<
Previous

>
Next

Well it was a sleepless night for both of us last night. `Can't think of a reason why but it had been, so the morning seemed to come around far to quickly. Still we had to get going as it is a moving day....Vancouver here we come.

First stop of the day though was in Whistler and back at the Irish Bar. No, not because we are alcoholics (well yet anyway) but we needed to get a wooly hat for Caroline. When Jonathan came with his sister two years ago she bought one and has worn it whenever she can, it's a woolly hat with the Irish shamrock knitted on the side. Its one of the barmaids mums that knits them so they are all handmade and Caroline loves them. Anyway she has a nice new baby pink one making its way back to England with us and we know that she is going to love it!

After a quick Starbucks we headed for the car, loaded up and hit the road. It was actually raining in Whistler quite heavily this morning when we woke up but luckily as we headed out of town the rain started to subside and 10km out it was all but gone. It still felt like it could rain at anytime and the cloud was really low over the mountains that line the road side.

We were travelling back down the sea to sky highway or route 99 depending on how you prefer it and the plan was to stop at all the lookout areas and sights to see as we slowly made our way down into Vancouver.

First stop of the day on our route was the Brandywine Falls (do you think that someone who likes a drink named them???)

Now as we walked through the dense pine forest thick with forest ferns and fallen granite boulders you could here the crashing of water. The falls wee about a 1km walk from the car park and as you waked through the almost dark woodland you knew you were going to see something impressive as the noise was tangible!

The falls did not disappoint at all. This was a river falling over a granite chiseled cliff into a granite basin and a thunderous rate. What was most bizarre was that as the water then picked up to flow down the river at the bottom of the falls it almost looked soreen. We followed the path down some more to a vista of The Daisy Lake, this is where all this white glacier water was ending up and the lake (from what we could see) was like a millpond. You really do need to look through our pictures to understand the beauty contained within these woods, they are stunning and nature at its very best.

It took us nearly three hours to make the drive down into Vancouver when you can actually do it in an hour if you really need to. We stopped at all the good look out spots, saw views across the waterways back to Vancouver island, striking snowcapped mountain ranges that looked untouched, they stood proud and silent like they were actually impossible to get to other than by helicopter. Wh stopped at fishing coves littered with the remnants of the logging trade that is big business in these parts. All that red cedar and pine wood has to come from somewhere and BC in Canada is a huge producer. Whilst driving we have often passed hugely long logging lorries carrying unsawn tree trunks off to a mill somewhere.

Logs are abundant as driftwood littering the beaches and to be honest I think that they are quite beautiful and sculptural. They look preserved by the salt water and winds and their bleached colour is at odds with the rich greens and reds of their habitat here, again look at the pictures, they will explain in far better than I ever could.

We made it into Vancouver and drove straight to our hotel for the next two nights. Its funny as it is exactly the same hotel that we stayed in when we went round the world in 2010 so a bit home from home. It was a quick drop off of bags and then back out again into the busy city traffic to take our hire car back. Vancouver has a great transport system of boats and monorail (sky train they call it here) and buses so we did not need the car and anyway we have always preferred to pound the pavements in cities so on foot from now on it is!

Car dropped off and we headed for Pacific Place the shopping mall in town. As we had not eaten yet we need food and a food court with a lot of flavours to choose from was ticking all the right boxes. Fed, we headed off to Gastown, the oldest part of Vancouver to refresh our memories form our last visit. Its called gastown as it was the first part of the city that had gas street lights lighting up the pavements. Its main claim to fame though is is fully functioning steam clock that still works perfectly. It is quite odd looking at a four sided grand father clock with four shoots of steam coming out of its roof but a very impressive piece of engineering.

Our walk took us from the old town to china town and then back to downtown and the hotel. Here we sorted ourselves out a little and checked all the guide books and literature from the hotel to make sure that we were not missing something new whilst we are here in Vancouver. To be honest there were no surprises so we went for a walk along the cities promenade and beaches, mingling with all the runners and cyclists out pounding the pavements after a busy day behind a desk in one of the many high rise glass towers that litter the Vancouver skyline.

You get a real sense of thinking that everyone lives a very healthy lifestyle here in Canada. The walkways were full of runners and people attending boot camp type aerobic sessions. In the summer weather they have this and the waterways that were also busy with people Kayaking and rowing and then in the winter they have the best skiing in the world right on their doorstep...lucky lucky people indeed.

Having not sleept that well we cut of the beach pathway and headed up Davie Street which is actually the centre of the Gay Village here in Vancouver. Canada is well known for its equal rights when it comes to gay couples and it shows with how prominent and upbeat the gay village is.

We stopped for dinner in what to be honest turned out to be quite a ropey Indian. The food was not that great but needs must so we smiled and ate. It was then a quick stop off at the seven eleven convenience store for a few drinks to take back to the room as the hotel was calling.

Vancouver feels really busy after the relative quietness of Whistler and Victoria and at first the downtown area was a real eyeopener again as the sidewalks were full of people everywhere still its a great contrast and we are looking forward to revisiting some more of its highlights tomorrow.

bottom of page spacer