Five Countries Four Marlboroughs: Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler and my new friend Gypsy

Terry, Will and I all woke up around 6:30am today, little James is exhausted and we waited until 8am to wake him. We seem to be going to bed as late as it doesn’t even get dark until 8pm. Today we needed to be off early today so that we could make the most of our day in Whistler.

Prior to leaving Australia I had downloaded the Gypsy Guide apps for Western Canada and I’d read fantastic reviews. Gypsy Guide is a tour app and it is like having a tour guide in your car. It picks up your location with the GPS in your mobile and provides commentary as you drive along. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work however as we made our way onto the Sea to Sky Highway all of a sudden Gypsy Guide starting talking!

Gypsy Guide was an instant hit. I asked the kids what we should call the guide, ‘Gypsy’ of course. So Gypsy told us all sorts of information and talked through points of interest as we made our way to Whistler. Gypsy would say, ‘now you really should change lanes so you are on the left side as the turn will come up soon.' On holidays Terry is normally so keen to get to the next destination that he doesn’t really like stopping along the way. Well, as we drove along Gypsy told us how, ‘we should really pull over to see the Shannon Falls. It only takes 10 minutes, really, go on, pull over’. I found it so funny as I now had a back up in Gypsy. Thank goodness Gypsy is a man. So we pulled over and took a short walk to the falls and the air was a lot cooler. It was also the first time we saw a sign that bears could be about.

As we started our walk, James the chief Pika spotter found another Pika running around. We then came to a railway crossing and thought we heard a toot in the distance. Could it have been a train? We waited a moment and around the bend came the Rocky Mountaineer! Well even though Will is too cool for trains now, you should have seen the look on his face! Beaming from ear to ear! We all waved to the passengers and could not believe our luck we had arrived at the right moment. The falls were beautiful and definitely worth the stop. Thanks Gypsy!

We then drove through Squamish while Gypsy told us many facts about the town. Onwards we drove and Gypsy kept chatting about the various Olympics that had been hosted previously. We were then told we should take a short stop to Brandywine Falls. How could Terry refuse? Another short walk and we weren’t disappointed.

Shortly after we had made it to Whistler. We are staying at the Hilton in Whistler Village and although we were 5 hours early for check in time we decided it was work a shot. Any upgrades for the birthday girl? The guy looked and looked in his computer…looking, looking, I was feeling confident. Alas, the next upgrade was all sold out. Nevermind, worth a shot - we were in luck though our room was ready!

We had valet parking and the bellboy was unloading the car. Oh no I was thinking, I have to work out how much to tip! I asked the bellboy if he was taking the car as well. Yes he says, so I figure we should give him $10 for both jobs. We head to our room and shortly after there is a knock at the door. Oh no, it’s a different guy and we have nothing less than $10 in our wallets! It’s not that I begrudge tipping, rather I want to be respectful and get it right - but I just feel awkward doing it!

No time to rest, we went straight out to explore the Whistler Village. I had read on Tripadvisor that the #3 restaurant in Whistler was ‘Peak Pies’. We were starving so I told Terry we were taking him somewhere special for lunch. We walked through the village, walking, walking and finally there is was – Terry’s dream lunch stop. He had no idea what I was planning and hadn’t spied the shop. I positioned him right in front of the shop and took his photo. I then told him where he was eating and I have never seen him run so quick – geez his knees came good! We both ordered pies with mash and I had mushy peas on top. True to word, the pies were amazing!

I had heard there were markets in the Upper Village so over we went. I was strolling along and one of the stallholders said to me, ‘Do you want to see a bear?’ She then pointed – and there was a black bear! Just hanging around eating the grass and very close. I couldn’t believe it! We stayed our distance and couldn’t believe there was a bear just grazing away. Some crazy tourists started walking way too close, taking photos and then a butterfly startled the bear. You should have seen the tourists run then!

Will decided to have a go on one of the trampolines and had the crowd in awe with his triple somersaults. James then found mini golf so we all played the 18 holes with Terry crowned the winner. Thank goodness pride was at stake! There were hundreds of people mountain bike riding down the mountain over jumps. The ski lift would take them up, then the next lift would take their bikes. It looked like so much fun – and there were riders of all ages taking it on.

We had walked and walked and walked and slowly made our way back to our apartment. We were sooooo exhausted and it was only 5pm. The only way I was going to stay awake was to go for a drink! So Terry and I went down the bar and I had a few mojitos. $6 each – bargain – but oh no, the tipping issue again! We then ordered a few snacks that would become our dinner. As they say… ‘when in Canada’……so we had maple & chilli coated chicken wings and short rib poutine which is a Canadian tradition - basically chips covered with cheese and short rib gravy. (I can see you cringing now Justine) Thank goodness we are walking a lot everyday! As Terry crawled into bed he cheekily said, ‘Thanks for making sure we got the dollar out the day again! I’m stuffed’. We have loved Whistler although we are happy we are only staying one night. If you were into mountain bike riding and hiking (or in Winter, the snow) this would definitely be the place to be.

Tomorrow we are taking on the biggest drive of our trip. We are heading to Clearwater which is our next overnight stop on the way to Jasper. We make not have wifi for a few days, I haven't broken this to the kids yet!