Vancouver City
25 April 2026 – 28 April 2026:
‘Wild camping’ for a camper the size of Big Bertha was a little difficult in Vancouver City and so we settled for an expensive downtown campsite rather than a free spot far outside the city. This was a good choice allowing us to explore the city easily on foot, with public transport or with Uber.
First up was the northern shore of Vancouver harbour where we explored the old shipyards that have been repurposed to what is now a lively residential and restaurant/bar district.
The next day we took a bus downtown and spent the day walking around the Vancouver waterfronts, starting with the ‘A-maze-ing Laughter’ bronze sculptures. It was so much fun taking pictures and watching others do the same. We had a problem taking our selfies – Dave’s phone takes a picture if it sees a raised hand and there were just too many raised hands here!
From here we walked along English Beach and Sunset Park Beach waterfronts and took the water taxi across to Granville Island (another restaurant/bar area) before walking along the southern shore of False Creek through Charleson Park and Olympic Village.
After a well deserved pint of our favourite Irish tipple, Kilkenny, we visited the underwhelming Chinatown, before catching the skytrain in search of “doubles” in a Trinidadian restaurant. The Trini restaurant was closed (we later heard that it’s a bit hit and miss as to whether it opens!), but there was an excellent authentic Ethiopian restaurant opposite, so we went there instead. Vancouver is a city where you will never need to go too far to find good, authentic cuisines from around the world! We caught the train back into the downtown district to see the (broken) steam clock and walk along the southern shore of Vancouver harbour. A fantastic day and we give a big thumbs up for Vancouver. We can see why it consistently ranks highly in the lists of best places to live.
The next day, after visiting Capilano Park, we drove over to Sally and Roger’s home at Deep Cove. We met Sally and Roger whilst on the PCH and after exploring their neighbourhood, they treated us to a wonderful homemade meal at their home. The wine flowed freely, we forgot to take pictures and it was a late start the next day!
