Vancouver BC and then Home

Our last port, Vancouver is a wonderful large metropolitan city. Today is Canada's Thanksgiving Day. Why is it that every time I have been to Canada there is a major holiday going on and nearly everything is closed? The crew had not realized that this was a holiday and has been quite concerned about what to do with all of us if the city is basically closed!


It is raining this morning and shuttle busses are going to take us around town with drop off and pick up points at interesting places we can explore on our own.
Gas town is with-in walking distance so we pop on our rain gear and head out though the cruise terminal to find the city. The terminal is really large and eventually we emerge onto a busy city street. (Not as busy as it would have been had it not been a holiday!) We have been told that many shops and restaurants will be open and it is true. Gas Town is an old area of Vancouver which has many cute shops, cafes and museums. Cobblestones line the roadways here and the area has quite a cozy feel. There is an old steam clock on the corner and it blows its top with stream at appointed times while also playing a catchy tune..


From a tour guide:
"The Steam Clock
Corner of Cambie and Water Street
The world's first steam clock, by horologist and sculptor Raymond Saunder. Powered by a single-cylinder engine and driven by a fascinating chain and ball-weight drive that is visible through the clock's glass sides, it draws crowds of fascinated tourist for its quarter-hourly performance."


Also this about the Gassy Jack Statue:
"Gassy Jack Statue
Maple Tree Square Water and Carrall Street
The statue was commissioned in 1970 by local Gastown developers and gifted to the City of Vancouver. Sculptor, Vern Simpson, working from a sketch of Captain Jack Deighton, created the six-foot copper statue and barrel podium for $850.00. It was at this spot on the muddy shoreline in 1867 that Captain "Gassy Jack" Deighton paddled ashore with wife, whisky and sundry thereby founding the Globe Saloon and by consequence the settlement that came to be known as Gastown."

Nancy, Diana, Bill and I were out together on this jaunt, and Bill was adamant that he wanted to find Chinatown and get some noodles to eat. He asked a shopkeeper for directions and off we went....but no China town HERE! We seemed to be smack dab in the middle of the REALLY bad part of town. Seemingly homeless people pushing carts and wagons full of their possesions parade down the sidewalk. Particularly sad is that today is Thanksgiving Day. We don't feel in danger at all, but we are glad to have Bill with us (Although somehow I think if anyone had threatened us, Bill would have been the first person to BOLT ...sorry Bill!) We managed to make another turn and found our way back to the main drag, but still no ChinaTown in sight. Later we found that we had missed it by only one block!

Some of the group returned to the ship to rest, but Nancy and I continued on by catching the shuttle bus to Granville Island. This is a unique shopping area which appears to have been a warehouse area in the past. From here we have some great views of the city. The bus drops us at the waterfront area where we took a small ferry out to Granville Island. The island can be accessed by car over a bridge, the traffic gets quite intense and this is the easier and more interesting mode of transport.


We all made it back to the ship in time to clean up for tonight's cocktail party and final farewell dinner.

It has been a good trip. We saw many interesting and beautiful sights, we hiked on inhabited islands in a fabulous archipelago. We walked amid trees which have been growing for upwards of 1000 years.

We visited logging towns and cruised up a fjord. Eagles, Otters, harbor seals, and Orca whales were our companions, though traveled just out of our sight most of the time.

We strolled though incredibly landscaped gardens and stately cities. We visited museums, large and small.

We rode to the top of a mountain, and up through the clouds.

We made many new friends and shared many laughs along with a few tears.


And now it is time to say "good bye" to our new friends and return to our families.

Thanks to all the Crew of the Yorktown Clipper for the wonderful service. Thank you to Stacey for being our wonderful cheerful guide from Clipper Cruise Line on this adventure. Thanks to John for your explanations of the wonders of nature and the history of the area. Thank you to Jeff for your hospitality and information about the entire Intrav program.