Flights, Vancouver and Picking up the camper van

23rd September 2019. The day had finally come for us to embark on our 6 month adventure. After an absolutely delightful start with breakfast and Prosecco at The Clubroom lounge in Gatwick, we sat on the tarmac for a good hour and a half, just about caught our connection at Rekjavic and landed at Vancouver at 6pm. A quick note on Icelandair; don’t expect food, and for anyone unfortunate enough to have an iPhone, you have to buy headphones to watch any movies etc. Out of principle neither of us bought headphones, but I would recommend the steak sandwich, genuinely good plane food (at €12). 

Following an uneventful stay in a random house in Richmond (I booked the cheapest place possible near to the airport...incredibly cute dog though) we went for a quick explore of Vancouver. En route I had a slight paddy about calling Cruise Canada to arrange a pick up; you need to put +1 in front of any number for it to work in Canada. Probably should have known that. 

We needed brunch so headed to Granville Island. The food there is great, just go if you have the chance and like food. Like the love child of dinerama and boxpark. There was a stall that just sold lemon curd squares which were amazing (just had a taster, we’re travelling for 6 months and not made of money). Amelia had a ridiculous pecan cinnamon bun with cream cheese frosting on top, and I had an over the top bagel with too much bacon, cheese, salad and an oversized gherkin/pickle. A great start to the day. 

Aside from the food, which was great, can’t stress that enough, the whole of Granville Island is a gem. Converted dock buildings turned into creative studios, theatres, markets, restaurants etc with a backdrop of downtown makes for a really cool environment next to the waterfront. We then wandered further along the waterfront to a beach where they were filming something, no idea what, and headed back to pick up our backpacks to pick up the camper. 

In my jet lagged state at three in the morning I’d been dreaming about not being able to pick up the van because they didn’t accept my driving license, crashing the camper trying to get it out of the car park (*parking lot), completely forgetting how to drive (haven’t properly driven since 2015), and numerous other weird and stupid situations that may have arisen from something going completely wrong. Fortunately none of these materialised and, barring a few wrong turns (mine or Amelia’s fault is up for debate) and a near miss of a set of cones, we made it to the Klahanie Campground at Squamish. It was fortunately empty when I had to reverse into the campsite, which wasn’t a pretty manoeuvre. We then faffed about like camping amateurs for a while trying to connect the electrical and water supply and arguing over who gets to do the black waste water (poo chute) in the morning. Surreal. 

Following our successful set up of the camp we tested out the shower for the first time (6/10) and had a dinner of soup, cheese and bread. Hikes galore over the next few days.