Vancouver, CA, Part I: the city
Heading north of the border
After family time in the greater Seattle area, we packed everything up once more to start our brand new adventure north of the border, north to Alaska. With a bit of trepidation; do we have the right gear, will something break down when we're in the middle of nowhere and miles from anywhere, will we be able to fix whatever needs to be repaired, do we have enough diet Coke (the diet Coke that is sold in Canada isn't the same and just doesn't taste the same 🥴), but mostly with excited anticipation, we headed out.
Our first stop was to explore the greater Vancouver area. I know, I know… Vancouver is a giant metropolitan city that has just about anything anyone could want and so much more. (I guess I was fretting about our trip up into “the wilderness” a little early! 🙄 Haha.)
A bit more about Vancouver. It is the third largest city in Canada by population and ranks first in density. But while it did feel busy, it was also open, with water on three sides (the Burrard Inlet, the Strait of Georgia, Boundary Bay and if that wasn't enough, the Fraser River runs right through the middle of it), it had huge parks and was surrounded by mountains. It's also the most diverse city in Canada with over 41% of its population emigrating from another country so it had a very international flair. The best part though was that everyone seemed to be outside, walking, running, boating, sitting in the sun and just enjoying the outdoors and the city.
I do have one comment to make about the weather … while it is often touted as the city with the “mildest” weather in Canada, true, the winters are not that cold, nor the summers that hot, but … it does rain a lot. It rains even more than it rains in Seattle! On average 70 mm/yr more and 8 more days of rain/yr.
That aside, I loved Vancouver, and I usually just tolerate cities. We rode our bikes in Stanley Park, had amazing bird watching opportunities, went to museums and waterfronts and waterfront museums. Learned about immigration stories. Saw amazing flowers and more green! And we did a bunch north of Vancouver where we camped at Porteau Cove. The city and area were so vivid that I decided I couldn't tell the whole story in just one blog and had to break it down into more manageable chunks. So Vancouver will be a two parter plus a bonus episode of birds doing amazing bird things.
Part I: Vancouver, the city.
On to pics:
We're on our way …
over the bridge
Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a “little peninsula” of nearly 1,000 acres that juts out into the Burrard Inlet, one of the bodies of water that make up the Salish Sea which covers all the water between the Vancouver Island (where the city of Victoria is , not the city of Vancouver), I think it even goes to the Olympic peninsula of Washington State and the mainland of Canada. We rode our bikes around the park and it was beautiful.
A few pics from our adventure
big ships and sailboats in the harbor
another ship, Point Atkinson with lighthouse in background (way back, way left)
bald eagle
heron flying
in another spot, we encountered a Canada goose family. They had to cross a bike path and then a walking/running trail on their journey from a field with yummy things to eat back to the safety of the water. Both trails were very busy and moma had to keep a sharp eye on her charges
wood ducks
slightly older goslings (twinning)
boat house
bait shop
I was fascinated by the lines of repeating triangles. They appealed to my sense of shape and geometric design. (Of course, I believe they are actually boat garages or should I say boat houses??? Haha)
we saw a float plane landing
In another section of the park they had a collection of totem poles
a view of the city from Spanish beach
colorful cargo carrier
paddlewheeler passing by the colorful busy port
Uh oh, Martin is completely bored while I wander about, taking pics …
Brockton Point lighthouse
close up of a heron
Lion's Gate bridge - first bridge over the narrows, opened in 1939
and of course, we saw lots of beautiful flowers along the way …
I took this pic because I thought the flowers were unusual and pretty…but as I have researched it, it appears to be a fungus, spot anthracnose, on the dogwood blossoms. I still think it is unusual and pretty 🤷
Solomon's-seal
golden yarrow
azaleas
poppies closing up for the evening
We went to the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
Bill Reid was a Haida artist. He researched indigenous art and developed new ways to incorporate its spirit and meaning in his art. He is known for jewelry making, goldsmithing and much more. I have always been fascinated by the art from the coastal northwest peoples. I find the images so evocative.
bentwood box (they make this with three pieces of wood, one for the bottom of the box, one for its sides and one for the lid)
bentwood box created in silver
other artists work
killer whale
an incredible bronze sculpture connecting five different stories. The stories of the past “can still speak to us across time, space, and enormous cultural differences”. Bill Reid
a few of the outdoor exhibits at the maritime museum
including an outdoor piano available for an)yone who feels like tickling the ivories (I wonder if having an outdoor piano is a Canadian thing … they have one at the top of Mount Royal in Montreal, too) 🤔
They had the Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner, the St. Roch, an icebreaker ship, housed inside. It was the first ship to completely circumnavigate North America and the second to travel the northwest passage.
The St Roch had an indigenous guide who lived in a canvas tent on the ship's deck with his family (wife and children, 7, one of whom was born on the ship!) and his dogs and sled. The information provided said he wanted to be on deck so he could be close to his dogs … I'm not so sure, I saw the size of the tent he and his family lived in, to say nothing of the weather they must have experienced on the deck. I mean, this was an icebreaker ship. All I can say is, I think it must have been a hard life.
the kitchen
a couple of pics from some other museums
indigenous paddles
Permanent anyone? Or maybe this was an early communication device with aliens??
This box was mailed from Hiroshima and holds a small vial of ash
Several buildings had interesting decorations. This was one of my favorites.
We took a water taxi over to Granville Island
Granville Island
A former industrial site reincarnated as an artsy neighborhood with shops, eateries, breweries, festivals and the Granville Island Public Market which was just chock full of fresh produce, gourmet food and artisanal products.
painted silos in a cement plant
at
strawberries stacked "everso" at the Public Market
fresh pasta
and flowers
pot pies … yum
Bloedel Conservatory and gardens in Queen Elizabeth Park
These gardens were built on the side of a hill at the site of an old quarry. The rocky terraces made visually interesting backdrops (even though it did mean a lot of climbing to get back up to the top). There were gorgeous exotic flowers and plants inside …
calla lilies in jewel tones
mosaic plant - variegated leaves - evergreen and cream
more variegated leaves - shades of green - dark on light
tiny bell flowers of blue ginger
orchids
shrimp plants
tillandsia bromeliad (I think???)
begonia
and take a look at this pitcher plant
In amongst these exotic plants they had some exotic rescue birds ( yes, apparently there is such a thing as a rescue bird). Their bright colors and loud raucous vocalizations added to the intrigue of the environment.
after the exotics, we moved to the outdoor gardens where I found the flowers just as beautiful and somewhat more recognizable.
I fell in love with the color of these happy blossoms
and who doesn't love a California (or Mexican) poppy. We saw so many last year, I was happy to see some again.
Next blog: Vancouver: Part II, north of the city
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