9.4.2012 – 9.4.2012  17 °C

Vancouver day today! Usual start, with brekky being Vege toast and muesli! (probably my favourite brekky!) First stop today was out to Stanley Park.

Stanley Park is this really large urban park that is out on a promontory into the Vancouver bay. Its only a five minute drive from downtown, and once you enter you feel a bit like you are out in the woodlands that surround the city. Our plan was to drive around the park and stop at certain spots to have a squizz at the view (the park would take at least all day to walk around.. most people who visit seem to run, ride a bike, roller blade or drive around to see the park). First stop, was to see the Totem poles which have been erected in honour of the traditional owners of BC. I didn’t realise that the Totem poles are only really found in SW Canada and NW USA! I had acutally thought that all of the native Indians had different types of totems! A cup of coffee later and we were ready to see more of the park.

Next stop was to see the Lion’s Gate Bridge (it is the bridge that links downtown to Northern Vancouver– and more importantly it is the bridge that we take to get to Whistler!!!!) to take some more snaps, this time, of the gorgeous Rocky Mountains with their snowy mantles!

Our last stops in the park was to be the Rhodedendron garden and the Rose garden (for those who don’t know me that well, I’m slightly nuts about Rose bushes…) I was very disappointed to discover that it isn’t blooming season for either plant (which to be honest I did know, but considering the roses were blooming in LA I thought maybe they bloomed at different times here??– clearly not!) so after driving passed many sticks and some leafy bushes we continued out of Stanley Park and on towards Elizabeth park where we had been assured we would get a good shot of the city.

Unfortunately we decided to take a detour and see more of the bay so ended up on the wrong side of the city (we didn’t have a choice due to one way streets) so a good 30mins later we arrived at the park to eat our un-tasty packed sandwiches… Processed cheese and sugary bread has never been a hot favourite of mine….

The QE park is another gorgeous green space in Vancouver.. This one is even more special as it has such gorgeous views of the Rockies! Colourful flowers coupled with snow capped peaks means Di heaven!!!

Spent the remainder of the arvo doing some catchup shopping at a local mall before heading out to dinner with one of M&D’s good friend’s child. It was a great night of Vietnamese in Chinatown! Early night tonight as tomorrow is early getup to hit the slopes of Whistler!!!

Song of the Day– Chicago, Saturday in the Park (even if today is Tuesday!)