Saturday 12 July 2008

Vancouver

We had some unfinished business in Vancouver from a year ago so we are spending a couple of days there on the way to Vancouver island. One of the things on the to-do list was to go to the
Vancouver Lookout (Vancouver's answer to the Calgary Tower or Sydney's Centre Point). Every second city seems to have one these days.  It wasn't anything too spectacular, but it was OK. Above is Burrard inlet with Stanley Park in the foreground, and the Lion's Gate Bridge in the background. You'll also notice a gas/petrol station in the middle of the inlet for boating customers. The inlet is a busy port & busy airport (sea planes). You can easily sit along the waterfront all day watching the world go by.
Here's proof that Vancouver has a busy sea plane port. Notice the aircraft control tower on top of the nearby building. I wouldn't say Burrard Inlet was as busy as Vancouver Airport, but it's still busy enough to need constant supervision. The aircraft take off & land just to the right of the tower.

This is the business end of Burrard Inlet. It's the biggest port on the west coast of Canada. There aren't many other options other than Prince Rupert. Notice the rail yards in the foreground as well. I'm guessing that most of that freight comes through Calgary or Jasper at some point. The white passenger trains are the Westcoast Express that brings commuters to & from the outskirts of greater Vancouver. The port facility you see is only the tip of the iceberg. The inlet runs quite far inland from what you can see & the industry follows.
We wandered around the city exploring some of the places we hadn't been before including the Gas Quarter.
We had a great view of the twilight from our hotel room.
It was pretty late when the sky finally almost went dark.