Vancouver

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I was a little nervous about this trip, mainly as I had not yet tested out my ESTA (my visa waiver allowing me into America) and had feared that I may miss out on seeing a place that was on my 'to do' list right from the start of my adventures. Alaska was a place that had fascinated me for a number of reasons and although I only saw a small part of it, it was definitely a place well worth seeing and lived up to expectations. However, Vancouver was first on our itinerary and it also was one of the major places in Canada I had wanted to see. It was the last few days before mum and sis would move on to a tour of Eastern Canada and America and I would not see them again for a good four and a half months, so I was hoping that the trip would also go quite well. I was also nervous as mum and sis had done all the booking of everything. It wasn't that I didn't trust them, it was that I am so used to booking my own trips or at least having control of them so venturing to the unknown without really knowing much about what was going had me a little on edge.



The start to the Vancouver trip went well. Apart from only having long-term parks available in the $27 per day car park, and having to pay $9 train ticket into the city of Vancouver when we found out later we could have purchased it cheaper, everything appeared in order for a good 2 days or exploring. The weather was amazing, the sun was out, only a few clouds were a tiny blemish to a completely blue sky, and the little bit of humidity didn't seem to phase me, as we checked into our hotel and began our adventure. Mum and sis had wanted to get tickets to the hop on and hop off bus but I thought it a waste of money when you could just grab a map walk around and get lost in the city. Now Vancouver is not Venice, where getting lost in its narrow streets is part of its charm but I still feel that we see more walking and can stop when and where you like. Some cities, however, the hop on and hop off buses, particularly if you have a real short time in a city, are just a brilliant idea, as I will make reference to into a future blog!



Vancouver felt like a comfortable city to explore as we walked away from the hotel along Hornby St to False Creek, where across the river was Granville Island. Mel, the teacher i have exchanged with had expressed to mum and sis that this was a place to check out. There were two ways to get there, the long way, around False Creek or the short way over the Burrard St Bridge. I had suggested to go the long way since it was a nice walk and according to the scale of the map we had it wasn't very far. This was the first of two occasions the map scale had fooled us as it was quite a deal longer. The walk along False Creek is about a half day and one to just soak up and enjoy. Where we started from you could see a number of sailing boats either docked or floating along the river and soaking up the sun. There was even a pirate ship tourist activity that caught our attention as well as dragon boating, kayaking and a couple of other water activities. Oh how I longed to be kayaking out there. It was the perfect weather for a paddle and I could only look on enviously as others got to enjoy this relaxing outdoor activity. Right next to, or even part of Granville Island are a group of six silos that have been painted and designed quite spectacularly into six humans. As we found out later on, they are painted both front and back and to ensure you get a view of the front and back of each silo, every alternate silo is painted with the human's back to you.



We continued our long walk around False Creek and saw a number of people running along the tracks, riding their bikes on a separate bike track (which had mum most impressed) and saw small little parks where people relaxed and little sections that talked about the history of False Creek. There was even a section where you had a whole heap of native sayings with their English translation underneath it which we thought was quite cool. The further you walk away from Granville Island, the more this huge silver ball would come into sight. This attraction had me quite hypnotized and as it was quite a unique design. As we walked over to this large silver ball, you looked around at the buildings along the river and most looked like apartments. They all had something in common: Glass seemed to be the major structural material that caught your eye. After a good hour and a bit, we had reached the end of False Creek where we also saw Rogers Arena, home stadium for the Vancouver Canuks and the BC Place stadium, home of the BC Lions CFL team and that only a month before held a number of games for the woman's World Cup soccer tournament that was held in Canada. The identity of the large, circular ball was revealed and it was the Science World. It would have been great to go in there, but it was full of a number of child care or school groups, all with colour coded, bright T-shirts on and seeming quite excited by the wonderful activities they we experiencing.



One 'must do' activity in Vancouver is to sit out on a patio and have a nice cold beverage, especially on beautiful days like we had. It wasn't so apparent to us at the time that this was quite the social expectation, but the more we walked around False Creek, the greater number of Patio places on the edge of the water there were. This was also the case when we walked the other side of the city, but more on that later. We ventured into the Tap and Barrel restaurant and sat on the balcony and ordered lunch. We all had decided, since it was the 'thing to do' that we would have a beer. Now on an off note, the women in Vancouver are some of the best looking I've seen in the world. Our waitress was no exception to this rule, not that this has anything really to do with traveling here or has any real importance to our trip, but it did add to the amazing view that from the top balcony that over looked False Creek. Since there were a few different beers on the list, I thought I would ask the waitress, who appeared like she had an athlete like body, what she would recommend. As she went through the menu the one she best thought would be good to try was the Jerkface! Yep that was the name of the beer and I quickly followed up that maybe she was implying something, obviously in harmless jest. Whether the beer had some kind of hinting meaning at my expense or not, it went down a treat. I had also asked the waitress for her thoughts on the menu and like to minds in sync, she suggested the two options I was considering. Was it love? Lust? Or just a moment where you fall in love for an hour and never see the person again? Probably none of the above, but needless to say, I enjoyed my lunch, the view, and it was great to be spending it with mum and sis.



Olympic Village was our next stop on our walk, where we believe that the Olympic Medals of the 2010 Winter Olympic games were presented. Another interesting part of this square was these two large bird statues that were there which other tourists also couldn't help but take a happy snap to take home and show their families and friends. One craze that you found regularly in Vancouver were these pianos, that were strangely placed all over the city. Random people just strolled up and would start playing them, some people sounding like they should be doing their own concert at the Sydney Opera House while others, probably best they just kept walking on. More patios we passed, more art sculptures in parks, continued to amuse us as we finally made it to Granville Island. Mel may be writing a tourist book after she finishes her exchange as this was a pretty neat place to go. So many different areas to check out. There were indoor kids play grounds, markets with some amazing fresh produce, that if you were living near by you would be a fool not to purchase your daily requirements from. There were also a couple of cool little streets, places, to eat, visual and performing art centres and a cool little dock place that had these colourful, creatively designed houses, which would be pretty cool to live in. They also had a number of souvenir shops and chocolate/fudge shops as well which smelt awesome seducing you to place you hand into your pocket, grab your wallet and purchase them. They also had street performer acts, like you see in festivals, in an open area of the island which had a number of people quite entertained.



We continued on to Kitsilano, walking along the edge of the river and saw the locations for the Museum of Vancouver, Maritime Museum (which was small but did look quite interesting when you peered through the windows) and the HR MacMillan Space Centre. Mum had also wanted to head more towards West Broadway, which is apparently a nice place to go see, with a variety of restaurants and what have you but time was getting on. I can't quite remember whether it was Hamilton, Homer or Mainland Street in Yaletown where we ventured, but one of them had a number of great little restaurants where you were spoiled for choice in cuisine but did seem quite expensive. The little place we ate at was right at the end and while expensive, the food was very nice. Definitely the place to check out for food if you happen to stay in this part of town. A number of people where very nicely dressed up and the town was getting geared up for a night of fun festivities ahead as we walked back to the hotel to finally rest up for the night.



The next day was a large exploration of Stanley Park and Coal Harbour. Stanley Park on the map appeared to be quite easily covered in about 2 hours, whether you walked around its beautiful edges overlooking the water or explored through the many pathways within the park itself. This was the second time the maps scale had fooled us. I was hoping to walk along Sunset and English Bay beach to get towards the park but we had decided to go more within the city to explore some of the streets. A hint of an Adelaide feel came to mind as we made our way to the park. We walked around the Lost Lagoon and saw a couple of turtles before going through the beautiful gardens and making our way to the Vancouver Aquarium. During our walk, we saw that there was a horse drawn tours that took you round the park and gave you commentary about the different parts you went past. Both the Aquarium and the horse tour I know where firmly on mum and sis's minds and if I wasn't there, I am sure they would have ventured in but I had mentioned that time was not on our side and there were a few other areas we wanted to explore before the day was up. If you do have a few days to explore Vancouver, the money and are spending the day in Stanley Park, which you need to do it some justice, then make sure you do both these activities, in particular the aquarium, that comes with quite a great deal of prestige so I am told. Our next stop along the way was to see the Totem Poles which I had become quite taken by. Their craftsmanship is just amazing and it was interesting to learn that each one was a representation of either a native story or, most commonly, a person's life. Each sign had a special representation and meaning and told fascinating stories which I thought would be a great little class activity where students could learn about the signs and try and artistically design their own totem poles.



We didn't quite get to the Lion's Gate Bridge, and only saw Brockton Point and the 9 o'clock Gun from a distance as I had taken mum and sis along a path that was quite adventurous, but obviously not used in quite a long while. Trees had fallen over it, shrubs had overgrown, which made it difficult to maneuver your body through the bushes. Even spider webs were a regular spectacle along this very narrow 'path'. I loved it! Mum and sis, however, did not. They had doubted, and probably quite rightly so, whether it was indeed a path at all. It was again, I started to notice the differences in what mum and sis had liked and enjoyed compared to myself. The 'informative, laid back style' compared to my 'on the move slightly more adventurous style' varied quite a bit and I couldn't help but feel their experience would have been somewhat different if I wasn't there. Maybe I had been selfish, had been so desperate for control, and tried to hard to cover so much in so little time while being active. I do know! But at this point, my frustration was getting to me. Being so used to doing the solo travels and not really fearing time or how I got around had become a nasty bad habit on this family trip and one I may need to be more considerate of in the future. After 10 minutes of waiting and watching three old couples and two families came out from this pathway, I had wondered whether they had turned back and gone a different route. I ventured in and found them still trying to come through, as they had said they stopped and waited for me to turn back. The walk along Coal Harbour, past Deadman's Island (which had a fascinating story which now escapes my mind of how it got its name) towards Canada Place was long and silent, but after a bit of lunch and the excitement of heading to our next attraction, the mood among us began to freshen up and feel more relaxed again.



If you do one tourist attraction in Vancouver, make sure it is Flyover Canada. It is located in Canada Place, where all the cruise ships port and also gives you a great view of Coal Harbour where sea planes take off and land, thousands of different boats dock, and people ate at different patio restaurants. Mum has a cousin in Western Australia, that is married into the Hancock fortune, who she and sis had stayed with at some point. Mum raves about him as a person, who is quite successful in his own right, and he is willing do do anything for anyone along with just being part of a very caring family. Great people! He happens to own (although I think he is looking to sell it) a rather large sail boat cruiser and since mum has known about it, she likes to google the large sail boats and learn about their history. It tells you where they have been docked, who owns them, and some of their journey's they have taken and was actually quite interesting. This took up most of the discussion up to where we purchased our tickets for the 4D movie experience that was recommended to mum by their tour agent.



After a random 3D show that gives you a sneak peak of what you will see, you are lead into a row of chairs where you buck up and wait for the chairs to slide towards a rail to fasten you in. Without warning it is suddenly you and a big screen. If you didn't know you were glued tight into a chair, you would swear you could fly. People dangled their feet as suddenly you feel free as you fly over all different parts of Canada. Some of the footage is nothing short of brilliant and just has you captivated from the start. Little drops of watery mist occasionally spray up onto you when you go past waterfalls, along with a few other sneaky surprises I was to mesmerized to notice as you just enjoy flying over wildlife, ice fields, mountains, rivers, forests and get a great look at life and landscape of Canada. It was about $20 for a ticket and as far as attractions go, I think it was well worthwhile. We walked our way back through the town along Howe St, past Pacific Centre to get a better idea of the shopping district and the town centre. We even walked past the Art museum by memory before we freshened up for dinner and to check out some last remaining spots.



Mum was keen to check out Chinatown and to begin with, it was our intention, but suddenly we got swept up and lost in amongst the buzz of activity along David Street for the Pride Festival. It was such a happy vibe, a buzz of energy as performers entertained, parties were being set up, all kinds of people dressed in all kinds of fashionable styles, some my eyes wished they had never seen, and colours were everywhere. It just so happened that there was a big pride parade the next day but unfortunately we would miss that as we had to be on our cruise to Alaska quite early that morning. It was quite an awkward experience seeing people gifting Trojan condoms to mum, among other things such was the free and friendly spirit of the people involved in the festivities. Mum pretty much gave me an early Christmas present and decided the may be of better use for me!!!!!! Yeah, maybe!!!!!! Anyway, somehow we ended up walking in completely the wrong direction as David St took us towards Stanley Park not Chinatown so we had extended our walk time and delayed tea time, much to my sister's annoyance. The further we walked towards Chinatown and the well known Gastown, the more interesting the buildings and clientele of people became. China town looked dirty and not really as inviting as other replicas I had seen around the world. Mum and sis had wanted to get to see the Classical Chinese Garden, which I thought would also be very interesting but by the time we had got there, they were closed. We did capture a glimpse through the barred door to the garden and what I could see was indeed quite, beautiful, peaceful and well worth a look.



The next 45 minutes was one of the most on edge experiences I have had. This was because, my family and eye were walking down one of the sketchiest, dirtiest, places I have seen. It was also one of the saddest sights I had seen, maybe ever. Do not walk down Carrall St around 8pm at night. The number of homeless people that reside there is countless. The alleyway like buildings that surround the slightly more narrow streets than normal are dirty, look unloved and were dark. It felt like a scene when Harry Potter got lost in the wrong alley in the Chamber of Secrets early on in the film, spooky and the illusion of being unfriendly. I couldn't wait to be out of that area but in some ways I wasn't sure how we survived. To be honest, if you kept to your business, these people are quite harmless and in some cases had smiles on their faces and were making the best out of what they had. But when you see mattresses on the streets and trolley or suitcase full of your only possessions scattered along the pathways you were walking, it really was an eye opening sight and a moment where you have to say how lucky you were.



Water street that turns off Carrall St leads you into Gastown, or old town Vancouver. This is quite a nice, little walk along the old streets and buildings where you will see the famous Gastown Steam Clock. Every quarter of an hour, the clock will let off whistle that is accompanied by a puff of steam. I think 1 blow for 15 minutes, 2 for 30 and 3 for 45 minutes to give you an idea of what part of the hour you were in. On the hour, the steam clock comes to life with its own little steam and whistle show that entertains onlookers for a good two minutes. The Vancouver tower can be seen in the background and if you were walking along this area during the day you may wish to visit both these well known tourist sights. You will also see a statue monument to 'Gassy Jack' which, since my sister was called Jacqui, may have some relevance to us. It is actually of a drunken, chubby sailor who moved from England to Vancouver in the 1830's and owned a bar called the Globe Saloon not far from where the statue is placed. He was known as Gassy Jack due to his talkative nature and fine art of storytelling. After a nice meal at the Black Frog, we made the lengthy trek through the safer part of the city to the hotel where some much needed sleep was needed for our next adventure that lay ahead.



Overall, I loved Vancouver and if money improves, and time allows it I would love to go there again and explore a little more of it. Since there are a few more spots I would like to see, I may not make the trek during this trip, but it is easy to see why it is in the top 3 most livable cities in the world and definitely a place I would recommend checking out.

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Photos

Can you see me?
One of the artistic creations along banks of False Creek