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| Nice sign... but we were still 9 miles out! |
Following the last couple of
hectic days, we had a lazy morning. It
was drizzling but we hoped it would ease off for us to go and explore Whistler.
The Baileys spoke to the office about getting into Whistler 10 miles away. The owner suggested that parking an RV there may
be difficult this weekend but there are buses instead, which seemed like the sensible
option. What I think happened was a
slight miscommunication – the Baileys heard that it was a 7-minute walk to the
bus stop, so we set off on foot. After
45 minutes down the steep slope from the RV park and along the edge of a major
road we had found no bus stops nor in fact seen a single bus go past! If we continued it would be a 3 hour walk
into Whistler, so we weren’t even a third of the way yet. After a brief pow-wow, Si and I turned round
to walk back to RV park whilst the Baileys continued walking to see if they
could find a bus. The hill up to the RV
park was steeper than we remembered – 44 flights of stairs according to my Fitbit
– and the Baileys didn’t find a bus stop. So, about an hour after we left them,
we caught up with Jo and Stu, sweaty and exhausted, to pick them up in the
RV. I think that the RV park lady meant
that it was a 7 minute drive to
Function Junction where you can then hop on a bus into the town – but obviously
didn’t make that clear enough! It was
nobody’s fault and thankfully we were all able to laugh about the situation and
were keen to get on and make the most of what was left of the day. By then we didn’t want the hassle of waiting
for a bus so we drove straight into town. What the RV lady was not wrong about was the
parking situation…. By now it was 130pm, the sun had made an appearance and all
five of the parking lots in Whistler were rammed. It wasn’t looking good.
The main aim of getting into
Whistler today had been for Stu to get on the ski slopes as he was really
looking forward to getting the chance to ski again and somewhere as spacious as
here. In the middle of a jam-packed car park we told him to get out and make a
run for it. ‘Save yourself, Stu, at
least someone may get something out of the day in Whistler if we have to turn
around and retreat!’ After Stu quite
rightly abandoned us, we had a run-in with a parking attendant who looked at
the RV and said ‘just no way guys, not going to happen today’ but then went on
to give us directions to try somewhere else.
We headed up into the North village towards the ridiculously expensive
lodges and hotels but managed to find some free on-street parking that looked
legal. Result! And it was only
215pm! It had taken us over three and a
half hours but finally we were parked and in Whistler (well, on the outskirts).
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| The wood-laden resort of Whistler |
After a snack and coffees the
three of us walked down into the town, rather stiffly in Simon’s case as he was
seizing up after the earlier exertions.
The resort of Whistler itself was lovely and there was a great
atmosphere as there was a lot on for the Easter weekend. We watched a dog jumping competition and
strolled around the shops. My walking
boots from 1996 had started falling apart and letting water in (no surprises
there), so I decided to stop being tight and invested in some new shoes!
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| The view towards the village stroll with Whistler Mountain behind it |
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| The marvel that is.... Poutine! |
We wandered through the village until we found a good
table at the Amsterdam bar in the village square and made ourselves at
home. It was a great spot for people
watching, with ice hockey on the television and patio heaters to keep us warm.
Jo went to go and find the skier, who returned very happy after a couple of
hours on the slopes. Apparently, even
with the number of people around in the resort, the slopes were almost deserted
and of great quality for any of you skiers/boarders who want to know. There was good music playing in the bar and
Simon even persuaded the bar lady to play a single by Stu’s band, White Raven
Down, over the PA, which we all enjoyed.
Then, we introduced the Baileys to one of Canada’s finest traditions –
Poutine! Even if there isn’t much wrong
with a nice plate of steaming hot chips, the addition of cheese curds and
lashings of gravy only adds to the experience.
The Baileys were sold and have made it their mission to eat as much
poutine as possible for the rest of their trip!
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| We sent this photo to the Baileys to encourage them to get back before we ate this entire portion of poutine.... they had to get their own in the end! |
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| A maze of ski-runs |
We moved on to the bottom of the
gondolas that were now stopped for the night.
There was even more of an apres-ski party atmosphere here. We moved inside to the Dubh Linn Irish
pub. They had the ice hockey on. I was designated driver but the others enjoyed
a few beers. A live covers rock band,
Red Chair, came on at 9pm and they were very good. We left about 1015pm as I was starting to
worry whether the roads may start to get icy.
We timed it perfectly to catch a free bus up to the lodges where the RV
was parked and the drive back to the RV park was thankfully uneventful.
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| Good powder! (Apparently, I wouldn't know) |
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