Initial Impressions of Vancouver

My flight from Fiji to Los Angeles is 10 hours, I then have a hideous 8 hour wait there followed by a short 2 and a half hour flight to Vancouver. Having crossed the International Date Line, I arrive in Vancouver 2 hours after I left Fiji - having had Sunday twice. I am now back in the northern hemisphere for the first time in nine months.

Gordie meets me at the airport and after some time to catch up and to accommodate the jet lag and a tummy bug, we do some sightseeing in Vancouver. We visit Queen Elizabeth Park, for a view across the city to the mountains beyond, which fortuately are visible and have scattering of snow on the tops. The day is overcast, but the view is clear for now. In the park the rhododendrons and azaleas are beautiful and an army of gardeners is planting summer bedding plants in the newly-cleared beds.

Vancouver from Queen Elizabeth Park

Gordie and Fountains in Queen Elizabeth Park

We then mooch around Granville Island, which is an atmospheric area of the city where old industrial units now house quirky little boutiques, galleries and cafes. We wander into one shop where a girl is hand-making brooms and another which sells hammocks. This is a great place to come to look for presents, or just hang around enjoying the street art, people-watching and soaking up the atmosphere. In amongst this there are also working places where boat repairs are happening, carpenters work and shellfish are landed and sold. There is a large busy indoor food market which sells great-looking produce, artisan bread, cheeses and all-manner of world-wide fayre.

Granville Island Market

Here the waterway of False Creek is busy with all sorts of craft. A tug comes up and then returns towing a huge barge from the cement works. Small water buses buzz back and forth; recreational kayakers paddle gently and sail and motor boats are moored in the marina.

False Creek

We then drive through leafy suburbs to the shore where the sandy beaches are deserted today. Container vessels are parked in the waterway and the view back to Vancouver and across to the North Shore is disappearing into the lowering mist.

Spanish Banks