Return to Vancouver, Whistler & Vancouver Island, April 2013

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April 15-18, 2013, I had the opportunity to return to Vancouver, where we lived from 2003-05, to attend a conference. It was fantastic because it also gave us the chance to visit some friends we've been missing terribly, see how Vancouver has changed, and finally hike to the top of the Chief.

On the nights of the conference, I enjoyed some Mongolian Grill, went to Joe's Apartment on Granville for some karaoke, had a paddle (flight) of beer at St. Augustine's Craft Beer House on Commercial Dr., and ate a delicious Lebanese meal at Nuba (207 W. Hastings). I remember eating lunch at this same place with a work colleague when it was a Mexican restaurant and I worked just down the street nine years ago. It doesn't seem that long ago at all, but the city has definately changed. And being blessed with beautiful weather, it was amazing to be back in Vancouver again. However, I still maintain that for me at least, Vancouver is a city best visited, not lived in.

Another night we met up with friends at Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie - incredible! - following by a burlesque show at Keefer Bar. The cherry trees were blossoming, and the rain had come, but damn I don't remember this part of Keefer St. being so nice. Our friends ordered us these crazy, tincture type fancy shots at Keefer Bar. I loved it, though felt a little guilty enjoying gentrification so much.

For the conference, I was hooked up with a penthouse suite with a large balcony on the 20th floor of the Westin Bayshore. When I first arrived, amazed at the swanky room I somehow lucked out on, it was just in time to watch an incredible sunset over Stanley Park. Later on I rented a bike and cruised around Stanley Park on a beautiful late sunny afternoon. I had missed this place...we stopped along the Sea Wall to watch two otters fight/play/attempt to mate with each other. So cute!

After the conference, my partner met me and we left for a weekend in Seattle. After that we travelled to Whistler to meet up with some friends. We were determined to conquer the Stawamus Chief trail, as that was one thing we never accomplished when we lived here. We attempted it once, but we were unprepared - we had really just stopped to see Shannon Falls and decided to follow the trail, but soon realized we didn't have enough food or water to make it to the top and back so had to turn around, as it was getting late and we had a party to go to in Vancouver that night.

This time around we had a beautiful day, lots of food and water, and great company. It was a good day with some incredible views. It took us 5 hours in total, with lots of stopping. It's a strenous hike, but so beautiful and worth the effort! Stawamus Chief Provincial Park is right next to Shannon Falls, and close to Squamish. Careful on the way down - with your legs so tired, it's easy to sprain your ankle or fall and hurt yourself.

That night our friend made us bbq salmon, ribs, corn and yams at their place in Whistler. An amazing meal to finish off an amazing day!

The next day we took the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay, Nanaimo. We were on our way to visit our friend's sister in Maple Bay, but not before resting in Nanaimo for the best Nanaimo Bars, pecan bars and vanilla almond milk lattes at Mon Petit Choux Bakery. We also stopped at Averill Creek Vineyard for some wine tasting. We bought a bottle of Cowichan Valley blackberry dessert wine, and a very refreshing "Foch Eh 2012" red wine that was tasted more like a rose.

When we arrived at our friend's sister's in Maple Bay, we were greeting by her husband offering a bunch of IPA beer of which he had just had a big batch made. They also served us dinner - more bbq, yes! - chicken wings, pork, asparagus, and two hilarious two-year old twins singing about their sticky bbq chicken wing hands. Their house had a big patio facing right onto Maple Bay, a great spot for relaxing with some fresh brew! We took a little walk down to the pier, and watched some divers - the Bay is a great spot for diving to see octopus and seals. All the schools of little fish or herrings made crazy patterns on the water's surface. It was really cool!

Next morning our friend took us on a hike up Maple Mountain - another beautiful sunny day and more fantastic views! Then we drove to Merridale Estate Cidery to taste some apple cider and have a delicious lunch. My partner had Elk Pot Pie, and I had a burger with roasted garlic spinach broccoli soup, paired with some meri berri cider. Yum!

Next stop was Cherry Point Estate Wines, then another hike along which there were caves with petroglyphs (presumably fake) and mossy rocks.

April 26, 2013: we had a surprisingly good breakfast in Ladysmith and saw lots of birds at the Semenos Marsh wildlife conservation area. After dropping our friend off at the ferry in Nanaimo, we checked out the Petroglyphs Park just outside of Nanaimo. This was just a short hike, and the petroglyphs were mostly covered with moss (not protected like the ones at Petroglyph Provincial Park in Peterborough, Ontario.)

We decided to continue driving north to Rathtrevor Beach Park, and then went back down to Shawnigan Lake to stay the night at OUR Ecovillage. When we arrived, we caught the last half of a mead/honey fermentation workshop, and then enjoyed a potluck dinner with all kinds of great stuff like nettle salads and a deer someone had hit with a car that morning. There was a band called Morlove that came to play a show in the large barn. The music was mellow, but pretty, with string instruments and singing. They compose their songs based on patterns, and the opener violinist was a solo act that used a loop back pedal to add layers to her songs, it was neat. We enjoyed the show with some mead and popcorn, and spent the night in a cob house they call the Sanctuary.

Next morning we went on a tour of the Ecovillage. It was scheduled from 10-12, but stretched on until around 2:00. It was incredibly interesting, and I wanted to eat lunch before leaving, so I returned the car rental late rather than miss out.

We made our way down to Victoria on Greyhound after dropping the car off in Nanaimo. I would have much preferred to drop the car off in Victoria, but since I had picked it up in Naniamo they wanted to charge me a stupid amount for the privelege. So back in Nanaimo we went. Much as I love nanaimo bars, I wouldn't be too upset if I never saw Nanaimo again. Sure, the natural surroundings are beautiful, but the town itself reminds me too much of where I grew up, and having to pass through it three times in just a few days was a bit much.

Once in Victoria, we had dinner at Don Mee Dim Sum, a place recommended by the folks we stayed with in Maple Bay. We had squid and oysters. We wandered around a bit - the parliament buildings are pretty at night - and had a couple drinks at Irish Times, where we were attracted by the live music. We slept at the Dalton Hotel, where we got a free upgrade!

Next morning we walked with all our luggage through a Marathon crowd to the Black Ball ferry, which took us to Port Angeles Washington and our Olympic National Park adventure.

We returned to Vancouver in early May a couple days ahead of our flight back to Toronto. Our friends took us to dinner at The Reef Restaurant on Commercial Drive. The next day we enjoyed a clear blue sky while we walked around the city, including our old neighbourhood, Kitsilano. We enjoyed the best bagels ever at Siegels, right next to the building on Cornwall and Burrard where we used to live. We tasted some beers at Granville Island Brewery and then walked all along the False Creek Seaside Route and down into Chinatown. I had to use a washroom so started to follow the signs for a public washroom, which for some reason lead you right down the scuzziest part of East Hastings. Tourists - ignore the public washroom signs! They lead you to a washroom on the corner of Pigeon Park, where you're probably not going to want to go (unless your looking for some drugs...you'll probably get ripped off so I'd advise against it. Crack and meth heads can be awful tricky and will find a way to get your money if you engage them in conversation). I had wanted to go down Hastings anyway to see how much the redeveloped Woodwards had changed the area. Not much, in my assessment...sure it's a little nicer, but it certainly doesn't look as if poor folk have been pushed out of the neighbourhood. At least not yet. Though much controversy surrounded the redevelopment, it's certainly better now than it was as a boarded up, unused building. Nonetheless, it's obvious more affordable housing is badly needed.

We continued through Gastown and eventually up Granville before losing steam. The next day, we had more perfectly clear skies for our flight home. I had a window seat and great views of Vancouver, the Rockies, and Toronto. I tried to take some pictures and have posted the best ones here, unfortunately the picture quality isn't great because I had to use my cell phone camera; our regular camera stopped working in Olympic National Park.

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Photos

Owl, Canada Line
Riding a new transit line that didn't exist when I lived here was really cool! I remember all the controversy it sparked.