Nice People Thread No. 14, all Nice and Proper

kabayiri

zagubov wrote: »

...
Kab, what's the age limit for emigrating? I know Aus is 45 and NZ is 49 (or they were a few years back). Does Canada have a limit as well?

You know, I don't know.

I think I'll end up claiming asylum in years to come!

vivatifosi

hjd wrote: »

All suggestions for accommodation in Calgary/Banff/Vancouver (and suggestions what to do in Vancouver) gratefully received! The only things we have booked/paid a deposit on are the cruise and the Rocky Mountaineer train. Hope to book flights next, then accommodation and excursions.

We stayed at the Pan Pacific in Vancouver. A bit expensive but not only does it have drop dead gorgeous views, it also has the advantage of being immediately above the cruise terminal.

What we did when we were in Vancouver:
* Went up to Grouse Mountain: there are free shuttle coaches up to the mountain from outside of the Pan Pacific. We wanted to do this as we wanted to see the bears. The view down to Vancouver is beautiful and you can do things like zip lining. The guy at the hotel gave us a great piece of advice - if you can't see the tower on the hill opposite, don't go up on that day as you won't get the views. If you are very fit, you could consider the Grouse Grind (walking up, no way back or stopping area if you can't do it). We did not do that but saw plenty of people who did. We would go back to Grouse, ranking about 4/5.
* Capilano Suspension Bridge. We visited this on the way back down from Grouse Mountain. The tour bus will drop you off if you ask. We enjoyed the tree walk and cliff walk more than the suspension bridge. It is fun, but a huge tourist trap. Have ticked that box. 3/5
* Coal Harbour and Stanley Park. We loved this and would visit time and time again. We walked there from the hotel via Coal Harbour, which is quite pretty. The park is huge, and there are lots of trails to explore. We walked around the sea wall, but it is also possible to hire bikes and ride round. Would go back in a heartbeat. 5/5.
* Seaplane ride. I didn't do this, DH did. He enjoyed it but again says "that box is ticked". 3/5
* FlyOverCanada. We both found this disappointing. It's an immersive cinema experience which claims to show all of Canada, but if you've ever been to Soarin at Epcot in Disneyworld or in Disneyland California, that's about 100 times better. 2/5
* Minor league baseball - the Vancouver Canadians. This was our wildcard activity and we had an absolute blast. We watched the game followed by fireworks (they don't do the fireworks every game) and it was great fun. Would definitely do again and the people in the crowd were lovely, happy to talk to us and explain the rules! 5/5 (we had fantastic weather, it was great fun and the home team won)
* Street theatre. There was a street theatre festival on while we were there and there were street entertainers everywhere and great fun to watch. 4/5.
* Shopping. Not bad, but not on a par with London or New York. 3/5
* Gas Town. Every go somewhere and wonder why you bothered? We went there early and had the place to us and the homeless. Went to see the steam clock, which was broken when we got there. 1/5
* Eating out. Great choice of restaurants in the city centre, which is about a 10 minute walk from the hotel where we stayed. The area around our hotel closed quite early. Actually Vancouver is quite an early to bed city full stop. 4/5

Things we want to do next time we go:
* Visit Victoria and Vancouver Island
* Take a trip further out of Vancouver and into the mountains.
* Visit Science World
* Visit Granville Island
* Take a HoHo bus tour
* Take the RIB boat tour around the harbour.

ukmaggie45

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Risky for sure.

But that has to be balanced against the risk that you don't take one and wake up one day too old/unhealthy to enjoy/achieve whatever it is you wanted to do.

You're a wise man, Hamish! :T Fortunately I've always been a home body, never wanted to travel further than Wales really, and the occasional trip to London to see GKs and maybe take in an exhibition. So I don't miss what I never wanted.

What I do miss is sailing the boat. Maybe one of these years we'll have suitable weather for me to have a sail. At least now Duck is moored off the Sailing Club we can use the launches so it might just be possible. Climbing up from a rowing dinghy into a tossing boat is way beyond me now! :rotfl:

Looking forward to your reports from all sorts of strange and exotic places when your Trip comes to fruition! You will have to write a book, who knows, it might even fund a second Trip!

Oh, and on the subject of taking kids out of school to travel there was a moderately interesting article about that in The Grauniad yesterday. Along with another one too.

hjd

vivatifosi wrote: »

What we did when we were in Vancouver:

Some great suggestions there, thanks.
Have copied them to my planning schedule.

zagubov

kabayiri wrote: »

You know, I don't know.

I think I'll end up claiming asylum in years to come!

I've looked it up. They allocate points according to various factors. The optimum ages they want seem to be 20-49 then it tapers off to 54. You can still move after that but must have connections or a firm job offer. I added up my points and what do you know, I'm too past it.

Need to speak to my mate who teaches in Vancouver to see if he can fix me up with a job. :j

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

vivatifosi wrote: »

Hamish, if you go down the two wheel route, Investment Biker by Jim Rogers, Red Tape and White Knuckles by Lois Pryce and anything by Austin Vince (who is married to Lois and they ride bikes together as well as writing and producing DVDs on how to do it). Plus of course Ted Simon's Jupiter's Travels... though that was written in a different era.

Good book choices. I've read some of Lois's stuff before. Amazing person.

I think the two wheel option is still a bit of an outlier. Although I've had motorbikes pretty much forever and done some decent length trips on them before (although nothing even close to the length of this one) I only ride a few hundred miles a year these days so would have to get a lot fitter and more used to discomfort. I reckon we'll try a couple of camping trips by motorbike this summer and see if it's tolerable. Suspect not.... But worth a try.

The NC500 might be a good place to start.

I'm not a biker and never will be, but love reading about Lois's exploits and its written from a lone female perspective. A couple of years back she rode her bike solo round Iran. I'd love to go to Iran. It is absolutely on my to do list but DH thinks I am absolutely bonkers.

Iran remains on the route option list.

I reckon it'd be amazing to see the whole country.

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

You're a wise man, Hamish! :T

LOL - I'm rarely accused of that.

zagubov

I was saddened to read that another Brian O'Nolan fan died today. I notice that in the Arms they're speculating whether the grim reaper got a motorbike for Christmas, judging by the massive efficiency (s)he's displaying right now.

Doozergirl

GDB2222 wrote: »

How easy is it to take a career break, though? There must be a lot of anxiety attached that you won't be able to find a decent job when you return. Plus your skills will be rusty.

Us women manage it when we choose to!

Having anxiety about what happens when you get back isn't a great reason for not having experiences. In effect, it isn't choosing at all.

Doozergirl

hjd wrote: »

Some great suggestions there, thanks.
Have copied them to my planning schedule.

Note to self: hjd has a planning schedule. Find out what that is and get one

Thank you Viva, that is very useful!

hjd

Doozergirl wrote: »

Note to self: hjd has a planning schedule. Find out what that is and get one

Thank you Viva, that is very useful!

I have a spreadsheet with the dates where we will be and when; have filled in the known items. Plenty of gaps.
Rest of it consists of links/documents/ideas randomly saved under Holiday 2016.
Sounds much more efficient than it is...