Whistler

The first day that I arrived I went out for dinner with my Great Uncle Bill and Ann (before we went out I had a sleep in the afternoon because I hadn't got much sleep the night before travelling on the train, my Great Uncle Bill woke me up only for me to reply "Where am I?"). The setting for this dinner was great. It was at a golf club, surrounding the golf club were the mountains and the sun was setting leaving an inky blue sky, stunning. Bill's daughter Gail and her husband Dave joined us for the meal. It turned out that they were going with their children (Carly and Jody about my age and Jody's husband Garrett) to Whistler the coming weekend and asked me to join them.

3rd September - Whistler Mountain Peak

The day after my trip to downtown Vancouver I joined them on the way to Whistler. The trip to Whistler is picturesque. The road is called the Sea to Sky Highway. The apartment we were staying in was very nice and luckily enough had space for me to sleep on the sofa bed so I didn't have to stay at a hostel. Whistler itself is a modern Swiss style village. I thought it was very nice. The next day we played tennis, something I haven't done for possibly a decade. We then went to Alto Lake and Whistler Creek. In the afternoon we went swimming in Blue Lake, it was extremely cold, I nearly bottled it but the calls from my relatives on the pontoon drove me in. The water was perfectly clear and the views were as ever amazing. I prefered relaxing in the hot tub in the evening, much more comfortable. In the evening Jody and Garrett arrived from Vancouver. The next day we played tennis again and when to Alto Lake, the others swam I decided to enjoy the sun. We wandered about town in the afternoon and went to Blue Lake. In the evening we went out for dinner with some friends of Gail and Dave's.

The next morning I went up Whistler Peak. It cost $30 and was well worth it. The views are spectacular. Some of my pictures I have uploaded capture elements of it. I got the gondola up to the ski lodge and then the chair lift to the peak. The chair lift was great because it was silent sweeping up the mountain side. At the top it was still pretty hot (the weather was hot and sunny the whole time I was there). If you go to Whistler you have to go to the peak.

Whistler was amazing. It was great to spend a weekend with some of my Canadian relatives who really made me feel at home. Whistler itself was enchanting. If you come to Vancouver make sure you at least do a day trip to Whistler. The great thing about Vancouver is its setting. If you simply stay in downtown Vancouver you really don't get an appreciation of what the area is and what makes it special.