A Travellerspoint blog

Vancouver in Sunshine

Stll lots to see in Vancouver

sunny 20 °C
View 2010 Around the World on greynomadm's travel map.

Day 19 - Monday 4 October – Vancouver – part 2
Temperature 15 °C & Partly Cloudy possible showers

Well I need to eat my words !! We were directed to a Canada Post Agency inside Shoppers Drug Mart in the Denman Place Mall and the very friendly assistant did everything but pack the box for us. We were able to buy a box for just over $5 and were advised that if we kept the weight at or below 2 Kg it would be sent for just $22.26. Back to the hotel, weighed the box and contents, adjusted a bit and addressed it, sealed it and filled out the customs declaration and got it back to him. Couldn't be more convenient.

Day 20 - Tuesday 5 October – Vancouver
Temperature 17 °C & Bright Sunshine

Checked out some alternative breakfast options, the Red Umbrella is still a good deal so we'll go back to that. Braved the HOHO bus again and got off in Stanley Park, a very impressive collection of very old trees, colourful flower gardens and lots of walking tracks. Best part for Jenny was seeing all the squirrels from jet black to light grey.
2010-10-05_0001.jpg2010-10-05_0005.jpg2010-10-05_0013.jpg

Wandered through the Aquarium, C$16 each for old farts, good value. They have seals, dolphins and porpoises. There were three beluga whales, two adults – stark white and a juvenile who was light grey. There was also an otter, didn't realise how big they are. Lots of indoor exhibits too and many stairs up and down. I'm sure we missed a whole lot.
2010-10-05_0034.jpg2010-10-05_0073.jpg

Back on the HOHO and got off at Gastown, very interesting neighbourhood. Very old and lots of unique shops. Back on the HOHO and got off at English Bay and returned to the hotel.

Downloaded today's photos, the squirrels obviously moved too quickly for my camera. They are there but not very clear. Watched some TV and got ready for tomorrow.

Day 21 - Wednesday 6 October – Vancouver – On The Buses
Temperature 17 °C & Sunshine

Today we decided to travel by public transport $7 each for all day all zones. Started with an electric bus to Downtown where to transferred to a SkyTrain ride to Waterfront. There we boarded the SeaBus to North Vancouver. This 'ferry' leaves every 15 minutes and takes less than 5 minutes to unload and load up to 400 passengers. The craft slots into a double-sided berth, the unloading is done on one side and the loading on the other. There are 6 ramps on and 6 ramps off and the whole thing takes little to no time.

We landed at Lonsdale Quay which is the North Vancouver terminus. We spent an interesting hour or so browsing the market stalls and enjoyed some excellent ice-creams.
2010-10-06_0029.jpg
Back to the Waterfront terminal and watched the float-planes take off and land (?). Found a bus which runs through Stanley Park and returns us back to Downtown.
2010-10-06_0054.jpg2010-10-06_0068.jpg2010-10-06_0073.jpg2010-10-06_0079.jpg

Wandered up to the Hudson's Bay Company store and explored the various underground connections and the Food Court. Back on a SkyTrain at Granville and travelled the Millennium Line for about an hour. For the majority of the trip the train is elevated and appears to hop over and duck under main roads and other rail lines.
2010-10-06_0098.jpg
Very fast, very clean and efficient. The trip was not without incident, when I got on at Granville the doors closed and Jenny was left standing on the platform. No massive panic, I got off at the next station and waited for her to arrive on the next train. Some words exchanged and we both got on the next train together.

Back to Granville and catch a bus to Davie St which stops right outside our hotel. Downloaded today's photos and caught up on the email and news from Oz. Jenny's reading the Sears Catalogue we picked up today while watching some TV.

Vancouver appears to have an excellent public transport network, some exquisite buildings, lots of trees and green spaces and the widest footpaths of any city centre I have visited.

Posted by greynomadm 16:12 Archived in Canada Tagged trees trains

Email this entryFacebookStumbleUpon

Table of contents

Comments

Glad the weather was kind. Can't imagine mum saying something about being left behind at a train station in a foreign country!! :-)

by DrTard

This blog requires you to be a logged in member of Travellerspoint to place comments.

Login