Rob-n-Hild, oot and aboot eh? Sorry - 2022

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Vancouver - oot and aboot (Biking 26.3 km in 2 hours 25 minutes - with lunch in between)

Our day was very productive. Biking over 26 km around in downtown Vancouver was so much fun. The bikes were great and a good deal. Fiona and Justin recommended we do this - so thank you! We can also recommend it to everyone else. Our bikes were called "Artemis" and "Dr Faust", and they had stickers to prove it! So it isn't only us that name inanimate objects...

We started off our day of exploring Vancouver downtown by taking the train from Richmond to Waterfront station. In not time at all we were at the corner of Hastings and Howe streets. The first building Hild noticed was PriceWaterhouseCooper, Vancouver office, with whom she has infrequent meetings with. Well it is kind of irrelevant because most work from home, but it felt important to notice their real offices.

Next along the harbour we found Canada Place. The signature white sail roof, many fun history items on information posters along the railings, and the huge/fancy cruise ships heading to all corners of the earth.

Stories included "How not to run a sawmill" (hint: make sure your staff arent drinking and gambling all day), and the first sea rodeo when 9 cattle jumped from a barge trying to swim to freedom. 7 were rained in including with lassos, 2 were lost at sea.

One story remdinded us how a demonstration in 1930 started in the West, headed to Ottawa, and went horribly wrong when the government decided not to listen to the people.

Another story from during the gold rush told how Jean "Cataline" Caux excelled as a packer helping would-be prospectors reach the gold fields. He delivered all the tons of merchandise he was hired to transport - expect one parcel. The parcel contained Limburger cheese, and it was so smelly the staff thought it had gone off and threw it out! I would have done the same.... Caux replaced it an all ended well.

We then went and hired our bikes from Cycle City on Hornby Street. There was no reason to be concerned about figuring out how to cycle safely because the shop was situated right on a key cycle route that led us down to the harbour. We were impressed with how the vast majority of cyclists obeyed by the road rules! It made everything feel so safe. In Ottawa many cyclists ignore the rules and make it scary for all.

As we moved along the cycle path we enjoyed all the buildings, parks, fountains, and boats along Coal Harbour. We were headed for Stanley Park.

As we cycled onto Stanley Park we saw what all the fuss was about. Yes, it is a great place to walk and cycle and enjoy the fresh air. We could see Canada Place across the harbour where we had just been, and there was the HMCS Discovery Naval Reserve.

We stopped by Brockton Point Lighthouse to take in the view - and we were greeted by two playful sea lions. It looked like they were there to look at us just as much as we looked at them. They probably swam home discussing "Did you see those humans? Weird, right?".

From the same point we could see the eye-catching yellow sulphur piles in Vancouver Harbour - North Shore. Supposedly it is a by-product from processing natural gas.

Around another corner we spotted the replica of S.S. Empress of Japan figurehead. And then - reminding us of the little Mermaid in Copenhagen - Vancouver has "Girl in a Wetsuit" sitting on a rock!

Just around the bend from Prospect Point Lighthouse, the rock walls were surprisingly smooth. In other places there was considerable erostion. We also spotted this fun rock with a tree on it. It is called Swash Rock.

Many buildings are quite colourful and fun to look at. At English Bay Beach there was an art installation by Yue Minjun. Supposedly it depicts 14 cheerful sculptures of himself.

Our target was to go to Kitsilano Beach and Granville Island, so we had to cross the river by climbining up to the level of Burrard Street Bridge. Rob made it almost to the top. Both of us enjoyed the bridge and going "weeeeeee" down the other side.

At Kits Point we enjoyed a ride past the Maritime Museum and caught a nice view across the harbour. And just around the corner - Kitsilano Beach. People were enjoying a day out including some swimming. We learnt that Vivian and her parents lived very close to here for a while. That makes seeing the area even more interesting.

We can understand why so many people want to live in the area near Granville Island, and why so many people can't afford it. Some beautiful properties all along the foreshore.

One of our main goals today was to explore Granville Island and have lunch there. Thanks for this great suggestion, JR! We parked our bikes at the entrance, and went hunting for food and photos on foot. It didn't take Rob long to spot schnitzels - yum with sauerkraut, fries, potato salad and mushroom gravy (possibly variety Desire although the waitor could not confirm).

As pointed out by JR, a standard feature to take photos of on Granville Island are these tanks near the cement trucks. On this day, the cement truck drivers were on strike so we couldn't hang around for long. Still - the paint jobs are fantastic! Nerdy as we are, we also took great pleasure in studying the cement trucks up close.

All along the river we found it fascinating to see so many tiny tiny ferries zipping back and to with people going this way and that. We didn't try them but it looked very convenient.

We made it all the way from the Olympic Cauldron on the waterfront to the Olympic Village. At this point we wanted to turn our noses back to downtown.

We had fun riding our bike back along the north side of the river until we got to Hornby Street. Then we had to face the loooooong uphill to get back to the bike rental people. It felt good to huff and puff and use all 24 gears! We got back in time for our 5-hour rental time, and had a lovely chat with the lady at the desk who happend to be from Perth. What fun!

To round off a fun day we had gelato on the waterfront and later in the evening we enjoyed so many more chats with Vivan and dinner at White Spot. She tells us this is a must for Vancouverites so we are happy to have experienced the pleasure.

May/June 2022

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