Vancouver, Canada 27 - 30 July 2014

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On disembarking from our Holland America Cruise we picked up a shuttle bus from the dock side as this was a really quick and a efficient way of getting into the city of Vancouver. The driver was pleasant and informative and gave us the low down on 'his' city - telling us where and where not to go..........





Our hotel was located in the West End area of Vancouver which was great as we could do a lot of exploring on foot as there was so much to see and do quite nearby. Within in a few minutes stroll there were restaurants, cafes, shops and grocery stores as well being a 10 minute walk away from large beaches and Stanley Park itself, the seawall, harbour and picturesque Granville Islands with its cafe culture and street markets were also really close as well. What we really liked about the hotel was that is was an apartment suite and we had the comfort of having so much space as well as being able to cater for ourselves with a full kitchen if we wanted too, but near enough to some great restaurants if we were feeling lazy!




Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada, named after George Vancouver - a British captain who explored Burrard Inlet in 1792. Before commanding his own ship, George served as a midshipman on HMS Resolution with Captain James Cook searching for Australia, what amazing seafaring men these were - how astonishing it must have been in those days of old to find these huge continents. Vancouver is the eighth largest Canadian municipality with over 600,000 people and not as large as we had first thought. Other Canadian cities in order of population in the 2011 census were; Toronto Ontario, Montreal Quebec, Calgary Alberta, Ottawa Ontario, Edmonton Alberta, Mississauga Ontario (sorry but had not heard of it before this research), Winnipeg Ontario and then followed by Vancouver British Columbia. However the capital of British Columbia is Victoria with a population of about 350,000 and is 15 in line.




Our hotel was located in near the centre of the city so we settled in and set off to see what the West End district had to offer. With its waterfront location it was a really quaint area to walk around and had a cosmopolitan cafe culture with an eclectic mix of people - well this was our initial impression as we strolled around the brightly coloured streets. In time for the following week’s major Pride Festivities the Pedestrian Crossings at the intersection of Davie and Bute streets had been painted in the colours of a rainbow instead of the usual black and white oblong rectangles we see elsewhere. These bright walkways did indeed lighten up the street which were buzzing with people. A pedestrian only area with wooden picnic tables had also been painted in the different colours of the Pride flag and nearby cafes were doing a roaring trade. We would be missing these celebrations but would be here to enjoy the Festival of Light the day before we leave - more later.



We strolled along the shore and walked under Granville Street Bridge following False Creek and watched lots of small aqua boats ferrying people across to Granville Island to the shops and markets on the other side of the creek. The creek was full of boats of all sizes as well as people standing on surf boards which seem to be the current water hobby. We even saw two chaps sailing down the creek on a flat raft with a wooden fence all round - which was fine until they got under the bridge and the raft would not move any further … … …With so many large boats nearby I do not think I will be trying this or standing on any surf board too soon - Eddie would probably agree with me there … … …





We chatted to the hotel staff who were really helpful on what we could do ‘on foot’. The chap said that a couple of days ago a bald eagle had flown down right next to him in the park and swooped up a huge rat. He said we should see Bald Eagles and also Racoons in the park - we said, ‘really’, that would be great but we did not want to see a rat … … … On his advice we headed out to walk around Stanley Park which was nearby - did I say walk - well we did but had not appreciated the size of this massive park. Stanley Park is one of the largest urban parks in North America, a magnificent green 1000 acre oasis of rainforest, beaches and gardens all located within the city itself - perhaps we should have read the brochure first!





We saw lots of people cycling and perhaps this is what we should have done in hindsight - but as they say hindsight is a wonderful thing … … … We walked along the beach front and because it was a warm day people were milling around the area - either on holiday or taking a break from the office. The beach had some large tree logs placed so that one could sit or use them as a back rest to relax and admire the view. We thought that this so balanced the beach with its natural surroundings, rather than the usual colourful ‘deck chairs’.



We stopped at the Lost Lagoon - previously a tidal mud flat, Lost Lagoon became a freshwater body when the Stanley Park causeway was built in 1938. We stopped at the Lagoon Nature House but it was closed but there were some information boards on the park's rich flora and fauna, the lagoon provides sanctuary to many species of birds. In the centre was a huge water feature called the Jubilee Fountain. We walked on passing both the Vancouver Rowing Club and The Royal Yacht Club - they even have ‘over the water’ garages here to keep their boats dry!



A while later we arrived at the Totem Poles - a collection of nine original and replica poles erected on Brockton Point with the latest one being carved by Robert Yelton of the Squamish Nation and added to the collection in 2009. Another pole, The Skedans Mortuary Pole was a replica as the original was returned home to Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) on the north coast of BC. These brightly coloured poles stood out against the blue sky in this stunning location. The totem was the British Columbia Indian’s ‘coat of arms’ and are unique to the north west coast of BC and Lower Alaska. They were carved from Western Red Cedar and each carving on the pole tells of a real or mystical event, they were not idols nor were they worshipped. Each carving has a meaning; the eagle represents the air, the whale the lordship of the sea, the wolf the genius of the land and the frog the transitional link between the land and the sea. When we saw the giant totem pole being carved in Haines, Alaska the carver was including a ‘tourist’ in the centre of the pole, no prizes for guessing what that means.





We arrived at Hallelujah Point and the Nine O’clock Gun which has been firing out the time of day for over 100 years at Stanley Park. A royal cipher, lower on the barrel, states that King George III was monarch when the gun was made in 1816. He died at Windsor Castle after a reign of almost 60 years - the third longest in British history. Queen Victoria reigned for 63 years and our current Queen Elizabeth has reigned for 62 years.





Further along the coastal path we came across the Brockton Point Lighthouse built in 1914 it seemed a strange place to have a lighthouse and what was also unusual was that it was rectangular shaped rather than circular. You could walked along the pathway which ran under the arches that supported the lighthouse tower.







A little further on we came across what is known as the ‘Girl in a Wet Suit’ - a stunning bronze statue set against a backdrop of the mountains and the sea, sitting majestically on the beach. We met a lady from Toronto who had come to see the statue again as she had not seen it since she was a child and had remembered seeing a mermaid sitting on a rock. Today the tide was out and we were viewing the sculpture out of the water but if the tide was in it would have been very reminiscent of Copenhagen's ‘Little Mermaid’ statue - so you could see why she had remembered it as a mermaid when she was a child visiting the city in the early 70s.





We headed inland on one of the many interwinding trails, stopping at Beaver Lake, a small freshwater lake covered in lily pads - it was strange that we were so near to urban development yet it felt like we were far away in the countryside. A notice nearby said that the lake was gradually filling with sediment which was a shame as it was a really peaceful and serene area but a restoration project was looking at how they could rectify this and we hope that the lake remains for anyone else to enjoy.



We finally emerged out of the forest at Prospect Point which had an excellent view of the Lions Gate Bridge, which spans the Burrard Inlet and connects the city of Vancouver to the North Shore. Small fishing boats were passing under the bridge as well as a giant container tanker - we had also passed under this very bridge in our cruise ship a couple of days ago and it was great to see it from this perspective as well. In a few days time we would be travelling over it on our way north out of the city and up into the Rocky Mountains. The bridge was originally owned by the Guinness family and officially opened by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth during a royal visit to Canada in 1939.



We continued our walk, now with really aching feet - we had been walking for hours but still had to continue to get back to our hotel! Within the thick forest we saw lots of evidence of loggers of a bygone age - large tree stumps had large notches cut into their trunks. Loggers used a cross-cut saw and springboards to elevate themselves above the thicker circumference of the tree’s base as it was too dangerous to cut the tree from the base in case it fell onto the loggers.







As we neared the inlet again we suddenly spotted a family of Racoons crossing over the path and scurrying down the steep sided bank on to the beach. We spent a pleasant 30 minutes watching this mum and her four cubs playing in the rock pools and turning over rocks looking for food. We left them still playing and foraging as we walked on and came across a Bald Eagle and several Herons fishing on the water’s edge - there was so much wildlife along English Bay and yet so near to the city itself.





One of the things we enjoyed most about being in Vancouver was that it gave us the chance to meet up again with Arab and Andrea. These are two Ozzy’s we met on the Cook Islands when they were visiting our friendly neighbours on the island, Ray and Jenny who were from New Zealand but currently residing there. It was exactly three years to the month since we had seen them and they had not changed at all, it was just a shame that Ray and Jenny could not be there also. We spent a pleasant evening in a local restaurant where we all enjoyed some scrumptious Halibut (apart from Paul who had Wild Salmon). Arab and Andrea had been touring Alaska and made a change to their plan so that we could meet up before they flew back to Perth via Hong Kong. Before they left the next day we chatted and had coffee sat in a small cafe on Davie Street. A couple were balanced on a crane outside installing some new decorative lighting to launch the oncoming Pride celebrations - the whole street was going to be illuminated in rainbow colours for the carnival to match the colourful pedestrian crossings … … …



One thing I must mention here and I hope Andrea forgives me?? On their visit to the area, they like us had been told to buy Bear Spray if you were going to be walking where bears may be, just as a precaution - Andrea had asked what part of her body should she spray the ‘bear spray’ on … … … sorry Andrea but just had to mention this!





On our last night we walked down to the waterfront to watch the Honda Celebration of Light which is Vancouver's biggest event so we were lucky to be in the city at the right time. It is the largest offshore fireworks competition in the world and attracts up to thousands of spectators along English Bay each three evenings of the event. The competitors are the USA, France and Japan - we watched the French entry and we had a pleasant evening sitting on the grassy bank with small boats bobbing in the bay and watching this amazing show lighting up the skies over the water. It was nice also not to have to queue for 14 hours as we had done in Sydney a few years ago to watch the firework display bringing in the New Year - but they also were so worth it in the end … … …





The next morning we said goodbye to Vancouver as a taxi took us to the airport to collect a hire car for the next leg of our journey heading north to Whistler and up into the Rocky Mountains - see you there.

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