My back is killing me! That is one way of describing the last few days but it is all completely worth it. I’m feeling much more settled and am really enjoying being here. The first two days weren’t easy. On Friday night I was messaging people back home to say I’d made the wrong decision and I should just come straight back. However after having a few days exploring, meeting people and discovering places I’d have to say the place is growing on me. Of course, I’m not working yet so everything is going to be painted a bit rosy but I hope that even when I do start my job I will still be able to explore this beautiful city. Friday and Saturday my body clock was still all over the place. I was falling asleep at 8pm and waking up at 2am which worked out well in messaging back home but it also meant I was eating more in the day and not sleeping at the right times. On Saturday I met two lovely people at breakfast who I went on to spend the next couple of days with. Both were just travelling through so wanted to take in the sights before moving on to their next destination. As it was a beautiful day on Saturday and we’d heard good things we set out to walk around the famous Stanley Park. Well, the pictures speak for themselves but Stanley Park is absolutely beautiful! There are so many people cycling, jogging and rollerblading through, there is a kids park (a great place to try out the swings) and there is an outdoor swimming pool. Approximately 8 million people visit the park each year and you can do a beautiful seawalk trail which takes you around the whole park. We spent about 2 and a half hours walking around and only covered a section. It took us out to the waterfront which again is stunning and you can see the mountains in the distance. Feeling hungry we walked around Denman Street (fantastic for renting bikes- try out Spokes!) and then came across Robson Street which is just such an incredible street. Beautiful shops and eateries from such a variety of cuisines form Robson Street and we all had a bit of a treat when we came across the biggest Whole Foods Market I have ever seen. I am actually in love! we popped in to get some lunch and they had the most incredible cinnamon cream roll to sample and I took about 4 samples – it was amazing! I’ve given up chocolate for lent as it’s always something I do and am usually very good at but this year I seem to have substituted it for cake! Since arriving, for some reason, I can’t stop eating muffins! Not so much blueberry or banana muffins but trail muffins, raisin bran muffins and the best one I’ve tried (from Whole foods) is the Date Bran muffin – oh my goodness if you come across Whole Foods buy it – it contains no sugar and is the loveliest thing I have tried.

Speaking of muffins I settled on buying a salad box for lunch and in the que got talking to an old man who just so happened to be buying a muffin. I asked him which one he was buying as it looked nice and he turned around and said, ‘You can have a bite of it if you want.’ I quickly answered, ‘Thank you but I don’t think I should bite into your muffin.’ Then he broke a piece off and gave it to me. He then went on to tell me to call him peaches, that’s his nickname here! I later found out his name was Frances but what can I say, my experience of Canadians so far is that they’re either super friendly or a little bit off their rockers. Either way I like it. After having our lunch and taking in some sun we strolled along Robson Street and ended up heading towards the visitor centre on Burrard Street and then checked out the convention centre. We headed back after this as we were going to the Giants vs Beavers game Ice Hockey match. I wasn’t too fussed at first as was a bit exhausted but figured I’m in Canada I have to go to a hockey match and it was really fun! The Giants won, there was only one goal scored in the match but there was cheerleaders, little hockey players in the interval and a fight to entertain us for the 2 hours we were there. Ice hockey is really big over here and if you manage to get a ticket for a Canucks Game that’s a pretty good match to go to. We also got a really good deal with the tickets, a ticket individually cost $23 however if you bought 4 tickets together it cost $99 and included a free burger platter meal to use at White Spot whenever you choose. We opted for the 4 person deal as luckily there was 4 of us and it was well worth the money. We didn’t have the burger that night but the following day when looking for somewhere to go for lunch we stopped off at White Spot thinking it would be a small meal of sliders when in fact it was a full burger and chips or salad meal that was absolutely delicious. It has been really nice to meet other people and go exploring together and after sleeping late on Saturday my body clock is now back to normal, well mostly!