We got off the plane around 2:30 and sped through international arrivals. We are very thankful for our carry on only as it’s been such a blessing. We made our way to our accommodation which was quite a bit further than I remembered. Took us 1.5 hours on the train. Once we got there we had to quickly drop our bags and race back to north van which was another lengthy journey on the train, bus and ferry. I think Ben enjoyed seeing different parts of the city. It was all worth it because we got to see a whole bunch of people from camp.

Today we had big plans to get to downtown Vancouver and see some of the sights. Unfortunately Ben felt very average after a pretty hectic 48 hours before. Thinking he could get past feeling sick we went anyway but only got to the first stop on the sky train before deciding to flag our plans for the day. We ended up walking to a nearby park which turned out to be exactly what we needed.

Today was a really good day! Apart from leaving my card in the atm but thankfully some Good Samaritan left it tucked behind the machine. We started at the waterfront and walked from Canada place to Stanley park. From there was hired bikes and bikes around the park seeing all the sights.

Today we caught the train from Vancouver to Whistler, which was about a two hour drive. We were lucky enough to sit right at the front, so we got an awesome view. It was quite interesting seeing all the different road signs and road works something I didn’t really take notice of last time but seeing as that’s my job now I found it quite interesting. Once we arrived we had some time before we could check in so we wandered around the village and got some lunch. We then decided to walk the 2km to the nearest lake so we could chill in the sun after a busy few days. Before we arrived we were told it would be a good idea to carry bear spray around but we thought the very short and popular walk would be fine to go without. No one else seemed to be carrying any. Boy were we wrong haha. About 1km in we heard some rustling and spotted a black bear cub walking alongside us and then eventually across the track. Thankfully he didn’t care about us in the slightest and just carried on walking. Was definitely a highlight so far!

Today we had a very slow morning. Slept and made a plan for the day. We decided to go for a walk and see the abandoned train wreck which is all the way in the middle of the woods. Overtime people have come and spray painted them which has created a really awesome looking piece of art!

The plans for today were to make the most of our last full day in Canada. I wanted to go up the chairlift to the top of the mountain but we woke up to a pretty miserable cold day, with the visibility being pretty shit. We decided to flag that idea because it was going to be quite a lot $$ for no view. Instead we put our rain jackets on and hired bikes again. We enjoyed it so much last time that we thought why not do it again. There are so many paved bike paths around which meant we could explore without having to use public transport. We grabbed our bikes and went to about three different lakes.

Today was our last day in Canada, we were sad to leave our little treehouse, but exited to see what’s next!

Today we arrived in Amsterdam! We were both a bit nervous because we didn’t really know what to expect but as soon as we hopped off the train it was beautiful. It literally felt like we were on a movie set. We spent the afternoon walking around and exploring then got some food for the next couple of days. Will’s apartment was amazing we are feeling very lucky to be able to stay here, so close to the main centre.

Today I woke up with a cold so that really brought the mood down. I was determined to not let it stop me though. We started the day with a free walking tour. It was the first time either of us had done one of these and it was surprisingly really good! We learnt heaps about the history and culture also some fun facts. For example there are 15000-20000 bikes taken out of the canals every year 😳. We came back for some lunch and a siesta and almost slept through our time slot for the Van Gogh museum. I was grumpy and Ben was stressed out but we managed to get there just in time. The museum was amazing! I was very glad we didn’t miss it.

We are still battling jet lag and with this bad cold it’s making me feel pretty under the weather I’m trying to ignore it and push through. This morning we walked to Vondelpark which was about a 15 minute walk from our place. It was so nice seeing everyone biking around and going about there day to day life. The lifestyle is so different to New Zealand.

Today we visited the rijkesmusem. Probably felt even worse today we had to take multiple breaks because I’m sure I had a slight fever 🤒 as the morning went on I perked up a bit. The museum was very cool lots to take in unfortunately we probably only saw two thirds because I was pretty done. Went home for lunch again, it’s been so handy we can just come back and chill between activities. We both were exhausted so we napped and chilled out all afternoon. Ended the day by going out for dinner with will which was really nice 😊

Still feeling very average, so decided to not do anything all morning. Ben went out and got a haircut and came back with a coffee for both of us. I really wanted to try a few of the Dutch treats so we walked over to a little market which was actually a lot bigger than expected!

We decided to venture out a bit further today, I really wanted to visit the flea market and managed to get tickets to the Straat museum as a package deal. We got the free ferry over to Noord a very cool cultural neighbourhood.