Canada 2025 - 16 days below freezing...

[drron]

I really didn't like Poutine in Canada but there was a poutine place in Launceston and I enjoyed their versions. However it didn't survive Covid.

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Maybe I should change the title to 16 days in Canada, an AFFer discussion on Poutine...?

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 3:

Another stunning morning met us as the sunlight flooded in and again the hum of seaplane engines signalled the start of the day. I was up early and took full advantage of a (still) empty pool for some laps, and a (finally) empty hot tub to start the day. I also used the steam room briefly before heading up to shower and pack. I mentioned earlier I'd pivoted from a Turo booking to using a rental company called Northirn Overland. These guys convert standard trucks (utes) to campers for summer, then in winter strip the camping gear, add snow tyres and rent them as winterised trucks. They also offer a pick up and drop off service within Vancouver and surrounds which made life so easy.

At 9am the owner dropped us the car off which was in perfect nick aside from a chipped/cracked windscreen that occurred on the previous rental. He told us if anything further happenned to the windscreen not to worry as it needed to be replaced anyway. This was quite lucky as we did cop another chip further into the journey.

We loaded the car up and asked the valet if it could be set aside while we grabbed some breakfast with which they had no issue. After another great breakfast the biggest challenge of the trip so far faced me... remembering how to drive a left hand drive car on the right side of the road. I've done it for years so the muscle memory didn't take long to come back, though I frequently had to remind myself to the keep the driver to the left of the lane.

We got out of downtown, across the Lions Gate Bridge before stopping at Park Royal in West Van for some essentials. After this we got on the 99 North towards Squamish and Whistler. The familiarity and beauty of this stretch of road brought on a warm comfort, until I remembered how crazy some Canadian drivers are after having multiple people overtake us at 40-50km/h over the speed limit.

We stopped in at Shannon Falls on the drive up for a quick look, the waterfall a trickle of what it is in spring/summer but stunning nonetheless.

Before jumping back on the 99 to head to what was one of my favourite beers breweries, Backcountry Brewing, to catch up with another friend over pizza for lunch. 6 years does funny things to your tastebuds however, and after raving about the Widowmaker, a 6.4% Hazy IPA, to my partner for years, my first sip was nothing but being regret as the intensity of the hops hit me like a freight train. Over the course of the trip the palate warmed to the more hoppy beers of Canadian craft breweries but my own preference has definitely changed since leaving as mid 20 something and returning in my 30s...

After lunch we jumped back on the 99 to finish the trip north, only to have a Volvo fly past us at 150+km/h. Fortunately the RCMP did catch up with this guy and they did not look pleased. We arrived into Whistler around 2:30pm and headed straight to the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

The valet and bell staff were quick to greet us and help unload the car while we went inside to check in. Again a big conference meant a bit of a wait wait at check in. Unfortunately the whole check in experience left a lot to be desired. Beyond being an ALL Gold member, we also booked this through a virtuoso agent (Prince of Travel) which entitled us to a few benefits (breakfast, $100 property credit), none of which were explained at check in. We were also given 2 x non-alcoholic drink vouchers which we didn't question until later in the stay. After we checked in we did get a top floor room at least, though the same category as booked. However upon entering there was a rollaway bed made up. We were very confused by this and immediately requested it be taken away, which did happen about half an hour later. A few pics of the room and welcome amenity below:





And the view from our lead in room category (Deluxe View Room).

After the rollaway was removed we had room to unpack and changed into swimmers to check out the pools. We whiled away the late afternoon between the heated pool, spas and sauna.


This is also where the title of the trip gets its name from. As the sun set that afternoon the temperatures dipped below 0, and that would be the last time we saw that, as for the next 2 weeks it was constantly below, and often very well below freezing!

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 3 (part 2):

After returning to the room we changed and took a wander through the village.
The only night 1 Whistler plan was to meet up a with a close mate at Brandys, a cool little bar under The Keg to watch his Vancouver Canucks play over a few beers and bites. After catching up and watching the Canucks win we walked back to the Upper Village (the base of Blackcomb Mountain) where the Fairmont is located.

We hadn't had a proper dinner so perused the room service menu to make use of the dining credit and ordered some late night snacks and dessert.


That toastie was fantastic and dipping it into the thick rich tomato soup elevated it to another level. The Sundae was also an absolute winner! After this we got the skis and snowboard out of the bag to prepare for our first day on snow.

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 4:

Our first day on snow started with a light snowfall and average visibility. We had a quick breakfast before changing into ski gear and heading down to the ski valet at the bottom of the Fairmont. The service here left quite a bit to be desired really, with the most of the staff seemingly more interested in discussing last nights parties than serving staff. I somewhat expected this as it's obviously very difficult to attract more tenured and experienced staff in ultra expensive ski fields but you would expect supervisors would be making more of an effort to ensure guests were promptly looked after. (I know this sounds entitled but the ski valet service we expected here was delivered, and then some, in Red Mountain at a far more affordable hotel). Rant aside one very convenient amenity was the Whistler Blackcomb desk adjacent to the ski valet. The girls here were lovely and quickly issued our pre-purchased lift tickets.

Hot tip - if you intend on skiing WB, we purchased our 2 day tickets well ahead of time which were valid for any 2 days (with some blackouts) and saved probably 50% over the $300CAD a day window price.

We headed up and skiied a couple of runs on Blackcomb before the better half started to get pretty intense pain from her ski boots. We had this issue in Japan last year but the 'fix' was done on the last day and obviously was not enough to relieve what was causing the pain. That being said I was also in new boots so only managed 1 more run before my feet got sore and I called it a day at 1.

Came back down to find someone much happier than they were skiing...

This part of the ski valet I will give a positive review to as the staff here did interact with enthusiasm to greet people as they came down, offer water and hot chocolate and take care of the skis. Though heading back inside to swap back into shoes the experience was again pretty bad having to actively approach people talking amongst themselves at the desk to get our stuff.

We changed for lunch and went back into the main village to eat at Earls. Again, chain dining done really well. A Caesar (not for me, I think clamato is a disgusting concept) and some sushi to start.


Followed by a club sandwich and cajun chicken with one of the all time great potato salads. Though I will admit calling this medley of warm potatoes, mayo and bacon a salad is a huge stretch, even for North Americans.

Following lunch we did a bit of shopping as the snowfall started to get heavier before making our way back to the hotel and parking up on a sofa at the Mallard Lounge for some afternoon drinks.

A beautiful spot, and if you're a gin lover the singature G&T comes highly recommended. Our server here was fantastic, which continued a theme of hit and miss service. After being able to use the digital welcome drink vouchers in Vancouver, we tried to here and she informed us that they did not yet accept them, but did let us know we should have received physical ones on check in. This is where the check in experience continued to lack as we were given non-alcoholic ones. I ran back to the room to collect those and took them to the front desk to exchange them, which the supervisor was all too happy to do and did express his apologies for our less than ideal check in, further confirming our virtuoso benefits as well.

We retired to the room to add some extra layers as the temperatures continued to dip before heading back out to Caramba for dinner. I'd describe it as upscale casual Italian in a lively restaurant. The food and service were both really good, starting with meatballs and housemade ricotta with sourdough. A winning combo with some extra bread to dip in that marinara sauce.

Followed by a seafood linguine and chicken & nduja fettucine.

After dinner we headed back to bed as the snow kept coming down in anticipation of a good day on the slopes tomorrow.