Yesterday’s heavy rain has stopped so we have been able to leave the pub….today is very grey and ther is a constant fine mist…very moist but ok to get about. the waterfront is beautiful hopfully we will see it with blue skies over next few das and see the huge mountain backdrop.

This cuddly little chap was eating some plants on the side of the road…We pulled over and watched him for a while and named him Barney.

vancouver has one of the biggest china towns in north america. lots of colou and plenty of interesting smells from the spice shops.

gastown is vancouver’s historic district down near the waterfront. it is similar to sydney’s rocks with plenty of old wharehouses and the like being turned into galleries, souvineer shops and cafes.

heres a photo of the hotel’s labrador retriever

we found a japanese bbq so some good healthy food at last…..only one problem it was eat all you can. They did put a two hour limit on it but the food kept on coming you just filled out a card of what treat you wanted and they brought it out and you cooked it up on the hotplate.

although very overcast the vancouver harbor looked spectacular although very quiet. The olympic flame has been put down there it was a pretty impressive structure so was the huge killer whale sculpture made from black and white six inch bathroom tiles.

the trip from seattle took about 2 hours and was pretty easy until we nearly hit the city and the skies opened up and bucketted…driving wasnt much fun, so we found the hotel gave the keys to the fancy vallet guy in the silly hat and checked in.

we need to make the same journey back to seattle to drop of the lovely nissan and fly to vegas for the crazy weekend with our friends later in the week

Location:vancouver

the toilet is better than a lot of hotel rooms we have stayed in. The place is over the top and was opened in 1934 by queen elizabeth i to give you an idea of splendor. Rooms huge and antique, bit old fashioned for my liking nearly to comfortable.-expecially with choice of pillow types and chocky covered strawberries which turn up.

The hotel has a few shops- omega selling watches, cucci and louis voiton- sure ive spelt it wrong but couldt afford even to walk in (infact they probably woulnt allow slobs like me in)

The hotel has a labrador you can borrow to take for a walk….gary was thinking of taking it on a one way walk..

Gary and a bit of rope around a dog’s neck.,,,,not a good idea! Its not going to end happy

They have compementary bmw pushbikes too but to wet today…might be a fun way to get around later in week.

We got a few beers for nightcap last night in their bar-prices where strangely reasonable and food looked huge and good price not what you would expect.

it had to happen after two weeks of perfect sunny weather…its all over and pissing down outside….looks like it will be very damp all week. Fortunatley theres a huge underground network of shops and subways so we shouldnt get too wet, but today is just too wet to explore the sights.,.,we have identified a brewhouse close by so we might fill in a few hours over lunch and hope things clear up…but the forecast looks pretty wet.

mmmm thinking its the last thing you need

this one was the first one ever made and was their test jet. it like the concorde and air force one will be restored and part of a new hall in the museum

this museum was huge and was located at boing field just out of seattle.