18-25 November 2013
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| Caption for A-Maze-ing Laughter sculpture |
After the success of
last year’s anniversary in Victoria, C.J. thought that we should do another
Canadian city for this year’s thirty-seventh celebration. We haven’t spent a
night in Vancouver since the era of Expo 86 excepting a few overnights in the
backyard of a fellow pilot on the North Shore during Grouse Mountain Fly-ins. C.J.
found a week just before Thanksgiving available at the Worldmark resort in
downtown Vancouver and we used some of our expiring points to book it, a
win-win situation.
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| Anniversary selfie |
18 Nov, Mon – We got on the road around 1220 and stopped at
the Burlington Costco for a rotisserie chicken and a Costco lunch. We also
filled the gas tank with the cheapest gas we’ve seen in a long time - $2.999.
Waiting time at the I-5 border crossing was 15-20 minutes and then we got into
a real traffic slowdown where three lanes merged into one at the George Massey
Bridge under the Fraser River. That put us in Vancouver at the height of the
rush hour – around 1700 – in the dark and rain. We had no trouble finding the
Worldmark building, a 32-story highrise at 1080 Hornby, just a couple of blocks
south of Robson and one block east of Burrard. C.J. went in to register while I
waited in a no parking zone for directions to the gated underground parking.
Once we were parked, we moved our stuff to the 22nd-floor
two-bedroom unit with a hotel cart. The view to the north was particularly good
with tall buildings and the canyon-like Hornby St. with its glow of bright red
taillights. Later we noticed that one of the buildings had a trapezoidal light
display that changed color. After a dinner of rotisserie chicken and chocolate
cake with whipped cream, we spent some time planning a hike for the next day.
After much discussion, we decided that Hollyburn Peak near Cypress Mountain
sounded like a good choice but we’d have to wait for the morning to see what
the weather and snow accumulation looked like.
19 Nov, Tue – The morning started off partly cloudy and we
could see snow on the mountains to the north especially on the higher summits.
The deal breaker was the sub-freezing temperature and the howling wind. Later,
as the clouds burned off the temperature inched up and we
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| "Digital Orca" at Canada Place |
headed out for a walk in the
city. We walked north past the law courts and the Vancouver Art Gallery heading
for the convention centers at Canada Place. We stopped at the Vancouver Tourism
office and got some maps and additional info about hikes. We walked around the
west conv. ctr. reading the historical signage on the fence along the seawall.
C.J. took some photos that included The
Drop, a large blue raindrop crafted by Inges Idee, and Digital Orca by Douglas Coupland. I walked past the nearby 2010
Olympic Cauldron without recognizing it. We then walked through the east
convention center which had three totem poles, the large one carved in the
1900’s. We didn’t take in the expensive Fly
Above Canada but did stop for the multi-media War of 1812 presentation, an
interesting perspective from the Canadian, British, U.S. and First Nations
viewpoints. Then we walked back up Burrard Street through the shopping and
restaurant district back to our suite for lunch and a rest. We had gotten some
general directions to some artwork we wanted to see so we set off along Davie
Street. There were lots of shops and eating places but it was clear that we
were not in the high-rent district any longer.
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| Inukshuk at English Bay Beach |
Heading south on Bidwell we
reached the shore of English Bay and the
inukshuk,
a stone structure resembling the human form, constructed by Alvin Kanak. “A
gift to the city from the Northwest Territories during Expo 86; it later became
to symbol of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.” A small crowd had
gathered nearby where a sailboat had been washed onto the seawall and was
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| C.J. amid A-Maze-ing Laughter |
taking a pounding from the wind-driven waves. Walking west along the Seaside
Bicycle Route at English Bay Beach, we finally reached the group of large,
bronze, cartoonish figures called A-Maze-ing
Laughter, by Chinese artist Yue Minjun. After taking a bunch of pictures,
we started our return by going north on Denman (passing several falafel
eateries and other ethnic choices), then turning east on Comox which at that
point was a greenway rather than a street. At the top of the hill we cut
through a small park (Mole Hill Park?) and in two blocks we were back at Hornby
and WorldMark. Back on the 22nd floor we found our door was unlocked
and that it wouldn’t lock when we closed it. We reported it to Jennifer at the
front desk and she sent up a maintenance guy while we went over to the Sheraton
to enjoy a soak in their hot tub. Back at the desk we found out that the lock
would have to wait for repair until the maintenance man who knew how to fix it
came on duty Wednesday. WM was willing to move us for the night but since we
weren’t going out, we could lock the door from the inside. C.J. whipped up some
pork stew from the roast we had brought with us; so far we haven’t spent any
money, Canadian or otherwise.
20 Nov, Wed - Last night we decided that it was time to give
Hollyburn Pk in Cypress Mtn Prov Park a try so after breakfast we drove across
the Lion’s Gate Bridge and west on Canada1/99 then up the long switchbacks of
Cypress Bowl Rd. We stopped at the second turn to look out over Burrard Inlet,
English Bay and Vancouver in the morning sun. By the time we reached the
trailhead for Hollyburn Peak there was snow on the road and piles along the
side where it had been plowed. The temperature was below freezing but the wind
that had been so strong yesterday was mild to calm. There were a couple of cars
in the Nordic ski/snowshoe parking lot but when we got out and walked around a
bit we found that the snow was frozen and icy. We decided to do something in
the lowlands instead of struggling up an icy trail in snow that would only get
deeper. Since we were not far from the downhill ski area we drove the rest of
the way there and found that they were making snow and the area was having its
opening day. The parking attendant reported that the temperature was -8 Celsius,
but that hadn’t kept a sizable number of skiers and boarders from getting
their first runs of the season. We headed down and found our way to Marine
Drive by returning to
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| Point Atkinson Light House |
Exit 10 and finding a street that went through. Marine
Drive took us to the entrance to Lighthouse Park which is a forested chunk of
land preserved from logging and development (because the lighthouse on Pt
Atkinson needed a dark area behind the light). We found a map brochure and took
the most direct route downhill to the lighthouse area. I wore my new boots to
see how much breaking-in they needed (not much, it turned out). Just outside
the closed Coast Guard area there were several buildings which are used by the
community for retreats, day camps and other events. We climbed up to the
“lighthouse view” which didn’t have a very good view probably because of the
new tree growth below the viewpoint. However, the view from the rocks of West Beach
were excellent. Later we climbed to another farther west viewpoint for lunch.
We had views of Bowen Island across the mouth of Howe Sound, and Vancouver
Island in the distance. We saw several barges under tow and the Horseshoe
Cove-Nanaimo BC Ferry. After lunch we retraced our steps to the camp buildings
and continued to East Beach, Arbutus Knoll and the Valley Trail. Since none of
the trails were very long we took the longer one, Arbutus Trail which climbed
steeply over a ridge and just as steeply down the other side. We then picked up
the Valley of Giants trail, through an area with large cedars, to the Summit
trail. A short but harrowing climb over slippery rock got us to an actual
summit. From there it was a short descent to the parking lot and by 1430 we
were heading back to Marine drive. We made a quick stop for groceries in
Ambleside (?) and then ran into four lanes of traffic trying to merge to one
lane to cross the Lion’s Gate Bridge. Still, we were back to the condo early
and found that our door had been repaired. [BTW, the manager said that he was
giving us a housekeeping token for the inconvenience of having our door unable
to be locked.] C.J. made another stew-like dish for dinner and we talked about
when we should go out for our anniversary dinner.
21 Nov, Thu – We didn’t get out until after 1000 but we did
get some good Maui pancakes with blueberry jam, and I found a coupon for The
Salmon House in West Vancouver and made reservations on line for Thursday
evening.
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| Lynn Canyon suspension bridge |
Our plan for the day was to go to Lynn Canyon and do a couple of short
hikes, loops if possible, and that’s what we did. We started by dropping in to
the Lynn Canyon Ecology Center where we picked up a paper map and talked to the
person at the desk about routes. She asked us about conditions at Hollyburn
because she was heading there on Sunday and she had been out at Lighthouse Park
on that really windy Tuesday. We started by crossing the famous Lynn Canyon
suspension bridge first built back in the early 1910’s. Today it was
treacherously slippery with frost covering the wooden treads, so careful
stepping on the roughened metal sections was necessary. From that highpoint,
150 m over the water, we went south, downstream, through forest on the Baden
Powell trail and on stairs to cross another bridge at Twin Falls. From there we
climbed back up to the level of the Ecology Center, café (closed for the
season) and the parking lot. After a look at the map, we decided to do a loop
to the north and maybe continue on around Rice Lake. Back across the still
slippery suspension bridge and then down a rougher trail over lots of exposed
roots we reached the 30 Ft Pool, a deep, clear body of water just upstream of
an island in Lynn
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| C.J. at Rice Lake |
Creek. To continue to the next bridge we had to climb the 160
or so steps of a rustic stairway. At the top a right fork went to more stairs,
so we went left, saw the pedestrian bridge leading out to Lynn Avenue and
continued up a narrow gravel road to the entrance to the Lower Seymour
Conservation Reserve. Twenty or so seniors were gathered near the entrance with
daypacks and hiking poles (the first folks with poles we had seen so far),
obviously ready for a group hike. We passed them and in a quarter mile reached
Rice Lake. A display showed what the old flume looked like; it had been used
for getting 56-in.-long bolts of cedar down to “Moodyville” where there was a
mill back in the early 1900s. Rice Lake had been used as a storage place for
the bolts, then the loggers raised the level of the lake 9m and sent the bolts
down the flume. The walk around the lake was pleasant but cold – there was even
a skim of ice on some of the inlets. We finally found an opening in the brush on
a peninsula and sat down in the sun for some lunch. Afterward we continued
around the lake to the south end where there was a fishing pier which was
almost totally covered in frost feathers (except where the sun had hit it). We
took a slightly different route back to the suspension bridge, going down the
second set of stairs as well
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| A window table at The Salmon House |
as the first set. The bridge was still slippery
and by now even the slip-resistant metal was no longer so slip-resistance. A
large group of older students were just starting across; we didn’t stay to
watch. We got back to the condo by 1530 and rested up, got showers and then got
dressed to go to dinner at The Salmon House On The Hill in West Vancouver. Traffic was pretty
crazy in downtown Vancouver at 1830 but we made it to the restaurant just a little
later than 1900 anyway. The view was as good as advertised and the food
likewise – almost like being back on the cruise ship. We had New Orleans-style clam
chowder and mussels and tempura prawns for appetizers; tortilla-encrusted trout
and alder-smoked salmon for entrees; and dessert was a pavlova
(meringue/chocolate mousse) and Paris Brest (a puff pastry with coffee crème
and chocolate sauce). With a couple of drinks it came to over $90 – good thing
we don’t do that too often!
22 Nov, Fri – After an hour’s worth of internet research I
called Bayshore bike rentals on Denman near Spokes, the other (and more
expensive) rental place right on Georgia and Denman. [The cheapest place,
Ezee Rider, apparently was closed to prepare for the snowboard season.] We
walked the mile-and-a-quarter along Robson through the downtown shopping area
in sunshine that kept us comfortable while wearing just fleece jackets despite
the sub-zero (Celsius) temps. The shop attendant at Bayshore found us bikes
that fit, provided us with helmets and U-locks, a map of the trails and sent us
off out the back door through the parking lot. [Parking lot! We could have
driven to Bayshore!] After circling the parking lot to get the feel of the
bikes (21 speed mtn bikes with front shocks [mine anyway]), we headed NW along
Alberni
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| Totems in Stanley Park |
on a green-painted bicycle lane right to Lost Lagoon. There we found
the designated bicycle path for the seawall promenade, almost always separated
from the walking path and usually sharing with the inline skate path. We made
our first stop pretty soon to don wind jackets. Later, in the shade and where
the morning dew had not melted, C.J. put on her windpants (I had left mine at
home, I guess) and I fit my warm hat under my helmet. We spent some time at the
totem poles, stopped for a picture at the 9 O’clock Gun,
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| C.J. and our bikes near "Girl in a Wetsuit" |
Brockton Pt.
Lighthouse,
Girl in a Wetsuit, the figurehead of the Empress of Japan and the
view from beneath the Lion’s Gate Bridge. About that time we began to notice
that the rock faces above us were covered with ice! – It was cold, luckily
there was no wind. We kept moving until we got back in the sun just past Siwash
Rock, then stopped at a minor projection to have lunch in the increasingly weak
sunshine. From there it wasn’t far past Ferguson Point, Second Beach, and the
pool to Lost Lagoon. We discussed continuing down the seawall to English Bay
Beach, but we had had enough of the cold so headed back to the bike shop and
paid for the
2.5 hrs ($38.40 incl GST and locks). The walk back in midafternoon
was quite a bit more crowded – maybe because the high school students were
heading home. We stopped for chocolate-dipped ice cream cones at Rocky Mountain
Chocolate Factory. Back at the condo I was ready for a nap before downloading
our photos from our cameras
.
23 Nov, Sat – We got a leisurely start sometime after 1000
walking down Nelson to Granville (which seemed a bit seamy) and across the
Granville Bridge. Then we found our way somewhat circuitously to
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| Part of Granville Public Market |
Granville
Island. There was an abundance of shops and galleries to explore but we spent
most of our time in the Public Market which definitely felt more foreign than
the Pike Place Market in Seattle (although we haven’t been there in years so
maybe it feels foreign, too). Wandering through other areas like Net Loft and
the Railspur District we stopped in a shop where they were making brooms from
sorghum, and another shop that had lots of items that may have been First
Nation work. Back at the Public Market we decided on a salmon chowder pie for
lunch – very good with nice flaky crust ($10.50). Then we found a gelato stand
with peach-mango and coffee flavors, both excellent ($10.25). Since there were
no seats available – the area that was usually extra seating was full of
holiday craft and foods booths – we sat on a bench outside in the sun to finish
our gelatos. If the sunshine had been any weaker it would have been too
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| Aquabus and Telus World of Science |
cold.
Having done enough window shopping, we caught the Aquabus to the end of False
Creek ($7) where we walked along a trail to the Telus World of Science, the
last-standing, now re-purposed, building of Expo 86. Our Pacific Science Center
membership cards provided free entrance. We took in a show on electricity
(using a pickle for a light bulb!?), then wandered through most of the exhibit and
activity halls. The feature exhibition was “Amped” about modern music. The
display of “amptiques” included some things we still use. Body Works showed how
a Canadian science exhibit might differ from one in the US by including life
size and generally anatomically accurate male and female figures.
We looked into the KEVA gallery where many
kids and families were creating various things with wooden planks and pieces.
The Sara Stern Gallery had displays of natural history –dinosaurs, a beaver
lodge big enough to climb into, animal skins and such. By 1600 we were pretty
tired and ready to head back to the condo. It was a fairly long walk but mostly
on a pedestrian trail past the BC Place stadium and the Edgewater Casino, then
up Smithe St. to Hornby and home.
24 Nov, Sun – Around 1030 we started on our walk through the
Heritage District of Vancouver and on to
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| Narrow building in Gastown |
other parts of the downtown. We walked
up Hornby to Georgia then across to Burrard. C.J. caught a reflection of the
Hotel Vancouver in a building east of the Vancouver Art Gallery (with the
overscaled roof clock on Parr and Fee’s 1912 Vancouver Block). The 1889 Christ
Church Cathedral is the oldest church in the city. C.J. took some more photos
of architectural details on the Marine Building (1929) to the NW. Near the
bottom of Burrard we turned E on Hastings then dropped down to the CPR
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| Gastown Steam Clock |
station.
Across the street was the ornately-columned temple-styled Bank of Commerce
building (1908), since re-purposed as the Birks Jewelers building, with the
Birks Clock in front. We continued Cordova and then Water Street into Gastown
where we were just in time for the 1130 rendering of “Westminster Chimes” on
the Steam Clock. We stopped in a couple of souvenir shops/native art galleries
as we worked our way east to the Gassy Jack Statue across from a very narrow
flatiron building. To reach Chinatown, second largest on the Pacific coast,
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| Chinatown gate on Pender St. |
we
took Carral and soon found ourselves in a block-long flea market inhabited by a
mixed bag of locals and street people. Leaving that behind, we reached Pender
and looked west to the entrance arch to Chinatown. We turned east and walked
past many small shop, most closed on Sunday, to the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park (next
to the classical garden of the same name. After a brief tour we continued E on
Pender passing many local food shops selling dried fish, veggies and sundry
unidentifiable things. Reaching the edge of Chinatown we turned south on Gore
then back W on Keefer. We walked through a park and then through International
Plaza and past the impressive Vancouver Public Library to reach the Christmas
Market set up in Queen Elizabeth Plaza. The long line of people waiting to pay
to get in so they could buy gifts and food convinced us to skip that
opportunity.
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| In Falafel Maison with owner |
Instead we headed west on Robson and found the Falafel Maison just
past Seymour. It was a tiny place with inside seating for six but we got our
falafel sandwich (pita) and schwarma platter (meat, salad, rice, tabouleh and a
pita round) and carried it all out to a sidewalk table. It was warmer than
yesterday and the food and Lebanese shop owners were both very nice. Heading
for home around 1400 we stopped at Robson Park and descended to the ice rink
then climbed up the stairs on the other side to the Law Courts (with the giant
red spring sculpture) and out onto Hornby. Back home by 1500 we were ready for
a rest. There was plenty of stew left for dinner so we didn’t need the additional
pot of soup. Around 2100 we left the condo again, this time to Christ Church
Cathedral for the Compline Service. There were quite a few attendees but not
enough to fill up the rather small (for a cathedral) church. Much of the
service was familiar to old Catholics and some of the Gregorian chant was even
in Latin. On our way back to the condo through the still-busy street we looked
into the impressive Hotel Vancouver, noticed the “dripping” Christmas lights on
Robson, and walked through the lighted trees at the Sheraton.
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| Cathedral Place |
25 Nov, Mon – After getting mostly packed up we dropped a
load in the car and then went out to look at some architectural details
downtown. We stopped at the old Provincial Courthouse, now the Vancouver Art
Gallery, and also took a bunch of photos of the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
(gargoyles, dragons and various other beasts). The Cathedral was open for
visiting so we went in and checked out the stained glass and huge organ. Next
door is Cathedral Place and the builders had created a bit of open space
between the two buildings. It had Gothic-like arches and reminded one of a
cathedral close or cloister. On the same building were large replica statues of
three nurses that had been on the Georgia Medical Dental Building which used to
occupy the site. [The
Vancouver Walks
guidebook wryly claims that they are the Rea sisters, Dia, Pia and Gonno.] By
then it was getting close to our checkout deadline of noon so we returned to
the condo and cleared out. We retraced our route home but in sunshine instead
of rain. There was a 25 min. wait at the border but none at the George Massey
Bridge this time. We stopped at Burlington Costco for gas ($3.059) and lunch
and some groceries and were home by 1530.
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