Two days in Vancouver

Since I traveled to Calgary "on points", I was able to make one stopover and decided to fly west to Vancouver for a couple of days before returning home. My main purpose was to spend time with family and friends who live there, but I took the opportunity to do a little sightseeing as well.

Cousin Dorothy generously offered to host me at her home while I was in town. The morning after I arrived, we hopped the Skytrain downtown, then took the Seabus to North Vancouver.

It was warm and sunny when we arrived so we had a lovely wander along the waterfront before catching the Seabus back. I was glad I'd brought my big lense and was able to grab a few shots of downtown.

Back on the south side of the harbour, we stopped for a yummy lunch at one of the restaurants in the Vancouver Convention Centre, then meandered around Canada Place savouring the sights and the sunshine (for as long as it lasted).

Olympic Cauldron, Vancouver

Nova Scotia is just completing construction of a new convention centre - an impressive building with modern facilities and distant water views - but it's going to be difficult to compete with this.

By late afternoon, it was drizzling on and off, so we weren't keen to walk too far, which was fine. Wherever you are in Vancouver, there are plenty of beautiful views to enjoy.

Downtown's changed a lot since I first visited in 1980. Nonetheless, there was something very familiar about this streetscape.

Dorothy lives in the community of Steveston, which has heaps of lovely places to walk. On my second day with her, we did two walks - the first along the Steveston waterfront with Dorothy's sweet companion, Shakti.

After we'd dropped Shakti home and enjoyed a delightful lunch at a local Mexican food restaurant, we did a second walk along paths that circle Garry Point Park, which sits at the edge of the community. It felt as if we were a thousands of miles from the city...

...until a ship lumbered through that channel that hugs the shoreline.

While we walked, we kept a sharp eye out for birds since Dorothy often spots them during her walks. We weren't disappointed. At one point, we saw half a dozen eagles soaring overhead. I didn't get photos of them, but was lucky enough to capture this image of a flicker as it took flight.

If you look carefully, you can spot herons in each of these photos.

And who can resist baby geese?

There were plenty of flowers to enjoy along the way too.

Back at Dorothy's, I couldn't resist breaking out my camera once again. She has a beautiful, peaceful garden, where we spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing before I headed out to have dinner with some dear college friends.

I wish I'd had more time to explore the city and visit old haunts from my youth but, unfortunately, duty called so, after a delightful evening with my friends, I made my way to the airport and caught the red eye home.

Hopefully, I'll have an excuse to get back to Vancouver soon. It's a fantastic city with heaps to do and it would be great to spend more time with the family and friends who live there.

Happy travels, friends!