On board and away we go!!!

We decided after dinner last night that we would leave all the packing until we were fresh the following morning and so at 08.30 we started the process of putting away all the stuff we had taken out and completed the loading of our three suitcases and two roller bags, including a back pack containing Costco Crisps and nuts.

We had our usual in room breakfast of rolls and marmalade and banana and then headed down stairs with luggage to find the car and load up which we had completed by 10.45 and shortly afterwards we left for the Cruise Port where we arrived much earlier than we expected as there were no traffic jams and we were there just after 11.10 almost 30 minutes early. However we went to see if we could drop of the luggage and it was possible and so IO left Jennifer with the suitcases and went to park the car in the Public car Park which required me to leaver the terminal and then turn round and go back in again. We had to go thro US Immigration and he had some problems with my passport initially and then realised it was his system but he had me worried for a moment.

After a short wait we were able to board at 12.00 was able to have some lunch, a restricted choice but Ok and we sat next to a couple who had lived in Chicago where he was a policeman but had now retired to Phoenix. Some years ago he was given the opportunity of a policer swap and he went to Norfolk for two weeks to join the local bobbies which he found fascinating as they didn't have guns.. However he did tell a good story about he was in the car with the British Cops looking for a car with a nasty piece of work in it and the caught him up and opened the car door and the American put his together liker holding a gun, like the kids do, and shouted at the guy to get out and lie down and he did so fast as he was shocked to see an American Police Uniform with a guy who looks like he was hold a gun in Felixstowe!!

We did the usual emergency drill and then back to the room and Jennifer did some of our washing in the ships free laundry and Noel took some photos of the passing views. We did however stop about half an hour outside of Vancouver Port for the Ship to do a complete 360 degree turn for the Compass Man to check that the ships compass was accurate and apparently they have to this once a year and no doubt the shore watcher’s must be wondering what is going on. The weather was really nice today and the for the next few days which means that perhaps we can do some swimming on board. In fact whilst we were waiting for the suite to be made ready Jennifer went for a swim and said it was almost as warm as bathwater.

For dinner we went to the Colonnade which is a nice restaurant and it was having available food that Noel good easily tackle whereas the main restaurant had some great food but not much the Noel could eat as there was a lot of Garlic about which is a NO NO for him.

After dinner we sat in the area known as Seabourn Square on two comfortable electric lay back chairs for about 45 minutes and it was really quiet in there, where had all the people gone and then back to the cabin (oops sorry I meant Suite) where a little reading and then tiredness overtook us and by 10 pm it was lights out and looking forward to a good night with a little rocking.

NB- FINAL EDITING AND PHOTOS TO BE ADDED WHEN WE REACH SEWERD IN TEN DAY TIME

Wow its raining again

But it did not last very long as by 11.30 most of the roads and pavements were dry when we left the Hotel in the direction of Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver, and eventually found the very nicely laid out shopping mall. We walked around and it was reasonably busy and Jennifer tried two or three shops and eventually found the trousers she was looking for and after getting an extra 20% discount as the belt was missing we departed for  Steveston.

The short drive of about 20 minutes and we found somewhere to park and then walked along the promenade and found  restaurant where we both ordered burgers, not a great idea at a fish restaurant  but we both agreed that we have had enough fish during the past week and so a burger it was. It was reasonably tasty if not a bit to fatty for Noel. We then walked around the dock and looked at the fishing boats and as there were so many Chinese people either on the ships or walking around it reminded me of Aberdeen harbour in Hong Kong.


Steveston was originally a small town founded in the 1880s^[1] by William Herbert Steves ^[2] near Vancouver, British Columbia. It is located in the city of Richmond, British Columbia.



Location of Steveston in Greater Vancouver
Steveston village is a historic salmon canning centre at the mouth of the South Arm of the Fraser River, on the southwest tip of Lulu Island in Richmond, British Columbia. Since 1945, it has hosted an annual Steveston Salmon Festival on July 1, Canada Day.

The extreme southwestern tip of this southwestern suburb contains Garry Point Park, the site of the Steveston Fisherman's Memorial.
Thought you would like to know that!!!
After lunch we did a little bit more shopping and went to fill up the rental car with petrol which is always fun in this country as you have either to use a credit card of pay up front, But sometimes it wont accept the credit card and if you want to pay cash for fuel for a car of which you have no knowledge can be challenging. Luckily there wan attendant there who cam to help and showed me how to use the machine but the dispenser would only allow you to buy up to a maximum of C$100 per fill. So it started filling and got closer to the maximum spend and I was getting worried at the car must be full when returned, but finally it stooped as full with cost of  C$ 99.20  just a mere 80 cents short of the maximum.
We then departed and headed over to meet Holger and Sylvia at their house where w e stopped by for a couple of ours continuing our yesterday discussions. There house if very nice with a great view over the harbour entrance , I was going to take some photos but the sun was shining directly at us and so it would have been pointless but they have a lovely place.
After tea we left about 1815 and returned to the Hotel and had our evening meal of ham and lettuce rolls with a cuppa which was most enjoyable. So then Noel did the blog and photos and we started sorting out our luggage and partly repacking for tomorrow  mornings departure.
So this is our last night in Vancouver and we like this town and surrounds quite a bit and if you like Asian food , this is a place to come.

A busy day and lunch with friends

Gosh its raining this morning and there are people walking around with umbrellas, so perhaps back to bed, but NO they cried we have things to do.
Following a breakfast in our room comprised of a nice soft roll with marmalade and a banana we had decided to check out how the layout is at the cruise port for when we drop off the car and then go to the boarding gate. We can only board after 14.00 it says on our documents but we must have the car back by midday or we will have to pay for another 24 hours which I do not want to do. The Sat Nav said about 30 minutes to the Port but what with the rain and heavy traffic it took us almost an hour to get there but we believe the SatNav took us the long way around.

Anyway before arriving at the port we went through an area clearly with ‘druggies’ and/or down-and-out’s  before we arrived at Gas Town which is quite an upmarket area to to go from one very poor area to another in less than a few yards is concerning.
Gas Town is “Lively Gastown is known for its whistling Steam Clock and mix of souvenir shops, indie art galleries and decor stores in Victorian buildings. A trendy food and drink scene includes chic cocktail lounges and restaurants serving everything from gourmet sandwiches to local seafood. Hip eateries also dot the neighboring Downtown Eastside area, while the up-and-coming Railtown district is home to edgy fashion studios.” it says on Wikipedia anyway there were lots of people waiting for the Steam Clock to start.
We arrived the Cruise Terminal Car park and located the Car Hire drop off and then parked the car  and caught the lift up to the Cruise terminal floor and asked a very friendly security guy where do they keep the baggage trolleys and for some reason they have been banned??? So what we have to do is drop Jennifer off with the Baggage whilst the driver deposits the car downstairs and leaving the drop off zone and then driving around the outside of the terminal and then re-enter the car park and drop off the car unless I get lost that is.

We then went to meet our Friends at a very nice Steak and Fish restaurant called ‘The Coast’ which is very popular as just about every table was full, where we spent about three hours having a long catch up chat as I had not Holger for many years, perhaps 15 or more and he came with his wife Sylvia and their daughter Lisa and we had a really excellent lunch. We left there about 15.30 and got stuck in some traffic due to road closures and road works and then went to Whole Foods to collect some snack food for tonight’s dinner.
Once we were back at the Hotel Jennifer spent a little while planning her shopping trip for tomorrow where we plan to go the the Richmond Outlet mall and then on to a little fishing port called Steveston and from there hope to have a cuppa with Holger and family.
And so to bed after more sushi for Noel and Jennifer is having a ham and cheese dinner, no doubt taken with a glass of Kirkland plonk

The sun is shining

Well unfortunately Noel had an interrupted sleep and so in the morning we decided against a five hour drive to Whistler Mountain and instead we would do a drive around the various areas of Vancouver.

Crystal Mall below Hilton Hotel

Our Hilton Hotel is located slap bang in the middle of the Chinese population housing area which is fine except the mall in the building is like walking through Kwun Tong,

View around the bay from Stanley Park

and so after a few minutes we went to collect the car and headed off down town and visited Granville Island but parking was a mess and so we moved on. We found a great place to park and then came to floor level in the lift and walked straight in to a nice little café restaurant where we decided to have an early lunch and so Jennifer had enough Lasagna to fill up the complete Groves family, needless to say she left some and Noel and the Salmon with rice and veggies with strict instruction regarding Garlic etc.
After lunch we went and walked around the down town area and visited the Cruise port and sat outside Starbucks with a iced tea and/or coffee and did some people watching which was very nice and then back to the car and tour around the Island and Stanley Park visiting all of the beaches including English Beach. By this time it was about 15.30 and we decided that we should consider purchasing some food for dinner and perhaps tomorrow breakfast and we programmed in to the SatNav a Whole Foods in North Burnaby however the traffic was a nightmare as there were many roadworks and heavy traffic meant we did not arrive for about 50 minutes later as against the 15 minutes expected.
Our view of the downtown Vancouver is very positive and its a clean anew town with many modern buildings and no sign of beggars unlike Seattle . Having the large park quite close to the city makes it pleasant place to live and so with the mountain views one can well understand why so many Chinese people from Hong Kong came here all those years ago.

Vancouver Cruise Port

We bought some sushi and some shrimps and a few other bits and pieces in this shop and headed back to the Hotel planning  to have a quiet evening and perhaps watching the tele or listening to music with a  home produced meal, sounds great.. We are due to meet an old business  colleague of Noels for lunch tomorrow which should be nice.
We have decided to extend the rent on the car for a couple more days ad it will give us greater flexibility and so we plan to drop it off at the cruise terminal on Friday lunchtime

Next stop is Vancouver

It was a grey and slightly damp morning that we left the Hotel in Seattle and headed North on the highway to  Vancouver. Its is about 200 miles from one Hotel to the other and as we did not know how long it would take at the border crossing we planned a technical stop about 60 miles from Vancouver in Bellingham, which is a small town not far from the US/Canada border.
We have used Whole Foods shops in the past as they have excellent quality food and make great sandwiches to order and so we arrived in Bellingham at about 12.30 and the sun had come out and so we ordered our lunch and then sat outside in the warm weather.  At the check-out process the young lady manning the tills was being chatt

y, they like to hear the English accent, and the usual, How you guys doin’ today?? to which I answered great Thankyou, she then followed this so where are you guys from and where are you going to which answered UK and Vancouver, lovely she said, so I asked her if she had been to Vancouver to which she replied NO which I thought was strange as it not far away.
We continued out drive North and got to the Canadian Border and presented our passports etc and the immigration lady also wanted to know where we were from and where were we going and we gave her the correct answers and then she wanted to chat a little which is strange as there were quite a few cars waiting to cross, oh well it her way of checking us I guess. We continued in to the outskirts of Vancouver and we are staying at the HiltonMetrodome which is about 20 minutes from the main down town area but hotel prices are half the price and although we were about an hour earlier than check in they were able to pus us in a room right away which was really good. So after unpacking and a cuppa Noel did his blog and photos up to date and Jennifer had a rest.

Atlas Steak and Fish Restaurant

We had planned a steak dinner tonight and there were three good and recommended steak houses in our area and the first two were full p or you could get a table at 16.30 on 21.00 neither of which timing suited us and then the last one , which was also the most expensive, could fit us in a at 18.30 and so we went to the ATLAS Steak and Fish restaurant which was about ten minutes cab ride away. The environment was very nice and waiting and staff were falling over themselves to ensure we had the food we wanted and that Noel had no Garlic or Onions etc although they did not follow the requirement of no butter on the steak which came back to haunt me at 01.30 the next morning, not good but the food was excellent and Noel started with some prawns which really first class.
The back to the Hotel for a nights kip. For tomorrow we would decide in the morning if we want to drive out to Whistler Mountain which is about 2.5 hours each way  and it would depend on the weather and we would make a decision in the morning

Boeing here we come

We decided to leave early for our trip North to the Boeing factory and hoped that we would be able to get an earlier slot than 14.30 only it was full up. Anyway they have a nice exhibition area which we browsed around for an hour or so and then headed back to the café only to find that they were almost out of sandwiches, Jennifer was sort of Ok and she had something that was not great and Noel had some crisps and a muffin, not what we expected at all.

Aircraft awaiting delivery

Following lunch we joined the tour which is very well organised and take about 90 minutes and you get to see the production for for the B747, B777 and B 787 (Dreamliner) the B737’s range is made elsewhere. You are not allowed to take your cameras or mobile phones in tot he production line, but should you do so you would be arrested by the police, so we left our equipment in the lockers provided.

Inside Museum of Flight

Its is quite fascinating to look at the production and they explained they had learned about ‘lean 'manufacturing from Toyota in Japan and this helped them improve their efficiency. The cost of the various aircraft range from 48 million to over 250 million USD but as we were not planning to by one this week as I had left my credit cards at home……

Toyota Land Cruiser Engine!!!

The =tour finished at 16.00 by which time it was raining quite heavily which we hoped would improve the weather for tomorrow, we shall see.  We then found an Albertsons Supermarket where we purchased some food for the evening only to find the Turkey slices had been marinated in Garlic which is a NO NO fort Noel.
Our drive up to the factory was on the highways, motorways to you, and so on the way home we changed the Satnav to non motorway and so it took us through the centre of Seattle which is under construction it seems with new building going up everywhere and in the grey weather and rain we were glad we had decided to go straight back to the Hotel.
We decided to try and glass of Malbec with our dinner tonight and then had an early night after watching some of the Belgium F1 race

Sleep did not come that easy

Well after a very busy day we thought that we would sleep well but we were wrong even though we had a couple of glasses of wine the previous evening, we cant get used to these time changes as you get older it seems.
We we made it down to breakfast and it is quite restricted and they did not have Noel favourite which is Weetabix, required for his dietary requirements, and so he tried some other and also the  their version of orange juice but  unfortunately one or the other of them, gave him a tough time for the next two hours and so we could not leave the Hotel as planned to pick up the car from the Airport. Make a note to look for Weetabix and our usual orange juice. So after a couple of loperamide we headed of to the airport on the shuttle bus and went to collect the car from Alamo only when we got to the garage they had run out of the class of car we had ordered and so we got upgraded to a better one which was great.
From the airport we set up the SatNav to take us to both Costco, to buy some wine and Safeway for some food for the evening as we do not plan to eat out every night as it gets boring and expensive. So at Costco we purchased two bottle of their excellent Chardonnay and two bottle of their Malbec and then we found a few other things and so our cheap shopping became a touch more expensive. We then found a ‘Five Guys’ Burger restaurant  and this is a very good chain and it knocks the spots of Burger king and McDonalds. From there we went on to Safeway and we bought some nice smoked salmon and prawns, some salads and a nice box of really smelly strawberries and headed back to the Hotel and buy this time it was around 17.00 and we already had decided that we were too tired to go downtown but to eat in the room and watch tv, which is exactly what we did.
The film on HBO was Meryl Street, The Devil wears Prada which was worth a look.
The food and wine were excellent and we both slept very well this night. Tomorrow we go to the Boing factory near Everett to see the production line of their range of aircraft and we hope the weather gets better as it is cool and grey with rain forecast which quite frankly they need in view of the recent forest fires .

A good overnight sleep and then off we go

We had planned the night before our flight at the Gatwick Hilton to enable to arrive at check-in at around 07.40 is, the flight was at 09.50 but we wanted to get breakfast in the Departure lounge and buy Noel some sandwiches for the flight just in case he could not eat the food. So feeling relaxed we headed over and was able to check in pretty quickly which is great and being on Norwegian Premium class means the ques are very short and so ten minutes after arriving at check-in and going through the list of questions, like did we pack our own bags or are we taking any presents etc we were through in the departure lounge.
We had a light breakfast and then bought the required baguettes  and the flight left a few minutes early even after waiting at the runway end for an extra ten minutes due to a bird strike on an incoming aircraft but the flight was uneventful , Noel did watch his food intake and so arrived at destination a bit hungry, but that was to be expected. As expected their were huge queues for immigration as many international; flights had arrived at a similar time, why they don't spread them out I don't know?? anyway we arrived at the back of the immigration queue in a corridor as the main hall was very full where we waited about 10/15 minutes. I forgot to mention that the aircraft was on a stand away from the terminal and they had a set of stairs controlled by a remote and they guy working it was either new or did not know how it worked and it took him about fifteen minutes to get in position so we could go downstairs and on to the buses.
At the back of a queue with Noel on his walking stick a security guy said, Look sir why don't you go this way for people walking and other difficulties and I thought great except when we got to the area where the officers were there quite a fewer people there including we think immigrants whilst they kept on giving privilege to flight crew etc . Finally on lady saw me struggling and we got ushered through and then to collect the bags. Finally we made it out of the terminal and found the shuttle bus to the Hotel and we checked in. The Hotel is under some refurbishment so we found to our dismay that many of the bedroom windows had been covered with a opaque plastic sheeting to stop the workers looking in the bedrooms. However outside our room was only a car park and a main road.

At Dukes Fish Restaurant

We had a nice of cup of tea and rest on the comfortable beds and then showered and took the shuttle bus over to the large (nee Huge)MOLL n USA)

Jennifer at Nail Salon

and walked around a while then had a fish dinner at a recommended restaurant by trip adviser which was very good and working hard to comply with Noels food requests. After dinner we went around the building a found a nail bar as Jennifer wanted hers done and so Noel Joined her for a 20 minute session.
Then back to the Hotel around 20.00 and by 20.30 we were in bed and slept not badly considering the eight hour time change..

Plenty of room on Norwegian Premium

So that was our first day and we both thought that the Norwegian Premier seats are well worth it, if you want free booze its there and the food was not to bad either with a choice of three main meals
Ah thank heavens for a large comfortable bed.

The Tip of the ICEBERG

Yet another lot of Pakistani men have been charged with rape of underage girls in West Yorkshire and this is yet another example of where the Police have taken a step back rather than being accused of racism, or it was just plain stupidity.

This perhaps the tip of the Iceberg as many other Pakistani men have been imprisoned for the same offence and finally the Government is now staring to take this matter seriously by kicking the offenders out of the country and revoking Visas and UK Citizenship. However this does really compare to the Roman Catholic Church which has been covering up the same practice, only mostly with boys for many years. In the last week 310 Roman Catholic Priests????(pedophiles) have been charged with sexual offences against over 1000 young boys and girls in Pennsylvania USA. This is appalling that these so called men of god are using their status and position to take advantage of these young people. To make matters worse the Roman Catholic Church which has unknown wealth has apparently spent billions of Dollars paying off similar cases around the world rather than really confront the problem.
So there you have a family with good hearts who go to Church every week and putting money in the collection box only for it to be spent fighting to keep these cases of Priest pedophilia out of the papers. Words fail me.......

People are entitled to their own views about religion and based on the last two entries you can guess where I stand.

I believe you can be a good person with resorting to religion, and its a pity that so many people get trapped in to Religious Organisations to do good only to find out that is  really only just a business like selling soap.

Ah well lets move on.......

I thought the Church collection was for the poor people

BUT I WOZ WRONG!!!

I learnt the other day that the Church of England now has a total of 8.2 Billion Pounds invested in the share markets etc, that's an awful lot of 20 and fifty pence at the collection time in the Church and I always though that this money was for helping the poor and needy??. 

Clearly I was wrong and I get upset when I hear the the Church is criticizing Government for the lack of spending on immigrants and and of  course the poor and homeless.  This 8.2 Billion Pounds is entirely separate for the 2.3 billion pounds put away for pension funds.
They could do a lot of good with only spending 50% of this cash and what do they hope to achieve by leaving it invested when kids are dying on the streets, it beats me. Down right disgraceful I call it.

Anyway we are getting nearer to our next trip with about 9 days before we head of to Gatwick Airport for our first flight to Seattle where we spend a few days before driving up to Vancouver.

Another terror attack in London today, again it would the suspect was known and nothing done whilst over in Sweden in three cities hundred of hooded people set fire to many cars, the world is going mad and it will be interesting to see if they find out who was behind this car firebombing.

Oh well that's enough politics for today and very sad to see about the bridge collapse in Genoa with so many people dead whilst it would appear that two years doubts were raised as to the bridge safety, time will tell what happened.