Hilary
There's always something new to learn!
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2000
- Messages
- 6,483
Tsawwassen
Thursday, August 7th
We had another ferry crossing booked for today, this time back to the mainland, and it began to feel as though our trip was coming to an end as we packed up
. DH and I went for a walk along the harbour whilst the girls finished sorting out their things, then we checked out and made our way to the ferry terminal north of Victoria.
We needed something to eat before the ferry crossing, and saw a White Spot just off the main highway at Sidney. I was keen to try a White Spot as Id heard they were as synonymous with Canada as Ponderosa in the US, so we went in, and were very impressed with our quick visit we wished wed discovered them sooner!
The ferry crossing back to Vancouver was stunning, and we stayed up on deck in the sunshine all the way across.
At Tsawwassen we asked at the Visitor Information Centre for directions to our hotel and checked in before going for a swim in the hotel pool. We went for a drive around the local area, and then returned to have our evening meal on the patio of the hotel restaurant, relaxing and beginning to wind down at the end of our two weeks away.
Friday, August 8th
Well, this was it our last day in Canada and what did we decide to do? Go to America!
It was only by chance that I had seen on a map that a quirk of nature (the position of the 49th parallel which formed most of the Canadian / US border) had left the very tip of the small peninsular, on which Tsawwassen was situated, in the hands of the US. Point Roberts occupied no more than 5 square miles and could only be reached by sea or via Canada. There was a border crossing a couple of miles from our hotel, and a beach with a whale lookout tower, and it seemed as good a way as any to spend our last day we were really only biding our time until the evening flight back to the UK. So, passports at the ready, we set off. 
The guidebook said that the Point Roberts border control had always been a fairly casual affair, so we were somewhat surprised when the border guard took our passports, told us to park up and follow him into the office!
We followed, and he asked whether we were familiar with the Visa waiver arrangements between the UK and US and the paperwork which accompanied them. I said that yes, we had completed those forms in the past when we had flown direct to the US. He explained that there would be a charge of $6 per person to complete the paperwork and we might like to consider whether we wanted to continue, or just go visit a beach in Canada instead! We muttered amongst ourselves, then decided we wouldnt bother and went back out to the car.
Then we muttered some more and thought we may as well go for it, as wed come this far and would regret it if we didnt. $6 each wasnt too much, and we could just go along and have a cup of coffee somewhere, then come back again. So we all trooped back into the office and set about completing the forms. You know when youre on a trans-Atlantic flight and they hand around the Visa waiver forms and one person from each family sits patiently completing them all? Well, Im that person in our family, so I knew which bits to fill in and where, but DH was making such a hash of his that the guard took pity on him and did it for him!
Thatll be $24 for all of you the guard said. I rummaged in my purse. US dollars he added.
Ah! That was something we hadnt even considered we had no US dollars with us! They accepted VISA. We handed over the card. With much ceremonial stamping of passports, we were deemed fit to enter Point Roberts and we set off. Then I remembered we had no US dollars to pay for a coffee either!
It was quite a surreal place and had the air of a ghost town. I think a lot of the sparsely occupied properties may have been holiday homes, but everywhere was very quiet and we never did find the whale observation tower. We parked outside a semi-derelict nightclub and walked down to a very unattractive bit of beach, then drove around to a harbour area and went for a drink checking first that they accepted payment by credit card! We felt guilty using a cc for such a small purchase and felt obliged to order some muffins and cookies as well this cup of coffee in the US was costing more and more by the minute and all the prices were in US dollars, not Canadian (and therefore more expensive)!
It didnt take long before wed seen just about all we wanted to see here, so we drove back to the border, wondering whether it would be easier to get out of the US than in! The Canadian guard gave us a grilling about what where we were from, when wed arrived in Canada, where wed picked up the rental car, what wed been doing in Point Roberts and why wed been there.
Did you just go for a look around?
Yes we replied, trying to look like upright, honest citizens.
Wasnt really worth it, was it? he smiled!
Once wed driven out of earshot we burst out laughing if only wed met him on our way in, rather than out!
We returned to the hotel, collected our luggage and got changed, ready for the flight, then set off for the airport. No more than five miles down the road we hit the biggest traffic jam wed seen since we left the UK it went on for as far as the eye could see, and we had no idea how long it would take us to get through it. After half an hour sitting in the queue we were beginning to worry that we wouldnt make the airport in time, even though wed left the hotel in plenty of time. We had just moved onto a more open stretch of highway when a car on our inside lane told us to use the fast lane because we had more than four passengers. We werent sure what he meant, but I did very vaguely remember something about car-pooling, and we took his word for it that it was legitimate and zoomed up the hard shoulder, past all the waiting traffic with less than four passengers. I must remember to ask Sharon about that were we legal to do that?
The rest of the trip was just a blur of the flight home, the drive back from Heathrow and collecting the cat from the cattery. The cases have been unpacked, the photo album has been done and now the trip reports have been written, so all thats left is to hang on to the wonderful memories for as long as my little grey cells can manage.
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, August 7th
We had another ferry crossing booked for today, this time back to the mainland, and it began to feel as though our trip was coming to an end as we packed up
. DH and I went for a walk along the harbour whilst the girls finished sorting out their things, then we checked out and made our way to the ferry terminal north of Victoria.We needed something to eat before the ferry crossing, and saw a White Spot just off the main highway at Sidney. I was keen to try a White Spot as Id heard they were as synonymous with Canada as Ponderosa in the US, so we went in, and were very impressed with our quick visit we wished wed discovered them sooner!
The ferry crossing back to Vancouver was stunning, and we stayed up on deck in the sunshine all the way across.
At Tsawwassen we asked at the Visitor Information Centre for directions to our hotel and checked in before going for a swim in the hotel pool. We went for a drive around the local area, and then returned to have our evening meal on the patio of the hotel restaurant, relaxing and beginning to wind down at the end of our two weeks away.
Friday, August 8th
Well, this was it our last day in Canada and what did we decide to do? Go to America!
It was only by chance that I had seen on a map that a quirk of nature (the position of the 49th parallel which formed most of the Canadian / US border) had left the very tip of the small peninsular, on which Tsawwassen was situated, in the hands of the US. Point Roberts occupied no more than 5 square miles and could only be reached by sea or via Canada. There was a border crossing a couple of miles from our hotel, and a beach with a whale lookout tower, and it seemed as good a way as any to spend our last day we were really only biding our time until the evening flight back to the UK. So, passports at the ready, we set off. The guidebook said that the Point Roberts border control had always been a fairly casual affair, so we were somewhat surprised when the border guard took our passports, told us to park up and follow him into the office!
We followed, and he asked whether we were familiar with the Visa waiver arrangements between the UK and US and the paperwork which accompanied them. I said that yes, we had completed those forms in the past when we had flown direct to the US. He explained that there would be a charge of $6 per person to complete the paperwork and we might like to consider whether we wanted to continue, or just go visit a beach in Canada instead! We muttered amongst ourselves, then decided we wouldnt bother and went back out to the car. Then we muttered some more and thought we may as well go for it, as wed come this far and would regret it if we didnt. $6 each wasnt too much, and we could just go along and have a cup of coffee somewhere, then come back again. So we all trooped back into the office and set about completing the forms. You know when youre on a trans-Atlantic flight and they hand around the Visa waiver forms and one person from each family sits patiently completing them all? Well, Im that person in our family, so I knew which bits to fill in and where, but DH was making such a hash of his that the guard took pity on him and did it for him!
Thatll be $24 for all of you the guard said. I rummaged in my purse. US dollars he added.
Ah! That was something we hadnt even considered we had no US dollars with us! They accepted VISA. We handed over the card. With much ceremonial stamping of passports, we were deemed fit to enter Point Roberts and we set off. Then I remembered we had no US dollars to pay for a coffee either!
It was quite a surreal place and had the air of a ghost town. I think a lot of the sparsely occupied properties may have been holiday homes, but everywhere was very quiet and we never did find the whale observation tower. We parked outside a semi-derelict nightclub and walked down to a very unattractive bit of beach, then drove around to a harbour area and went for a drink checking first that they accepted payment by credit card! We felt guilty using a cc for such a small purchase and felt obliged to order some muffins and cookies as well this cup of coffee in the US was costing more and more by the minute and all the prices were in US dollars, not Canadian (and therefore more expensive)!
It didnt take long before wed seen just about all we wanted to see here, so we drove back to the border, wondering whether it would be easier to get out of the US than in! The Canadian guard gave us a grilling about what where we were from, when wed arrived in Canada, where wed picked up the rental car, what wed been doing in Point Roberts and why wed been there.
Did you just go for a look around?
Yes we replied, trying to look like upright, honest citizens.
Wasnt really worth it, was it? he smiled!
Once wed driven out of earshot we burst out laughing if only wed met him on our way in, rather than out!
We returned to the hotel, collected our luggage and got changed, ready for the flight, then set off for the airport. No more than five miles down the road we hit the biggest traffic jam wed seen since we left the UK it went on for as far as the eye could see, and we had no idea how long it would take us to get through it. After half an hour sitting in the queue we were beginning to worry that we wouldnt make the airport in time, even though wed left the hotel in plenty of time. We had just moved onto a more open stretch of highway when a car on our inside lane told us to use the fast lane because we had more than four passengers. We werent sure what he meant, but I did very vaguely remember something about car-pooling, and we took his word for it that it was legitimate and zoomed up the hard shoulder, past all the waiting traffic with less than four passengers. I must remember to ask Sharon about that were we legal to do that?
The rest of the trip was just a blur of the flight home, the drive back from Heathrow and collecting the cat from the cattery. The cases have been unpacked, the photo album has been done and now the trip reports have been written, so all thats left is to hang on to the wonderful memories for as long as my little grey cells can manage.
Thanks for reading!
