Anniversary in Vancouver, BC

18-25 November 2013

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.

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 22^nd-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

"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.

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

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 22^nd 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

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.

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

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

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

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,

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

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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

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

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

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

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,

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.

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.

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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