Tag: British Columbia

Crossing the Straits of Georgia

After some deliberation as to when to pick up the rental car (early start vs extortionate parking fees) I collected the car from Hornby Street on the Friday afternoon and parked it at the Devonian park (24hrs) which was at least $10 cheaper than the underground car-park closer to the hotel. Parking in Vancouver I must add, is not cheap which is why I chose to use public transport to get around during the week. (Another point for those interested is that car rentals in Canada are much higher than those in the USA.)

We left the hotel early in plenty of time to catch the 10:30 ferry at Horseshoe Bay over to Nanaimo (Departure Bay) as we had reservations (these cost around £15 and not strictly necessary except in peak times unless you have to be somewhere such as the airport!), but if you don’t make that first ferry then you have to wait in line for the next and this can eat up a good couple of hours). £15 didn’t seem to be too much of a hardship for us to be on our way.

I love BC Ferries – they arrive on time, they depart on time and they are easy to drive on and off (particularly important for me whilst struggling to come to terms with a new car and its associated gadgets) then on board you can wander around during the crossing, have a meal, look at the views and if you’re lucky (as we were) see a pod or two of Orcas en route. On our previous visit to the Island we bought a circle ticket for the ferries which allowed us to drive slowly up the Sunshine Coast crossing the fjords by ferry and then over to Comox on the central coast of the Island from Powell’s River. If you have the time I thoroughly recommend this route for its beauty and peacefulness, (but be careful of the “granny traps” at the side of the road in places – deep gullies or drains at the edge – we saw several cars stuck in these and dread to think of the damage to the underside of the vehicle).

Lifeboat

On this occasion we chose to go directly to Nanaimo (home of the famous Nanaimo bar) as we were heading over to the Pacific Rim on the west coast for a few days staying in Tofino, surf capital of the Island. We didn’t bother with a GPS as there really isn’t much need for one on the Island – or so we thought… got a bit lost in Nanaimo as hubby got confused over route signs which meant we went around in a circle and tempers frayed somewhat! Eventually we found the correct route, confusingly there’s a 19 which is the Inland Island Hwy and a 19a the Island Hwy, but since they merge to the north we really had nothing to worry about and could relax and enjoy the scenery.

Following the 19 you by-pass Parksville and turn onto the 4A at Coombs where we would be staying on our return journey. Coombs is famous for the “Goats on the Roof” at the country market, but more about that later. The 4A turns into the 4 which is the Alberni Hwy and basically you follow this all the way to the west coast. Passing Whisky Creek and Little Qualicum Falls you drive alongside Cameron Lake before winding round through MacMillan Provincial Park and past Cathedral Grove to Port Alberni. I have never stopped, but imagine it could be a nice place to break for lunch at the quayside and I believe you can get to Ucluelet by boat from here. We continued onwards (105 km) and around Lake Sproat which is vast!

The road winds up and down and you gasp at the views as you are surrounded by mountains with glimpses of lakes. You then reach Kennedy lake passing over creeks with names such as “Cats Ear Creek”, “Log Dump Bridge” and “Lost Shoe Creek #1” and “Lost Shoe Creek #2” (obviously ran out of imagination there, or perhaps there are lots of lost shoes) and finally reach the T junction where the Pacific Rim Visitor Centre is located and where you can buy a National Park pass – these are not needed to drive through to Tofino, but are required for parking at any of the trails in the park between mid March to mid October. Turn left at the junction to Ucluelet (9 km) and right to Tofino (36 km).

We were staying a little way out of Tofino, close to Chesterman Beach (literally across the road from our B&B) so had to drive into Tofino for restaurants. Maybe next time (and yes there does have to be a next time) we would stay in the town so we could walk.

We ate at SOBO (all the best eating places in Tofino begin with S) which is at the corner of Neil St and 1st and serves beautifully prepared local and seasonal seafood and good BC wine. We had the special chowder which is the best I have ever tasted – it is spicy – followed by a thin-crust pizza. Mine was goat’s cheese and mixed mushrooms and it was delicious, OH had BBQ chicken with whisky sauce which was a little too sweet. Washed down with a respectable B.C. Pinot Noir.

And we caught the sunset on the beach too so a perfect end to the day.

Vancouver: English Bay

On my final day in Vancouver I walked up Denman Street all the way to English Bay Beach on the opposite side of the peninsula. Denman has a mixture of shops (most are very tacky) and restaurants (lots of fast food outlets) and bike rentals. It is useful to know that there is a large Safeway store on the corner of Denman and Robson where you can buy a huge variety of help yourself take-away food including Chinese, salads and freshly cooked pasta dishes. Why don’t English supermarkets do this? All we get is a miserable choice of cold antipasti, sandwiches and sometimes  a cooked chicken! Continue reading Vancouver: English Bay

Vancouver: Stanley Park

Today I decided to spend walking around Stanley Park which covers 1,000 acres at the tip of downtown Vancouver. There is so much to see in the park from the seawall walk (8.8 km), several beaches, Beaver Lake and the Lost lagoon, ‘monument’ trees and many trails amongst cedar, hemlock, and fir trees which lead you away from the madding crowds into the cool quiet forest. Continue reading Vancouver: Stanley Park

Vancouver: Art, History and Nature

On my own today, so I walked along the seawall down to Canada Place along Coal Harbour where the Harbour Air Seaplanes are based with stunning views across Burrard Inlet. Vancouver is filled with hundreds of pieces of public art; everywhere you go you find odd sculptures or examples of Chinook phrases, and since 1998 they have the International Sculpture Biennale with temporary exhibits from all over the world.

At Harbour Green Park you will see the “Light Shed” which imitates the simple boat-sheds that stood along the harbour over a century ago. Poised on log stilts, this aluminium-coated shed is particularly lustrous after dark when a dim, moving light shines from within. The park itself is a lovely shady area which seems to float at the edge of the harbour and it has plenty of benches from where you look at the appealing views and watch the float planes arrive and take off. It contains a variety of European Beech, Northern Red Oak and London Plane trees. This was going to be a long, slow walk….

Further along I came to the Vancouver Convention Centre West. A fascinating building as it appears to lean out over the harbour and resembles the prow of a ship. It has huge glass windows that reflect the view (on this day lovely clouds over the North Vancouver Mountains). Also along the seawall are railings similar to those you find on a ship and there are lots of interesting information plaques telling you the stories of different people who came to BC and what they did. What a wonderful way to learn history. All the photos come from the BC Museum in Victoria. (Another must-see museum).

Finally you come to an impressive blue bulbous sculpture “The Drop” by Inges Idee. The west building has a 6 acre living roof with 400, 000 indigenous plants and 4 beehives and 40% of the building juts out over the water. An impressive building. You then arrive at the distinctive Canada Place with the five sails that dominate the Vancouver Downtown skyline and which is home to the Vancouver Convention Centre East and the cruise ships terminal, and if you look up West Hastings Street you will see an impressive example of art deco, the Marine Building, which was built during the great Depression and was the tallest building in the British Empire in 1930.

Continue reading Vancouver: Art, History and Nature

Vancouver: A foggy day

The opportunity to re-visit Vancouver arose when my husband had a conference there in September 2010. We had previously spent three days in Vancouver and twelve days on the island and enjoyed it so much that this was not a chance to pass on.

We stayed in the Westin Bayshore with an incredible view over the Devonian Harbour Park, the Lost Lagoon of Stanley Park and the mountains of North Vancouver. In fact I would have been quite happy just to stay in the room all week and gaze at that view as it changed constantly with the light and position of the sun. It was also perfectly positioned to watch people walking, jogging, cycling or roller-blading along the seawall walk, and the coming and goings of yachts and rowing boats from the picturesque rowing club opposite.

On the first day though we awoke to fog, and the view though still magnificent, was obliterated by the grey mist. Nevertheless hating to waste a day, and it being the only day we had here together, we decided to have a gentle walk to stretch our legs after the long flight and set off around the seawall and in to Stanley Park.

We walked up to the totem poles and then followed the seawall around Hallelujah Point, past the nine o’clock gun up to Brockton Point lighthouse and past the Empress of Japan figurehead and the Girl in a Wetsuit statue. We took it slowly, taking as usual, far too many photographs despite the grey light. In fact because it was so still the water in Coal Harbour was like glass and we spent a quite a while looking for interesting reflections to shoot. I only found out on this visit that cyclists and inline-skaters must travel around the seawall in Stanley Park in a counter clockwise direction only.

Being autumn the trees and leaves were also very photogenic. And at the children’s water park where we cut back through the park we passed close to the aquarium where we came across a family of racoons on the hunt for food. I know they may be considered a nuisance but they do look quite cute and make a change from the (black) squirrels.

We intended to eat at Ciao Bella on Denman Street but being a Monday it was full (they do 50% offers on all pasta dishes at lunch and on Monday and Tuesday dinner) so we ate at a Mexican restaurant further up the street called Ponchos where they create authentic Mexican recipes. We shared great paella, but the deserts were rather too sweet for our liking. One customer was celebrating a birthday and the owner grabbed her guitar from the corner of the room and began singing to her in Spanish. She then made special liqueur coffees with kahlua, brandy and something else that I didn’t catch, setting fire to the spirit in a way I have never seen before – pouring the spirit into a long handled ladle, then setting fire to it and pouring the flaming spirit back into the glasses from a distance. The lights in the restaurant had been turned down, so it was quite a spectacle, though I’m not sure what Health and Safety officials would think about it 🙂