An awesome day in Whistler

What can I say about Whistler, except that it is an adventure sports playground!  The fact that it is on Vancouver's doorstep is another tick to why this is probably the most livable city in the world!

Andrea and I hired a car to go up, as between the two of us, it worked out cheaper than the bus and also meant we could stop en route - as the Sea to Sky Highway is beautiful.

By the way, please never use Budget car rental, they are full of hidden costs and lies.

Anyway, the drive up was amazing.  Whistler is not very high, and the road follows the side of a sea loch with dramatic mountains on each side.  We stopped at Brandywine waterfall, which was pretty impressive, and I struggled a little with the overlook - a shear drop into the gorge.

Whistler has all the usual ski resort feel, including the high prices, but for some reason it just completely took me in, and that is in the summer.  I therefore cannot imagine what it is like in the winter!  Just before the village, we gave a French guy, who was hitchhiking, a lift and asked him for advice on what to do.  He also mentioned that although many of the European resorts are larger, the snow does not compare.  Also, why so you need a massive resort when you only ski a bit of it.  My memories of Val d'Isere are huge motorway pistes!

We decided to spend some money and do the typical tourist trap thing of going up the mountain on the lifts.  It turned out to be fantastic for two reasons.  Firstly, we went right to the top which involved a final small chair lift.  At the top there was snow and the occasional glimpse through the clouds of the valley below.  It started snowing while we were up there and was freezing!  On the way down, the snow turned to rain and we were both soaked through by the end, which involved going into the restaurant just to warm up again.

Secondly, Whistler connected two peaks for the Olympics and this involved taking a gondola with the longest free span, which was quite impressive, over the valley.  Some of the gondolas have glass bottoms, which again is very impressive.

During the Summer, Whistler becomes a mountain biking paradise, which seems I clever year round money maker for the place.  It looked incredible, so much so that next week, I am going to cycle up and treat myself to a day in the mountain bike park for my birthday (it is very expensive!).  It just cannot be missed.

Last night I believe Andrea and I were involved in the first Old Gregorian (ex-alumni of my school) meet up in Vancouver.  It was a great occasion, with four of us plus Andrea, and also four different eras (of want of a better word).  I just feel sorry for Andrea, as I think we talked about school all night! 

Today Andrea flew back to the UK to start her new job on Monday.  I was tasked with packing the bike and managed to squeeze in all sorts, as her only other bag was carry on.  On the way here, they had not weighed the box, so I decided to stuff in the cheap tent we bought.  At the airport, the box was weighed, and well above the hold luggage limit, so I was waiting for a huge charge.  However, God bless Air Canada, as they allow bike boxes to be much heavier!

I am home alone now, as the family I am staying with are all on holiday in Vancouver Island.  Not sure what I am going to do with myself now that Andrea is gone.  It is a bit strange being on my own again!