Saturday, June 12, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Vancouver
Not exactly a lot of I did this, I did that stuff to write about. I was fairly busy with orientation at SWAP and getting stuff sorted out - bank account, cheap mobile phone (no such thing here) and searching for jobs most of last week. I must of applied for 30 or 40.
Weekend was fine and sunny, I got out to Stanley Park for a look. It’s a really nice park with a sea wall walkway right around it and a big forest in the middle. I managed to walk around the eastern end, and back through the middle via Beaver Lake.
Vancouver city is pretty nice, mostly neat and tidy. Like anywhere it has it’s not so good places, such as the eastside tragedy. I didn’t see this for my self, well I ventured into the edge of it when West Hastings street turned into East Hastings street. With-in a couple of blocks it goes from normal downtown type of street to looking a bit rough with homeless people and other scruffy buggers about the place.
The street the hostel is on is slightly amusing, it’s quite normal with small pizza places, bars and other usual stuff all with a slightly trashy theme. What got me are the two, shops advertising 25c peep shows.. right ok! Anyhow my curiosity wasn’t so great I had to find out more hehe. I’m told Granville Street used to be pretty seedy. Since it’s been opened to traffic again it’s improved a lot.
I like the SkyTrain. It’s kind of like the London Underground, except its all new. The trains are fully automated with no drivers. If you sit up front you can look ahead out the front window, and of course down the tunnel when underground which is interesting. Vancouver is also one of the few places in the world that still has a trolley bus network, the buses whiz along with their futuristic electric sound.
Reality is I have only seen a tiny bit of Vancouver’s downtown area.
On the job front I have given up on Vancouver for the moment. I have some ideas about what to do next, but we’ll see :)
I’m all packed up, and heading for Victoria on Vancouver Island to stay with some family friends for a bit.
Weekend was fine and sunny, I got out to Stanley Park for a look. It’s a really nice park with a sea wall walkway right around it and a big forest in the middle. I managed to walk around the eastern end, and back through the middle via Beaver Lake.
Vancouver city is pretty nice, mostly neat and tidy. Like anywhere it has it’s not so good places, such as the eastside tragedy. I didn’t see this for my self, well I ventured into the edge of it when West Hastings street turned into East Hastings street. With-in a couple of blocks it goes from normal downtown type of street to looking a bit rough with homeless people and other scruffy buggers about the place.
The street the hostel is on is slightly amusing, it’s quite normal with small pizza places, bars and other usual stuff all with a slightly trashy theme. What got me are the two, shops advertising 25c peep shows.. right ok! Anyhow my curiosity wasn’t so great I had to find out more hehe. I’m told Granville Street used to be pretty seedy. Since it’s been opened to traffic again it’s improved a lot.
I like the SkyTrain. It’s kind of like the London Underground, except its all new. The trains are fully automated with no drivers. If you sit up front you can look ahead out the front window, and of course down the tunnel when underground which is interesting. Vancouver is also one of the few places in the world that still has a trolley bus network, the buses whiz along with their futuristic electric sound.
Reality is I have only seen a tiny bit of Vancouver’s downtown area.
On the job front I have given up on Vancouver for the moment. I have some ideas about what to do next, but we’ll see :)
I’m all packed up, and heading for Victoria on Vancouver Island to stay with some family friends for a bit.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Getting there..
Left New Zealand at 2pm, 12hrs of not much sleep, 6.30am arrival at LAX. Checking in for the next flight later that day was not enjoyable, then I found my self restricted to one part of the airport once checked in with about 8 hours to burn and very very tired. I wanted to die :)
The United flight to Vancouver was good, smaller plane. There was some kafuffle with the seating, so I got shifted right up the front, that suited me. They were really good about it, and gave me a free drink and nibbles then I nodded off which helped.
Arriving at Vancouver was a nice experience, the airport really is something. Working holiday visa processed no problem. Got on the sky train into town, found my hostel after some confusion and then proceeded to sleeep.
Orientation at SWAP the next day was informative. I got a bank account opened later that day no problem. The customer service at TD was simply amazing.
Booked into the hostel until Wednesday next week. Two of the guys in my room are from my hometown in NZ.. Crazy.
The United flight to Vancouver was good, smaller plane. There was some kafuffle with the seating, so I got shifted right up the front, that suited me. They were really good about it, and gave me a free drink and nibbles then I nodded off which helped.
Arriving at Vancouver was a nice experience, the airport really is something. Working holiday visa processed no problem. Got on the sky train into town, found my hostel after some confusion and then proceeded to sleeep.
Orientation at SWAP the next day was informative. I got a bank account opened later that day no problem. The customer service at TD was simply amazing.
Booked into the hostel until Wednesday next week. Two of the guys in my room are from my hometown in NZ.. Crazy.
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