Canada: 3rd - 10th Dec part 2 (Chilliwack & Vancouver)

We were met after a (mercifully) quick flight from Kelowna to Vancouver, by my niece Maria (confusing!) and her hubby Eugene. Our flight had been delayed so we didn't get a chance to look round Vancouver, we just headed away back to their home in Chilliwack (south towards the US border). We struck rush hour traffic to the journey took about 1 hour, 40 mins. It was dark when we arrived, which gave us a chance to see home cool Christmas lights on houses.

Their home was stocked with a grand animal population - four cats and one dog called Scooby. The kids loved it. They stroked and patted and tickled the dog and Baby (ginger and white long-haired), Audi (large black & white short-haired) and Twitch (small black & white short-haired). We didn't see much of Valmer (very large black & white long-haired) as he was shy of new people.

We had a very cosy room downstairs and installed our bags, then enjoyed a delicious dinner of massive slabs of steak meat, rice and veges. My grand-nephew (!) Steven showed up with the rock band game for the PS2, so Oskar and he had fun with that for a while, Oskar showing strong persistence on the drums, and even I had a go at bass guitar (and I was OK at it, on the Easy setting using just three keys). No-one was keen to sing, unfortunately.

On Wednesday we got up and about early and headed off with Maria and Eugene. Our first stop was the stables where their young gelding, Daze, is looked after. He was a little shy but accepted some hay from us and posed for photos. We then went by the fire station where Eugene is based, and tried on helmets and sat in multi-million dollar fire trucks. They are impressive.

A quick stop at the supermarket to stock up on last minute items for the flight (and lollies for Niamh and Oskar's classes), and then we drove to Vancouver, which took much less time at this quiet time of day.

In Vancouver, our destination was the Science Centre, and amazing building shaped like a golf ball. It was brimming with interactive science-related activities, such as puzzle solving, testing your strength, body- and water-related activities, and a really cool room dedicated to sound and light. There was a huge kaleidoscope through which I took photos of Niamh and Teddy.

We stayed at the Centre for as long as possible but eventually we headed for the airport. Maria and Eugene had a bite to eat with us and then we had to give them a hug goodbye, and of course, the big THANK YOU for a great catch up and a fun day before we left.

The overnight flight back to NZ was horrible, as usual, and we were very glad to be back on home turf. It's been a really special experience but after five weeks we were ready to come home. James collected us from the airport and we returned to a clean, tidy house which was very welcome.