Advertisement
Published: August 29th 2013
Edit Blog Post
On Deer Lake, Burnaby
Shouldn't this be a Canadian Canoe? August 27
th– Burnaby, BC
Not entirely convinced the weather would behave itself enough for a walk and still a little stiff from our hike up Lynn Peak we decide to head over the Second Narrows Bridge into Burnaby.
Initially our intention was to walk around Deer Lake but as we approach on foot we discover lots of people on the lake in a variety of watercraft and decide to investigate. Within minutes the boys and I are on a pedalo while Steve has chosen to stick with the original plan of walking around the lake. A Canadian Canoe would have been more fitting (and frankly less embarrassing) but I let the boys choose and that’s what we end up with.
It’s good fun and good exercise too! We come in close to the lily pads and foliage that hug the perimeter in the hope that we may be lucky enough to spot one of the resident beavers but it’s not to be. There are signs in the park itself that warn of recent bear sighting. It would seem that bears are becoming more and more popular in the city of Burnaby and have been causing some concern. But
Burnaby Village Museum
Inside the General Store alas we see neither. We have a lovely time though and then it’s onto the Burnaby Village Museum, something we’ve never done before.
The heritage village revolves around a 1920’s street with many of the traditional shops you’d expect. We listen to a “school teacher” tell us all about corporal punishment in schools in the replica 1920’s classroom, a “shop owner” in the replica General Store shows us, and talks about, the various things that would have been sold in the General Stores (such as the latest electric stove – priced at around $150 or the latest Kodak camera priced at $6.75) and we watch the lady blacksmith create a coat hook from a stick of metal.
The village is actually free (quite unusual as most tourist things in and around Vancouver are really quite expensive) so we support them by enjoying a drink and snack at the “Ice-cream Parlour” and then add to the donation box on our way out. A very worthwhile visit and hopefully the boys learnt something too!
August 28
th, 2013 – Downtown and Kitsilano
Had to swap over rental cars today (requirement of our insurance) so we drive into
downtown Vancouver and drop off our Dodge Charger. A nice car that has been good to us and – just about – managed to contain us and all our luggage as we have moved from week to week.
But this time we want something bigger, partly for our upcoming road trip to the Rockies, partly for the couple of days when Mum and Dad will be in Vancouver after their cruise and partly for the fun of it! So after a few hours in the downtown area we’ll return and pick up something bigger.
We use the time to eat in one of our favourite restaurants, Kim House, a Japanese restaurant on Seymour. Delicious!
Hungers satisfied we wander around Canada Place, check out the two huge cruise liners awaiting departure for Alaska (probably) and also a free exhibit and short film, that we accidentally came upon, all about the 1812 Canada/US war. It turns out this is quite a significant war as, although resulting in an effective stalemate and despite the fact that Canada was still a long way off becoming independent, it did play an important role in Canada becoming its own nation rather than a
Burnaby Village Museum
A 1920's street in Burnaby part of the USA.
(We picked up a few postcards depicting heroic figures from the war and the boys were given the assignment of researching and writing up about them when we got home that evening!).
And then it was off to pick up our next mode of transport for the middle part of our stay here. We’d selected a type of mini-van and ended up with a Chrysler Town and Country. The boys are delighted! Matthew enters the car through the back slide door, exclaiming excitedly “that’s my room!” It’s true that one of the attractions of this type of car was the fact that on longer journeys they would be able to have a whole “row” of seats to themselves (less arguing – that’s the plan anyway).
Next a little visit into Kitsilano, the attractive, leafy, residental area south of the downtown area that sits on the south side of English Bay. We sit on the beach for a while and watch a harbour seal who keeps popping up very close to the shore. Also a collection of rabbits that look so like the kind you keep as pets that we wonder if they’re not
wild but escaped domestic ones instead!
Then it’s back home to the North Shore, which takes rather a long time because of the time of day. Vancouver’s congestion problem is one of the reasons we were ready to leave the city when we had the chance to go east with jobs about 20 or so years ago. That and the chance to see another part of Canada and to experience a “real Canadian winter” that everyone back home assumed we were living through anyway. The traffic was only ever going to get worse but still, it’s a price many people are understandably willing to pay, for living in a place rated the third best city in the world to live in.
That evening we order Pizza as we can get it delivered to our house and this amuses the boys as it’s not something we can do where we live back home. Delicious and with us in 30 minutes!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.116s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 50; dbt: 0.0547s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb