Fly to Vancouver
Saturday 7th September 2019
The airport shuttle picked us at at just after 5.30am Saturday morning to take us the the airport. There were 4 other pick ups along the way and the driver was using google maps to navigate. It got it wrong in 2 out of the 5, including our address which was the easiest of the lot to find.
Anyway, we eventually found everyone and arrived at the airport in time to all flights. Most of them had been delayed or cancelled due to the strong westerly winds, which had restricted runway usage down to only one runway for both incoming and outgoing flights. Fortunately for us, our delay was only around 20 minutes.
Once on board our Air Canada Boeing 777, we were very pleased to see we had a spare seat between us, and the 777's have generous leg room so it was a very comfortable flight. We landed only 10 minutes later than scheduled so all was looking good.
However, the air terminal experience at Vancouver was something else. About 5 flights had arrived in reasonably close proximity to each other and the immigration seemed to be running on a skeleton staff roster. Whilst we landed at 7.40am, it was 9.30am by the time we stepped into a taxi. Not impressed!!
It is a pretty overcast day, but not raining and quite humid. The taxi ride only took about 30 mins to get to the city for a flat fee of C$35. Pretty reasonable compared to Sydney.
Naturally our hotel room was not ready to check in, so we left our bags with the concierge and headed off on foot to discover what was within walking distance. After nearly 14 hours on the plane, stretching our legs was most welcome, although we have had no sleep, as we left at 10.30am AEST and arrived at 12.40 AEST so weren't all that tired.
Our Hotel is located a main road in the Central business District, that runs directly down to the International Cruise Terminal, and our car hire pick up point is near the terminal so we headed in that direction first. The Terminal is located at Canada Place and as you would expect with the never ending number of Alaska Cruises, it is very well set up. Two pretty large vessels were in port: Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam, and The Golden Princess. A quick check of where our car rental pick up/ drop off is would suggest we can probably walk to the port once we drop our car back before joining the cruise.
The weather continues to look like it may rain, but fortunately it stayed fine all day.
After a good look around the terminal and surrounding attractions, there didn't seem to be a lot to do there other than eat and drink, so we had a think about how we could fill in the rest of the day.
We decided that we would walk to False Creek and get a day pass on the little ferries that run around there at short intervals allowing you get on and off where you please. The main attraction is Granville Island.
False Creek is where all of the marinas appear to be close to the city. There is also a False Creek Yacht Club. The shoreline is well developed with apartments, hotels restaurants and pubs ( a little like Darling Harbour).
Below are a few attractions seen along the way.
Granville Island is a nice spot with an excellent Food Market, and restaurants and bars. We were very happy to sit down to a very fresh Canadian Smoked Sockeye Salmon Bagel with cream cheese, capers and onion. It was delicious.
Travelling around on the little ferries was a very nice way to get a look around this popular waterfront area, stopping at 3 or 4 of the major areas along the creek.
By 2 pm, we were ready to walk back to the hotel and hopefully get into our room and freshen up.
Freshened up after a much needed shower, we were ready to hit the streets again. Despite having walked around 14km since we got off the plane, we were invigorated enough to walk back down the street in search of dinner. A Malaysian restaurant called Banana Leaf caught our fancy, so we ventured in, just in time to get the happy hour discount on our drinks.
The food was pretty good, even though it had been dumbed down a bit to please local tastes.
The airport shuttle picked us at at just after 5.30am Saturday morning to take us the the airport. There were 4 other pick ups along the way and the driver was using google maps to navigate. It got it wrong in 2 out of the 5, including our address which was the easiest of the lot to find.
Anyway, we eventually found everyone and arrived at the airport in time to all flights. Most of them had been delayed or cancelled due to the strong westerly winds, which had restricted runway usage down to only one runway for both incoming and outgoing flights. Fortunately for us, our delay was only around 20 minutes.
Once on board our Air Canada Boeing 777, we were very pleased to see we had a spare seat between us, and the 777's have generous leg room so it was a very comfortable flight. We landed only 10 minutes later than scheduled so all was looking good.
However, the air terminal experience at Vancouver was something else. About 5 flights had arrived in reasonably close proximity to each other and the immigration seemed to be running on a skeleton staff roster. Whilst we landed at 7.40am, it was 9.30am by the time we stepped into a taxi. Not impressed!!
It is a pretty overcast day, but not raining and quite humid. The taxi ride only took about 30 mins to get to the city for a flat fee of C$35. Pretty reasonable compared to Sydney.
Naturally our hotel room was not ready to check in, so we left our bags with the concierge and headed off on foot to discover what was within walking distance. After nearly 14 hours on the plane, stretching our legs was most welcome, although we have had no sleep, as we left at 10.30am AEST and arrived at 12.40 AEST so weren't all that tired.
Our Hotel, only 4 star but well located
Our Hotel is located a main road in the Central business District, that runs directly down to the International Cruise Terminal, and our car hire pick up point is near the terminal so we headed in that direction first. The Terminal is located at Canada Place and as you would expect with the never ending number of Alaska Cruises, it is very well set up. Two pretty large vessels were in port: Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam, and The Golden Princess. A quick check of where our car rental pick up/ drop off is would suggest we can probably walk to the port once we drop our car back before joining the cruise.
Canada Place
A very large Holland America ship alongside with stunning scenery in the background
A big Princess ship - Golden Princess alongside at Canada Place
There are lots of Seaplanes landing and taking off all of the time
The weather continues to look like it may rain, but fortunately it stayed fine all day.
After a good look around the terminal and surrounding attractions, there didn't seem to be a lot to do there other than eat and drink, so we had a think about how we could fill in the rest of the day.
Cannabis is a new growth industry
Probably not a good brand for Australia
We decided that we would walk to False Creek and get a day pass on the little ferries that run around there at short intervals allowing you get on and off where you please. The main attraction is Granville Island.
False Creek is where all of the marinas appear to be close to the city. There is also a False Creek Yacht Club. The shoreline is well developed with apartments, hotels restaurants and pubs ( a little like Darling Harbour).
Below are a few attractions seen along the way.
Rogers Arena
Yaletown
Telus World of Science
Looking from Granville Island back towards the mainland
Granville Island is a nice spot with an excellent Food Market, and restaurants and bars. We were very happy to sit down to a very fresh Canadian Smoked Sockeye Salmon Bagel with cream cheese, capers and onion. It was delicious.
Approaching Granville Island
Great Produce at the market
Travelling around on the little ferries was a very nice way to get a look around this popular waterfront area, stopping at 3 or 4 of the major areas along the creek.
One of the many False Creek Ferries
Our last visit on the ferry was the Maritime Museum ( more of a collection of old boats that are in various stages of renovation by a very dedicated team). It is located at the entrance to False Creek.
A beach near the museum at the entrance to false Creek
Some of the lovely old boats at the Maritime Museum
By 2 pm, we were ready to walk back to the hotel and hopefully get into our room and freshen up.
Freshened up after a much needed shower, we were ready to hit the streets again. Despite having walked around 14km since we got off the plane, we were invigorated enough to walk back down the street in search of dinner. A Malaysian restaurant called Banana Leaf caught our fancy, so we ventured in, just in time to get the happy hour discount on our drinks.
The food was pretty good, even though it had been dumbed down a bit to please local tastes.
The sambal fish in banana leaf and Ipoh Hor Fun were pretty good
Great photos again Mike. Glad you had a visit with Lon & Marilyn.
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