Dats all folks!!!

The journey back to Vancouver was a bit quiet ….sort of melancholy because we couldn’t really believe that our visit had come to an end ….which all good things are bound to do. Pack up, check apartment, load car and check-out and then brunch in the diner at Creekside……..first pit stop. It was an uneventful (except for the nonsense tire pressure warning in the car) drive down the Sea to Sky Highway with snowy alps slowly disappearing in the rear view mirror, and the landscape giving way to Winter greenery ….. and traffic. 

We couldn’t have asked for more. Whistler came through with a very white Christmas.

Brunch in the diner on the way back to Vancouver. It’s close to where
Erin used to live and I think she may have been a “regular” here.

We were back but not yet done, so the following day, Tuesday, we headed for Fort Langley which is the site of one of the oldest settlements in British Columbia. The original Hudson Bay Company trading post is  a 50 minute drive and what a place to visit, a bit like a cross between Leura and Old Sydney Town.

The museum was a reconstruction of the old fort at Langley.

The exhibits were quite interesting and gave an insight into life in the 19th century.
With no plumbing, heating and limited diet it’s surprising people survived, particularly the bitter Winters.

A bit like Old Sydney Town. The blacksmith was skilled and informative.
Life was hard in the old days….no Bunnings to go to for nails.

We spent a few good hours there lunching, shopping, wandering and scoping out possible shots in the fog.

It was a really good day out and a bit different to the general touristy things around Vancouver as it is harder to reach.

I happened across this shot as I was wandering around the township. Sort of impressionistic to me.

New Years Eve was spent on separate activities, the girls off the Granville Island again (it’s worth it just for the ferry ride) and I set out on public transport (trains and buses) for a little coastal village called Steveston. It’s a little bit touristy these days, but essentially still a working port with large fishing trawlers and working boats in a marina with shops and interesting little museums and antique shops.

It’s still a working port and I was touched by a large plaque placed on the boardwalk
by a young woman for her “skipper” father lost at sea out of this port.
Tough life on the trawlers.

We noticed in the early 1990s that the seagulls in North America are as big as chooks!
These ones are really healthy living off the spoils of the port. The trawlers were
selling their catch directly to the public from the wharf. Sushi is big around here.

The light was really soft in this scene I found in my wanderings around the village. I had to scramble through brambles to get the best spot.

The day before we fly home has been a last look at downtown and a catch up with one of Erin’s colleagues, Scott, from the Opus, who looked after us in 2023. Mike and Wendy may remember him….champagne?

Beautiful Vancouver. Quite a scene in any season.

The view of Vancouver from Broadway, just up from Erin’s place. Those mountains!

Vancouver is a high rise city, lots of apartments and tall buildings but with some creative architecture.
This is the Vancouver City Library, renowned for its curves and central atrium.

As we have discovered over the years, you can’t see it all ……and it’s better to leave wanting more.

This was our third visit to Vancouver/Canada and our impressions regarding Canadians have remained pretty much the same ….friendly….. foody …..doggy…….outdoorsy. 

And of Vancouver, well I guess you’d get used to the weather, but apart from that it is a very liveable place. No wonder there is a constant stream of young Australians and Canadians crossing paths across the Pacific as they  experience each others’ countries.

We fly out later today….sad to leave….again….but happy that we are not in “cattle class”!