Oh Canada! Day 24

My last full day in Canada! Its been an amazing three and a half weeks, I have seen many beautiful locations, tried many delicious foods, attempted many exciting activities. But being the last full day didnt mean I was going to take it easy...I had a long flight home to catch up on my rest.

It was up early to hit IHOP for one of the last times. I had been hungry to try their five stack of pancakes, but I was little disappointed when it came. The pancakes were not very well presented, all irregular shaped and haphazardly put together. Luckily they still tasted good, but the presentation let down the team.

After a big breakfast it was off for an activity that I had really been looking forward to, even before I arrived in Canada. That is Wind surfing! As much as I am indoors kind of guy at home in Melbourne, since I have been in Canada I have done quite the opposite, trying out varying outdoor activities that I havent attempted before.

Since it was no longer summer over here, the number of people out for some wind surfing action was quite low, which ultimately proved to be a good thing. This meant more time with the instructor and more time on the water. The morning was slightly overcast, but there was a nice bit of wind going around which would make it great windsurfing weather. The way its run is you go through a bit of lesson on the beach, before hitting the water and windsurfing it up!

After a lot of fun on the water, it was time to grab some lunch before heading to Stanley park. That meant a quick Japanese lunch in downtown which was between destinations.

Stanley Park is a 404.9 hectare (1,001 acre) urban park bordering downtown Vancouver. Basically you can liken it to the Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, but much much bigger. Being such a popular and well known tourist attraction, I couldnt leave Vancouver without taking a look. You could very easily spend hours there, either strolling along the many paths, or cycling along the seawall. But I was a little short of time for those things, so I just did a quick lap of the park stopping along the way to get some shots of the beautiful scenery.

From here it was time to do some more shopping for last minute gifts and the likes. Then I headed over to a recommended Taiwanese restaurant. With the large number of Taiwanese in Vancouver, there is also a relatively large number of Taiwanese restaurants as well. With quite a large selection on the menu, I found it quite hard to decide...until I saw a pork selection...something that I dont usually order and for which I am constantly reminded by someone...so that was my choice! And it was very tasty!

From here it was time to get back and pack my luggage for the return trip to Melbourne...and even with my newly purchased luggage, it still proved to be quite a task!