and comfortable drive up to Squamish was accompanied by a very informative commentary from our driver Ed. We only had just over an hour here, but it was enough time to ride up the famous Sea to Sky Gondola and stretch our legs with a brief walk across a swing bridge crowded with selfie takers who seemed never to have encounter the “good old Aussie Rules hip and shoulder” technique and were left floundering in disarranged and bemused clumps.

It was then just over an hour to drive on to Whistler but it took longer as some over enthusiastic tourist had attempted to dive his Motorhome into the bay but was fortunate  enough to be caught up in the safety barrier. On arrival enquiry at the Information centre we discovered we did in fact have time for the even more famous Blackcomb Mountain Gondola up to a height of 2436m but even more importantly time for the impossibly infamous Peak 2 Peak gondola which has the worlds largest unsupported cable span of 1.4km at a height of close to 500m as it crosses over to Whistler a more modest 2.181m. At the top we had time for lunch and a selfie on the Winter Olympics medal presentation dais and then it was back down. You could go directly back to the village (Who on earth would) or go back over to Blackcomb Mountain and down from there. The photos do not do it justice you just have to come and visit us when we get home and watch the video. It was expensive, a wee bit scary, gloriously majestic on a perfect day and we would happily have done it all over again.

We had time to visit Shamon Falls on the way back but as it was mostly dry  we waited in the shade of a giant Sequoia and nicked a couple of photos off the internet.

At breakfast this morning we were talking to a young local keen to visit Australia but was afraid of the spiders. This from someone who lives with road side signs saying CAUTION BEARS next 65 km and Bear proof litter bins and our park entry ticket cautions trail walkers of the possible encounters with Wolves and Pumas and absolutely no health warnings as to the disgusting nature of the much loved local food delicacy Poutine. ( Chips gravy and cheese curd)

PS

Whistler as named after the call of a local variety of marmot.