Return To Vancouver

Fri. 28th August ‘26

After a 10hr flight, we landed @ 2pm, just 2 hours after take-off. How does that work? Vancouver clearly has a busy airport and after the usual endless trog, we got to the Immigration Hall to find that it was almost completely automated and so despite the throng we were at our hotel just 2 1/2 hrs after landing.

Fortunately, we’d managed some sleep on the plane and so we were vaguely functioning. A quick shower, then out for air, daylight & a leg stretch – down to Canada Place to see the harbour front and the seaplanes we’ll be flying in tomorrow. Not that we were taking much in; we were just trying to keep going. We held out until 6pm before heading to the Brass Fish Tavern for a beer and a bite to eat. Then it was back to the hotel where, by 8pm, we were absolutely dead and crashed out – fully expecting the jet lag would have us wide awake at 5am.

Sat. 29th August ‘26

Astonishingly we sleep until 6:45 – in my case this included a very vivid dream about visiting a friend & everything going wrong or breaking. This was a bit of a blow as our itinerary had us heading out at 5am for some sunrise photography! We (I) have made extensive use of Claude AI for itinerary planning for this trip – and both it & I were expecting us to be wide awake at silly o’clock. We’re not sure how we feel about this – an indicator of how tired we were to have slept so long, but there were photos to be taken!

The upside was that we could have a more leisurely start to the day before heading back down to the harbour for one of the highlights of the trip – a seaplane flight. We were last in Vancouver some 20+ years ago and had watched the seaplanes coming & going. We didn’t get the chance for a flight then, so make up for it now! Even better, I am sufficiently awake that when the pilot asks for a volunteer to sit in the co-pilot’s seat, I’m first to raise my hand. This means we both get to sit by a window – couples are usually asked to sit side-by-side in the double seats.

The plane flies north along the coastline up as far as Squamish giving us views of the wooded mountains & the islands in the channel. We get a bit of a peek at the ferry we’ll be catching in a few weeks’ time when we cross over to Vancouver Island. We can also see rafts of tree trunks lashed together – presumably, this is downstream of where they were logged and they are waiting to be loaded onto a ship or fleet of lorries. Then it is back retracing our steps, flying over the city before, all too quickly, we are lining up for landing back in the harbour. A great way to start our first full day in Canada.

Claude’s itinerary then has us walking up the coastline to Stanley Park all the way to Prospect Point at the top. Conscious of the need to preserve our legs & energy – and in an ultimately futile bid to keep our daily step count below 20k – we decide to take an Uber up to Prospect Point & then walk back. Stanley Park is one of the main green spaces in Vancouver & being a Saturday it was busy – not helped by there being some sort of festival on in the middle of the park. For us the highlight was the viewpoint looking out along the Lion’s Gate Bridge (apparently built by the Guinness family). Though why anyone would want wedding photos taken here was a mystery to us both.

After a quick (unsatisfactory) bite of lunch, it was down the hill to walk along the seawall perimeter of the park. It was nice enough – and easy going – with views across the water to North Vancouver. However, it was all a bit samey. The day’s step count was ratcheting up and our legs were starting to feel it. It was therefore an easy decision to catch a bus at the earliest opportunity (by the entry/exit to Stanley Park) and head back to the hotel for a well-deserved siesta – after all Claude wasn’t yet done with us today. There was more to do this evening.

Actually, there were 3 options for us but only 1 involved a ferry (to N Vancouver) and we always like a ferry adventure (e.g. Cuba or Hong Kong). The ‘push-me pull-you’ ferry only took 15 mins to cross over to Lonsdale Quay with the Shipyards, and the views back to the city and all the trendy bars & restaurants. As usual, we ignored all the trendy stuff, and after taking in the views, headed for North Point Brewing, one of three or four microbreweries in the area. Well, it would be rude not to! Anyway, a beer and some pizza set us up nicely for some sunset photography around the Shipyard and looking across at the city lights.

When our exhausted legs finally got us back to the hotel, Janet’s watch was reading 26,262 steps (or 19.6 km). It was also 10pm so no wonder we were ready to crash out.