When we left Australia on our life changing adventure to Canada we had serious reservations about whether we were doing the right thing. At home in Perth we had our family and a well maintained network of friends that had accumulated over 20 or more years and one of our biggest fears was that we wouldn't make any new friends when in Canada. The turnout that we had for our farewell to Vancouver party showed us how ridiculous we had been in our concerns.
In the weeks leading up to quitting our jobs at Sport Chek and going on our road trip of a lifetime we had searched high and low for a bar or restaurant to have our going away drinks at but we were running into quite a problem as the guest list had somehow crept up towards the 40 person mark. Due to the tipping culture in Canada, a booking for this many people has to be made in advance and lots of places wanted to impose minimum spends to ensure they got their moneys worth. Luckily for us we found the Butcher & Bullock pub in downtown Vancouver which was happy to have us and didn't want any minimum spend.
Before we were to meet for drinks we caught up with our beautiful friend Kenya and her lovely boyfriend Derek and showed them to the best coffee spot we had found in Vancouver (Bel Café), after which we hung out and spent a great afternoon in Robson Square. We then headed to the pub to meet up with everyone for what was a very fun but emotional evening. After a few hours and many drinks, all our friends that we had worked with gave us a giant card and signed shirt with their messages of support for us to take home with us. At this point people started leaving and many tears were shed, both by myself and the many friends who were going to miss us.
Once we had said farewell to our friends in Vancouver it was time for our road trip around the Rocky Mountains (detailed in other blog posts) and then on the way back to Australia. Our flights back to Australia consisted of a short flight from Vancouver to Los Angeles before a long flight from Los Angeles to Sydney after a three hour layover. Both flights went off without too many issues however Jess was not impressed to find her window seat on the shorter flight did not actually consist of a window to look out of. Luckily on the flight from Sydney to Perth she did have a window which she was very pleased about (as you can see below).
After landing in Sydney and feeling relatively human after getting 7 or 8 hours each of sleep on the flights, we jumped on a bus to head to Canberra to meet our friend Meg and her new boyfriend Tim who we were yet to meet. Once off the bus Meg picked us up and dropped us at the War Memorial to kill time whilst she went back to work. We quite enjoyed this as it was a lot larger and more detailed than we had expected. We only explored a tiny portion in the time we had but would definitely return next time we are in Canberra.
Our time in Canberra was amazing and it was lovely to catch up with Meg and to meet her lovely partner Tim as well as exploring all the sights that Canberra has to offer. A particular favourite was our morning spent at Old Parliament House in the morning before we left for Sydney and getting to see what politics would have looked like in the time before we were born.
After our few amazing days in Canberra we caught the bus back to Sydney Airport where we were picked up by our friends Dita and Jack and proceeded to spend a few days being taken on our own private tour of Sydney which included many trips to spots that only a local would know about as well as to the major tourist landmarks such as Bondi Beach and the Sydney Harbour bridge. We even managed to fit in time to watch the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. This was of a lot more interest to Dita and Jess than to me.
It was then time to get on the plane back to Perth to meet up with more familiar faces and prepare for the much anticipated wedding. As much as we enjoyed seeing the sights of Canberra and Sydney, the best part of our first few days back in Australia was seeing our friends again and getting to spend quality time with people that we hadn't seen for a while.
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