Friday, June 29, 2012

Exploring Vancouver, Canada! Part 2

  
Duckie's adventure exploring beautiful Vancouver continues with his trip to Granville Island Market!

The journey continues by catching another Aquabus


With our cheerful captain


And our safety gear


And our fellow passengers


Amazed at the bridges we’re about to go under


And even more amazed at the high-density, trendy and expensive! neighborhood known as Yaletown, one of the fastest-growing residential downtowns in North America where nearly 40,000 people have moved into in the last 10 years. Nowhere is this urban renaissance more apparent than in the densely packed high-rise condos & converted warehouses of Yaletown.


And under the Burrard Street bridge we arrive at the Granville Island market. A fascinating assortment of colourful stalls, showcasing unique homemade products and the very finest in gastronomic delights. All fresh from the ocean, the oven or the field.


Where we dock with the other water ferries coming and going



And browse the market of fruits, veggies, flowers, artwork & handcrafts then join the crowds to eat dessert and sip lattes on the waterfront while the musicians entertain under the afternoon sun. (oops! Sorry, no pics of that scene!).





Then head back to the water ferry


Where we (that’s my friend Glenna) board our ferry that will take us under the bridges, back across False Creek to the SkyTrain


And watch others arriving to enjoy the market


And watch the other boats go by


Passing the boathouses that people live in on the creek


Heading under the Cambie Street Bridge on our way to the dock near Science World at the far end of False Creek


After we landed, we looked back across False Creek at BC Place, a multi-purpose stadium located at the north side of False Creek, the home field for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. It was built originally in 1983 with an inflatable roof, but closed in 2010 for major renovations and reopened in Sept 2011 as the world’s largest cable supported retractable roof stadium. It was the Olympic Stadium for the 2010 winter Olympics and has hosted the CFL Grey Cup eight times.


And looking the other direction across False Creek, beside the Science World, we can see one of the Skytrains heading into our next station. Then it’s off home to plan the next adventure!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Exploring Vancouver, Canada! Part 1

  Lonsdale Quay Market, North Vancouver and Granville Island Market, Vancouver BC

We’ve been waiting for some sunshine in this rainy town, and finally it showed up. Today we’re off to ride the SkyTrain & SeaBus to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver (at the foot of the North Shore mountains) and see a bit of the waterfront along the way. Then we’ll hop back on the SkyTrain and head to the water ferries at False Creek that will take us to Granville Island. This picture below, which I took off the internet, shows how downtown Vancouver is on a peninsula. There’s the mountains on the north shore, below the mountains is a body of water called Burrard Inlet, then the high-rise offices & residences of the downtown core, then below that another body of water called False Creek. Hopefully it will give you an idea of our travels today.

  

We’ve been waiting for some sunshine in this rainy town, and finally it showed up. Today we’re off to ride the SkyTrain & SeaBus to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver (at the foot of the North Shore mountains) and see a bit of the waterfront along the way. Then we’ll hop back on the SkyTrain and head to the water ferries at False Creek that will take us to Granville Island. This picture below, which I took off the internet, shows how downtown Vancouver is on a peninsula. There’s the mountains on the north shore, below the mountains is a body of water called Burrard Inlet, then the high-rise offices & residences of the downtown core, then below that another body of water called False Creek. Hopefully it will give you an idea of our travels today.

 

Our days always begin with a good cup of coffee and today was no different. We began on “The Drive” http://www.thedrive.ca/. Commercial Drive's Italian roots, complemented by its multi-national diversity, and vibrant art community makes for a treasure trove of shopping finds andexperiences! The perfect fusion of community, art, and commerce! It'sranked among North America's 15 hippest neighborhoods. In the Vancouver east end, it’s a short 10 minutes by SkyTrain from downtown and offers many ethnic eateries, often with live entertainment, uniqueboutiques, character homes and diverse people-watching! JJ Bean has the best lattes in town!


After our coffee, we headed to the SkyTrain for the 10-minute trip to downtown Vancouver.


We missed that train and had to wait for the next one, but they come every 3 minutes so not a long wait. Of course, we obeyed all the rules and stayed behind the yellow line!


"And enjoyed the ride… wasn’t too crowded this morning, but on workdays during rush hours, it’s always standing room only."


And once we arrived at our station… we rode the escalator.


And asked for directions… there’s always someone willing to help!!


We got off a station early and walked in the sunshine to the Vancouver waterfront. Below is a pic of Waterfront Station, a major intermodal public transportation facility located on the south shore of Burrard Inlet. From here you can walk to historic Gastown, downtown Vancouver, Canada Place cruise ship terminal, the Helijet International helipad, the port and the downtown float-plane terminal. From Waterfront station you can get on SkyTrain, SeaBus (to North Vancouver), helicopter, floatplanes or the West Coast Express (train) which goes out to the Fraser Valley.


From behind the Waterfront station we can see (from the L) a cruise ship at the cruise ship terminal, the north shore mountains (Coastal Mountain Range), the cranes of the Port of Vancouver, the helipad (just in behind the tall black crane, and the SeaBus terminal (with a SeaBus coming into terminal).


And in the picture below is Canada Place, located on the south shore of Burrard Inlet it’s the home of the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Pan Pacific Vancouver Hotel, Vancouver ‘s World Trade Centre, and an IMAX 3D theater. It is also the main cruise ship terminal for the region. It hosts many community and international events throughout the year. Fabric roofs resembling sails cover the building’s exterior and during the Christmas season the sails are lit up like Christmas trees.


Enjoying the architecture of Waterfront station as we pass through to catch a ride on the SeaBus, a passenger-only ferry service that crosses Burrard Inlet to connect Vancouver and North Vancouver.


Waiting for the SeaBus doors to open.


Waiting to set sail for the north shore.


The 3.24 km crossing takes about 10 – 12 minutes with a cruising speed of 11.5 knots. Many people that live in North Vancouver take the SeaBus back and forth to work each day.


We’re about to pull into the north shore terminal at Lonsdale Quay.


And here we are at Lonsdale Quay market (on a sunny day no less!!) It’s a great place to relax and enjoy Vancouver’s best view from the North Shore.


The view from the market. Watching the SeaBus head back to Vancouver.


Lots of water traffic like tugboats, freighters and private craft. And a great view of downtown Vancouver in the background.



We sat and enjoyed the sunshine and watched the water traffic for a while.


An opportunity to get close to the tug boats and see the activities of the North Shore port.


Then we went indoors to check out the Lonsdale Quay shops of fruits, veggies, bakeries, crafts, artwork, flowers… a great place to spend the afternoon and work up an appetite!








Time for lunch. Vancouver is famous for its sushi and there are tons of places to chose from. So we checked the menu...


Then enjoyed our sushi lunch outside in the sunshine.


And walked back to the SeaBus terminal to return to downtown Vancouver


The downtown Vancouver skyline with the cruise ship terminal on the right


Through the terminal and up the escalator.


To catch the Canada line of the SkyTrain, which was built for the Olympics and heading to the Yaletown-Roundhouse station


Where we will board the Aquabus which sails across False Creek to Granville Island.



Passing lots of yachts and million dollar apartments





And kayakers and sailors


And more Aquabusses

...to be continued...