British Colombia - Part 1 Vancouver
Flew from Gatwick to Vancouver (approx. 9.5-hour flight), slight delay out but not too painful. Arrived Vancouver mid-afternoon. Bit jetlagged but after checking in to central hotel, Sutton Place, headed out to explore and for some food. Booked table at Stanley Park Brewery, which was about 30 min walk, thought the walk might help wake us up a bit. Lovely to see a bit of Stanley Park and the lakes. Brewery was great, delicious beers and lots of choices. And the food was good too, we had some tasty fish tacos and some chicken wings. Then headed back to the hotel for an early night.
Woke up very early due to jetlag so decided to get up and check out the sunrise. Ok might have got it slightly wrong and missed the sunrise but still got to check out English Bay. Then headed back towards the hotel to find somewhere open for breakfast. Denny’s good old-fashioned diner was the perfect choice, open 24 hours too! Had my first benny! That’s an eggs benedict. Yum! Then back to hotel ready to be collected by LandSea Tours for a good orientation of the city. Went to Stanley Park (again) but this time to see the Totem Poles, then Granville Island for a bit of exploring. And would you believe it we found the brewery and a bar! Then back on the bus for a bit of a tour around the downtown areas of Chinatown and Gastown. Off the bus near Canada Place and now a bit peckish so found a place called Chopped for a tasty burger. Then rushed to catch the bus to Capilano Suspension bridge for a bit of tree top exploring. Then back to hotel to clean up and dinner at Fanny Bays Oyster restaurant. So we had to have some Oysters, there was a whole menu of them! And some sashimi followed by pork belly with scallops. Very tasty and great restaurant.
Next morning (last day in Vancouver) headed out to find breakfast and came across Cora. Had to try the breakfast poutine, a Canadian favourite. Poutine is made with thick beef gravy on french-fried potatoes with fresh cheese curds. Then off to Flyover Canada, utilises state-of-the-art technology to give you the feeling of flight. Great experience with beautiful scenery. Then off to the Lookout for views over Vancouver. Looks of great photos. Back down to Gastown to check out the steam clock. A must do in Vancouver. Then would you believe it that it was lunchtime and there was a micro-brewery bar right nearby. Spent the afternoon in Commercial Drive area checking out the many local micro-breweries. Some amazing beers and great set-ups. Tried Container Brewery, Powell Brewery, Storm Brewery and East Van Brewery. Back to the hotel in an Uber to clean up for some dinner. Headed to the nearby highly rated Korean for some tasty kimchi pancake and KFC, of course! Back to the hotel with a doggy-bag.
Leftovers came in handy for breakfast then off to pick up our hire car. Avis, of course! Love checking in for car when the ask for my last name! The off we drove up to Deep Cove for some paddleboarding. We couldn’t go a whole 11 days without paddleboarding!! Amazing experience and such stunning scenery. Slightly challenging with a speedboat/water-skier getting quite close and making lots of waves!
