We left just before 10am and hit the Sea to Skyway road. This is supposed to be one of the most beautiful roads to drive in the world. I say supposed to be as the smoke haze made any views vanish. It was like there was a fog covering everything in the distance.
After driving for about a hour we pulled off the main road into what we thought was Squamish. In fact it was just the outskirts but we didn't realise that until afterwards. We parked at a local coffee shop which I thought was fine but although she liked the coffee, Karen was not over enamoured by the place. I took the opportunity to login to the Wifi to catch up with our boys who were both at the Cup Match at Carrow Road. I was happy to find that we were winning.
From here we drove on until we reached Shannon Falls that was on our route. These were very impressive and high. They must be magnificent in the Spring when the flow must be at its highest. We walked to the bottom of the falls and then followed the path to a higher viewing point.
Driving on further we finally hit Vancouver but what a disappointment. This is a city that both Karen & I have always wanted to visit and our first impressions are not great. The road system was awful and the traffic worse. The Sat Nav literally took us through the centre and it just was not what I was expecting. The traffic was gridlocked, but the city itself just seemed a sprawling mass. Either we haven't seen it or there doesn't appear to be any cultural heart to it.
Our Hotel was outside of the centre nearer the airport. Even this area just seems to have evolved with no plan. The roads were a nightmare to navigate and drive. Karen said it reminded her of the area around Anaheim. I thought it was far worse than that.
After settling into our new room for the next 4 nights and learning that Norwich had left it late but won, we decided against battling our way back into downtown instead headed to the designer outlets that we were quite close to. These were much like any other outdoor outlets apart from the fact they were right at the end of the airport runway. The planes were incredibly low and so noisy. When the BA flight came over, Karen ducked as she thought it was going to clip the buildings.
We both bought a couple of items of clothes before driving a further short distance to The Flying Beaver Grill for a hot meal. It was very acceptable. It was situated at one of the Sea Plane terminals so we had a close view of them taking off and landing.
So that was today. Tomorrow we are heading early into downtown to try and find out what Vancouver is really like. My hopes were high but are now much lower.
The sun was now giving some real heat through the smoke haze so we wandered back to have another look around the waterfront. There was a large cruise ship (MS Voldendam) berthed and as we walked alongside it we realised it was about to depart. Before it could do so, we heard the captain announce they had to practice the Lifeboat drill. So it was with great amusement we heard the alarm sound and all the passengers getting to the muster stations and having their names ticked off. All this reminded us why cruising is not for us. A few minutes later we stood on the dock as the massive ship pulled out and set off on a 7 day tour to Alaska.
We then walked back to Skytrain station and caught the train to the Olympic Village. We went there on a whim after Karen had seen an item on the news about 2 giants birds (which I thought were real when she first mentioned them) that had been placed back in a park. It was a good walk from the nearest station and we then found the birds in a square in the middle of the village. The village had been constructed to house the Olympic athletes and had since been sold off for housing. The whole area was actually rather nice and a real 'Brucie' bonus place for us to find and visit.
We found a lovely pub/restaurant that overlooked the water and sports stadiums opposite called The Tap & Barrel. It was happy hour so we felt it improper not to take advantage. The food was good and it was lovely sitting in the warm air as the sun went down. We took the long way back to the station alongside the river watching teams training in the dragon boats and generally lots of Vancouvians (I may have made up that word) out enjoying a walk/cycle/run or bizarrely Yoga wherever they could.
So, has Vancouver improved from my first impressions. The answer is Yes. It is a nice City. However it is still nowhere near as nice as either of us had imagined. We both had a good time today. We walked over 8.5 miles and were out for 13 hours. There is still other places to explore in and around Vancouver, but I expected it to be in my top 5 cities of the world and it isn't (Sydney is still my number one by a long way, followed by Barcelona). Still theres always tomorrow and that involves an even earlier start.