Casablanca

 We were dropped off at our hotel by about 9 AM and (very) fortunately for us it was relatively cheap to buy a half day at the hotel which we did without too much thought. Our original check-in time was 3PM and I am pretty sure we would have really suffered if we hadn’t purchased the half day upon arrival. We have also booked two extra nights before our tour starts here on Thursday night (so a total of 3 nights in the hotel)

After staying in our room a bit we headed out to get money from a bank (using my debit card). Two different banks machines and multiple attempts later we were locked out by ATB (I assume) and will try again tomorrow. We have some cash in Canadian dollars, US dollars and Euro’s so we won’t be in trouble yet if my card refuses to work here. We ran back to the room, picked up $100 Canadian in bills and went to a currency exchange location nearby to get Moroccan dirhams. Mission accomplished.

Caro had noticed a Moroccan sidewalk restaurant right by the hotel so we went there for a meal

We  ordered a mixed meat plate to get an idea of local cuisine. It was too much for us to eat and much of it was wasted.

We went on several walks around the neighbourhood, stopped back in at the hotel for a rest (nap!), had a couple of pops at the hotel lounge and generally just tried to keep moving to keep us a awake. Unfortunately there is not much of interest to see and I as I write this it is only 5:15 PM and we are just hanging on, waiting enough time so that when we go to sleep we get a  good long stretch of shut eye before tomorrow (even if we do wake up at 3)

It was 31 degrees today. On the upcoming weekend we are in the city of Fes where it was 37 today! Yikes

One great thing about our room is that the air conditioning works!

This is a Muslim country and there is a mosque nearby so we have heard “the call to prays” a number of times today.

Going to Africa!

 On our way to Casablanca

Lisa took us to the airport (Thanks Lisa)

As it was Labour Day Monday the airport was pretty empty and we were through security in no time. 

Our flight to Montreal was on a new Airbus 220. It was quite small for overhead bins but awesome for the entertainment centre. I watched a movie called Pressure while Caro watched a Tom Hanks western movie 

Montreal airport was pretty crazy with (I believe) all the long weekend travellers heading home. 

We went to the lounge.  We had lots of trouble getting our free lounge pass to activate however eventually we were in. I am happy we didn’t have to pay anything because the lounge was really not good. It had a very limited food selection. It was nice to have a rum and coke though!

Our over-night flight left about 20 minutes late and was an old Airbus330-300. The entertainment system was actually terrible and I didn’t see too many people using it. 

Even though I was not hungry I decided to get the Air Canada in flight meal ( Caro did not). This was a mistake on my part as I ended up wasting the vast majority of the meal as I just didn’t like it. ( wasn’t hungry enough to want to eat it)

We arrived in Casablanca on time and really had no problems with immigration (as we had previously told to expect).We were out the door in about 30ish minutes and quickly found our pre-paid pick up driver who drove the one hour trip through rush hour traffic to our hotel/

Home again on the 13th

We left Valemount before 8 after a breakfast at A+W. 

The drive home was routine. We drove through Jasper townsite to see how the rebuild is going and were impressed with what we saw. 

Caro drove from Hinton home. We stopped in Edson and had lunch with Glen at BP. 

All in all, a great trip 

Left Vancouver

We had a room in Surrey last night which we got into about 9 PM

The room was good enough and we were out the door about 7:30 AM for a breakfast at a nearby McDonald’s. 

By about 8 AM we started making our way through the city taking a southern route to avoid the construction on Highway 1 in the Langley area. 

We had lunch at a Popeye’s in Kamloops ( great chicken burgers). The smoke from the forest fires wasn’t bad and we were not delayed at any point.  

Heading north from Kamloops we hit stop and go constructions zones quite a few times. At Barriere I saw a slow speed car crash when I glanced up in my mirror. It was a fender bender and was the result of a frustrated driver getting tired of going 2 mph for “ages” ( it was a “very” backed up road at this point) and trying to turn back the way we came. He/She didn’t realize a truck had moved into the spot he/she had just vacated when he turned into the unfortunate one who had been right behind him in line. Oops!!!!!

We debated back and forth for quite a while about going home tonight but in the end decided it was still too far and we had been driving/ eating etc for eight hours already. 

We got to Valemount and lucked out getting the last room at the Days Inn ( which only available because of a cancellation-lucky break for us!)

The hotel has a pool so Caro will be enjoying the hot tub tonight ( I didn’t bring swimming trunks this trip)

Tues the 11th

We slept relatively good last night but were awake earlier than we wished. 

We were sitting on the deck first thing 

looking out at the ocean and initially saw three otters moving in front of us. Later we saw a seal very close to shore. Very exciting!

Of course Caro had to use the sewing machine at the house!

The day was spent in the gorgeous VRBO house or out on the beach. The kids were having a blast. Caro and I talked with Michelle’s aunt and uncle separately and together about their world travels. I picked up a couple of ideas for us to investigate. 

All in all a great day with everyone. 

We left shortly after 4 PM to drive to Dukes Point (Nanaimo) and were on the 6 PM ferry to Tsawwassen. 

Monday -change of plans

I slept so-so last night however Caro did better. 

We checked out of Quality Inn ( pretty good breakfast included in the room cost) and were at Butchart Gardens at opening time of 9 AM. 

While enjoying the flora and fauna, Mike called to inform us of their vacation change due to the wildfires in the interior of BC. They had now booked an Air Bnb on the island at Chemainus and invited us to stay for the night. 

We were able to change our ferry reservation until Tuesday at 5:45 from Duke Point to Tsawassen so we could spend tonight and most of tomorrow with Mike and family and Michelle’s aunt and uncle. 

We drove to downtown Victoria after finishing the Gardens. We parked near Fisherman’s wharf and then walked to the legislature building where we did a self tour of the two floors open to the public. 

After that we walked around downtown a bit before going back to the car for some water/Coke Zero before walking another block to Fisherman’s Wharf. We were there because Caro wanted to have the famous fish and chips ( which we have had before). I wasn’t hungry at all but sucked it up to enjoy a VERY filling meal (😜)

That completed , we made our way north bound over the Malahat pass and proceeded to stop in a few villages along the coastline just sightseeing. 

We found our way to the Air Bnb at Chemainus and are enjoying some quiet solitude on the patio overlooking the ocean as the rest of the family is still working their way here. OMG. So beautiful 

Heading south

We said good-bye to Helmut and Ruth about 9:30 and headed down the coast 2 ish hours to Susan and Murray’s place at Shawnigan Lake

We had a great visit with Susan, Murray and brief hello with Isaac. 

We sat out on their deck and enjoyed a nice lunch before we said our good-byes and headed down to the Malahat Skywalk. Traffic was pretty crazy however we made it there without too much extra driving. 

The skywalk was pricey but enjoyable. We walked all the way to the top of the lookout tower, enjoyed the blue sky , clear day views and then walked back to the parking lot on a nature walk through the trees. It was a nice pit stop. 

The drive into Victoria was just crazy on the Malahat highway which desperately needs expanding. We had pre-booked our hotel up near Sidney for easy access tomorrow to Butchart Gardens and then the ferry. 

The hotel (Quality Inn) had a list of recommended restaurants and as we wanted seafood we chose a place on the Sidney waterfront. 

We each had seafood, enjoying the ambience on the seafront and a later walk on the Malecon.