Saturday, June 2, 2018

Alaska 2018 - Day 10: Vancouver, Capilano, Granville Island

Saturday morning, we docked in Vancouver around sunrise (5:30 AM-ish).

We were scheduled to disembark around 9:30, so everyone was up early for breakfast. I opted to sleep in a bit, and then grab a light breakfast at the food court later.

But first, I went up to the top deck to see what I could see of the city. It was overcast and fairly cool.





We went through customs in Canada Place, and made arrangements for our bags to be delivered to the Airbnb later that afternoon (shout out to Porter Genie) ,




Outside of Canada Place, we found a shuttle to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.






The park's main attractions (that we were interested in) were the 460' suspension bridge, cliff walk, and treetops adventure.

On the way to the bridge, we walked through the totem park.





It was after 11 AM by the time we got to the bridge, which was fairly crowded (in my opinion).



The view of the river, 200+ feet below, was lovely.



Part of the cliff walk was also visible in the distance, from one end of the bridge.



On the far side of the bridge, we wandered around the nature walk trail as a light rain fell.


The small sign on the post says "Do you like your fingers? Don't climb the fence".





Next up was the treetops adventure.





This part of the park was also quite popular, and it took us a good 20 minutes to go from one end to the other.



This might have been my favorite part of our time in Vancouver.




After finishing the treetops tour, we followed the other half of the nature trail back to the bridge.




It was around noon as we crossed back over the bridge, so we stopped for lunch at the grill.





After lunch, we tackled the cliff walk. The weather had cleared up by then, and it turned into a beautiful afternoon.



Most of the cliff walk is bolted directly to the cliff face, but there's this one part that's cantilevered out over the void.





We took the opportunity to take some glamour shots.




The remainder of the cliff walk was more tame, despite being hundreds of feet above the ground.





There were several viewing platforms that made perfect photo ops.





It was after 1:30 by the time we left the park. We took the shuttle back to downtown and were dropped off at a hotel near our Airbnb.



We were a few minutes early to meet the guy to get keys, so we hung out in the park across the street for 15 or 20 minutes.



The apartment had great views, especially from the bedroom that was all glass.




It was well after 3 o'clock by the time we got settled and received our luggage delivery, which left plenty of time to grab a quick nap before venturing back out.

Around 5 PM, we headed out with a vague plan to go to Granville Island.




After evaluating our options, we chose The Aquabus for conveyance across False Creek.


They operate a fleet of small (some are tiny) boats that zigzag across the water to different locations.




The ride across the water lasted only a few minutes, despite the crazy boat traffic.





We walked around Granville Island for about an hour, including a few passes through the farmers' market.




There was a boardwalk or harborwalk that went partially around the island, so we followed that through a boatyard, passed the marina.





Eventually, we needed refreshments, and there happened to be a brewery on the island, so we made a pit stop.




Just after 7 PM, we again took the Aquabus across the... bay? over to David Lam Park.


We got an up-close look at The Giants, from the water side.


There was a community of "floating houses", similar to the ones in Seattle.





From the park, we walked through the roundhouse area and into Yaletown in search of dinner.



We ended up at Earl's Kitchen + Bar, on a Saturday night, during the Stanley Cup finals; it was interesting, and the food was quite good.



Tomorrow, we'll probably go to Stanley Park. Beyond that, I'm not sure.

Friday, June 1, 2018

Alaska 2018 - Day 9: At Sea in Canada

With the one-hour time change, we anticipated missing sitdown-dining-room breakfast, and had ordered continental breakfast room service (free) to be delivered late.

However, the weather once again turned nautical overnight, so we awoke early to heaving seas; it was similar to our first full day on the ship, though not quite as bad.

By now, though, everyone seems somewhat well-adapted to their sea legs, so it hasn't been as borderline-catastrophic as Sunday was.

Being an at-sea day, the cruise had scheduled all sorts of activities to keep people entertained. We stumbled upon some ice carving, which is the only activity I saw that seemed novel.




We saw a few whales, very briefly, while eating lunch, but it was too rainy and windy to be out on deck.



Once we neared Vancouver Island, a Canadian pilot arrived on a smaller boat and did an at-sea moving transfer via ladder, like the park rangers did a few days prior.



We spent the afternoon up in the elevated lounge, above the stern, looking for more whales and listening to the rain pelting the windows.



The weather improved incrementally as we entered the narrower Johnstone Strait. (It improved enough to go out on deck and take a few photos, anyway.)




Overall, the day was rather uneventful and relaxing. Unlike the first few Days At Sea, when we stopped to see glaciers, today was nothing but clouds, rain, and a plodding pace towards Vancouver.

We had our last dinner on the ship, during which the staff performed a... closing ceremony? that included something like a conga line around the dining room, while holding Baked Alaska ice cream cakes.


Apparently they had been making these cakes all week, in preparation for the final night; they were the dessert special.

After dinner, we had to pack our suitcases and put them in the hallway, so they could be staged for offloading in port tomorrow morning.

We're scheduled to be off the ship around 9:30 AM, after which we will spend a few days in Vancouver.