travel sick but not home sick...

Well,our trip to Vancouver is over. All agree that it is amazing,beautiful and we are definately returning,as soon as possible, please! I have never felt so at home in a place I had never been to before.Vancouver-ites (?) are friendly and welcoming,and in one day you can do beach and mountains as well as city.It is the greenest country too,both in terms of environmental friendliness and literally-I have never seen so many well cared for trees...much to the approval of the Peanut.Overall,no complaints except 'But WHY cant we live here?!' Ah,if only it was that simple...Have a suspicion they are not crying out for over the hill retail slaves.
Of course,there was one small fly in the ointment-long haul flights.As most people will know,these are best survived either:
A.) Drugged to the eyeballs or
B.)first class.
Given that neither of these options are available,we just had to grin and bear it. Ginger,peppermint,travel bands,headphones,earplugs-we had the lot! Given that the Peanut can get travel sick just looking at a car,and has a fear of flying bought on by a flight back from Italy with an ear infection,this was always going to be one of the hardest trips we have made.Not just the flight-straight through on the way,but changing in Toronto on return-there is the coach to the plane,then the taxi at the other end. Picture that scene in the exorcist,you know,the one where shes on the ceiling,projectile vomiting? Thats the Peanut. Throw in an attitude that makes Godzilla look shy and retiring,and a hair trigger oversensitivity to just about any comment or even look from anyone,and we are in hell. NOW add a 32 year old man-aka kid number 2-who has never been travel sick in his life and has a low boredom threshold and a 32 year old woman who has been known to get travel sick herself,and has also been known to get..um..overemotional...when tired,and we are ready to go. Gods help the rest of the plane...
In the end,the travel bands,headphones,earplugs (former over ear,latter in ear in case you were wondering)and fervent prayers to any and all deities who were listening kept the sickness to a minimum,and we crossed the Atlantic without vomit or bloodshed.Both ways. I am still unclear how,but I dont care.
Anyway,seeing as it was technically schooltime,we went out a LOT. Grouse mountain-orphan bears,amazing ski lift rides to the summit and birds of prey exibitions,plus amazing panorama and cool native craft exibits. Capilano suspension bridge-again,beautiful views,incredible bridge-like the wobbly bridge in the park x1000! and a wonderful treetop walk,where we learnt,among other things that Banana slugs are A.)exactly like squished banana skins and
B.)Supposedly toxic-although the raccoon population has figured out that the toxin only gives them numb mouths,which can be avoided by simply rolling the unfortunate slug in dirt,then swallowing it. Darn clever animals.
Speaking of raccoons,we saw one. At the Aquarium. No,not scube diving. We were sat in Stanley park,eating lunch and waiting in line for the aquarium when I saw what I thought was a cat run over to the bin. I nudge Peanut,and as I do realise it is not a cat,but a gorgeous little bandit.For a moment,we watch him in silence.This is shattered when an excitable kid runs over and screams 'RACCOON!OMIGOD!!!ITS ARACCOON!!' The poor creature,all hopes of dinner foiled,scarpers for the bush while I restrain Peanut before she gives the kid something else to scream about. Aquarium was awesome-Peanut falls for the beluga whales,kid 2 for the cute sea otters and me for the jellyfish. We left behind a cute pink fluffy octopus hat,but we shall return triumphant with our raccoon sighting...
Friday was Canada day,and that means a parade,right? Right...unless you misread the press and turn up an hour late...ooops. However,we got to join the crowds at Canada place,wave flags,wear temporary maple leaf tattoos and feel part of the whole celebration.
The rest of the time was spent either at the beach-2 blocks away,or at the port park-2 blocks and a hop. We walked on average 6 miles a day,and over the course of the trip have covered maths-currency conversion,HST conversion-man thats a pain-and pocket money to awesome stuff conversion...thats got to be maths,right?! Ecology,biology,sociology,and a healthy smattering of anthropology ties up science.The obligatory journal of the trip counts for english,and social skills counts as not asking 'Do planes crash often?' when one is embarking on a journey in one.We ate in italian,thai,indian and japanese restaurants and stayed on Davie in the heart of the 'gay district'.This lead to a discussion on human rights,what the rainbows symbolise,and why gay men can be so much easier to shop with than straight ones.Life skills,right there. So,if anyone from the education authority is sniffing round,we merely 'undertook a series of extended field trips which cover history,geography,biology,sociology,maths,science and english with a healthy dose of P.E and life skills.' If any normal person asks,we had an amazing trip,and are plotting our return...as soon as I can find a travel sickness pill Peanuts can swallow without retching...