Our Various Activities in Vancouver

Us at the peak of Grouse Mountain, Vancouver

We were still 50km from the train station in Vancouver when it started to feel a bit more urban. Instead of endless forests and lakes, we started to see more towns, traffic and even the occasional traffic light. The biggest giveaway was that our phones always had at least a little bit of mobile reception, a good indicator that civilisation was nearby.

Granville Island

We had heard plenty about Vancouver from people over the years; about the massive mountains overlooking the city on most sides, the huge public parks, and the cultural mix of restaurants and residents. We didn't see the mountains much until the third day thanks to the gloomy cloud cover, but we got stuck right into exploring the parks and restaurants around the city, encouraged to get out and about by the deafening roadworks going on next door to our hotel, starting at 730am each morning. Hey, we are backpacking right now, so that is EARLY.

So here are some of the cooler things we achieved in Vancouver during the five short days we were there:

* Granville Island: A very cool, relaxing, artistic little island just south of downtown. We walked there a couple of times, over the extremely tall bridge with the inexplicably short handrail, to visit an improv comedy club, a public market full of knick knacks and home grown food, watch a plywood boat building / racing challenge, and again later on so that I (Brendan) could attend my first improv workshop! Fair to say that we thoroughly enjoyed that little island, and would gladly go back. Hopefully I can find a group in Dubai or elsewhere to follow on with improv, since I REALLY enjoyed it.

Dunn's Smoked Meats

* Just wandering: we walked through the Chinatown district, and were offered a bunch of drugs, then back along the Gastwon district, where there were almost as many souvenir shops as tourists. Down near the Convention Centre we got a perfect sunset view of northern Vancouver over the harbour, and watched all the seabirds gliding in the wind overhead. We tried a few of the many, many $2 pizza slice places, most of which were just okay, and sampled a few of the nicer sounding eateries around the city as well. A highlight was Dunn's Montreal Smoked Meats, where we each enjoyed sandwiches with about 20 slices of warm, smoked beef brisket wedged between a couple of bits of rye smeared with mustard. Colossally satisfying.

* Grouse Mountain: One of the taller mountains around Vancouver, there is a cable car that takes people up to the peak for a pleasant view and then back down again. Then there is also the hiking trail, called 'The Grouse Grind' for fitness freaks and people feeling guilty after a visit to Dunn's Montreal Smoked Meats. A unique climb, twisting through a vast forest of towering evergreens, getting steeper and steeper as we got closer to the top. At only 4km, you might think 2.5 hours sounds like a long time to reach the top, but the records are all around the 58 minute mark, so maybe that helps you understand how grueling the trail can be. Well worth it for the view, not only at the peak, but also throughout the trek.

Grouse Mountain

It was a shame to leave such a beautiful city after only 5 short days, but Whistler Mountain awaited us! We are in Whistler at the time of writing this, visiting Kate's brother, Tim, and getting stuck into a bunch of reasonably extreme sports which we will cover in a later post.

until then!
//Brendan

P.S. - In case it isn't obvious from the photos, I've started putting my hair into dreads again. I missed my dreads. Still a work in progress at this stage, just doing a couple each day. Stay tuned.