Day 10 - Nanaimo to Whistler

Today we had our earliest start. The alarm went off at 6.15am and we got ready and checked out of our 7th floor room at The Coast Bastion Inn. We got a tea and coffee to go from the restaurant and drove the 10 minutes to the ferry terminal. We checked in for the 7.45am crossing and lined up with the other cars.

From the car Laura eyed up the dogs being exercised ahead of the crossing. Eventually the line of cars started moving and we drove onto the ferry. Rather excitingly, we got to be the first in a new row and drove all the way to the front of the ferry - oooh!

We headed upstairs to the restaurant and joined the queue to get some breakfast. In the queue we chatted to an older woman who was like the typical Canadian retiree that you might imagine (thin, cheeky, pale blue leisure suit, sun visor) and we shared stories from our trip. We also chatted to a couple of guys who were originally from Derby but had been living in Canada for about twenty years.

The breakfast on the ferry was nice. Again, the toast was awesome. Laura had some cinnamon apple toast thing as part of hers and I had salsa on mine.

We passed the time by playing rummy (Laura began an epic losing streak) and I wandered the upper deck and took photos of the view.

When we came to leave the ferry, Laura petted a small dog called Princess that we’d seen in the queue for the ferry. The dog was very cute (and soft).

After we drove off the ferry we encountered our first “traffic circle” (a roundabout) and started the 45 minute drive up the inlet from Horseshoe Bay to our first stop - the Sea to Sky Gondola at Squamish.

The drive was very scenic and we enjoyed the views over Howe Sound. We kept our eyes peeled on the verges for wildlife. Up in the mountains there were clouds and we worried that they might ruin the view from the summit at 885m. When we checked the webcam the previous day it was engulfed in clouds! :( And we’d already booked our tickets (beat the line! no queue!)

When we got near Squamish though, the weather seemed good and it was warm and sunny. Even though, we knew it might be cold near the top, so we packed wooly hats in our rucksack - just in case!

There was no queue for tickets (!) and we didn’t even have to queue to get a gondola so we had our barcodes scanned and got a gondola to ourselves. Within seconds we were being whisked up the side of the mountain. It was very quiet and the view around us was fab. Laura was a bit scared. I was about 2% scared.

At the top of the gondola the views were awesome. It was very quiet still – I think there were only about 10 cars in the car park – and so it almost felt like we had the place to ourselves. We walked across a suspension bridge to a viewpoint and took silly photos on the bridge. 

  

After lots of view admiring, we got a tea and hot chocolate and sat looking at the view for a while. I FaceTime’d Mum & Dad (and Nan – hello!) and took more pictures.

We chatted to a Canadian couple about Canada, our trip and their grandkids :) They have a season pass to the Gondola and the woman of the couple tries to come up at least once a week.

Before heading back down we went to the gift shop. I bought a t-shirt and Laura found a nice coat, but not in her size. When I was paying, the cashier recommended a short 45 minute hike we could do before heading back down, so we followed her advice and headed off on the panorama trail, leading to a nice viewing platform.

The trail was definitely worth the effort and the view from the platform was awesome. It was very hot by now (nope, didn’t need those bobble hats after all!) and we were very glad we’d done it.

As we wanted to get to Whistler, we didn’t hang around much longer and got a gondola back down. This time the wind had picked up a little bit and the gondola swayed as it descended. Luckily it didn’t sway so much that it hit a pylon and crashed, plummeting us to the ground! Phew!

The drive to Whistler was pretty and in no time we were there. It’s a lovely town and clearly a lot of thought went into designing it. Car parks are underground, with shops and restaurants at street level and hotels are generally above them. We eventually found our hotel (no thanks to the rubbish in-built sat nav - duh!) and parked up.

Free sweets at check in!

We were a bit too early to check in so we explored the town. The main village stroll is very nice and there are lots of rugged, outdoorsy shops, sporty shops, touristy shops, bars, restaurants and coffee places. The view up to the mountains was great and you could see all the ski runs.

We got some food at a grill and played more rummy (Laura’s losing streak continued, 5-0 to Natalie).

Somehow we ended up spending far too much money on rugged, outdoorsy, sporty clothes! I bought some walking / hiking leggings and t-shirts from Eddie Bauer (I will now look SUPER COOL when we do our hikes). Laura bought t-shirts and a hoody from Roots. Laura also bought TWO coats from North Face and I got a t-shirt. In the end it was like a scene from Pretty Woman.

We watched some downhill mountain bikers coming back into the village. Sadly, we didn't really have time to explore the peaks and go up the gondolas as they closed at 4.30. Instead, we went back to the hotel.





Our room was lovely (apparently we'd been upgraded too). We decided to make use of the pool and hot tub. The hotel robes were so soft and fluffy! At the pool we chatted to some Scottish guys and their two sons and swapped travel itineraries and stories. They have a Jeep too, but there’s is bright red (we wished ours was red!)

  

After spending quite a long time relaxing at the pool we made it back to our room and got ready to go out for some dinner. 

We found a bar/grill/pub near the Olympic Park and ate some poutine (cheesy chips and gravy) and bolognese. We played more cards, this time Scag (or Clag) and despite a valiant effort in the final third of the game, Laura still lost. Boohoo!