Eastbourne Day 3

Today we checked out of the hotel, then went for some sightseeing on our own.

First down to the Sovereign Harbour development to the east of town. It was a bit cold and windy to do much walking around there. Then we drove to Pevensey to have a look at the ruined castle there.

After this we left Eastbourne and drove to the Cuckmere Estuary for a walk. We walked along the protected flood plain and saw many birds.

 The trees have quite a hard life here from the wind!

 Cuckmere Haven.

A cormorant I think. Saw some egrets too but they didn't stay around to pose for the camera.

After this we went a roast dinner at the 8 Bells in Jevington - very good.

Then we drove back to drop off the hire car in Crawley and got a lift to the airport. Flight home was delayed about 30 minutes but we arrived home about 8.30.

Eastbourne Day 2

Today we went for a sightseeing drive and a visit to Brighton with Phyllis and her daughter Tracy, Shirley's niece.

First we drove to Beachy Head and had a walk along the clifftops. We also saw the Beachy Head lighthouse, and the Belle Tout lighthouse.

Then we drove on through Birling Gap. Here some of the houses have been demolished because of the erosion of the cliffs.

Then into Brighton. Parked in an underground car park after queueing for a while, it seemed very busy.

We went for lunch in a Wetherspoons pub, burgers, sandwiches etc. Then a general walk around, onto the pier and along the promenade. Bought some Brighton Rock!

We walked round town, saw Brighton Pavilion and The Lanes then stopped for a coffee.

On the way home we stopped at the Brighton Marina development for a walk round.

Then back to Eastbourne to meet up with Tracy's partner Graham and out for a Chinese meal at HoiSum in Station Street.

After this we went for a drink at The Marine, which has some fantastic over-the-top Christmas decorations.

Eastbourne Day 1

A weekend in Eastbourne, so Scott can see Shirley's old stomping ground and we can visit some of Shirley's family.

The flight was at 6.20am, which meant getting up not long after 4! There'd been some snow overnight, and it was still lying on the road as we left.

We took a taxi to the airport, and the flight was on time and uneventful. Easyjet are using pre-allocated seating now, which worked reasonably well - it would have been better if people listened to which door they were supposed to use though...

We arrived at Gatwick to find it was just as cold as the Scotland we'd left behind. No snow though.

We'd booked a hire car through Holiday Autos. However the car hire base was at a hotel in Crawley, so we had to wait to get picked up at the airport which took a while, then wait for the car to get cleaned for us. All-in-all it was well over an hour after we landed before we were on the road - I think we'll be a bit more careful who we hire from in future.

We arrived in Eastbourne about 10.30, and drove round the area Shirley was brought up in - saw old houses, schools etc. Next stop was for a full English breakfast at The Rosy Lee Cafe - very good.

We then visited Phyllis's bungalow where she and Tina live. We took Phyllis out with us and went to check in to our hotel, the Travelodge on the seafront. This turned out to have been an excellent choice, room had all the facilities we needed, and a sea view too.

We went for a walk along the seafront and onto the pier. A bit quiet, as you might expect in winter, and pretty cold too.

Shirley and Phyllis.

Then we went to see Shirley's cousin Fred and his wife Pat, and took Phyllis and Pat to visit cousin Joan in her residential home in Pevensey Bay.

Later we met a friend, Rachel, who lives in Eastbourne. Had dinner in the Tres Amigos Mexican restaurant on Terminus Road near the seafront. All the restaurants there were extremely quiet, in fact we were the only ones in for the whole meal.

After that we went for a drink on South Street, it was much busier there with Christmassy stuff going on in the streets. Even Morris dancers!

We then went to bed early after a long day.

Vancouver to Scotland

Back to having French toast and apple sauce for breakfast.

Today it's time to go home after a wonderful holiday. Handed the car back with 2,087km on the clock (1,297 miles).

Weather is still very hot and sunny (about 28C), seems western Canada is having an Indian summer! Pity we had to leave now.

A fairly uneventful journey home, but didn't get much sleep on the plane. Arrived home about 9.30 am local time on Wednesday.

Link to more photos is here (this is a selection of about 230 of the best, cut down from the original 900 or so).

Vancouver - the Grouse Grind

Blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

We were missing the mountains, so decided to head for the nearest one to Vancouver, Grouse Mountain (1,231m 4,039ft). This is home to the Grouse Grind, a popular workout trail also known as "Nature's Stairmaster".

It's a steep trail which climbs 853m in 2.9km (2,800ft in 1.8 miles). The record for completing it is about 25 minutes, though the average time is apparently 1 hour 30 minutes. We managed it in 1 hour 20 minutes, but it was pretty hard going.

It's a one-way trail, you're not supposed to go back down the same way to avoid collisions. Fortunately there's a gondola that can be used as an alternative.

At the top there are various tourist attractions - bird-of-prey shows, lumberjack shows, paragliding, zip lines etc.

Here they'd rather you didn't walk to the top but prefer you to buy a chairlift ticket. Guess what we did...

Highlight of the attractions was an enclosure with two grizzly bears, which have been there for the last 11 years after being orphaned as cubs.

After taking the gondola back down we went for a drive in West Vancouver, visiting Lighthouse Park.

Saw some Douglas squirrels, but no bears!

We ended up in a seaside village called Horseshoe Bay where we stopped for a drink.

Dinner was in a local restaurant in Kitsilano called Local Restaurant, where we had nachos and burgers.

Vancouver - Stanley Park

Breakfast was omelette and toast. Weather hot and sunny today again.

We caught buses to Denman Street where we rented bikes for the day.

We cycled round Stanley Park which borders downtown Vancouver. This also has hiking trails across it so we walked a bit too. There's lots of wildlife too, geese, herons, squirrels etc.

A Polish woman was feeding a family of raccoons which seemed happy to come right up to her.

Before handing the bikes back we also cycled along to Canada Place, a cruise terminal and convention centre.

Later we walked the length of Robson Street, the main shopping thoroughfare in the city. There were beanbags laid out in Robson Square which came in handy for a rest.

The buses in Vancouver have cycle racks mounted on the front.

We walked to Chinatown for dinner visiting a traditional Chinese park on the way.

We caught the bus back to Kitsilano and had a drink in the Wings bar.