Speak Better English with Harry | Episode 36

And Wow, I had a really fantastic time, but it was probably one of the most relaxing holidays that I have ever had. Anyway . So when I'm talking to you today, I'm going to be using lots of words and expressions connected with holidays and trips. So listen carefully and hopefully you'll be able to get some words that you can use when you're talking about your holiday. We all like to talk about holidays because they usually fun times.

Um , occasionally we pick a bad holiday or something happens that might not be so pleasant, but usually holidays are a fun and enjoyable. So you'll listen out and you'll hear some words that you may able to use when you're talking to your colleagues when you get back to work or back to school or in the coffee break or when you're having a beer with your friends and catching up.

I went to Vancouver, so Vancouver is on the west coast of Canada and the reason I went there is that my daughter has been living there for seven years now and I have been promising her for a few years that I would go and visit and eventually we decided that it was now or never that if we didn't do it this year, we might not get the chance in the future because it was something happening next year and perhaps the next year, so we would keep putting it off or per spawning the holiday .

So this year we took the plunge and decided to book the holiday was a little bit expensive, but sure. That's what happens the you when you book a holiday, you just have to go for it. Yeah, just a take it by the, the neck and decide, yeah, I'm going to have this holiday. And if it costs a little bit more, well that's the way life goes .

But anyway, the , we had our holiday in Vancouver and as I said, Vancouver is on the west coast of candidates, the , um, one of the main cities in the state of British Columbia. And it's really, really beautiful. Vancouver, the city is like any other city, some nice paths and unfortunately some nuts and nice parts.

But when you get outside of the city , uh , and you go to Vancouver island on everything changes, it's just wonderful, beautiful views, beautiful scenery, everything just absolutely amazing. It is a long way to travel. And , uh , when we got there first, we suffered a bit from jet lag. You know, jet lag is that feeling you have when you're a little bit tired over , you've missed some sleep and it takes you awhile to recover.

So it took us about, I think, 24 hours on the way out because , uh , Vancouver is nine hours behind Europe. So we were , uh , gaining some time, even though the , uh , journey on the plane was almost 11 hours. So the jet lag, we got over that and about 24 hours on the way back was a little different, but I'll talk to you about that a little later. So as , as the North American people would say the views and everything were awesome. So the Americans use this word awesome.

Uh , in Europe, pretend to use something not so bold as that. So we use words like amazing or wonderful or even cool. But it was all of those, it was awesome. It was cool. It was wonderful and it was amazing. As I said, it was a really relaxing holiday because my daughter, who has been living there for seven years, she arranged everything. So she just told me what we were going to do. And as everything was new to me, it didn't really mean I had to make any big decisions.

I just said, yeah, sure, let's do that. Let's try that. The only thing that I insisted on that I wanted to do is that I wanted to go whale watching. So we had took a trip on a boat, so I talk about that a little later. So anyway, my daughter had everything planned and I was able to spend two weeks with my daughter and I haven't spent two weeks with her for such a long time. So she planned everything.

She organized everything and she did a really good job because , uh, every place we visited was cool and beautiful and more amazing than the previous place. So we did a lot of air traveling, but she and her boyfriend were doing the driving, so they got a nice comfortable car that they borrowed from a friend. And the friend was quite happy to lend the car to them. And , uh , that gave us a little bit more room because in total there were five of us, my daughter and her boyfriend.

And then , uh, our family, myself, my wife, and uh , one of our sons. So we will there, got into the car and uh, and off we went. So when we went traveling, we left Vancouver city behind and we drove to a fairy . If you haven't been on one of these, they're a really great experience where you just drive your car on and it takes you from island to island. So in our situation, the ferries went all around the different islands that make up Vancouver island.

And as I said, the, the views were just spectacular. We were very lucky because the, the weather was really beautiful. Uh , in Vancouver city we had mixed weather some days and little cloudy in the morning, but usually in the afternoon the sun was shining. But when we got to Vancouver Island, we had bright blue skies every day from morning until evening. But the temperature was at a very comfortable 26 or 27 degrees.

And , uh , mentored , really comfortable for driving or walking or swimming when we got the opportunity to swim. So this holiday was a , a mix of indoor and outdoor activities. So when we traveled in the car, obviously we were indoor, but , uh , we stopped on a regular basis either to do some walking or to eat or , uh , indeed a few times to go into a local brewery where they make their own beer to sample the local beers in different parts. And that was really a great experience.

I don't want to suggest that we spent all of our holiday drinking beer, but it was certainly fun tasting some of the beer and they give you these little wooden trays with holes in the trays where they put in the glasses and they call them flights, like a , an airplane flight, but the flight of beer . So there was four little glasses on, only something like four ounces so you could taste the different beers.

And these beers were made from , uh, all sorts of , uh, different fruits and uh , really, really, very, eh tasty, always with a little bit of food so you could get a , a nice , uh , experience of the , the local beers. So as I said, we had lots of indoor and outdoor activities. The outdoor activities were really well planned. We cycled around Stanley Park, which was a big, big park and Vancouver city. We cycled around that one day. It took us , um, most of the morning, Eh , it was really busy.

There were lots and lots of people doing the same and stopping to take photographs and people jogging, people walking , uh, old people like me, very young people, all sorts of people, big and small, all on the bikes. But Eh , again, the views were wonderful because the park is right around by the, the ocean. So when you are cycling you always have the ocean either on your left or your, depending on which direction you were going. And there was plenty to see.

Magnificent bridges , um, certain historic rocks that had been named, particularly by the Canadian native American Indians. Um, so really , um, nice things to , to look at. We did stop, of course, at a halfway around the park to sample the a Ah , hotdog. They're famous in , uh , American, no different in Canada. So we had a very pleasant hotdog with some eh , French fries for lunch, some water, and then we'd got on the bikes again. And off we went.

So get back to Vancouver island because that's where we, we spent , uh , more than a week. Um, we had lots of lovely rivers , uh , to visit. We went , um, hiking. And then, and when we got to the end of the , the hike and hike as a , a walker in the hills, we didn't go up so high, but it was lots of up and down because we were in and out of a , a forest. And it went around the edge of a lake.

And when we got to the far side of the lake, so it was about , uh , six kilometers there and six kilometers back. We stopped at the lake and we had a swim and all the water was very cold, very typical of a mountain lake. The water was deep , uh, surrounded by trees with a small beach.

And , uh, when I got into the water , uh , I knew immediately that it wasn't going to be so warm, but at least I got in the water was very fresh and very clear and amazingly clean and that was very noticeable about all of the places we stopped for , uh, swims, that the water was extremely clean. So , uh , then we hiked back another six kilometers, got in our cars and slept very well that evening. I did say earlier on that one of my , um, wishes on this holiday was to go whale watching.

So one of the days from , uh , Vancouver City along by the waterfront, you can book these excursions, a little journey and excursion, ah , from the harbor area , uh, out into the ocean to, to seek a new , uh , spot, some whales . So we had to get up very early. We got onto the boat around 7:30 AM in the morning and we set off on the water and the water was quite calm.

Um, but when the boat, cause it was quite a small boat started picking up speed, it was jumping or hopping , uh, over the surface. So there was a lot of spray, a lot of splashes of water. Um, so it was , uh, a bit, a bit of fun. Um, I had one of the outside seats outside the boat because inside it was, it was full and they gave me this red a suit, like a diving suit and I look like somebody about to go to , um , the moon or the Mars.

But , um, I was glad I had the suit because when the boats started to hop across the waves, lots of water was splashing up and everybody got wet. And I, apart from my feet, I was quite dry, so quite happy to have the suit.

We were very lucky when we , uh, we had been traveling and I think for about an hour, somebody on one side of the boat spotted , uh , a whale and , uh , they stopped the boat and sure enough then in the distance, about a hundred meters away, we could see a whale just breaking the surface. So then the , the , the back of the whale was , uh , sticking out of the water and it was very evident that this was a hump back whale.

And , uh, the guide on the boat , you had a lot of knowledge , uh, was able to tell us , uh , exactly what type of whale, and he'd been following these for a long time and he even have names. So then when he was able to see the tail of the whale, he was able to tell us who it was. So in all we had three whales to watch, there were two , um, female whales, yes, two female twins and they were adults, whales and one young whale about a few years old.

So again, he was able to tell us where the whale was born and that and how it far to travel because they had been watching it for some time. So we're really, really lucky. Um, unfortunately I didn't get so many good photographs because the, the whales moved quite quickly. But , uh, the lady standing beside me, she was from Switzerland.

I think she got a really beautiful photograph of the whale jumping or breaking , uh, the, the through the water and it was really spectacular to see and, and also to watch. So we spent about three hours traveling around , uh, looking for the whales . Uh , they were hoping to spot some killer whales, so we traveled near some other islands where there's some feeding with seals. Uh, but unfortunately we didn't see any of the killer whales.

Uh , but we did see a lot of seals, very pleasant in the water, and also got a view of , uh, the Bald Eagle. And the Bald Eagle is very specific to North America. I don't think it's found, found in any other parts of the world. It's a very noticeable by its brown or dark wings and back and , uh, it's Whitehead and white , uh, chest.

So , um, we, they usually travel in pairs and we saw pair sitting on the rock and they were, they were feeding and , um , the seals were being very protective of their young because these eagles can , uh, try to steal the very, very young seals. So when we finished that, we went back to , um , the mainland and we enjoyed the, around , uh , uh , the harbor area , uh , then headed, headed home.

So while we were on a holiday, we also got a chance to see bald eagles on Vancouver Island and the small guest house where we were staying, there was a very large tree next to the, the guest house. And there were two at bald eagles sitting at the top of that tree every morning. And every evening, I think during the day they were off fishing or whatever they're doing. They've a very distinctive cry that like , uh , a baby crying. So it's very, very strange. Um, and they call out to each other.

And one day when we were sitting on the balcony enjoying a pizza, the eagle actually flew past the balcony and it was carrying a fish or the remains of a fish in its , uh, in its beak. And it's a , took it up to the tree and enjoyed its evening meal. Not quite pizza, but , um, he was having a fish supper. Um , so it was , um, great for us to see all of this , uh, wildlife.

And when we went out for a walk along by the, the, the coast, later on we spotted some otters in the water, about five or six of them and further arm . We spotted a , again, a few seals , uh , late in the evening . Uh, geese and ducks and also all sorts of other birds. So a real wildlife adventure.

And then when we turned to return home, Eh, standing on the side of the road , uh , on a grassy patch, a piece of , uh , grass on the side of the road was a young deer and it was just out having a walk. It wasn't a too bothered about the traffic. And indeed in the morning when we went out, it was there again. So obviously that's a , a place where it would frequent , um, on a regular basis. We didn't see any bears. Um, thankfully not where we were staying.

Uh, I would have liked to have seen them, but my wife wasn't soaking. And I, it's a pity that we didn't take the opportunity to go and watch them because this is at the time of the year when they start feeding on the fish. And the river to get themselves ready for their winter time. So as I said, lots and lots of wildlife and these car ferries that we, we took our journeys on were really, really wonderful.

You know, we just queued up , uh , had booked in advance of course, because they're , they're very busy and just drive onto the ferry. And I think the longest ferry was two hours and the others were an hour or an hour and 30 minutes going from island to island into these beautiful, beautiful areas, very quiet, very peaceful and really very nice, unpleasant people. So there was some of the , uh, outdoor activities that we had , um, or I did, I also get the chance to swim in the Pacific Ocean.

That was another , uh, one of my bucket activities. Yes . So I was able to tick that box and again, like the lake, the , uh, Pacific Ocean was really, really cold. It was quite calm the day we were there. And we have to walk out a long way to get into deep water. But , um, as soon as I got into wolf , it was really cold. So I was only swimming for 10 or 15 minutes, but the water was beautiful, very clear, very clean.

And you could see right the way down to the bottom and you can see some fish swimming and crabs and things like that. But , uh, as I said, really cold because they're outside temperature was 26, 27, but I think the temperature of the water was probably 14 or 15. So a little bit cold , uh , for me to, to swim it. But again, very enjoyable and I was able to tick that particular box. So what else did I do?

Well, as I said, we had a mix of indoor and outdoor activities and some of the other , uh , indoor activities when it was, the weather was not so enjoyable. We went and played mini golf, which is great fun because there were lots of us playing. I think in total we had seven people or eight people playing.

So we split up into two teams and then we would just, we had the older people and the younger people and the, the, the younger people one, but only by, I think one stroke or , uh, but it, it was, it was really entertaining. And the , uh, theme for this particular mini golf course was a jungle. So the, there was all sorts of, Eh , stuffed animals and , uh, animal noises and things that look like trees. So it made it a really, really enjoyable,

So they used all berries, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, and , uh , the wines tasted a really, really remarkable, very, very fresh, very pleasant, and really nice to drink, particularly on a, on a warm, warm day. So that again was , uh, an enjoyable experience. Food in, in Canada is no different really than food in America. Any of you Ho who have traveled to America will know . They usually give very large portions.

So you have to be really careful because they give you large plates and the plates are usually full of food. So there's a danger that you might overeat , which of course we did. Uh , but there wasn't anything particular to Canada that I can recall. We didn't taste actually , um, maple leaf or maple syrup, which is the , uh , speciality in, in Canada. But , um, we did try lots of other types of foods and um, lots of , but the food was very, very fresh. Um , really good quality.

And so that's the, what I noticed , uh , about the foods or fresh fruit food, good quality, even though it wasn't so, eh , different than what you'd get in most other cities around the world. I did. We did have a few very nice Sushi meals. Uh , there's a very large , uh, Asian population in Vancouver, lots of Chinese and Japanese and Korean people. So they've brought their traditions with them. And so we got some really wonderful , uh , Sushi restaurants too to try.

And we, we really, really enjoyed that. So , um, when we were, as I said, we , we, we, my big thrill of the holiday was the whale watching and we were lucky to , to see them. Um, and also to look at the, these bald eagles, which I said are very , um, particular to and North America. Um, and , uh, we also , um,

Uh , two of US could not touch our hands when we tried to put them around the bottom of the tree. And one particular tree, according to the information that they gave us, was over 800 years old. Yeah. 800 years. And , um , I have a really cool photograph of me standing inside the tree because it's split at the bottom and I'm standing inside looking up at it. But , um, it's quite amazing that the tree's still there today still growing.

So this particular forest that we visited was full of these cedar and these psychiatry's a really, really magnificent.

And they had one of these amazing suspension bridges to walk across, which was a little bit scary because the bridge was bouncing as you walked across it or the several people on it than it. It bounced quite a lot. So let's say that it's a , a very pleasant place to visit. Uh , the journey is really long. I was going to mention about the jet lag on the way back. The jet lag on the outward journey.

Outward journey heading to Vancouver lasted about 24 hours, but on the way back, we were coming back east, coming back to Europe. Uh, we lost the nine hours , uh, of the time difference, but also then on top of that was , uh, 10 hours of flying and then we had to wait and we had to get a train. So really we spent 24 hours traveling. So it was a long, long journey. And My jet light , Eh , lasted certainly three days and probably a little more. So in the afternoon I used to get quite tired.

So that's one of the drawbacks, the disadvantages of the holiday, but it's only a very small , uh , drawback . And , uh, it was far outweighed by all of the wonderful experiences that I had and the time that I got to spend, as I said, with my, with my daughter. So really, really good. And if somebody who's looking for a Goo , a tip for a holiday , um, you know, you'd have to take at least two weeks because it's a long way to go. So it's not something you would go to for just a week, I think.

But if you're looking for a suggestion or a tip, then I certainly would recommend Canada either on the east coast to around the Toronto area. And you'd probably get a chance then to visit Niagara Falls or traveling all the way out to the west side and in that area of Vancouver. But if you're going to go to Vancouver, make sure you visit Vancouver island because that is where you'll see all of these magnificent views and the scenery and everything else that goes with that.

So I hope you've had a really wonderful summer of hope. You have had a splendid holiday somewhere, whether it's at home. Um, and when people have a holiday at home, we sometimes call it now a staycation. Okay. So we call a vacation for a holiday. Uh , and if people stay at home, the introduced this word staycation , meaning staying at home. So it's quite a interesting new word that has been introduced in the English language in the last few years.

So whether you had a vacation or a staycation, I hope you've enjoyed it and it'll set you up now for the rest of the year when you either get back to school , uh , university or indeed back unfortunately to work. And of course work is very important because it means then we can earn some money to save up for the next holiday. Okay, well thanks for listening. That's the end of the podcast for today.

And if you want to contact me directly, you can do so on my personal email, which is, hey , HC at English language, sorry, h c . Dot. English language@gmail.com but to get that right hage C. Dot. English language@gmail.com or the a web site that I have, w ww dot English lesson via skype.com. Okay. Uh , and indeed I have a wonderful new , um, club that you can join. It's called the easy peasy club.

And if you go into my webpage, www.englishlessonviaskype.com you'll find a link to this easy peasy club. It's a VIP club just for people who subscribe to it. So it's only cost you 25 euro per annum, just 25 euro per year. And when you're a member of that, you get a free recorded lesson every week and lots of other information than courses that you can access through this easy peasy clubs .

So it's really a club there for people who perhaps don't have the time to take a lesson, an English lesson on a one to one basis. Um , or perhaps they can't afford to have a lessons on a one to one basis, but they do want to improve their English. So the easy peasy club, I think is the way to do it. So it's lesson from, from me. They're recorded. So we've already got three or four lessons already recorded on that, plus lots of other information and courses, so you can access that.

Okay, so you'll find all those details. So let me repeat it again just so I don't make a mistake. My personal email address is Haitch c. Dot . English language@gmail.com and the webpages , www.englishlessonviaskype.com and then that will give you the link to the easy peasy English club. Okay, great. Well, join me again soon. Okay, thanks for listening. Cheers. Bye. Bye.