Today was our last day in the beautiful city of Vancouver. We got up early – 6am! – and we were out the door by 7:30am. As we had to return the car this morning, we drove out early to try to find Cleveland Dam again. This time, we were successful! Cleveland Dam is on the Capilano River and was a Supernatural location for Season 2, Episode 7, “Simon Said”. It’s a great episode where we meet Andy (played by Gabriel Tigerman, who is just so adorable it’s not even funny. Seriously, I want to put him in my pocket and take him home!), who is a “special child” like Sam. It has some of the best Star Wars quotes ever in the episode, like Dean’s “He full on Obi-Wan’ed me!” and Andy’s “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for!”

Cleveland Dam is at the end of the episode, and if you haven’t watched it I won’t give away the ending, but when you walk up across the top of the Dam, you can really just picture it in the show. It’s just amazing, and the Dam itself is huge. Just massive. Sam got some video footage of the Dam because the waterfall it creates is just… there are no words really. It’s like 3 times bigger than Huka Falls in New Zealand.

It was raining pretty hard, and the rain was ice cold too. There was a film crew up there as well, though we’re not sure if they were taking down or setting up. It was for, once again, Human Target, who we saw them filming at St Andrews on our second day here. We got photos of the sign the location manager had put up but we didn’t take photos of the set or scaffolding. Besides, it was too cold and wet to hang around!

Then we had an adventure in locating a petrol station to fill the car up with petrol to return it. We finally found a gas station that accepted overseas credit cards (FYI, Shell in Canada doesn’t!). Once we were full again, we got lost (again) on our way to Pacific Central, which is the Bus/Train station – kind of their transit centre. We had to pick up our bus tickets to Seattle for tomorrow morning, since our bus leaves at 5:55am. We’re catching a cab at 5am, and checking out of the hotel at 4.45am. Lucky us!

From there, we had to return the car to Budget. We were on our way in about half an hour, due to some nugget doing his na-na in the office because they wouldn’t rent him a car when his license name doesn’t match his credit card name. It was… interesting to watch! From there, we headed down to West Georgia St for Subway and Timmy Hos for breakfast! From there, we headed to the Vancouver Lookout at the Skytower. It is 84 Ft in the air and quite impressive. The view is 360 degrees, so we got a HEAP of photos. The great thing about the tickets to Vancouver Lookout is that once you have them, you can use them as many times as you like that day. So after we went up this morning, we went back down to the ground floor and then while Sam was finding out where the nearest Boston Pizza was (too far to walk unfortunately!), I went into the gift shop next door for a look-see. We exited with a $4 shot glass as a momento!

On the next block to the right on the corner of West Hastings is the big RBC where they filmed Supernatural‘s episode “Nightshifter”. We’d already taken photos on the outside but we went inside to use the ATM. It is just beautiful inside. Marble everywhere. Gorgeous. I didn’t want to risk security so I didn’t ask if we could photograph inside.

From there, we headed up into downtown to Chapters, the 3 level bookstore. I managed to get book 2 of the Supernatural series, Bone Key. There’s only one more that’s been published that I don’t have, but hopefully I can either pick that up in Chicago or Toronto, or even in Saskatoon. Sam got a Jim Butcher novel that he’d been wanting. From there, it was a long hike up Howe to Davie Street and then up Davie to the Timmy Hos. On the way, being the little penguin that I am in my beanie and then the hood of my jacket, I can barely hear anything, so I completely missed the BLACK CHEVY IMPALA that drove up Davie Street when we were waiting to cross the road! Sam saw it and pointed it out when all I could see were the tail-lights, and when I yanked off my hood and beanie I could hear the distinct rumble of the engine. Now, I’m not saying either of the Js were driving it, or that it was the Impala (well, one of the 4 they have), but it was a Black Chevy Impala, around ’67, and I MISSED IT.

*SIGH*

Anyway after lunch, we headed back to the motel. It was just too wet, too miserable and cold to do anything and too far to walk to anywhere of interest to us. Once back at the hotel, we caught up on internet stuff, before watching a movie on TV (a chick flick Sam won’t admit to watching) and then the Penguins Vs Bruins NHL game on TV. Man, I’m going to miss that about Vancouver! After the game, and Sam talking to a couple of people online, we headed back down to The Vancouver Lookout for some night-time shots, including the Olympic Rings on the barge in Coal Harbour. We even did a video of the whole 360 degree view, complete with running commentary!

When we were done there, we headed back up Seymour Street to the Japanese restaurant we had dinner with Paola and Sue last night and had dinner there. It was such good food and Sam suggested we go there again, so we did. We even grabbed a takeout menu on the way out so we can show people the prices when we get home – they won’t believe us! SO CHEAP!

The walk home was wet – as usual – and now it’s just doing some laundry and getting all packed up for the early morning tomorrow. Up at 4am for the last pack and get downstairs to checkout. Showers tonight, bed early (around 11) and then lack of sleep before we get on the bus to go back to the US and head to The Windy City!

We will definitely miss Vancouver – a lot! Thanks everyone who we got to spend time with and catch up – it really has been a special treat to meet up with you guys (Matt, Esther, Rod, Sue and of course Paola!). There were a couple of people we didn’t get a chance to see which was a shame, and a few things we missed out on due to time constraints (Museum, Art Gallery, Zoo etc) but we did get to see a lot of Vancouver we wouldn’t normally so that was a treat. And it will give us an incentive to come back!

We’ll more than likely post on Facebook as soon as we’re in the hotel and have the internet set up in Chicago. We land around 7.55pm, and it’s about a 40 minute cab ride from Midway to O’Hare. Sam’ll no doubt update this post with a pic or two as well as update the gallery.

So see you all in Chicago!

Suprisingly, no hockey game today!

We got up at 7am this morning and were out the door by 8:30am, which I think was a record for us! I got a good 9 hours sleep last night, having fallen asleep on the very comfy couch in our hotel apartment, but Sam the poor thing was doing some work last night and didn’t get to bed until 1:30am. Still, he managed to drive us through the most challenging day yet: Supernatural Filming Tour Day. This was the big one. The big circular tour around town.

And boy did we go in circles!

We started out looking for Heritage Hall, which was used in Season 1, Episode 17, “Hell House” which is one of my favourite episodes. The building was used as the town’s Records Hall I guess, and was seen when Sam exits the building and meets up with Dean, and together they walk to the Impala – I think where Sam proceeds to play a prank on Dean by turning up his car stereo on music he’d never listen to. The Heritage Hall is actually on a busy street of Vancouver, so we just parked across the street and Sam jumped out and took the shots from across the street.

The next location on the list caused us to get lost in suburbia hell, and we got so frustrated we gave up. We were looking for Cenacle Convent but unfortunately I think my google maps request didn’t give me the correct address or location. Anyway we found some lovely homes but not the one we were looking for. After going around in circles for about 20 minutes, we decided to just move on to the next item on the list: The Winchester Family Home.

We thought we had found it on the trip, but looking at the small photos we have has a guide, if the house number in the photo is the correct one we were off by about 300 houses hee! And just checking my Ipod, which has every episode of Supernatural on it, it’s not the right house. Which kind of sucks. But that’s okay!

We moved on from there to head south into Delta, and located Kirkland House, which we know is definitely correct! It was used in Season 3, Episode 1, “The Magnificent Seven” where the boys and Bobby taken on the seven deadly sins! This house is just gorgeous and has been restored with the help of the community. It really is just beautiful.

From there, it was just a short drive to Ladner, to find Clair’s Bed & Breakfast and the Ladner Anglican Church, both used in Season 1, Episode 3, “Dead In The Water”. The church is the one that Lucas draws and gives to Dean, to try in his own way to tell Dean what’s going on, what has scared him so much. It’s just amazing being in the location and seeing the proximity!

We got very,  very familiar with Ladner, and especially Ladner Trunk Road as we went around and around in circles for about 30 minutes, trying to find our way to 72nd Street. Can I just preface this with a disclaimer that I suck at directions at the best of times, but put me in a city where I don’t know my way around, and then put me in a country where there’s more east than west instead of the other way around and we were all in trouble! After going in circles for so long, we stopped at Subway for food and Starbucks for coffee, since Ladner don’t have a Timmy Hos (how dare they not have a Timmys I ask you!?), before we collected our wits and got lost yet again. Finally though, we worked out where we were going and found where we needed to go!

The next locations we tried to find, we couldn’t because they were gated off. Turns out you can’t get to private property owned by Boundary Bay Airport! Shame, we missed out on seeing the Crossroads from Season 2, Episode 8, “Crossroad Blues”, the gas station that Dean walks to in Season 4, Episode 1 “Lazarus Rising”, or The Roadhouse from Season 2, Episodes 2 (“Everybody Loves A Clown”), 6 (“No Exit”) and the remains in episode 21 (“All Hell Breaks Loose Part 1″). We did however get to drive up the deserted road, from Season 2, Episode 2, so I took a photo of that.

Next we headed south to Surrey to what we call “The Scary House”, after once again I got us lost about 3 times! But ignoring that, this house is owned, it seems, by the City Of Surrey and is hired out by the city to film crews as a location. The house was gated too, but we got photos of it from the gate on the driveway. This one was a special house for us, because not only was it used as Reverand Le’Grange’s house in Season 1, Episode 12, “Faith”, and the house that the family move into that everyone thinks is haunted in Season 4, Episode 11, “Family Remains”, it was also used in other shows like Fringe, which Sam and I also love to watch. This one we really got a kick out of seeing.

After The Scary House, we had to get some petrol, so we put some gas in the car – which was an adventure in itself – and then went in search of the Reverend Sorensen’s House from Season 1, Episode 7, “Hookman”. We got some great shots of the Church and the Reverend’s House, which is currently a real church and the church runs a daycare in the house that was the Rev’s house in the show.

Then… we got lost. Again! After a minor meltdown, Sam found our way, and we went in search of The Old Terminus Pub. We found it – and found they’re renovating the pub. We got some photos anyway, and then headed up Queens Ave and found the houses that were used in Season 3, Episode 8, “A Very Supernatural Christmas”. They were pretty awesome, actually and we had to do a stealth mission to make sure people didn’t think we were casing the joint!

Then we tried to find our way to Port Coquitlam… and yes, you guessed it. We got lost. Again! We ended up back over the other side of the river we’d just crossed. So we stopped at Maccas for lunch and rested while we figured out where to go from there. We eventually found where we were going, but couldn’t find the Riverview Hospital when we got there. By this time it was nearly 3:30pm and we still had The Burnaby Village Museum and Kitsilano Beach still to go, so we opted not to turn back and search and just head straight for the Burnaby Village Museum. We found it – and it was closed. So we took some pics from the outside and went back to the car and headed to Kitsilano Beach.

It was dusk turning to night when we finally got to Kits Beach but man oh man, it was worth going there. Kits Beach is a place I’d been hearing about for years and as Sam said, if we’d come all the way to Vancouver and didn’t go to Kits Beach, I’d regret it. The beach isn’t like those we have back home but the scenery, the peace on the place is just … tranquil. And cold. But it was worth it. We got some photos but nothing like we could have if the sun was shining. Which it hasn’t since Wednesday last week! But that’s okay!

Now we’re heading down to meet Paola for dinner! I’ll update when we get home!

ETA: Took us half an hour to walk down to where we were meeting Paola, which was a great walk, and it was mostly not raining which was nice! It was cold though – I was rugged up in my five layers of clothes! Paola is just the most awesome person ever! She’s beautiful inside and out and I love that she’s just honest and up front and what you see is what you get. She’s strong and independent and she doesn’t hold back – I love that in people. A lot of my close friends are like that!

Anyway the three of us then walked up to the Japanese restaurant where we were meeting up with Paola’s friend Sue, who is just amazing too, and the four of us had the most wonderful dinner! Sam and I shared a noodle box, which had noodles and chicken, salad, dragon roll, prawn skewers and these little baked dim sum type things. And soup! It was so delicious. I’d forgotten how much I love Japanese food! It’s been a good … what, 17 years since I’ve had real Japanese and sushi?! So good!

What was better than the food, was the company! The four of us just laughed and talked and got along so well, it truly was the most awesome dinner. And the most multicultural one we’ve had! We had an Australian, a Kiwi, a Pom and an Italian all at one table in a Japanese restaurant. If that’s not cultural diversity at it’s best, I don’t know what is!

I know I’ve said that about all the people we’ve met up with but I guess everyone is different and special in their own right. And I think it helps in this instance, that not only do I get along with Paola so well, but Sue will be in Chicago for the Supernatural Convention we’re going to as well! So we now have a friend there that we can say hello to!  Sam’ll no doubt add the photos once he jumps online! They turned out brilliantly and I can’t wait to get them home and get them printed and framed! Just awesome!

We walked Sue and Paola down to the skytrain and then walked back to our hotel. It was raining pretty steadily but unfortunately neither Sam nor I shrunk. We did, however, dropped into – you guessed it – Timmy Ho’s on the way home and got a hot chocolate, on Sue’s suggestion. They really are like crack! Addictive! The amusing part was behind us in line was a couple of police officers, lining up for their nightly doughnuts! LOVE IT!!

~*~

I must make mention here the sad news we received upon our return to our hotel. The father of a dear friend of ours passed away today. The whole Martin family is in our thoughts at this time, and we send our condolences. Mr Martin was just so lovely and it’s very sad that his time has now passed.

Today was attempt #2 at getting to Buntzen Lake. We were going on Friday but it rained so much and it was definitely too cold to go looking for the lake – plus it was getting dark really quick. Today, however, we got up at 8am, and were out the door by 9:30am to find Buntzen Lake.

For those who haven’t heard about it, Buntzen Lake is in Anmore, which is in the northern part of the Greater Vancouver area. It’s a massive lake – 4.8Km long – and the trails around the lake is used for hiking, mountain biking and equestrian riders. It’s a really beautiful area, with plenty of picnic benches, and is up in a forest setting, with massive pine trees surrounding the area. Buntzen Lake has been used in a number of movies, including Jensen Ackles’ movie, Devour, as well as Lake Placid, The Highlander, Freddy Vs Jason and The X-Files. It’s tv credits include Smallville, Pathfinder, 4400, and the two shows I care about: Dark Angel (starring Jensen Ackles) and Supernatural (of course).

It was used in Supernatural‘s season 1, episode 3, “Dead In The Water”, and was prominent in the episode. Rumour has it that most of the lake scenes were filmed on the north side of the lake, but due to the rain, even if the trails were open we weren’t going to walk them anyway. However, I have a feeling that the picnic area we were able to get to was used in Supernatural for the jetty that was used in the opening sequence but I haven’t checked the episode yet though so I can’t be sure. Either way, it was wet, cold and windy there. We did get some photos taken – Sam protected the camera with his hat! Standing on the jetty though, it was just such an impressive location. The surrounding pine trees are SO tall, and the air is crisp and clean. It’s a shame it was wet, because it would have been even more beautiful with the sun shining. We took a morning tea snack and at our rolls under the covered picnic area and enjoyed the scenery.

From there, we went hunting for Bordertown, which is located at the very end of 224th Street in Maple Ridge. When you get to the very end of the road, you turn left and just follow it around. If we weren’t afraid of being arrested and deported, we would have climbed the fence and gone exploring but alas we are so we didn’t. So I got photos of the tresspassing sign! Bordertown is Supernatural filming location #2 for the day, and was where they filmed Season 2, Episode 21, “All Hell Breaks Loose Part 1″. It was the deserted town where the special children were taken – and we see Andy and Ava again, and meet Jake for the first time. We get more of a glimpse into what Azazel, the Yellow-Eyed Demon, wants with Sam Winchester.

Since we were in Maple Ridge, and our friend Rod – who I’ve known since about 1997/98 through the internet! – was in town from Vancouver Island (where he lives) and was staying in Maple Ridge for a day or two, we organised to meet up at Supernatual filming location #3, The Billy Miner Pub! Billy Miner Pub is located on River Road, Maple Ridge, on Port Haney. It was used in season 2, episode 3, “Bloodlust”. The Pub’s interior was used for the bar scenes where Sam and Dean meet Gordon Walker, a fellow hunter with a specialty for vampires, for the first time. Sam, Rod and I had lunch together at this dank, dark and a truly comfortable pub. It’s small, and since it’s Heritage Listed, there can’t be any changes to the building. It was actually freezing inside the pub too – I was wearing 5 layers of clothing and I was still shivering! But it was great!! I looked around the room and I could just see in my memory Dean and Gordon sharing bourbons and bonding over hunting. It was just surreal. And to be there with Sam and Rod… it was the best 3 hours I’ve had in a long time. We talked about work, about Canada, America, Australia, Mexico, family, travelling, HOCKEY, and generally catching up. It was just brilliant!

We were headed to Kitsilano Beach after we left the Billy Miner Pub. To get there, we had to go back downtown and then over the Granville Bridge. Since we were so close to home and it was getting dark, we decided to stop at the motel first and grab the game tickets for that night so we could go straight to the Vancouver Giants Vs Edmonton Oil Kings game. It’s a good thing we did because when I got the tickets I discovered the game started at 5pm not 7pm like we thought! It was already 5pm! So we rushed down to the Pacific Colosseum, paid the $8 for parking and rushed inside. We missed the first 15 mins of the game, but the score was still 0-0 when we got there so it was okay. First stop was the merchandise store though! We got a Vancouver Giants puck to add to our collection and I couldn’t resist a Giants’ Moose called “Monty” – he even has a Giants’ hoodie on! So cute! (Those who know me well, know I can’t resist a fluffy, furry stuffed toy!) We were a little disappointed with the clothing choices so we didn’t get any shirts and I couldn’t find any scarfs for the Giants, so we just took our two selections and headed for the food concession stand. It was the end of the period, so we got some dinner (burgers and fries with skins on them – I’m so over burgers!) and then headed to our seats – Section T, row 4, seats 5 & 6. We were to the right of the penalty box, and below the glass line, which was great! Sam got some fantastic shots in the last 2 periods of the game. The Giants won the game 4-2. Sam was going for the Oil Kings – he has some sort of skewered loyalty to the Bruins because they were his first WHL game! I, on the other hand, was going for the home team, since I didn’t really care either way. Thomas Vincour, the Stars prospect on the Oil Kings, was scratched again, so it didn’t matter to me who was playing.

Once the game was over, we headed back to the hotel where it is nice and warm! We have some laundry to do tonight because we’re out of clothes again (I love Worldmark having a washer and dryer in the hotel room! So convenient!) and it’ll be good to get to bed before 12, because we’re up again tomorrow by 7am and out the door by 8am! Tomorrow is our last Supernatural filming location tour – and it’s the big one. A four-five hour driving tour with about 15-20 locations listed in one big giant loop. We’ll take a detour to Kits Beach on this tour to get some snaps. And then tomorrow night, we’re meeting up with my friend Paola and a friend of hers for dinner. I’m very excited about dinner!

Sam will update the photos from today when he gets the chance, but for me? It’s time to settle back on the couch and watch some CSI Vegas, since TSN is on football. BLEH.

Due to an issue with roaming on our Blackberry’s, we will be out of contact on them until we hit Chicago (Wednesday) and get a US SIM Card. If you need us, drop us an email or facebook message, or call us at Worldmark’s “The Canadian” on Hornby Street (Vancouver).

Chilliwack Day dawned wet and cloudy. We set the alarm for the ungodly hour of 7am, so we could be out the door by 9am. First stop was Fort Langley. To get there, we had to go east on West Hastings St, which changes into East Hastings St. We’d been warned that was an area to avoid on foot, as this is where all the vagrants have been moved to in preparation for the Olympics in February. It’s an old part of Vancouver, with a lot of run down and decripit buildings that have most likely been condemed, and bars on all doors and windows. It reminds me a lot of the ghetto areas of New York on all the cop shows on TV. Its okay to drive through but I wouldn’t feel safe outside the car.

But to get to Highway 1, you have to go down E Hastings St. On E Hastings Street is a Supernatural filming location, which Sam was adament we were not going to, only driving past. That was fine with me, assuming I could get a photo. I missed it yesterday as we headed to Port Moody but thankfully this morning I got a photo of the outside of “Sparticus Books” where Supernatural Season 4, Episode 18 “The Monster At The End Of This Book” was filmed. The scene was where Sam and Dean find out their lives have been turned into a book series, with a disturbed fanbase of girls who are a little too into their “characters”. The photo was taken with the camera though, so it will have to wait until we’ve updated the photo gallery to be added.

Once we were on Highway 1 though, it was smooth driving to the township of Langley, apparently where the province of British Columbia was founded. It was in Fort Langley that our next stop on the Supernautal filming location tour was located. It was pretty easy to find, to be honest, and again, I didn’t think to take any photos with my blackberry! They’re on the camera too. But the park was the location for the end scene of Supernatual Season 2, Episode 9 “Croatoan”, where Dean admits to Sam what their father, John, had whispered in his ear before John exchanged his life for Dean’s… That if Dean couldn’t save Sam, he would have to kill him. Yet another emotionally charged scene for Jensen. The park is beautiful and yet I can’t help but wonder if they drove the Impala onto the grass or used movie magic for it!

After Fort Langley, our next stop was Abbotsford. The Matsqui Lutheran Church is located in a northern part of Abbotsford and was our last Supernatural filming location for today. This one I do have a couple of BB photos of! This area was the location for Season 5, Episode 2 “Good God, Y’all”. The intersection by the church is the main intersection in town in the episode where the whole town has gone mad and turned on each other, everyone thinking everyone else is a demon. For those who watch the show, you’ll recognise these:

It was really cold in Abbotsford too. The mountains had low cloud cover and it looked likely to snow up there as the day wore on, which would account for the temperature. Still, wasn’t as cold as Port Moody!

We headed into Chilliwack for lunch, where we found a Timmy Hos of course. We got a soup and sandwich combo and a doughnut for desert – blueberry doughnut. OH. MY. GOD! So good!!

After lunch we headed out to find Bridal Veil Falls, the 6th largest waterfall in Canada. Unfortunately, they’ve already closed the walking tracks for winter as there are landslides in the snow and rain. But we managed to get some on the camera from the side of the road. Considering how well the photos came out, I can only imagine just how big that waterfall is in person!

Since we couldn’t hike to the falls, we turned back to Chilliwack and went to the mall on the outskirts of town. After wandring through a couple of stores we went into Sportchek, and I made a beeline directly for the NHL gear! I got a black long sleeved TEAM CANADA t-shirt (on special for $25 CAD) and Sam chose to forgo his Texas Stars jersey and got an authentic Team Canada jersey for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games in February. These jerseys are only available in Canada – no store in Australia will import them – we know friends who have tried! It’s a really pretty jersey actually! And on special for $135 CAD. Most authentics cost over $250 CAD/USD.

Right now, we’re sitting in Wendy’s, a burger chain in North America, and waiting for time to slowly drag by until we get to go watch the WHL’s Chilliwack Bruins Vs Edmonton Oil Kings at the Prospera Centre here in Chilliwack. We’re also hoping to catch up with Rob and Matt after the game. Rob’s playing hockey tonight against SFU in Burnaby, so we’ll have to see. Either way, Sam and I have to figure out what to get for dinner ince neither of us want junk food. We are junked out already!!

Cross your fingers we find something and I’ll ETA the post later the game with the rest of the night!

ETA:

The game in Chilliwack was awesome! We got there early and ended up talking to some Canadians who picked that Sam was a Kiwi from his accent – a first! It was around 5 degrees or less because we had steam coming out of our mouths as we talked. Once they opened the doors we went right to find our seats: section R, row 6, seats 7 & 8. Centre Ice.

Sam needed to find a bathroom, and I spied merchandise so we headed back upstairs to see what wares they had to offer for a junior league team. For those who don’t know hockey – which is probably at least half the people reading this blog, let me take a moment to explain the game we were at. The Chilliwack Bruins, and their opposition the Edmonton Oil Kings, are in the Western Hockey League (WHL). These guys are like 15-18 years of age and they are all playing to get noticed by the NHL scouts for the chance to get drafted into the NHL to play hockey professionally. My favourite player, Mike Modano, played in the WHL from 15-18 years of age with the Prince Albert Raiders, which is north of Saskatoon, in Saskatchewan, Canada. He was drafted 1st overall in the 1988 draft by the Minnesota Northstars. So these kids are playing for the love of hockey, the dream of making it in the NHL to play professionally. They want it so bad they can taste it every game.

Anyway, we were really impressed with the range of merchandise available. And The saleslady was just so lovely and helpful. We had a lovely chat to her about our trip, the WHL and our love of hockey. There were about 10 different t-shirts for women, 5 for men, long sleeve shirts, hoodies, jackets, 5 or 6 different hats, 4 different beanies (or toques as they call them here), jerseys, jackets, pucks, bags, keyrings, stickers, temporary tattoos, pens, umbrellas… You name it they probably had it. They even had post-it notes with their logo on it. Sam selected a long-sleeved shirt (on sale for $20 down from $30), I picked up a Chilliwack Bruins scarf ($11!), and we got a Bruins puck to add to our growing puck collection!

Heading back to our seats after Sam took his detour, we settled in to watch a great and exciting game of hockey. There were 3300 fans there – probably about half the capacity but they sure made a lot of noise! The boys were really fired up. You could see they weren’t as polished as the NHL guys – their positioning and puck handling no where near the NHL level, but what they lacked in that extremely high level in skill they made up for in passion, creativity and sheer fearlessness. The game went to Overtime (OT) in the end. I was giving a running score update on my facebook status update – not that anyone really cared, but it’s my status I’ll do what I want with it!

I must make mention of this, as we were really impressed with it. When the lady sang the national anthem, 90% of the crowd sang along with her. It gave me goosebumps. I don’t know all the words to “Oh Canada” just yet, but I’m getting the hang of it! But yeah, that just really impressed us. It reminded me of the Newcastle Roadtrip earlier this year when the microphone stopped working on for the girl singing the Australian National Anthem, and the crowd took up singing where she left off. It was just a moving thing to watch.

The really amusing thing about our time in Canada is a lot of people have heard our accents, and either stop and stare or they whisper amongst themselves asking each other where we’re from. No one has really asked! It’s a little weird actually. The kids sitting behind us at the game tonight were asking each other if we were from Australia – at least they got the country right! Others just look at us like we stepped off a spaceship!

After the game, we stopped in at Timmy Hos for a coffee for the road, since it’s an hour and a half drive from Chilliwack to Vancouver downtown. We left around 10pm and got home at 11:30pm. On the way home, we saw the Canadian Police doing a drug bust on East Hastings St, and got diverted due to a car accident that had cops, fireys and ambos there. Thank goodness for GPS on the BBs!

And now it’s off to bed, since we’re going to attempt to go to Buntzen Lake tomorrow morning, then we’re off to Billy Minor Pub in Maple Ridge to meet up with my friend Rod, who I’ve known online for 11 years! I can’t believe I finally get to meet him! I’m so excited! Tomorrow night, it’s the Vancouver Giants WHL team taking on the Edmonton Oil Kings here in Vancouver. Once again, a jam-packed day!

We’re heading out on the road early today as have a bit of traveling to get to our 4 primary destinations; Fort Langley Park (Fort Langley), the Matsqui Lutheran Church (Abbotsford), Bridal Veil Falls (east of Chilliwack) and a Chilliwack Bruins WHL hockey game at the Prospera Center (Chilliwack).   After the game we hope to catch up with Matt and Vossy for a beer before heading back to Vancouver.

Photos from Day 4 will be updated this evening along with photos we take today.

Today we were supposed to go to Buntzen Lake, but by the time we’d managed to get up, have breakfast, get ready and head out downtown to get some more cash out of the bank – and while I’m on this topic, can I just warn everyone how Visa unfriendly Canada is?? OH MY GOD! Only 2 banks that we have found will accept Visa – RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) and Scotiabank.  Everywhere else is Mastercard! Very uncool. Especially since the Winter Olympics in Vancouver 2010? SPONSORED BY VISA! Anyway, the nearest RBC is in the same building as Timmy Hos, so it’s not that much of a hardship to walk down to West Georgia St. We got coffee too! No doughnuts though – we were good. We’ve had our one doughnut for the trip – and BOY WAS IT GOOD!

Once we had coffee and money, we walked back to the hotel stopping at the hockey shirts and clothing store – OMG THE WALL OF JERSEYS! We walked in and I just stood there and breathed in the smell of NHL merchandise from all 30 teams. It was a special moment for me. In 1998 a friend of mine from Vancouver, who is a Canucks fan, sent me a Vancouver Canucks t-shirt in an effort to get me to switch from Dallas to Vancouver. It didn’t work – but I did wear the t-shirt. A lot. I still have it, though it’s very worn. So, while we are here, I wanted to replace my shirt with a replica. Thing is, you can’t get that shirt any longer because they’ve changed the colour blue they use for their uniforms. Back in 1998, the Canucks were more of a navy blue. Now they’re more electric blue. Anyway, I got the closest thing to what I had given to me 11 years ago! BUT the best thing is, it’s an incentive t-shirt. It’s a size L. In order to wear it, I have to lose another 10 kilos! WIN-WIN!

After the hockey shirt store, we went to the local IGA for milk and rolls for lunch for the weekend (35c each!!), and headed back to the hotel. We made some rolls for lunch, and gathered our belongings and headed out with the intention of going to Buntzen Lake. The Lake is a commonly used area as a filming location, as well as a popular hiking and picnic destination. Supernatural has used Buntzen Lake in season 1, episode 3, “Dead In The Water”. Not only that, but it was also used in a relatively unknown C-grade independent horror movie called Devour, that Jensen Ackles starred in. Incidentally, Jensen’s the best part of the movie. I know. I have it on DVD. Anyway, the aim was to head out to Buntzen Lake, and since we were going past Port Moody, we decided to stop at Rockey Point Pier, which is another Supernatural filming location. This particular location is where Dean (Jensen Ackles) finally admits to his brother Sam (Jared Padalecki) that he remembers what happened in Hell. It’s a significant moment for the brothers in Season 4. It was at the end of episode 8, “Wishful Thinking”.

Sam took this awesome picture of us on his blackberry – those of you on our facebook flists may have already seen it. There’ll be more in the photo gallery as soon as Sam gets control of the laptop and is able to upload them. And if we look cold? That’s because we are! It was freezing!! I’m not kidding. I was wearing a lycra singlet, a long sleeved shirt, a t-shirt, my Dallas Stars All-Star Game hoodie and my waterproof NZ windbreaker jacket. And I was still cold! With the wind-chill factor over Port Moody, it had to be below 0 degrees Celsius. Easily. We estimated about -3 to -5. I haven’t felt that cold since I felt the winds off the snow capped Mt Ngongotaha in Rotorua ten years ago!!

But it was amazing to walk the pier. I remember the scene vividly. It was such a powerful scene for Jensen – opening up as Dean to admit his painful experience to his little brother, someone he never wants to show any weakness to. And standing there, where they had filmed it… it was just surreal. It was really, really amazing. And cold. Did I mention that?! It had been raining on the way over, and it stopped as we pulled into the car park of the pier. The rain held off until we made it back to the car, only starting to rain again as we opened the car doors. The timing was just impeccable.

By then the rain started coming down hard, and since where we need to go at Buntzen Lake is on the north side and you have to hike there, we think, we ended up heading into Burnaby and checking out the stores. First stop was Best Buy, to see if they had Supernatural on DVD. I need to replace my Seasons 1, 2 and purchase 4 for the first time. Rhonda, my darling lovely Rhonda, has Season 3 waiting for me in Dallas! As Best Buy had them for sale at $45 CAD, we left them there! But across the road was the biggest shopping mall I have ever seen! It had to be as big floor wise as Stonebriar in Dallas (next door to the Frisco Dr Pepper StarCentre, home of the Dallas Stars), but instead of 2 levels, this one had 3. OMG. We didn’t find DVDs, but we did go into Chapters, which is a bookstore here in Canada. Much like Dymocks back home. When I found the hockey books, I looked at Sam and declared I didn’t want to leave!

OMG. Hockey books! Books on hockey! I had heard such a thing existed, but to see it first hand?? A very emotional moment for me. There were books on the Canadians, and books on why the Maple Leafs suck – I’m not kidding. TWO OF THEM. I wanted to buy them just for the laughs. But alas, we don’t have the dosh to throw around until the end of our Saskatoon leg. Plus, we need spending money at the Hockey Hall Of Fame in Toronto. So, unfortunately, the hockey books stayed in the safe hands of Chapters. What I did get, was the first Supernatural novel, “Nevermore”, which I have been hoping and dreaming and wishing I could get my hands on. And the best part? It was $8.99 + tax! CHEAP AS CHIPS! The bookstore’s computer catalogue said there was a copy of the second book, “Bone Key” but we couldn’t find it. I swear we spent 30 minutes checking the 4 shelves of Sci-Fi/Fantasy to find them. Speaking of Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Dianne and Chuck would have loved the Stargate and Star Trek section! It was impressive. And this was a relatively small Chapters store. There’s one here in downtown that’s a half city block and 2 levels. I can’t wait to check it out on Tuesday! When Sam went to the checkout to get my book, he spotted The Hockey News Collector’s edition of the best hockey jerseys magazine and picked that up too. If you’re lucky enough to find The Hockey News in Australia, you’ll know that each edition is like $30 AUD. So we thought $7.99 + tax CAD was a bargin for this one.

Once we were finished there, we headed back to the car, stopping at Blendz for a skinny cappuccino. We’ve now tried the three prominent coffee stores in Vancouver – Timmy Hos, Starbucks and Blendz. Sam has declared Timmy Hos the winner. By a foot. Anyway, we then headed back to the car and drove home to get ready to meet up with Matt and Esther at a pub downtown to catch up and watch some hockey!

Matt is a great guy we met in 2006 when we really got to know the import players of the Brisbane Blue Tongues. Matt was a friend of player Rob Vos, and was in Australia on holidays at the same time as Vossy being there to play for the BTs. When the Canadian imports came to the Supports Club events, Matt and Rob’s girlfriend Sandra came along and were integrated into the Supports Club as honorary members. Matt and I have been friends on facebook since the 206 season ended, and when he heard we were coming over to their neck of the woods, he was the first to say, “Hey! Let’s get together and catch up!” So that’s what we did! Matt and Vossy now live about 45 mins to an hour east of Vancouver, and since Matt and his beautiful and lovely girlfriend Esther were coming downtown for a friend’s birthday dinner anyway, they came in early and we met up at Doolin’s Pub on Nelson Street to watch the Dallas Vs Vancouver game and get a beer.

Well, the boys got a beer. I had coke and Esther was on water. It was awesome to catch up and talk hockey and Canada and Australia and just talk to people who know us. We had such an awesome time! After they left, Sam and I stayed to watch the rest of the game. Sam was drinking Guinness, of course, being an Irish pub. When they brought out his last one, the froth had an irish clover indented on the top – it was really impressive. I think he managed to get a photo of it, but you could only see it in certain light, so I’m not sure. Either way it was awesome. The Stars even managed to win, 2-1 in regulation! I know, I’m stunned too! Turco had a great game, and it was awesome to see Modano and Lehtinen out on the ice again this season. It was great to watch, even if we were getting glares left, right and centre from the Canucks fans around us in the bar! We even got booed at the end because we won! Awesome.

Tomorrow we’re heading out early and going to Chilliwack! There’s a hockey game on tomorrow night there, the local WHL team, the Chilliwack Bruins are playing the Edmonton Oil Kings – which is one of the Dallas Stars’ junior farm teams. So, we’re making a day of it. Just east of Chilliwack is the 6th largest waterfall in Canada, Bridal Veil Falls. We’re going to try to find it. We also have 2-3 Supernatural filming locations on the way there, and we want to check out the town. Then the hockey game. Since Matt and Vossy live out that way, we’re hoping to catch up with them after the game too, if we can. That would be awesome!

But it also means an early night, since we have to be up at 7am! So this is me signing off!

Today we’re planning on heading up to Buntzen Lake, where the SPN Episode “Dead in the water” was filmed.  The lake is NE of Vancouver, about 30-45 minutes drive from our hotel.  There is a great hiking track apparently that we might look to walk around if the weather stays fine.  If we have time we will also be visiting a few more SPN spots today also.

Day 3 dawned with rain clouds in the air and raindrops on our windows. Actually it’s perfect weather to snuggle under a blanket with the fire going and watch hockey on tv… Except hockey is on at night here, unlike Australia where the NHL is on during the day. Therefore we needed something else to do.

And what better thing to on a wet day than to go to an aquarium? Vancouver Aquarium to be exact. Home of Pacific White-Sided Dolphins and of course Beluga Whales! So that’s where we headed. Vancouver Aquarium is located in Stanley Park – which is this beautiful large protected park on the peninsular between Coal Harbour and English Bay. It has a number of attractions and is really reminicent of NZ scenery. It took us a while to find it but the drive was lovely and we got to see the Olympic Rings that are on a barge in Coal Harbour.

The photos on the blackberry phones really don’t do the whales, dolphins or fish any justice, so I’ll leave the visuals until we can upload some good ones. We started in the Tropic Zone and saw the fish and animals that are found in areas likle Brazil. There were some beautiful macaws, a photogenic and attention loving tiger-stingray, a scary anaconda, a sleepy two-toed sloth and the terrifying pirrahnas. *shudders*

It was by then time to watch the Dolphin talk/training session so we headed out to the Wild Coast section and listened to the talk on the Pacific White-Sided Dolphins – a male named Spinikar, and two females, Hannah and Helen. They were dolphins who had been caught in fishing nets, rescued, rehabilitated and moved to the Aquarium. We watched their Dolphin show from the viewing platform under the aquarium later in the day, completely facinating. You could still see the scars the fishing nets left on the dolphins – one of the females barely had any flippers left. Very sad.

After the first dolphin talk we took a glimpse at the beluga whales before heading back inside to check out the shark tank. They only had little sharks, no great whites like we do. They did have a tank with an octopus in it. Oh my lord! I’d never seen one before, well, other than in the supermarket deli or crumbed as calamari. The Octopus was jammed in the corner of the tank though so the reflection didn’t make for a great photo. Then it was in to see the Jellies. They had moon jellies and blue bottles and about 7 others. Its animals like that that keep me out of the ocean. Well… that and an unusual allery to salt water.

Done with the Jellyfish, it was over to the Beluga enclosure for feeding time. They have 5 belugas in total but two of them are BABIES! They are so ugly they’re adorable and gorgeous! Baby belugas are born grey in colour and as they age, they shed their skin and become a lighter colour until they turn white. So strange. But they were just delightful to watch. Sam got some wonderful photos of them while I got some video action!

We got some hot chips after the beluga show to heat us up and then headed into the new Canada Arctic display with information on belugas, polar bears, orcas and more. It also had the viewing platform for the belugas. The divers had just cleaned the tanks, so it was a little cloudy with algae but we got some awesome photos and video.

The exit from the Canada Arctic display came out at the sea otters enclosure and OH MY GOD. A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E! They were just brilliant! One was sleeping on his back with a maple leaf just being held on his belly by his paws. The other was having fun playing with a rock. The videos are AMAZING and came out so much better than the photos because of the raindrops on the glass.

It was then down to the frog display which we bypassed and the viewing platform for the dolphins before we wandered through the gift shop and then out the door.

We had lunch brought from home in the park before we headed out in search of 3 more Supernatural filming locations. We got a little lost trying to find Cleveland Dam – turns out we didn’t go far enough north so we’ll head over there again tomorrow. We did however find The Corner Cafe, where Sam and Dean grabbed a bite to eat in season 4, episode 15, “Death Takes A Holiday”. We bought two large coffees for a total of $3.75. They were awesome too. Got some photos of Sam with the table they sat at in the background, because these two other girls, who were also there because of Supernatural, were already sitting there.

Anyway we got some photos, including the autographed thank you from Jensen and Jared and headed out again. A few minutes east was St Paul’s Indian Catholic Church. It’s a beautiful building in reality. Thankfully the rain held off while we got photos of the building.

Tonight we got the internet working so we’ve been catching up on the world and Sam’s now going to do some work for Clintonius Maximus while I watch Supernatural!!!! On TV while it airs for the first time – I’m ECSTATIC!

It’s been a great day – again!

Today originally started out with plans to visit the Vancouver Aquarium, but time, and a pesky memory card changed the schedule, and instead we decided to hit the pavement on foot and explore Vancouver Downtown, specifically spotting locations used during the filming of “Supernatural” (The CW in the US/Canada, but Channel 10 in Australia), which is filmed locally here in Vancouver.

Our first stop was “St Andrews United Church” which is just around the corner from where we’re staying, on the corner of Burrard and Nelson Streets. This church was used during the filming of “Houses Of The Holy” (S2 Ep13). The church was founded in 1758, so has been standing longer than both New Zealand and Australia have been countries! It really is a pretty amazing building. We were unable to go inside as there was a film crew there setting up to film scenes for a brand new TV series coming soon to Fox, called “Human Target”. According to the PA we spoke to outside the building, it’s set to air after “American Idol” on Fox in the 2009/10 season.

After the church we headed down to the “Vogue Theatre” found at 918 Granville Street which was used for both the interior and exterior shots of the episode “Criss Angel Is A Douche Bag” (S4 Ep12). The Theatre was being renovated and was closed so we could not get a look inside. The Vogue Theatre is in the night-life area and is surrounded by clubs and theatres.

We then headed directly down Granville to find our next location set, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) building found at 685 West Hastings Street. Those who are fans of the show will remember this as the episode where Ron, the dude who coined “Mandroid with the laser eyes” was shot by the SWAT team. The bank was used for both interior and exterior scenes of the show, and although we could not go inside, the outside of the bank is pretty cool.

Directly behind the bank is a parking building which was used in the scenes at the end of the episode. We did get exterior photos of the parking building and will be uploading them to our photo gallery once we get full internet access to our laptops.

We headed back up to Timmy Ho’s and Starbucks on West Georgia Street to get a coffee and have a 30min break to rest our feet. Wendy had the Timmy Ho’s (though we both tried a Timmy Ho’s Boston Creme doughnut which was just as delicious as we were told they were), while i settled for the Starbucks, a decision I later regretted when the coffee was really pretty bad.

Our next SPN stop was the “Coal Harbour Seawalk”, which was a few blocks away, so we took our time and did a bit of exploring through “Gastown” an older part of Vancouver Downtown near the docks. The architecture here is amazing, and the streets are awesome to walk down. We really enjoyed the area and took loads of photos of both the streets and the harbour. Wendy is just obsessed with maple trees and has taken dozens of photos of them. I’m certain there’s medication out there to cure her of this, I just don’t know where to buy it!

Our last SPN location set is from one of the funniest scenes from season 3. Sam and Dean walk up a path and the Impala is missing, and Dean pretty much freaks out. Heck, who wouldn’t if their classic ’67 Impala was stolen. Turned out, it had been “liberated” by Bela. The location, for those interested is on Coal Harbour Drive, down by the yacht club.

We followed the seawalk back around to the Convention Centre. Along the seawalk is this awesome park right on the waterfront – very small version of the botanical gardens in Brisbane. Kind of. Anyway here’s a photo of the Coal Harbour Park.

We then started our long walk back home to the hotel. By the time we got back it was 3pm in the afternoon, 6hrs since we headed off that morning. With sore feet (6hrs of walking will do that) and plans for some Stars hockey this evening, we spent an hour at home checking out our photos and resting up with a cup of coffee.

The Stars played the Calgary Flames this evening, so we headed down to the “Shark Bar and Grill”, as we’d heard it was a great sports bar. It turned out, the place was packed with baseball fans watching the World Series. They did put hockey on 1 TV for us, so we watched the first 2 periods while enjoying Northern Hallibut and Chips for dinner washed down with a pint of Molson Canadian. They lost the game at the end of the 2nd period, and instead of putting it back on when they got it working, put the baseball on instead, so we quickly got out of there and headed back to the hotel to catch the last of the game. Unfortunately the Flames beat us in Overtime while on a powerplay from an incorrect call by the Refs. Thems the breaks, as we say in Australia!

Day 1 in Vancouver had us waking up around 9am. 7 hours sleep we desperately needed! Once we were up and dressed, we headed out in search of sustenance: COFFEE! But first we needed money since we didn’t have any Canadian $ on us. That took awhile to find since it turns out that not every bank deals with Visa over here! As Sam said as we went on a 3 mile hike to find a Bank that takes Visa (which is RBC if you were wondering – Royal Bank of Canada!): Canucks tickets: $160, Flights to Canada: $1200, an ATM that accepts Visa: PRICELESS!

Once cash was secured, we found the nearest Tim Horton’s – or Timmy Ho’s as we like to call it – for a coffee! OMG SO GOOD.

We found a Subway in the same mall as Timmy Ho’s and had a ham and cheese flatbread – I didn’t think to take a picture before I ate mine and neither did Sam. Since it was 10.30am we headed down West Georgia St which is what we were on to where Budget was. The aquisition of the car was successful. We got a silver Toyota Camry Hybrid – better for the environment and our pockets as we’ll use half the petrol!

Today though once we got back from Budget, we walked down to the end of the Hornby St where we’re staying and caught the aquabus across to Granville Island. Granville Island is just south of Downtown and is the home of the Granville Island Marketplace which is this huge fresh produce market. We had some lunch:

Then we wandered around the markets and along the waterfront and the harbour. It is such a beautiful area! We took some wonderful photos with both ours and Sasky’s camera. We’ll upload them later to the photo gallery.

On our way home to the hotel we picked up some fresh fruit and vegetables so we can make our own dinners instead od eating out every night. It has been carb central so far and that has to be reduced!

On the aquabus back to Hornby St, Sam got some photos of the snowcapped mountain in the distance. Just amazing!

Tonight we’re at the Vancouver Canucks Vs New York Rangers NHL game at GM Place. Right now, warm ups are on. GM Place is smaller than the AAC in Dallas, but it is awesome to be here!

ETA: The Canucks Vs Rangers game was awesome. We were talking to some Rangers fans from NYC who has flown over for the Canadian roadtrip for the Rangers, and they were kind enough to take a photo of Sam and I in front of the doors to GM Place. It was great just chatting to them and talking about the differences between Australian and NHL hockey.

Anyway, the Canucks – would you believe – are sponsored by Mastercard! You think we could get money out at an ATM? No. Not on anything other than my credit card anyway. So we got out enough to get something to eat. We chose soft pretzels and share a collectors cup of diet coke.

The game was a good one. It was a sellout crowd and unlike the sellout crowds in Dallas where half the lower bowl don’t show up because they’re purchased by businessmen instead of fans, the whole crowd actually showed up! It was phenomenal. At one point the entire crowd (well the 95% that were Canuck fans) was chanting “Rangers SUCK, Rangers SUCK!” And my personal favourite, “Avery SUCKS!”

I won’t give away the result in case anyone reading this hasn’t seen the game and doesn’t want to get spoiled. I will say this… I did miss how the Stars do the National Anthems, and of course the crowd asking Bill how much time is left in the period. The Canucks repeat their scorers and penalties in case the crowd didn’t hear them the first time. And the arena looks smaller than the AAC. But it was definitely awesome to go and experience Canucks hockey.

There was an all-in brawl which I think only the goalies didn’t take part in, the atmosphere was amazing and the crowd was really behind their team. It was such a different experience to a Stars game. Not that I don’t love my Stars – I do. It was just… different. A lot of Canada has been different but its just been phenomenal so far!

We walked to and from GM Place. On the corner of Hornby & West Georgia Sts is The Vancouver Art Gallery. In front of the Art Gallery is a countdown for the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. It’s in 100 days if you’re wondering!

On the way back to our hotel we stopped at Timmy Hos for a coffee. We ordered skim lattes and got sugared hot milk, so I don’t think the Timmy Hos on Hornby will be getting our business again.

Right now Sam is trying to get our internet working on the laptops but so far has been unsuccessful. I’m hoping he doesn’t throw the Dell out the window before the night is through. Though, I’m that tired I am tempted to go to bed!