Sunday June 21, 2015

I woke up way too early, the ferry left at 8:30 and 10:50. We had opted for the 10:50 ferry, so we had a couple of hours to kill before the short ride to the ferry. I skyped my Dad for Father’s Day.

It was a short ride to the ferry, we followed the coastal route to Departure Bay. They had some interesting artwork along the route.  A number of these Eagles were painted and then auctioned.

The ferry was full of people wearing red – The Canadian women’s team were playing in Vancouver and the ferry was full of fans.

It was a good ferry crossing, very calm.  I had found a book at the hostel and sat and read for the hour and a half it took to cross from Nanaimo to Vancouver north shore.

After leaving the ferry we took Marine Drive into Vancouver. It was a hilly, narrow road but the traffic was good and for most of the time they gave us plenty of room and waited to pass.

We stopped in a suburb on the north shore of Vancouver,just before the Lions Gate Bridge to check the route. Every time we stopped, people stopped to chat to us.

We crossed the Lion’s Gate bridge into Central Vancouver, and cycled around Stanley Park.

There were lots of cyclists, some on rented bikes. The path was separated by a curb, pedestrians on one side and cyclists on the other. We passed the Lost Lagoon, not sure why it is called the Lost Lagoon, we found it very easily.

We went to the first hostel, but it was full, so we headed to the HI and found a room. There was a good place to keep the bikes and we are right in the centre of things on Granville Street.

We missed lunch again. Once we had settled in we went straight to the grocery store and bought a cooked chicken, potato wedges and a big salad. We devoured it.

We are sharing a room with two kiwis who have just arrived they are on a two year work visa, both of them are suffering from jetlag.

When we were cycling on Marine Drive, most of the drivers gave us lots of room. When we were cycling in the Central Vancouver the car and bus drivers were really bad. If the car drivers were making a turn they would allow one cyclists to go through but then cut in front of the other cyclist, which in this case was usually me!