My last week in Vancouver was almost as eventful as the rest although I must confess I was starting to gear down. Wow, that seven weeks flew by!
Well you knew there had to be dogs involved right?
The scenery wasn't too shabby!
It was fun watching the seaplanes land and take off at the airport here. I could sit and watch them all day long and one of the biggest thrills of my life was sitting in the passenger seat beside the pilot on a seaplane trip from Salt Spring Island to Vancouver in 2016. One of the things on my "to do" list for next time is to go to the Flying Beaver pub which is right by the seaplane "dock". (got that Darlene?)
One lane for walkers and one for bikes or anything else on wheels.
My pathetic attempt to pretend to be a totem pole. I wore a fleece under my jacket which makes me look like the "Michelin man" but I needed it.
Brockton Point Lighthouse - you walk through that opening...
And this is what you see!
You also walk under the Lions Gate Bridge - I know I keep going on about it but I can't believe I walked over that! Another thrill!
Nooo...not the little mermaid but Girl in a Wetsuit...I will be seeing her "Danish cousin" again soon...
I can't remember what this was called...but it was pretty!
This part of the path was closed up until the day before I walked it. Talk about pure luck! It had been closed due to ice falling off the cliffs.
I never get tired of looking at Siwash Rock!
Getting into the final stretch along English Bay
When I wrote my last blog post it was raining/snowing outside and I decided to stay in and have a "pyjama day".
Saturday I ventured out to return some library books at the Metrotown library and did a bit of shopping at Metrotown, I then took a bus to Whole Foods. Oh how I love that place and while I couldn't afford to shop there on a regular basis it's fun to peruse the aisles.
Sunday morning saw me heading south to Richmond to meet up with Connie and Verni. We met at the Richmond-Brighouse skytrain station and headed off to the Terra Nova area of Richmond where we started walking along the dyke trail beside the waters of Howe Sound and followed it as it took us along the middle arm of the Fraser river. It was such a beautiful day and a relaxing FLAT walk!
Well you knew there had to be dogs involved right?
The scenery wasn't too shabby!
It was fun watching the seaplanes land and take off at the airport here. I could sit and watch them all day long and one of the biggest thrills of my life was sitting in the passenger seat beside the pilot on a seaplane trip from Salt Spring Island to Vancouver in 2016. One of the things on my "to do" list for next time is to go to the Flying Beaver pub which is right by the seaplane "dock". (got that Darlene?)
Our "farewell" lunch at the Cactus Club cafe....these fish tacos were great. I bid adieu to Verni and Connie until next time....
Monday morning dawned - this was "the day". I wanted to walk the 10km seawall around Stanley Park which is a tradition for me. I've walked it on every visit to Vancouver starting with a trip to see my friend Shirley in 2000. When I visited in 2016 I could only walk 5 km and even then I barely made it sitting down more than I was walking and getting horribly lost in the middle of Stanley Park in the rain. It's funny I had forgotten about that (blanked it from my memory me thinks) until I got there and it all came back. However, Thelma did me proud! The day was a beauty and when I sat down it was mainly to enjoy the view...okay maybe a couple of sit-downs were to rest. I still can't do a 10km walk without sitting down and probably never will - but I am okay with that. So I will just let my pictures tell the story of this incredible day - the one I had been working towards and looking forward to so much. I did it on my own which was the way I wanted it to be..doing it at my own pace, taking pictures and savouring every minute. It's fun to walk with people but I do love my solitary walks as well.
One lane for walkers and one for bikes or anything else on wheels.
My pathetic attempt to pretend to be a totem pole. I wore a fleece under my jacket which makes me look like the "Michelin man" but I needed it.
Brockton Point Lighthouse - you walk through that opening...
And this is what you see!
You also walk under the Lions Gate Bridge - I know I keep going on about it but I can't believe I walked over that! Another thrill!
Nooo...not the little mermaid but Girl in a Wetsuit...I will be seeing her "Danish cousin" again soon...
I can't remember what this was called...but it was pretty!
This part of the path was closed up until the day before I walked it. Talk about pure luck! It had been closed due to ice falling off the cliffs.
I never get tired of looking at Siwash Rock!
Getting into the final stretch along English Bay
These are just off Denman St where my walk ended...you have to smile when you see these fellows!
The Stanley Park Seawall is one of my very favourite walks and I've done it a lot. If you are up to it I'd highly recommend doing it. There are a lot of places to sit - trust me on this! Of course if you can't do it all you can always walk across to the other side of the seawall at the Totem Poles and return.
Time was rolling on and I still had one more thing on my "to do" list...the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. (UBC) Unfortunately, Darlene was unable to go with me as she was ill but Mairona met me there.
Tempting though it was to jump on its back don't worry; I resisted!
For me this area of the museum was the most interesting as I love the wooden Totem poles.
This is a beautiful sculpture by Bill Reid called "The Raven Discovering Mankind in a Clamshell".
A totem pole waiting to be restored.
There were several being restored - this one was particularly beautiful I thought. It was difficult to get good shots of them in the horizontal position.
This was taken outside the museum.
Then Mairona took me to The Diner, a British themed cafe in the Point Grey area of Vancouver.
Yes, I liked it! We went back to meet her little doggie then she and her husband Wayne drove me to the skytrain station which was so kind.
Mairona is a friend of my friend Darlene and now I like to think she is a friend of mine as well and will definitely be on my "let's hang out" list when I go back to Vancouver!
The next day I headed south to Richmond to spend the day with Darlene. She hadn't been feeling well but we wanted to see each other one last time before I left. It was so much fun to spend time with her each week and we never ran out of things to talk and laugh about. And to think we started out as penpals back in the 60's....I am so glad I got into that hobby as it's made me so many friends all over the world and let's face it fueled my travel bug as well. I will miss her but we are already talking of what we will do on my trip back next year - whenever that might be! We had another great day together. Robert and Ika, the friends I was housesitting for arrived back that evening.
Thursday I headed over to the nearby mall to mail a couple of things and do some last minute shopping. In the afternoon Robert and I watched Acorn TV and caught up on their trip and mine. That evening they treated me to a lovely meal at "East is East" on Main Street and we listened to some great gypsy type music. When I saw the surrounding shops and restaurants I decided to add that part of Main St. to my Vancouver itinerary next time!
I had a delicious Rotti roll meal with lentil soup - one was lamb and the other veggie. A great place for a meal! I even tried chocolate chai - very different but good!
Friday dawned and it was time to head over to Victoria...but that's a whole other post!
I am so glad I accepted this housesitting job. I must confess I had misgivings at first about a few things; one of them being somewhere for seven weeks straight. While I do enjoy my own company I also enjoy others so I thought I might be lonely but that was never the case. A big THANK YOU goes out to Darlene, Verni, Connie and Mairona for making my trip that much more extra special. It was so nice to spend time with Darlene especially in her home and I got to meet her special little grandsons - and her husband Bob always had a glass of red for me! Verni did so many walks with me and ensured I got to see the best of wherever we were going.
Stay tuned for my Victoria adventures!!!
Tempting though it was to jump on its back don't worry; I resisted!
For me this area of the museum was the most interesting as I love the wooden Totem poles.
This is a beautiful sculpture by Bill Reid called "The Raven Discovering Mankind in a Clamshell".
A totem pole waiting to be restored.
There were several being restored - this one was particularly beautiful I thought. It was difficult to get good shots of them in the horizontal position.
This was taken outside the museum.
Then Mairona took me to The Diner, a British themed cafe in the Point Grey area of Vancouver.
Yes, I liked it! We went back to meet her little doggie then she and her husband Wayne drove me to the skytrain station which was so kind.
Mairona is a friend of my friend Darlene and now I like to think she is a friend of mine as well and will definitely be on my "let's hang out" list when I go back to Vancouver!
The next day I headed south to Richmond to spend the day with Darlene. She hadn't been feeling well but we wanted to see each other one last time before I left. It was so much fun to spend time with her each week and we never ran out of things to talk and laugh about. And to think we started out as penpals back in the 60's....I am so glad I got into that hobby as it's made me so many friends all over the world and let's face it fueled my travel bug as well. I will miss her but we are already talking of what we will do on my trip back next year - whenever that might be! We had another great day together. Robert and Ika, the friends I was housesitting for arrived back that evening.
Thursday I headed over to the nearby mall to mail a couple of things and do some last minute shopping. In the afternoon Robert and I watched Acorn TV and caught up on their trip and mine. That evening they treated me to a lovely meal at "East is East" on Main Street and we listened to some great gypsy type music. When I saw the surrounding shops and restaurants I decided to add that part of Main St. to my Vancouver itinerary next time!
I had a delicious Rotti roll meal with lentil soup - one was lamb and the other veggie. A great place for a meal! I even tried chocolate chai - very different but good!
Friday dawned and it was time to head over to Victoria...but that's a whole other post!
I am so glad I accepted this housesitting job. I must confess I had misgivings at first about a few things; one of them being somewhere for seven weeks straight. While I do enjoy my own company I also enjoy others so I thought I might be lonely but that was never the case. A big THANK YOU goes out to Darlene, Verni, Connie and Mairona for making my trip that much more extra special. It was so nice to spend time with Darlene especially in her home and I got to meet her special little grandsons - and her husband Bob always had a glass of red for me! Verni did so many walks with me and ensured I got to see the best of wherever we were going.
Stay tuned for my Victoria adventures!!!
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