On Saturday we decided to head east (away from the crowds and popular tourist places) and visit Belcarra Regional Park. The park is a 25 minute drive in the car away from our home and it is in the Port Moody area although Belcarra is a village itself. It is located on the entrance to Indian Arm (a steep sided glacial fjord) on the eastern part of the Burrard Inlet. The weather was fantastic, according to my iPhone it was 14ºc which is quite unbelievable for February!  We packed a picnic and our camera and enjoyed the afternoon taking many photos and enjoying the relaxing atmosphere, it definitely turned out to be a better choice than getting caught up in the crowds in Downtown Vancouver. 

The last week has really flown by for me, the fast paced events of the Olympics seem to have spread over to my own life somehow. So far getting in and out of work has been ok but last night was a bit of a squeeze and I could barely move my arms beside me. The SkyTrain overall has been way busier than normal but fortunately I haven't been in any major delays so far and I think that the transit operators have done a decent job of keeping things moving (it's a good job too because my employers never bothered coming up with a proper contingency plan!).

I've literally been heading straight to the station at 3:30pm each day and haven't been waiting around at all. I've heard reports of some people who've left later in the day and experienced waits of up to 2 hours so that's put me off hanging about after work. You can't really blame transit for those delays in the evening though, there's literally just too many people around. On the local news during the week many people (who have lived here their whole lives) said they have never known the city to have so many people on it's streets.

Last Saturday we were invited over to our friends house in Coquitlam for belated birthday celebrations. We had a great night enjoyed with good company. We also met some new people there who were friendly and also very funny! There were about 6 Brits there including us and it was interesting to hear about other people's experiences here. We managed to get home before 1am and then had a nice lie in on Sunday morning, thankfully I woke up without a hangover!

On Tuesday Canada played their first game (hockey) of the Olympics against Norway. I watched it at home on TV and really enjoyed the game, it finished 8-0 so I got to see plenty of goals! On Wednesday Lou and I went out for a meal at an Earls restaurant in Burnaby, we were celebrating because it was 7 years to the day since we first met (and from which we've been inseparable since). We had a few drinks after our meal but we had gone out quite early so we weren't home too late (it was a "school night" after all!). On Thursday Canada played their second hockey game of the Olympics this time against Switzerland. Again I watched it at home with Lou but this time it was a bit closer than before, we won 3-2 on penalties after the game had been tied at 2-2. It was a really exciting game and even though there were less goals it was actually a bit more entertaining than the Norway game. I'm looking forward to this Sundays game against the USA. I think it's one of the most anticipated games of the tournament for everybody, it's the Yanks after all! I'd really love to go to a game but the tickets were sold for the events over 18 months ago and I've heard the street prices for some of the games range from anything from $400 to $3000!

One thing I read which annoyed me this week was the negative media coverage the British press have been giving the Olympics. Of course there have been some hiccups but overall everything has gone reasonably well. I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised by them focusing on the bad points rather than the good, but it was disappointing nonetheless. If the games have been that bad then the press from other countries would be slating it too, but they haven't so surely that says it all really. Take it from me, the games have been really good and exciting and yes we may be the warmest city to ever host the games but there's still enough snow (just) on the mountains! Also, isn't it best to be able to enjoy the rest of the city in nice 12 degree weather as opposed to the freezing cold? I'm sure the tourists here who are enjoying it will say "Yes"!

Ever since we moved to Vancouver we've heard nothing but news stories about the Olympics but today is the first time I've been genuinely excited about it and I'm now officially on the bandwagon! My morning started with a much busier ride into work. The SkyTrain was twice as busy than usual and I had to stand with mere centimetres between me and the people around me. After arriving at Waterfront station (and receiving my complimentary newspaper) I was actually surprised when I got outside to see that the streets were still quiet (but it was only 6:55am I guess)!

I got to work at 7am as usual and worked for the first hour and half. Then we found out for certain (I'd brought my camera along in case) that the Olympic torch was passing right by our office so me and my mate (with the bosses approval of course) went outside to join in the excitement for an hour. None of our colleagues really worked either and most of them used the excellent location of the office to their advantage by opening the windows and sitting on the ledge with their legs dangling out (you don't seem to get the over protective health and safety stuff out here like in the UK haha)!

The atmosphere was great and everyone on the road seemed to get their own chance to be a 'celebrity'. Everyone who drove past the crowds were honking their horns and getting cheers, the best reception going to the garbage truck and it's driver who honked his horn wildly and lapped up every bit of attention that was going! I had a really good view of the torch when they eventually came around and I got some good photos which you can check out below. My friend also used my iPhone to take a video of it which I have posted at the bottom of this post.

I felt in a really good mood once it was time to get back to work and the whole event seemed to lift everyone's spirits. At 3:30pm as soon as it was time to finish work I got my march on and headed straight to the station skipping the usual 'Friday beer-time' in the office so I could avoid the chaos. Luckily it worked and although the station was very busy I managed to get on a train within minutes and get a seat too, let's hope this becomes a trend.

After months and months of talk, speculation and predictions the games are finally here. It's so nice to see Vancouver buzzing with even more energy than usual and it's great seeing so many smiles on peoples faces. I'm looking forward to the whole experience, one thing is for sure - it's going to be unique!

               

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