Vancouver

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We arrived in Vancouver at 2.30pm after a fairly non-eventful 14hour flight from Nelson apart from fog in Nelson which looked a bit dicey for a while. Our taxi took us directly to the Azure Apartments which Mary and David had pre-booked for us behind the George Wainbarn Park and onto the water front opposite Granville Island. The area looks like “apartment city” as there are blocks of multi storeyed apartments everywhere. Ours is very roomy and quiet with a monster outside deck.

We settled in then walked up Richards St to find a food market to stock up on breakfast food and any other necessary supplies. As much as we wanted a bottle of wine to take home there is nowhere to buy it. Outlets appear to be government controlled and are few and far between. Maybe a similar thing in NZ would stop some of the booze crimes we have. Speaking of booze, we headed off along the water front in search of a nice long beer. The water front in this area is very attractive with lots of walking space away from roads and overlooking the boat harbour.

It is lovely and warm which is just right after the cold of home and avoiding the heat they’ve been having here over the summer – a nice 22 degrees.

After a nice long sleep getting into the new time zone we headed off to Granville Island on a little ferry crossing the narrow gap between coast and island. The island is known for its huge food and craft markets mostly under cover – fruit, veges, meat, fish, and any other food you wish to buy in the many shops and stalls. Granville Island was an old industrial site especially built for WW2 but then converted for the public back in the 70s. It is hugely popular and more so since it was a Saturday. We were very happy that we were not fighting the crowds over summer. Much to my delight (and a long wait for Lindsay) I found a weaving shop and studio. It had 4 working looms and specialised in silk fibre and handwoven items. I bought a couple of hanks of silk with a fabric in mind to weave later. After a good look around the small island we headed back to the apartment location and on up the hill to hire some bikes for the afternoon.

With a TTATs discount (being old farts) we got our bikes for $30 for the rest of the afternoon – about 4 hours. Every man and woman seems to ride a bike. There must have been 1000s of them out and about for the day. The bike paths are separate from the road and from walkers so regardless of the numbers you can cruise along nicely. We took the very scenic waterfront path to English Bay then cut across the front of Stanley Park as the bike path is one way only around the coast. Our first stop was at the Totem Poles for photos and a look around. The Poles are colourful and quite impressive with the images we are familiar with from the native culture. The harbour is full of very large super yachts, the main yacht club rooms all set before the view across the inlet to the downtown business area.

Stanley Park has many walks through lovely trees as well as around the coast. Further around we stopped at the BC Acquarium which specialises in showing and preserving fish life from various parts of the world – Pacifica, the Tropics, South America, the Arctic and other feature areas. We particularly were amazed by huge turtles, the beautiful coloured tropical fish and anemones, huge toads, and the usual stingrays, sharks, dolphins, seals etc, but also animals and birds. Even though there was much that was familiar to us, there was much that wasn’t. It was beautifully displayed with attention taken to the needs of the creatures there. Well worth the visit.

So onwards around the bike path where we found lovely beaches, sunbathers, a huge swimming pool and many walkers and cyclists. We stopped at a superb café overlooking the beach where a well-earned beer was enjoyed with battered calamari and dips to accompany it. Yum.

Finally, we returned the bikes after 5pm and bought some food for dinner but still minus the bottle of wine. Perhaps tomorrow.

There are some peculiarities that I should note that are different from home. GST is not added onto the purchase price so has to be added on to each purchase which may not always be the same tax. Using our Visa card, we had to sign for each usage. As mentioned alcohol can only be bought at specific places. At restaurants we’ve found we have to wait and be taken to a table which happens occasionally at home but not as a general rule. Lastly, the coffee is awful!!! We’ll check this one out again but it is very wishy washy and has no head on it.

I have to say, that as much as I am not a fan of cities, Vancouver is quite lovely. It has a lovely setting between the sea and mountains, is clean and tidy, has masses of trees everywhere and seems to cater well for families. Families can enjoy the many parks, beaches, the huge pool we saw by the beach, the zoo, Fly Over Canada, the acquarium, boats, bike paths and so much more that we won’t see.

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Photos

Cakes at the Granville Island Market
What a beautiful display of cakes

Seawall Vancouver
Seawall and city scape