Hi! I was in Vancouver this time last year and as far as I remember it was pouring with rain the whole time (sorry!) I had a great time though. I stayed in three different hostels (its good to try different places), one on jericho beach (sort of nice but quite formal with curfews and a long way from the centre), the cambie hostel, which was the cheapest and quite central, but not really the height of luxury, and the Globetrotters Hostel on Granville Street (I think that's what it's called) which was really good. Brightly coloured rooms, friendly people, no curfew, and staff that organised evening outings (to bars mostly) for guests! The prices were regular for Vancouver (I think about $25 a night or maybe less).
The aquarium in Stanley Park (vast expanse of clean forest surrounded by water) is good if you like fishy things. I'm not sure how correct it is to have a killer whale paddling about in a swimming pool but it is nice to look at. Vancouver people seemed to be obsessed with healthiness and they're all madly exercising every weekend. If you like parties there is a massive underground warehouse party thing going on in Vancouver. (which we found out about from a barman in a cafe). You just go into any record shop (sort of scary looking ones with lots of blokes in) and look for a cheap photocopied flier. They usually involve going to a secret location and being picked up in a white van and taken a hundred yards down the road. You should probably go to something like this with someone else as they make you wait around in some not so nice places.. . Anyway, I thought Vancouver was great, the air was really clean (probably because of all the rain) and although you have to dig a little bit to find it, there is a lot to do there.
I sympathise with you being a young lady all alone in a big city (I landed in LA on my own last summer), but it's so brilliant being away from everyone you know to just be yourself and do what you like I know that after the first week or so (maybe now) it will be fantastic.
