Vancouver

Day 209 – Brown Reunion

At around 6am this morning the boat entered Burrard Inlet and we could see Vancouver.  I couldn’t wait to see Vancouver again and so was out on the deck (in the dark!) taking photos as we pulled in.  The ship looked like it had about 2 feet to spare as edged under the Lions Gate Bridge.

We met up with Elliott (my brother) and Kat (his gorgeous girlfriend) at Canada Place and walked to their apartment downtown. 

After a quick freshen up, we hopped on a ferry over to Granville Island to pick up some supplies and then headed over to English Bay for a picnic.

 

After a very pleasant afternoon catching up in the sun with some yummy food and wine, we walked back through downtown to the apartment where Kat and Elliott guessed right by having the ingredients for a ‘lighter meal’, beef salad, ready for our dinner.  They had done a similar cruise (which is where the idea came from) and remembered how they felt after 7 days of eating boat food!

 

Day 210 – Memory Lane

Today was a bit of a trip down memory lane for Matt and I, as well as a chance to show Mum and Dad around our old stomping grounds and where Elliott and Kat have been living and working for the past year.

We couldn’t resist the all-you-can-eat Japanese at Metrotown, the shopping mall near Kat’s work.

We drive up the Burnaby hill and around the campus of my university, Simon Fraser.  I had lost my favourite t-shirt, a Simon Fraser one, and so couldn’t resist the urge to go in and buy a new one.  Turns out it was graduation ceremony day so the place was packed and we couldn’t get parking and unfortunately they didn’t have the same t-shirts anymore.

Elliott made the mistake of mentioning to Mum that there were squirrels everywhere in Central Park near his old apartment in Burnaby, so we all hopped out in the rain to chase them.  This was the best photo Mum got… so we’ll have to go hunting for more! 

This is the site of Matt and I’s former place of residence called Adera House.  Adera House was a 4 story mansion that had been used for all kinds of purposes over its life (including a psych hospital) that we shared with 17 other people when we lived here, but built on prime real estate in the equivalent of Toorak in Vancouver, it was only a matter of time before developers would get to it!  *sniff* *sniff*

Day 211 – Fun and Games

This morning was Dad’s turn to pick and so we headed over to Science World, a huge silver spherical building at the end of False Creek.

Mixed in with mostly primary school aged kids we had to fight our way through to get a go at all the games and puzzles on offer, as most kids assumed the adults the room would let them go first!  

Matt competing with 4th graders to fit inside the box!

Sibling rivalry.  The ball moves away from the person who can relax their brain activity the most.  I think given I haven’t worked a day in 7 months, I had the advantage!

Oh no! 

After Science World we jumped back in the car and went for a drive to Jericho Beach and Point Grey.

 
Elliott and Kay with the Lion’s Gate Bridge in the background.

Elliott came over to Canada in May of 2009 with two of our family friends from home.  Ben, one of the two, was working on setting up some audio equipment at the aquarium this week and so managed to score us some free passes.  So after our wander around, we drove to Stanley Park and went to the Aquarium.

Baby Beluga Whale

Pacific White-sided Dolphins

The downstairs area was dedicated to frogs and toads!

One of the best bits was the Jelly Fish display.  It was like moving art!

And of course Matts favourite, the sea otter.  We caught him right on feeding time and he was such a character!

After the Aquarium, we went for a stroll around Stanley Park.  Mum got some more squirrel pics and we watched as a cheeky racoon stole a family’s picnic lunch while they were playing on the nearby equipment!

 

For dinner we caught the ferry over to the North Shore opposite Vancouver downtown.  The service at the restaurant we picked wasn’t the best, but the food was mostly good and it was a nice night on the deck.

Day 212 – The beginnings of our road trip!

Today we picked up our HUGE hire car, a Chevrolet Suburban, ready for our road trip to Calgary and then drove back over to North Vancouver to visit Lynn Canyon and the suspension bridge.

  
“The Beast”, the biggest car I have ever driven!

 
Kat and Elliott on the Big Rock in Lynn Canyon park.

The suspension bridge.

I think I took this exact same picture 7 years ago, but it’s still beautiful!

 

For lunch we drove east to the gorgeous Deep Cove.  When we hopped out of the car we had a laugh at this sign:

Deep Cove.

We had to head back to Vancouver straight after lunch as we had organised a surprise for Mum and Dad, given we’d all missed their last birthday, Christmas and Mother’s and Father’s Days.  Their treat was a flight on a float plane to Horseshoe Bay for dinner, followed by a limo ride back to Vancouver.

Meanwhile, we took some snaps from Elliott’s apartment: