We kept the first couple days of our first week in Vancouver chill and didn’t push ourselves too much. On Monday we went out to a coffee shop for a few hours and walked through David Lam Park on the way home. We had an early night to catch up on some sleep. Tuesday though, we were being lured back to Granville Island. All the interesting food was calling us, but the state of our fridge was dictating a return visit for a restock.

Episode 3: https://youtu.be/WClc-ioMT5U

We had a really fun time at Granville Island on Sunday and wanted to check it out on what we thought would be a quieter time, nearing the end of their day during the week. And instead of taking the ferry over again we decided to take a walk on The Island Park Walk which runs along False Creek.

Other than the constant threat of rain, the weather was perfect for our walk. We’re not sun people, so an overcast afternoon was exactly the conditions conducive to an enjoyable stroll along the shore of False Creek. The whole False Creek area is beautiful, full of well maintained condos, parks, ponds and open spaces. I have a fascination with being near the ocean and always enjoy being somewhere we can experience the open waters.

To make the entire walk along the seawall from our condo would have taken much longer than the time we had available, so we took a shortcut across the Cambie Street Bridge. We were heading across right in the midst of rush hour, the traffic on the bridge was rather heavy. I pointed out to Nicole how fresh the air was, even beside this congested major road leading into Downtown Vancouver. I was surprised because back home we wouldn’t expect to be taking deep breaths of fresh air around rush hour traffic.

As we made our way down to the seawall level via a staircase coming off the bridge we started to daydream of what it must be like to live in the area, on False Creek, with all this beauty at our doorstep. Vancouver certainly does uphold it’s reputation for having a more laidback outdoorsy way of life. People generally felt healthy and active, and with access to such amazing outdoor spaces it was easy to see why.

There were several little parks or green spaces along the walk, with the most impressive we came across being Charleson Park. It was a very large park, right on False Creek, in addition to having it’s own rather large pond. There was a lot of space to undertake some sort of sporty activity, as well as a large off leash area for dogs.

As we neared Granville we came to a detour of the walking path. There was construction work being done to the seawall and we were diverted to a residential road running parallel to the walking path. It was a fun little diversion as we could get a glimpse at the residences along False Creek. Lots of big trees and green everywhere. It would be a very beautiful neighbourhood to call home. A little closer to Granville and we came to Hwy 99 which runs right over the island and split into 4 different directions overhead of where we stood.

We crossed the bridge over to Granville and our assumptions were immediately validated. It was very quiet as compared to Sunday. We had a little less than an hour to get to the Public Market and get some groceries for the next few days. The market was also pretty quiet and we were hitting vendors just as they looked to be ready to start closing for the day. We stocked up on some more fish, meat and produce and started to make our way to the ferry dock, but not before a quick stop at Lee’s Donuts. Nicole couldn’t resist.

Loaded up with groceries we opted to take the ferry back to Yaletown where the walk would be quick back to the condo. The ferry trip was relaxing, taking in the sights we had just walked through hours before. It was interesting to see things from different perspectives.

Back home we put together dinner and enjoyed another great one. On tonight’s menu was chicken thighs cooked with mushrooms and mini potatoes, all fresh from the Public Market on Granville Island.

We were so far really enjoying our time in Vancouver, trying to live a little less like tourists and a little more like locals.

Locations

There were several locations featured in this episode

• David Lam Park – A great park lined by False Creek on one side and condos on the other.
• Seawall Walk – We took a walk along the seawall to Granville Island. The trail seems to go right around False Creek, we only did one section.
• Charleson Park – A vast park along the walk to Granville Island with a pond and off leash areas for dogs.
• Granville Island – A small island (almost) with lots of shops, restaurants, artisan shops, food market, little parks, and interesting little streets connecting them all. If you love food, you’ll love Granville Island.
• Public Market – Where all the food is hiding, this market is full of produce, meats, fish and everything in between.
• Vancouver Olive Oil Co. – This food stall in the Public Market has a wide variety of flavoured olive oils to sample and purchase.

Thanks for watching/reading!