But this happened later. Before that I decided to seek out the Holy Grail of this city of which I'd only heard rumours: a cricket pitch. Amazingly there's more than one, and I found Meraloma Cricket Club which bills itself as "the best place on earth to play cricket." Not today, in the dense dripping fog, but if they have a summer here I hope to catch a game or two.
On the way back I stopped by Elysian, a coffee place recommended to me by Aussie backpacker Kuya. It was ok, but did not transport me to paradise. They just don't do the milk right around here. I then managed, on the second attempt, to sweet-talk my way into a bank account! It has a balance of zero and they laughed at my request for a credit card, but there's time.
This afternoon, Hannah's new boss Deidre took us for a drive around the wider Vancouver area. The city, like many on the West Coast, is a big collection of neighbourhoods, often very well defined; you're standing in one, cross the road, then you're standing in another. The pros and cons of each were pointed out to us, and we finished with a sightseeing trip to Chevron's Burnaby refinery. It's the biggest in British Columbia, of course. Hannah asked Deidre if there were any apartments with an uninterrupted view of the beautiful pipework and flaring chimneys. Sadly no.
Dana told me about this guy - he drives down to Seattle, fills up with Trader Joe's merchandise, then sells it here in TJ-less Vancouver. I thought it must be out of a van but no, he has a shop. Trader Joe's does not like him.
We found snow, but only outside an ice rink.
Here are some of the practice cricket pitches. They may need a new groundsman.
Along with cricket there's rugby! I suffered a major flashback to numerous school days, being shouted at by Mr Lang Jones on a rugby pitch, in identical weather conditions.
Maybe I need to open Pirate Blue Bottle, although the drive to SF is a bit longer than for Joe.
Then the sun came out! Pete grows up in the shadow of his father.
The view from Hannah's office on a good day.
And, as if by magic, an oil tanker appeared from the fog.
The highlight of her trip.
Dinner with Deidre, as Pete tries to steal her jewelry. No Pete - we're in oil, not silver!
