Wednesday 2004-03-31 Orcas Island to Vancouver Canada Today we find ourselves on the ferry again. We're on our way to Vancouver in British Columbia Canada.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Orcas Island to Vancouver Canada We drive there in Caroline's 2WD Jeep.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Orcas Island to Vancouver Canada We caught the first ferry out and it was a bit cold and gloomy but enchanting nevertheless.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada We spend the rest of today and most of tomorrow touring the city. We're staying near the English Bay Beach in the West End.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada The English Bay Inn was delightfully olde worlde that served a magnificent breakfast. We even had our own dedicated cook and server.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada Jenni and Caroline relaxing in the English Bay Inn.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada This is the English Bay Inn, our accommodation for our stay in Vancouver. It is a B&B and is Located in the western end of Vancouver at 1968 Comox Street.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada We've checked into our B&B at English Bay and go for a walk. This stretch of dirt and logs in English Bay is described in the brochures as a beach. Vancouver is named after Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada The Vancouver Polar Bear Swim Club had its initial swim on January 1, 1920 when a small number of swimmers, modestly attired, plunged into English Bay . The swim has grown from around 10 swimmers that year to a record number of 2,128 entries in 2000.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada English Bay and nearby Spanish Bank are named to commemorate the meeting of the English (under Captain Vancouver) and the Spanish (under Galiano and Valdes) in this area in June 1792.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada Granville Island is a shopping district in Vancouver. It is located in False Creek under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge. The island is now connected with the mainland so it is not technically an island.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada In 1870, the colonial government surveyed the settlement and laid out a townsite, renamed “Granville,” in honour of the then British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Granville.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada This was the very same Lord Granville after whom the Sydney suburb of Granville was named. I spent all of my teenage years at Granville, went to school at Granville, started work at Granville, Got married and left home at Granville.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada Granville B.C. was eventually selected as the terminus for the Canadian Pacific Railway. The building of the railway was among the preconditions for British Columbia joining the Canadian Confederation in 1871.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada The City of Vancouver was incorporated on 6 April 1886, the same year that the first transcontinental train arrived. The name, honouring George Vancouver, was chosen by CPR president William Van Horne, who arrived in Port Moody to establish the CPR.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada False creek and Granville Island - boat mooring and maintenance facilities. After this, Jenni and I and through no fault of Caroline's were left to wander Vancouver City on our own. Explanation: Caroline had hooked up with a self-admiring, arrogant piece-of-shit called Thomas. He viewed us as convicts from the colonies not worthy of his attention or respect. Thomas decided he would dump us in the middle of Vancouver City to get rid of us and agreed to pick us up at a time suitable to himself. I did not want to risk my relationship with Caroline so I kept my mouth shut. It was extremely hard to do. I was never so happy as, on our next trip to the USA, Jenni asked Caroline how Thomas was and she said that they had broken up. I cheered silently in the back seat of the car.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada Vancouver's Chinatown is the Western Hemisphere's second largest Chinatown in area (after San Francisco), and third largest in population (after San Francisco and New York City). Jenni and I wandered Chinatown on our own as before.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada As we wandered aimlessly and quite bored, Bonnie rang. Her pain was much reduced and she's sleeping better. She doesn't like the bag but is getting used to it and accepts that this is the way it is now.
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada Due to the large ethnic Chinese presence in Vancouver, especially represented by multi-generation Chinese Canadians and first-generation immigrants from Hong Kong, the city has been disparagingly referred to as "Hongcouver" .
Wednesday 2004-03-31 Vancouver Canada In the afternoon, Jenni and I again find ourselves on our own so we decide to do a walking tour of Vancouver. We walk from our B&B at English Bay into the downtown area.
Vancouver