Vancouver

 On our last day in Vancouver, our friend Lydia took us for drive through downtown Vancouver and dropped us off at the airport in the afternoon.

We stopped first at a viewpoint in Stanley Park looking towards North Vancouver.

The Lions Gate Bridge named after two mountain peaks north of Vancouver.

Downtown Vancouver. 

Lydia then drove us around the Park and I was surprised by the amount of vegetation and trees. I had presumed that it would be mostly open fields.

We then drove to the Gaslight district downtown to see this steam clock. The link has a video with sound that you can listen to. I took a video but Blogger does not allow me to upload it without converting it.

Gaslight district.

The other way. This area used to have an unsafe reputation but it has apparently been cleaned up. I was surprised by the number of high-rise apartments which is much greater than in the Australian capital cities. 

For lunch, we went to a restaurant at Kitsilano Beach where I enjoyed some particularly tasty mussels. They are local as you would expect.

The sand on the beach does not compare with our beach in Urangan, but you have to take what you can get when it comes to beaches.

Some of the ships waiting to unload their containers and then be placed on trains which would have priority over our Canadian train.

Our flight on Air Canada took over 14 hours and the seats on the 787 were definitely narrower with less legroom than what we used to get on a 747 or A380. It was not a pleasant flight with a nearby woman coughing every minute and a few noisy children and babies nearby.

Marianne is not too keen about doing any more 14 hour flights. I don't blame her. If you take these long flights, it is essential to reserve an aisle seat and get up to stretch your legs every couple of hours.

We landed in Brisbane on time and took the train into the city. This is the Tilt Train that would take us up to Maryborough.

The train was almost full when we set off. The train is much cheaper than a plane and seniors get a 50%  discount. There is also more room for your backside and legs.

These seats line the length of the platform and they are under cover. Compared to the awful platform at Union Station in Los Angeles, this is luxury.

This is Australia's fastest train and the train tilts as it goes around bends. Most of the time for this journey, it travels about 50 mph.

With all the rain we have experienced this year, everything is green compared to the west coast of America. Normally this would still be brown after a dry winter. We even had some rain during the trip from the airport to the city. 

We arrived at Maryborough West station on time. The locals wear shorts.

The bus then took us to the Boat Harbour just 200 yards from where we live.

I was somewhat nervous about doing this trip. Despite my fears, we did not catch Covid and except for the late trains, everything turned out as planned. Fortunately, I had built in some buffer days to allow for delays, but for future trips, I may plan two buffer days instead of one. We were extremely tired in Toronto and my legs seem to weaken after five days on the Canadian train. We are getting older.

However, it was a wonderful trip and both train journies were well worth doing. And of course, it you get the chance, go to Victoria by ferry.