Think of the world’s great and important cities, and you can always think of a landmark. Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate, the Coliseum, the Empire State Building, the White House, the CN Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, Christ the Redeemer statue, Sydney Opera House, etc. Everywhere seems to have a landmark or building that can be used as a civic symbol. The … Continue reading Stanley Park
I feel like we’ve been quite negative about Vancouver so it’s time to write about something that we thoroughly enjoyed and definitely lived up to the hype – the Vancouver Aquarium. Nestled in the middle of Stanley Park, which will be getting its own post, the aquarium is home to over 70,000 animals. The main attraction is the sea otters that were just as cute … Continue reading Vancouver Aquarium
The next few days of our Canadian adventure kind of rolled into one as we were suddenly put into limbo when Stewart was offered a job interview for a position on the other side of the country. He applied for it back in August, so we assumed he wouldn’t hear anything now that it was two months later, but it turns out the recruitment process … Continue reading Driving a golf buggy and visiting Queen Elizabeth Park
Having got a few boring tasks such as organising SINs and bank accounts out the way, we decided to take in some of Vancouver’s sights, starting with Granville Island. We’d heard a lot about Granville Island and its market – about how amazing it was and that it’s where Vancouverites and tourists alike flock for their market experience. Well, based on our initial experience, they were … Continue reading Granville Island, pizzas and a Canadian delicacy
Our first day back in Vancouver was very productive, armed with our new work permits we set out to get ourselves sorted so we could start applying for jobs. Getting a SIN number Similar to a NI number in the UK, the Social Insurance Number (SIN) is essential if you want to work in Canada and is fortunately very easy to get your hands on … Continue reading Getting started as workers in Canada
Boring post alert: probably only of interest to nosey people (looking at you Mr P Slaymaker) and those wanting to go to Canada on a working holiday visa For some reason, as the coach started to approach the Canadian border on our return from Seattle we both got quite nervous. Perhaps it was because this marked the end of our travels and the start of … Continue reading Activating our Canadian Work Permits
Given that it’s not that far from Vancouver, Seattle typically experiences similar weather e.g. lots of rain! However, during our stay, and in particular on our second day, we were fortunate to be blessed with excellent weather. Seattle reminds me a bit of San Francisco. It has a similar west coast vibe, the coastal location plays a large part in its identity, and the wider … Continue reading Our weekend in Seattle: Part 2
OK, so Seattle obviously isn’t in Canada, and as this is blog about Canada, you might find that odd. However, Seattle is just across the border from Vancouver, and having not activated our working visas when arriving in Toronto in late September, we decided that a short trip to Seattle would allow us to check out the city and activate the visas on our return. … Continue reading Our weekend in Seattle: Part 1
Well Vancouver certainly lived up to its wet reputation; it rained 3 out of the 5 days we were there! Fortunately for us, we were travelling to/from the city for 2 of those days and also really needed a day where we didn’t do very much to catch up on emails and have a bit of a rest. The forecast for our first full day … Continue reading Vancouver aka Raincouver
After the luxurious accommodation which Stewart booked us into in Salmon Arm, I decided we needed a reality check and booked the next night’s accommodation in Kamloops from the other end of the market. We were a bit confused when Google told us it was next to the 4 lane highway and assumed that it had got it slightly wrong. Unfortunately not! But hey, it … Continue reading Making our way to Vancouver – Kamloops, Hope and avoiding Rambo
Brown Bear Travels 