Holiday in Vancouver

24^th May - 8^th June 2016

Just click on the thumbnail to get the photo full size. Clicking on the photo will bring up the next one. Close window when finished, Home Page is still open.

This was the 40th anniversary of my first visit to Vancouver in 1976. It was also my first vist to stay in Robert and Lorraine's new apartment. The weather went from cool through very wet to hot and sunny.

25 May. Lorraine and I walked from her new place to see what they'd done to the house where she used to live. It had been demolished and a huge new house put up in its place.

26 May. A cool damp day. Lorraine and I drove to Granville Island for the brewery tour. It was quite interesting, but very short. They were bottling beer, but again it wasn't a long production line. Interesting but not sure it was worth the money. The beer tasting was fun though, especially as Lorraine doesn't drink the stuff!

27 May. Lorraine and I went to see the Britannia Cannery in Steveston. This was one of the original salmon canneries in Steveston. There were a lot of Chinese workers there who lived in small bunk houses and worked very long days. It was the busiest of many canneries on the Fraser. In 1918, it was converted to a boat repair yard. We walked into Steveston, which is where they film Once Upon A Time. Later we went to Richmond night market.

29 May. Met cruise buddies Lino and Chiqui for lunch at Bao Down, then we had a drink at Mahoneys, which is close to Lorraine's old apartment. I sunburnt my face!

30 May. Lorraine and I went to Britannia Mine a few miles from Squamish. We took a short train ride inside the mine where we saw a dynamite store, some drills and machinery for collecting the exploded rock, called muck. Then we went into the huge Mill House Number 3, which is where the muck was milled into fine pieces prior to the copper being separated from the rock. It was built onto the side of the cliff and there was a 45 degree rail track on one side. It all looked like something from a horror film set. In its day it was the biggest copper mine in the Commonwealth. On the way home, we called in to see Marco and Leslie.

2 June. Lorraine and I went into Chinatown. We saw the entrance arch and old buildings, including what was one the narrowest office building in the world. Then we strolled around Gastown before having expensive cheese and meat plates at a place called Salt in Blood Alley!

4 June. It was Doors Open in Richmond today. Lorraine and I visited two places. Our first stop was at Ling Yen Mountain Temple, which is a Taiwanese Buddhist temple. It was a really interesting experience. We had a tour of the temple including one of the nun's dormitories. They sleep up to nine in a dormitory on a raised platform. They each had a thin mattress, quilt and pillow. Under the platform were drawers where they kept their few possessions. We also made lotus flowers out of tissue paper and cups. After that we went to London Heritage Farm, which is an old farm that was owned by the London family. Lorraine then dropped me at a Skytrain station and I went into Vancouver where I met two more cruise buddies, Jordan and Erica. We did Fly Over Canada, a virtual reality ride from coast to coast of the country, which is in Canada Place. Then we hit a bar for some wine, another bar for beer and finally a Thai meal afterwards. It was great to meet up again.

6 June. 40 years to the day since my first visit to Vancouver! When I arrived back in 1976, the first thing Lorraine did, was to take me to Queen Elizabeth Park for the views. So today, for the first time in 40 years, I went back. It was hot and it's not a formal park as such and the trees have grown to hide much of the views, but it was a pleasant visit. Later that evening, there was a stunning sunset over Vancouver.