Day 14 - Canada

Today would be our first border crossing. The border is about 30 miles before Vancouver and we arrived there around 1pm, the queue wasn't too bad so after 10 minutes of waiting we reached the border guard. The friendly guard asked us the usual questions (why are you here, where are you going, is there a bomb in your car) then sent us into the immigration office to get our passports stamped. At this point we had to answer exactly the same questions all over again but to a stern guard who looked like she'd happily lock us up given half the chance. Luckily she seemed content with our answers and so we entered Canada.

Road markings and signs are noticeably different, but the most obvious change is that speeds and distances are all in kilometres. This proved a slight problem as the speedometer in the car only shows miles per hour. It looks like you can probably switch it into kph but we haven't figured out how (annoyingly the hire company didn't give us a manual with the car).

Getting into Vancouver was straightforward (although whether we were breaking the speed limit is anyone's guess) but getting to Matt and Jayne's apartment was rather more tricky. Normally it wouldn't have been, but Vancouver is hosting the next Winter Olympics and as a result they've decided to build a new subway line - as we arrived at where the entrance to the apartments should be the road turned into a very large hole. After circling round the block for a while we gave up and phoned Matt and Jayne, who helped us eventually find the subterranean
car park.

By this time it was getting on for evening so we headed out for drinks and food. Meal sizes seem rather more sensible here than in America, which might be down to Vancouver's obsession with fitness. Walking through a crowd of people in Vancouver is a bit like walking through a field of tall grass.

After eating we wandered down to the sea front. Vancouver has beautiful beaches, populated largely by the aforementioned fitness freaks. And again, being on the west coast it has some pretty spectacular sunsets.

On first impressions Vancouver seems like a lovely place. The only downside (for me at least) is that smoking weed, while still illegal, is commonplace here and wherever you go you keep encountering the nasty stench. Maybe it's something you get used to.