As I said in the previous post, I just got back from our Honeymoon Road Trip! We started off at Vancouver, Canada and made our way through Oregon coast, national parks and into California, finally stopping at San Fransisco. Here's an illustration I made of the trip ..
Our road trip lasted 3 and a half weeks, we had such a good time. I thought I would write a couple of posts for other people who are planning the same thing - including tips, highlights and must-see places along with a few illustrations.
Getting the taxi from Vancouver Airport was very easy - there were no ques and there is a credit card machine in the car. The drive was only 25 mins near the centre and cost around $50. We stayed at The Burrard Hotel. It's in a great location, a few blocks away from Downtown. It's got a great retro vibe to it, and the gardens are really impressive. There's no breakfast included, but there's a cafe next door and the garden area has lots of comfy chairs and a pong table. The hotel also offer bike hire at no extra charge which was a great plus.
On day 1 we woke at 4am (thank you jet lag!) and took a stroll downtown. We walked through Granville Street which seemed to have a lot of good places to watch live music.
Spotted this on the high street. Noticed a lot of these get painted on lovingly by artists throughout our trip. Hopefully this could catch on in the UK?!
Because it was so early and none of the shops were open yet, we decided to to go up in the Vancouver Lookout. We arrived when the ticket desk had just opened, it was so quiet! We had the whole observation deck to ourselves. If you are thinking of going up, make sure you pick up a leaflet at the desk by the elevator. There is a coupon in there that will knock a couple of $$ off your ticket price.
After an hour in the Lookout we walked through the lovely area of Gastown. Eventually you'll come across this steam powered clock - it may look old, but it was actually built in 1977 by Raymond Saunders.
The area has a couple of nice little shops, as well as some great bars and eateries. I highly reccomend The Flying Pig for a relaxing dinner, The Lamplighter for a pin ball game and Steamworks for yummy beer brewed in Gastown.
After Gastown, we continued to walk down the block and accidentally came across these beautiful gardens in China Town. It was really bizarre to see such an immediate difference in environment! It was lovely to watch the carp swimming around and dragonflies skimming just above. I recommend taking a little picnic and a camera, especially if the weather is as good as this.
Sadly we were running out of time so had to move on.
We walked towards the Science World museum. We didn't go in, but it looked like a great place to take kids for the day. From there we took a nice walk along False Creek. I spotted a place where you could hire kayaks, it was just opposite the museum on the other side of the water.
The next day jet lag made us get up early once more. We took a water taxi to Granville Island from the bottom of Hornby Street. Water taxi is the only way to get to this island by public transport, its only a few $'s. Granville Island Public Market is known for its different varieties of goods on sale and we weren't disappointed! I won't put too many photos on here to spoil it for you but here is my favourite seller (obviously, CAKE). If you do go to the market, make sure you arrive when it opens at 9 am, and make sure you have some room in your tummy for breakfast and treats!
The island itself has a great range of shops selling artwork, sculpture and tourist souvenirs. Emily Carr University of Art & Design is situated on the island itself there are a lot of creative things around and events going on. There's a free gallery in the University itself so make sure to check the website with whats on before you go. The area is also great for kids - theres a mini, water playground (free) and an indoor market especially for kids!
We spotted this giant piece while walking around the industrial side of the island.
We came back to the hotel and decided to hire out the bikes provided. The hotel is situated by the bike lane that eventually ends up at Stanley Park. This is a must see, its such a beautiful park! We rode along the harbour and stop by to see the Totem Poles.
We stopped off along the way to watch a turtle cross the bike lanes, the views were amazing. I could have spent all day here, there are a lot more trails going into the centre of the park. If you do decide to visit make sure you make time to spend the whole day here!
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