Landing in Vancouver

We flew from San Francisco to Vancouver, which was about a two hour flight. Nic picked us up at the airport, and we went out to dinner to a great little Japanese place near where her and Daragh live. Nice introduction to the city!

The next day we were on our own to explore, and do such things as get bank accounts, mobile phones, and social insurance numbers, all of which were completed successfully. We also started looking around at a few apartments, but didn't really find anything - interesting to look though. Friday was more apartment hunting - we're looking for something downtown, so that we can hopefully get away without buying a car. There is quite a bit available, which is good.

While apartment hunting, it's also giving us a great look around town, and it's a good way to get orientated, as we're on foot. Vancouver is set out in a grid system, which makes it very easy to get around. Also, at home, where you would say, for example, 282 Queen St, and you'd have to find out where on Queen St that is, they have made it very simple. Here, you would say "Robson at Thurlow". So you would know that it was on Robson St, where it meets Thurlow St. Smart. And, even better, all the parallel blocks are in the 1100 numbers, so you can easily tell where things are. So easy!

On Saturday, Nic took us out to Jericho Beach. That's where the photo was taken - nice views back to downtown Vancouver, and good to get a bit of perspective. It was a lovely day, so there were people out sailing, biking, running etc. Very nice. I wouldn't say the beach is up to kiwi standards, but it's still a nice place to go, and there are lots of nice parks alongside. And, it's only about 10 minutes from downtown, so it's great!