Category: Travel

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Travel

Grand Canyon/Zion Trip

I’ve just returned from a short, but very enjoyable trip down to the Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks.

A few thoughts for anyone organising something similar…

Camping

In the Grand Canyon I stayed at the huge NPS Mather Campground which was nice enough. However it sells out quickly and for those who don’t want to plan so far ahead, or would rather not spend the $$$ I’ve since discovered that there is dispersed camping available in Kaibab National Forest, just outside the park. Details here.

Food

On the drive from the Grand Canyon to Zion, Kanab is a good place to stop for food. I would particularly recommend the Kanab Creek Bakery:
http://www.kanabcreekbakery.com/.

Categories
Travel

Yellowstone

Here’s a quick summary of how I organised my six day trip to Yellowstone.

  1. Flew Vancouver -> Salt Lake City. Picked up rental car, bought gas + groceries and drove up to near the West entrance of Yellowstone. Slept in the back of the rental off a forest service road.
  2. Entered via West Yellowstone and drove anti-clockwise around the loop, sorting out my backcountry permits in Grant Village. I then continued around the loop to the Cascade Lake 4K5 Trailhead just north of Canyon Village and hiked into my campsite at Wolf Lake.
  3. Hiked back out, check out the canyon and then drove to Mammoth HotSprings via Tower Junction. After walking around the hot springs I drove down to the Biscuit Basin parking lot which was the trailhead for my hike to tonight’s campsite at Firehole Falls.
  4.  Hiked out and visited a bunch more geysers and hot springs in the Old Faithful areaContinued driving to the DeLacy Creek parking lot where I started walking to my next campsite ‘Bluff Top’ on the shores of Shoshone Lake.
  5. Hiked out and drove out the South Yellowstone gate and through Grand Teton National Park. Had an early dinner in Jackson before continuing south to a free campsite I found on Wikicamps, next to the Salt River – Whitetail Lane Recreation Area, just outside Afton.
  6. Drove down to Park City and did a few hours of mountain biking before driving over the hill to Salt Lake City and flying home.

4 states visited – Utah, Idaho, Montana (briefly), Wyoming

Categories
Travel

IEC Vancouver – Tips and Tricks

So you’ve got your IEC visa and booked your flights to Vancouver. Now what? I’d like to share a little of what I’ve learnt in the two months I’ve been here. I’m a Kiwi, so the comparisons I draw will be with life back in New Zealand but hopefully my tips will still prove useful for those from other countries.

Unless otherwise noted all prices are in Canadian dollars and do not include tax.

Translations

Kiwi -> Canadian

  • wee -> small/little
  • lift -> elevator
  • deck -> just don’t say it!
  • toilet -> washroom
  • petrol -> gas

What else have I missed?! Comment below.

Tax

You have to file your own end of year tax deceleration here, even if your employer takes it out of your paycheck each month. If you started work during the last calendar year, you should be in for a nice refund.

Simple Tax worked well for me: https://simpletax.ca/.

Bikes

Whilst Vancouver is generally a very safe city, bikes get stolen/vandalized all the time. Based on this, I would recommend:

  1. Buying a cheap 2nd hand bike for everyday commuting/running errands.
  2. Getting a decent U-lock (not a cable lock).
  3. Replacing the quick release on the seat post with a nut & bolt.

Insurance

Lets get the boring stuff out of the way first. As you probably know, you need medical repatriation insurance as a condition of your IEC visa. I went ahead and spent $$$ on the 2 year Down Under Insurance (DUI) policy. Arriving at the border they only asked for my entry letter and passport. I didn’t need to show proof of funds or insurance.

I’ve since learnt that if you are employed in BC at least 18 hours a week, you can enroll in the government health care plan. This would mean not having to do any paperwork or pay an excess when ending up in emergency. Presumably it also means you’d be treated without payment for accidents resulting from backcountry skiing or climbing which is excluded in the DUI policy. Details here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/msp/bc-residents/eligibility-and-enrolment/are-you-eligible/working-holiday-programs.

Take from that what you will – personally if I had my time again, I’d just get the cheapest possible policy to meet the IEC requirements and then enroll in the BC plan once I had a job.

Arrival

I bought my bike over in a big cardboard box and wasn’t sure how I would get it in from the airport along with all my other stuff. I needn’t have worried as it turns out the taxis all have very reasonable fixed prices (around $30-$35). You can pay with a card as well, so there’s really no need to get Canadian dollars out before you fly over.

There’s a fare zone map, with prices on this page: http://www.yvr.ca/en/passengers/transportation/taxis.

Money

Opening a bank account is probably job number one. Most of the major banks have a promo for new residents where you don’t pay monthly fees for the first year (it’s not all free like in NZ). Make sure you get one of these packages.

I ended up going with CIBC, mainly just because there was a branch near my hotel. Made an appointment and had everything sorted in under 30 mins – including getting a debit card on the spot. They’ve been good so far. App and website work well.

A good plan might be to use a major bank for your first year and then switch to Tangerine for the 2nd year (signup with my Orange Key 54214914S1 to get a free $50 bonus). They have no monthly fees but are a little harder to sign-up for initially without a BC driver’s license or other ID.

Transferring money to other people is a little different here. Rather than just using their bank account number, there is this service called Interac where you ‘send’ money to their email address or phone number.

Wise is the way to go for transferring money to and from your overseas account. Low fees and super easy to use. If you sign-up with my invite link you’ll get your first transfer free: wise.com/u/nicholasw235.

A note on credit cards. It turns out you really do need one here. Deposits on car and ski rentals are one example. Often websites (eg. paying my mobile phone bill) will not accept international credit cards. Also some shops charge a fee for using debit cards, but not for credit cards which is super weird. Some cards also have useful benefits like covering your rental car insurance. Cards take a couple of weeks to arrive, so plan ahead.

Driving

One of the best things about Vancouver is the car-sharing services. Think Uber, but where you’re the driver. You’ll need a BC driver’s license which you can get easily as Canada has a reciprocal arrangement with NZ. You just go to an ICBC and exchange (yes they do take your NZ one) your license and pay a fee (around $30). Details here: http://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/moving-bc/Pages/Moving-from-another-country.aspx .

The two main car-sharing companies are Evo and car2Go. Both are good. For Evo, use my referral code C000115783 to get 30mins free.

Phone Plans

Phone plans are expensive here. Shop around to find the best deal as the companies seem to have promos that come and go. The big three mobile providers: Rogers, Telus and Bell all have spinoff brands: Fido, Koodo and Virgin respectively. They use the same networks but seem to be rebranded to attract a younger / non-business audience. You’ll probably want to go with one of these spinoff brands.

I’m paying $45 a month with Koodo for 2Gb data and unlimited calls/texts which is considered a good deal here…

Temporary Accommodation

You’ll have a hard time trying to sort out permanent accommodation before you arrive, so best to book something temporary whilst you go flat hunting. It’s the usual suspects here: AirBnB, Hostels, Hotels (or a couch if you’re luck enough to know someone here). I arrived on the 14th of the month and managed to sort out a room to move into for the 1st of the following month.

Finding a Room

Most rooms changeover at the start of the month, so in an ideal world, you will have arrived near the middle of the month – long enough to find a place (hopefully) but not so long they you are splashing the cash on temporary accommodation for too long.

I’m going to suggest that unless you are particularly cost conscious, you look for a room in one of the following areas: Downtown (West End / Coal Harbour / Yaletown / Gastown), Kits or Olympic Village/Main St. These areas all have cool stuff happening nearby and are close to public transport.

As a single person looking for a room in a shared flat/house, expect to pay between $750 and $1100 per month. Sometimes hydro (what they call electricity) and internet is included, sometimes not – don’t worry too much about that as both are much cheaper than in New Zealand.

Craigslist is where most places are listed here. It’s a pretty clunky site, but OK once you get used to it. Definitely make use of the price and postal code filters to help you narrow the list down. I’d suggest avoiding listings with text like “Great for students / internationals” as they are likely just looking for soft targets to rip-off, or those without any details about the other roommates. There are also a bunch of people trying to rent out the living rooms of their apartments, which sounds pretty awful…

Good luck!

Finding a Job

I’m not going to spend too much time on this because I imagine your experience will vary depending on what line of work you’re in (I’m a software developer), but I thought I’d make a few observations for those intending to further their careers whilst in Vancouver:

  1. It was harder than I was expecting. There is definitely a bias against those here on a short term visa (which is probably fair enough), so you will need to work to present yourself as more attractive than the local competition.
  2. I got very few replies submitting applications from back in New Zealand. You really need to be here, have a local phone number and preferably an address, on your resume before recruiters will take you seriously.
  3. Almost exclusively, the companies I heard back from were those where I had applied through some sort of back-channel, such as a referral (even from the newest or most tenuous of connections). This is probably the biggest takeaway I can give you – meet some local people in the industry / companies you want to apply for and submit your resume through them. Obviously forming these connections is easier said than done, but they often pop up in unexpected places and it’s worth following up.

Buying Room / House Stuff

Moving from New Zealand, I was all excited about how much easier it would be to buy stuff on Amazon. Turns out that’s not the case. Vancouver might only be 3hrs drive from Seattle, but we’re still very much second class citizens when it comes to Amazon shipping.

That said, If you’re not too fussed on quality, and just want cheap bedroom linen and the odd kitchen appliance (like a decent toaster for $10), then I’ve found Walmart online shopping to be the easiest. Delivery is free and you can choose to have your package delivered to the nearest post shop, so it doesn’t matter if you’re not home.

Fun Stuff

Whistler

Skiing at Whistler is a good time. Unfortunately it’s also super expensive. A massive American company with the appropriately sinister sounding name of “The Vail Corporation” bought the Whistler/Blackcomb resort in 2016. They’ve since jacked up all the prices which the locals are all very sour about. Basically you get OK prices if you buy a season pass, but day passes are just really expensive.

Here’s a couple of tips to minimize the damage:

  • The Epic Rides bus gets you there and back for $35, and they leave on-time (even on the snowiest day in Vancouver all year).
  • Rent ski gear from one of the private ski shops, rather than from the resort. A particularly good option is Coastal Culture Sports in Creekside. When I’ve been there it’s been super quiet, the staff are helpful and they give you good gear.
  • Creekside is a little village just south of the main Whistler Village. It has a ticket office and a gondola which goes up Whistler mountain, joining up with everything else on the resort, so it’s a good alternative to the busyness of Whistler Village. You can still ski down to Whistler Village for lunch if you want to check it out (and to get better and cheaper lunch than what’s on the mountain).