Blogs from Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, North America

As you are all no doubt well aware Canada is a whopping great country and one I had not been to other than flying over it, given it is on the flight path from London to California. I've seen thawing ice sheets in Hudson Bay cracked in hypnotic patterns and many thousands of miles of frozen tundra, without seeing any sign of human influence for hours of flying. This July however I got the chance to take closer look at the country for the first time, as Maria Chiara and I were invited to a wedding... in Saskatoon!!! Never heard of Saskatoon? We’ll get to that in due course... Given that the wedding would be in a fairly small and (don't shoot me Saskatoonians!) obscure town in the Great Plains, we were keen to extend our ... read more

We are lucky to live in Australia, but why does it have to be so far from the rest of the world??? Our direct flight from Sydney to Vancouver (14 1/2 hrs) was 1 1/2 hrs late taking off because of the rain in Sydney, long queue of planes in front of us, so late into Vancouver. Not too cold, and a little bit sunny when we arrived, could see a little snow still on the mountains surrounding the city. Vancouver, the harbour city, has lots and lots of trees (on the streets and on the roofs of buildings, yep, lots of roof top gardens). Most of the high rise buildings that we have seen, seem to be apartments or hotels, rather than office blocks, quite different to other cities - maybe the office buildings are ... read more

Vancouver is a beautiful city................even if you aren't a big city fan ! The skyscrapers really do have you craning your neck out of the car window, in order to see them full length. Many of them are glittering turquoise or blue glass........stunning in the sunshine. I think my favourite time to visit is Autumn, for sure. There's enough beauty to take your breath away, especially on the island of Stanley Park, a green haven in the concrete/glass jungle. To walk or jog around the sea wall is rather a leisurely experience, as there's too much to see & enjoy, to make it a speedy trip ! The horse-drawn carriages are great for people who want to see the whole park, but don't quite have the energy to 'hoof it' themselves :) I particularly like seeing ... read more

Arrivés à Vancouver, on recherche un endroit pour dormir une dernière fois dans la voiture sur les hauteurs de la ville, dans le secteur de Grouse Mountain. Sur le chemin, nous décidons de faire étape À Capilano Bridge, un parc de passerelles suspendues. C'est leur première soirée d'ouverture nocturne, à l'occasion de Noël. Il y a beaucoup de monde qui profite de la beauté des lumières et des cascades illuminées en pleine forêt. Le lendemain nous faisons la connaissance de Ioana et Montana qui vont nous héberger pendant notre séjour. L'après midi nous découvrons le centre de la ville et le Stanley Park avec ses totems grandioses. Le lendemain nous visitons l'aquarium de Vancouver, Tamara, la collocataire de Ioana et Montana, y travaille et nous a conseillé de le visiter, ils ont un dauphin baleine que ... read more

Wednesday, August 17th, 2016 Day 15: Vancouver, British Columbia – Learning to ride a bike again! Today marked the end of our Alaskan cruise. Since our flight was not till the late evening, we still had a full day to explore Vancouver. Renata and I decided to check out Stanley Park. Stanley Park, is an enormous park in the middle of downtown Vancouver. Since it is a large park, we decided to rent some bikes to travel around the seawall. We had not ridden bicycles in years, so it took a while to get accustomed to riding them. The Vancouver seawall, is the world’s longest uninterrupted waterfront path. Along the way we passed a bunch of totem poles, Brockton Point lighthouse, the ‘girl in a wetsuit’ sculpture, the Lions Gate Bridge, and Siwash Rock. The whole ... read more

Vancouver 16-19 July 2016 On leaving Victoria, Vancouver Island, we caught a bus from our hotel which drove to Swartz Bay ferry terminal where the bus drove straight onto the ferry. We sailed for 1.5 hrs to Tsawwassen ferry terminal to downtown Vancouver. This whole journey cost $84 – great value, particularly due to the convenience. We walked 3 blocks to our Holiday Inn & Suites, checked into our very comfortable rooms. We had arranged with a great friend of mine Annie Grant who worked with me in Darwin at the Heart Foundation. We hadn’t seen each other for over 28 years but had kept in touch each Christmas. She went to Canada for a holiday and never came back….after marrying Steve, a Canadian. Hey had 2 children. After walking 10 minutes down Granville Street, we ... read more