2 Days in Vancouver

The reality that we had finally made it to Canada didn’t really kick in until we beat our jet lag woke to our second day in Vancouver. After taking turns carrying Lionel the prior day and regretting not bringing a stroller with us we opted for a taxi to Granville Island for breakfast and the mornings exploration. It’s a great destination for food and I finally managed to find a half decent coffee. (It’s been a struggle since arriving. Each morning is a lottery.) We had some awesome snacks wandering the Public Market and even took Aubs and Lioney to the Kid’s Markets which was basically a giant toy shop. Ad had promised them a treat for being such great kids on the flight over so Lioney came out with a Vancouver Canuck’s truck and Aubrey with another Beanie Boo to add to her collection.

Granville Island was a mix of foodie markets, art galleries and industrial precincts. There was even a cement batching plant right in the middle of the markets.

Little fashionista always up for a pose!

After lunch we then taxied back into the city to Canada Place for the Fly Over Canada experience. This is a must do in Vancouver, the experience takes about 30 minutes and is a thrill. I was worried it may have been too touristy but I can honestly say it was fantastic and well worth doing, we even had time to write a quick letter to Santa! From there we had fun just walking along the water front and taking in the views for the rest of the afternoon.

We need to be creative to capture a photo of the whole family!

On dusk (which in reality is 4pm) we wandered down to Gastown a historic precinct of Vancouver. It reminded me very much of West Village in NYC but just a little grotty. Homelessness was more evident and although we felt safe it wasn’t an area I would have liked to have stayed in as the night wore on. We had an early dinner again this time at The Old Spaghetti Factory and walked home taking in the Christmas lights of the city. We stopped in at Tim Hortons a Canadian coffee icon for donut treats for the kids and settled in for the night.

Waking early on Saturday, we popped across the road from our hotel to Starbucks for coffee and a croissant to-go and made our way down to Stanley Park, a 400 acre green oasis in the middle of Vancouver. We rented bicycles and a trailer for the kids from Spokes Bicycle Rentals and rode the Sea wall of the Park. It was a cold morning so the kids were happy to be snuggled up together and to be chauffeured around. Ad and I really enjoyed the ride regardless of the cold. Once your face is numb you can’t feel anything anyway! Lol! The scenery around the edge of the park was amazing and it was really easy riding. The whole circuit only took 2 hours with lots of stops.

The kids were excited to see dozens of Santa’s running along side us!

One side of the park is constantly in the shade during winter so was considerably colder than the sunny side and had plenty of ice!

We then dropped the bikes back and walked back into the park to the Vancouver Aquarium. The kids loved it and it was a great opportunity to see animals that we wouldn’t normally get to see. The sea lions and otters were the favourites by far. We even got to see a few squirrels running around much to the kids delight.

After the aquarium we jumped into a taxi and made our way back to Coal Harbour to the Harbour Air terminal as Ad had booked a scenic sea plane flight the previous day. The kids and I watched the sea plane take off and land from the warmth of the departure lounge. Ad really enjoyed the flight and got some fantastic photos from the air as the plane took off over the Lions Gate Bridge out over the sound before a pass over the city and landing back in the harbour. A must do if you have a spare 30 minutes in Vancouver.

Lions Gate Bridge disappearing into Stanley Park. The pathway running around the edge is the sea wall bike path we rode.

After Ads flight we then walked back to Stanley Park again for the Bright Nights Christmas Train. I thought the Toowoomba Christmas lights were amazing, these were off the charts! A $5 suggested donation on entry then $12 per adult and $8 per child for the train ride around the park through light displays. Although the line up for the train ride was long it was well worth the wait. We even got the chance to have a family portrait with Santa, it’s so hard to get a photo of the whole family when on holidays so this was great and only cost us $10!! The upside to the short days is that we were able to do the Christmas Lights in the late afternoon before dinner. We caught the bus back into the city and had dinner at Earl’s close to our hotel still managing to be home before 8pm. A great last day in Vancouver.