Day 14 – Granville Island

A sunny day for BC day (bank holiday Monday in Vancouver) so we headed for Granville Island, a former industrial area that’s now Covent Garden-ish with indoor markets, artisan shops and street performers. Being Vancouver, this is all on an island so the fun way to get there is on little ferries like this one. On the way we passed plenty of kayakers and stand up paddlers too.

Unfortunately arriving by ferry isn’t the popular choice – there’s a road bridge in and free parking (!), so it was packed with cars crawling around trying to find a space, which kind of spoiled it. The promised splash park with water slide was closed due to water shortages and that was a bit of a downer.

We stuck to eating and shopping instead. Iced coffees and an avocado & kale sandwich at Off The Tracks. Bought a hammock chair at The Hang Out. Practised resisting pester power in the Kids’ Market. Zoe tried on Heelys.

It was a great spot for admiring the action on the water. We spotted a pirate-themed boat trip for kids which dresses them up as pirates takes them out in a pirate ship and then sends out a baddie pirate in a dinghy for them to water cannon. Jack wants to be the baddie pirate when he grows up.

And there were street performers. This one was a contortionist from Hawaii.

Jack was quick to volunteer as her helper. He had to push her leg into a painful looking position but he was happy to assist.

Then we discovered the indoor market. Kind of a mega version of the Oxford covered market and casual version of Fortnum’s, it offered pretty much anything you could think of food-wise. Overwhelmed, I chose a crepe with nutella & banana and it was awesome. It was great to each be able to have whatever we wanted in one place.

Although the fireworks and Pride celebrations yesterday were fun, it wasn’t great planning to be in Vancouver on a holiday weekend as it’s hot and crowded and our hotel apartment is annoyingly small and airless. It’s hard to be in a city with kids in hot weather.

In the evening we ate (again!) by the water near where the float planes take off and land.  We sat outside at the Mill Marine Bistro and the kids ran around the grass afterwards. It was an ideal spot for a harbour view and a walk afterwards, but the food and service were pretty average. Much better to stick to market and food truck eating!