Western South Northerly: Exploring Vancouver

After a surprise recovery from impending (unusual) jetlag, our first day in Vancouver was pretty full. Far from a soft day of picking up some things and sitting around, it turned into a fairly extended exploration of downtown Vancouver.

Kicking off, we stepped onto the street and headed north for the Coal harbour waterfront and some of the serious looking coffee shops we had seen last night. One thing that can be said about Vancouver so far, is that it is a city that takes its coffee very seriously indeed. For every Starbucks (and there are quite a few) there is very good espresso bar. Haven't been disappointed so far.

So, first stop was Water St again; at this point it was still supposed to be a short stroll followed by some shopping. An espresso at a bakery was the first port of call, followed by a very simple but very effective bacon and eggs at a very nice little cafe a bit further along. It was a delightful Greek family place, with an interesting view over the railyards.

Which brings me to one of my main thoughts on this place after a whole twenty-four hours in which to form sweeping generalizations... its a very livable city, but in the background there are these docks and the legacy of Coal Harbour. Watching from The Village Market Cafe window, thousands of containers were being transferred to double-decker rail carriages to be shipped east.

View from the Village Café: Cranes, sunshine and remnant snow.

From there, we decided to keep walking east and soon found ourselves wandering through Gastown, then an unnamed district between Strathcona and the Centenial Pier. In these few blocks, by chance, we wandered into what was a fairly hard neighborhood in the early stages of gentrification before heading south through Chinatown proper and another espresso to finally shake the remaining fatigue of the flights.

(Propaganda Coffee)

Vancouver from CRAB Park: The lion is one of two watching over this entrance to the docks.

From the Window at Propaganda Coffee: these guys were really serious, even for a city that seems to take its coffee seriously,

We initially skirted east of Chinatown down Main St and hit the big "you are leaving Historic Chinatown" sign on the Dunsmuir Viaduct and wondered whether that really was it for Vancouver's Chinatown. It wasn't. Walking west to Andy Livingstone Park and then north along Columbia St, we found the Sun Yat-Sen Gardens and the rest of Chinatown.

Sun Yet Sen gardens: A great example of making a green space in just a small city block.

West along West Pender St, I made a short look for a sim card I can use for data, as the hotel wifi is hardly flash. Unfortunately, our good ol' Aussie digital heritage makes it hard to get sim cards that work in Canada. The good news is that the detour took us further up toward the main drag of Robson, and a wander through the center of town.

Ultimately, we ended up in West End for a hamburger in a rooftop bar, and a walk along the threshold of Stanley Park before walking back along the waterfront to the hotel.

Coal Harbour: from some point along the waterfront. The weather has been magic.

Not bad... a full day's walking with no plan instead of recovering from jetlag.

I skipped out later for a dusk shoot and finished the evening with a bowl of rice and chicken at a Japanese hole in the wall round the corner.

Evening: Long hours of golden light.

Float Planes: This place has everything for a transport nerd. Planes, Trains, Hovercraft, Bike Lanes, Trolley Buses and a viaduct right through the city's main park. Something for everyone.