Day out in Vancouver!

Enjoyed a bit of a sleep-in cos Evelyn was still asleep! When we were all up and ready, we crammed into Ray and Soo’s camry and off we went! We drove to Granville Island, about a 15 min drive away. This arty place isn’t really an island but is located under the Granville Bridge by the water! It’s kinda like Paddington back home - with upmarket markets, craft and clothes stores.

We found a parking quickly and after getting Ethan and Evelyn into their strollers we were off! We checked out the markets and some of the craft stores before finding a spot outside on the pier to have lunch! We bought some pot pies from this renowned place for pies and enjoyed the warm Canadian sun! As we ate our clam chowder and pacific salmon pies, we enjoyed street actors doing acrobatics and stunts!

Ethan was servicing us by chasing the seagulls away from the wharf. It was quite comical watching Ethan wave his green stick for bubble making while running after the seagulls. After lunch we took a short walk around the area and picked up an ice-cream.

We boarded a cute boat and sailed around along the river with Soo and Ray as our tour guide. It’s was a mixed scene along the way. There was a concrete factory, a large array of apartment buildings, the science centre and water side entertainment. Ethan was looking a little tired on this trip and he ended up falling asleep in his pram! Gee I miss being a kid!

We had a look around at the shops but this area was really for the tourist, and the people who like arts and crafts and are willing to pay for it. Ben and I have never been such people, so we just admired.

Next stop was Stanley Park. There was a bit of traffic going through Downtown but once we got there we were rewarded with a mini train ride. It goes through the forest and loops around a bit so you have good viewings of the fake moose, bear and birds. It was nice and Ethan loved it. I couldn’t help thinking of my own Ethan who loves trains!

We then walked along to the water and found a bridge which looks exactly like the golden gate bridge, only green. We then crossed over to the other side where we saw the huge cruise liners just before they took off for Alaska. We were on the way to the Totem poles which were replicas made and placed in the park. According to the sign board the animals that were often on these poles were the Eagle (as the king of the sky), Whale (king of the sea), the Wolf (king of the land) and the frog which symbolized the link between land and sea. These totem poles were traditionally made to reflect their dreamtime stories. It was made clear that they were not worshiped or idolized.

Ethan was full of energy at this stage and practically ran all the way back to the car. His Dad had to chase after him and slow him down!

We headed back to the Sun’s place and got Indian take out for dinner. The rest of the evening was filled with research for what we were going to do in Whistler over the next few days.