VANCOUVER

We know our way around the immediate district quite well now so were able to navigate into Gastown passed the steam clock and a few souvenir shop stops en route to Sky tower. Downtown Vancouver has filled up with so many tall buildings since Tony and I were here 36 years ago and we didn't realise we had been up in the outside glass elevators then when it was owned by Sears and there was no viewing platform at the top. I know this is getting boring, but it was another sunny day with clear blue skies and a great view. We were able to spot the Church where we were meeting for the evening tour, the location of our hotel, the 'pizza' shape building we remembered from our visit in '82, Canada Place, Stanley Park, the Marine Building and Trump Towers (!).

Next on the agenda was lunch at the Art Gallery (a suggested venue from Ellie's guide book), also it is in Hornsby Street close to where our bike tour begins. After a tasty lunch, sat outside on the patio, we set off to meet our mean machines for our afternoon Epic Electric Bike Tour. My 'boy' was named 'Wally'. Our tour took us up to Canada Place which was built for the Expo Exhibition and was a catalyst for a lot of development in the city. We cycled along the seawall towards Stanley Park and saw an area which is a naval base, originally it was a first nation burial ground, it was taken by the Crown and later sold by them even though they had no right of ownership and it's ownership is an ongoing dispute. We visited the totem pole park and were told about how they were story poles. We headed across the park through a shady, fern and tree area and it really didn't feel like we were close to a major city. We saw Beaver Lake covered in water lilies and a big dam that just 2 beavers had built. We headed up to Prospect Point, close to the Lions Gate Bridge and appreciated our electric power. There were some fabulous views which Tony and I had seen from Westerdam when we passed under the bridge on the way out of Vancouver en route up to Alaska a few weeks ago. Next we descended into English Bay where the locals had all headed after work as it was a sunny afternoon. We continued along the seawall across from Granville Island. We continued on to the Olympic Village, then through China Town and Gas Town and finally back to Hornsby to say goodbye to our bikes and very good guide.

We had a quick supper in a very noisy bar/restaurant before joining our guide Roxanne on the Forbidden Vancouver Tour.Read more