So I started day 2 in Vancouver with breakfast at a cafe right next to the hotel in which I’m staying. From there I walked across the road to catch the Big Bus tour which is a ‘hop-on, hop-off’ style tourist bus. I generally find these are the best way to get a good overview of the city before hitting the street seriously. In this way you get to see all the major attraction and then decide what you want to see. The other good thing is that the ticket is good for two days so it is also good value.
I hopped on the bus only a few hundred metres from my hotel at Library Square. From there the bus headed through the east of the city, travelling through Chinatown and then into Gastown. It then wound its way across town and over the Burrard Bridge to Granville Island. Along the way we passed the local Lamborghini dealer, ooooh aaahhh. I’ll have to get off next time and have a closer look. Another general observation about Vancouver, there seems to be an above average amount of imported upmarket European cars. Today I’ve seen Ashton Martin’s, Bentley, Mercedes, the latest Jaguar and more. The economy up here must be ok.
After Granville Island we headed to the west end of the city to Stanley Park. This is a huge reserve that consumes the total end of the peninsula that Vancouver sits on. I jumped off here and decided to take the seawalk around the perimeter of the park around to a pick up point on the other side.
As you can see from the photos, the scenery is very pretty as you walk around the waterfront.
As you reach the northern extremity of the park you encounter the Lion’s Gate Bridge.
It amazing at how green everything is. I know that it does rain a lot up here but I don’t think I’ve see somewhere that is a green as it is here. That is another big difference between here and other North American cities I have visited, even the city streets are filled with trees.
Around the eastern side of the park is an interesting display of totem poles.
I continued my walk around the perimeter of the park.
I eventually came upon this light house. Interestingly, a light house has stood here for many years and for many years it was manned by Davey Jones who won a bravery award for rescuing people from the waters. I wondered whether this is were the term ‘Davey Jone’s locker’ came from?
I was now rounding the corner of the point and heading back towards the city.
A little further around is a famous Vancouver landmark known as the nine o’clock gun. Why? Well every day at 9pm it is fired.
There are plenty of alarms and flashing lights to warn bystanders about any pending firing. I must admit that I have not heard it fire since I’ve been here.
I headed towards the interior of the park to catch the Big Bus back to city. I wandered around what I thought was the pick up spot for about 20 minutes but couldn’t see any sign. I took up watch next to what I thought was the most logical place for a pick up. About 10 minutes into my wait a local came up to me and told me that I was waiting in the wrong place. He then kindly showed where the stop was just around the corner. This really reinforces my experience with most people here, they are very friendly, considerate and helpful.
I jumped aboard the next bus and decided that I would get off at Gastown and do some exploring here as the end of the day was approaching.
Above you’ll see what is known as the ‘steam clock’ and yup you guessed it, it runs on steam from the pipe below. It is probably the centre of what is the 'old’ part of the city.
There are plenty of tourists here as well as plenty of shops catering to the tourist trade. I must admit that I am struck by how much ‘shopping’ is here in Vancouver. You sort of get the impression that the city has ‘remodelled’ itself to encourage American to head north and spend. So apart from the ‘shopping’ there isn’t a whole lot to commend the city to a tourist who maybe looking for the sites in places like London, Paris or New York however I still am happy that I came. I also get the impression that there are probably some of these types of sites just outside the city. No time on this trip maybe next time.
After wandering around Gastown for a while I headed back to my hotel for something to eat. I must admit I am pretty tired after walking all that way today so I expect to sleep pretty well tonight.
Here’s a photo of Library Square just across the road from where I’m saying. A really nice piece of architecture.
My aim tomorrow is to jump back on the Big Bus and head over to Granville Island and get a feel for what that part of the city has to offer.
