Day 26 ~ Wednesday 16th September, 2015 - "Goulash Day"

Had a quick breakfast after a very good nights sleep – 9 hours and I feel almost normal! Lol Steve slept well too and snored like a trouper – I was so tired I just let him go!

No AVIS here in Kamloops – can you believe it?! So we had no choice but to drive the car into Vancouver, but went to the AVIS dealer in Abbotsford, which was at the International Airport there. They immediately swapped the car for us – no questions. Steve isn't happy with the new car, its a Hyundai Tuscon. No reversing camera, no temperature gauge, and the back seats are incredibly small, and no “touch screen” in the dash with all the gadgets & no sunroof!!  I am sure Steve will eventually get over it – he only has to endure this poverty car for the next 8 days! Lol

So on to Vancouver we drove, and then straight out the other side. We decided that we best get to Whistler NOW – because we know once we are on Vancouver Island, we wont come off it until the very end. So – on our way to Whistler!

WOW what a very pretty drive to Squamish, following the road along the mountain side, overlooking the waterways. We stopped for lunch at Gelato Bistro Carina – a VERY unassuming lunch stop with no one in it – Steve almost walked out. Their special for the day was Goulash. So that's what I had – OMFG – if that wasn't one of the best fricken meals I have EVER eaten! Its a small shop run by mum, dad & their daughter. We even had Gelato (coconut of course). We have to come back past this place on the way back down the hill tomorrow – fingers crossed there is still enough goulash for me !! LOL

We continued on until we got to Brandywine Falls.

Epic waterfall, and a very pretty walk to it from the carpark. We took some shots from the platform, and then headed further alone as we had been told about a path that the locals know about, where you scamper down the side of the hill, and then using a rope to lower you down, walk along the rocks and you can get some amazing images from the bottom.

We found the rock face and spoke to some locals who had just made the walk. Steven was carrying the backpack with his beloved 200mm lens – which weighs a good 6kgs, and all of my gear and 2 tripods – so he was very loaded up. We did the first part, and then came the rope- we didn't think it was such a big deal, till we got to the 2^nd rope where it was a vertical drop. Hmm… Steve gave it a go, but the weight of the pack was too much and we weren't confident.

Its not worth risking the camera gear, or our lives for the sake of one image … but the image would have been EPIC. But we aborted. Never mind – maybe if we had been 20yrs younger and we didn't have the “fear” set in! Lol

But on the up side, we spied the cutest little squirrel you've ever seen, so Steve got some amazing images of him from his huge lens! Was so pretty there. The forest walk on the way to the falls is just beautiful – I stopped to capture some path shots. No bears were seen – only squirrels! Lol

The forest paths were just beautiful!

We made our way into Whistler Village and we found some accommodation at The Listel . We had a good walk around the village, but it was late (7pm) and most of the shops were already shut. We had dinner (was one of the worst meals I've ever had – yuck), and then walked around some more but it was starting to rain so we made our way back to the hotel where we both slept like babies.