Day 3 (August 1st) - Ridin' Dirty

Today, we woke to the smell of cooking pancakes, sizzling bacon, sweet summer fruits, tantalising blueberry jam and you guessed it Maple Syrup. We sat down and looked to our host for direction on how to construct our morning's meal. It started with a pancake, then a smear of butter, followed by some bacon, a little fruit and jam and a generous serving of maple syrup to finish off. While you begin to drool over your keys at home I can assure you it was as delicious as it sounds!!

Breakfast - Delicious!!

Our friend Tobi AKA Tour Guide Tobi, had to head off to work just before lunch which meant we had to start to fend for ourselves. We had scoped out a place Downtown to hire a couple of Bicycles and with Tobi's directions we set off on a bicycle tour of Vancouver. We started out with a ride around Stanley Park.

Stanley Park is similar to Sydney's Botanical Gardens or New York's Central Park, it's large, in the middle of the city and is very popular for tourist and locals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Park

City of Vancouver

Totem poles

Lion's Gate Bridge and cloud covered mountains 

We rode around the park and along to waterfront and ended up in Yaletown. Yaletown is an old warehouse district that has been updated and is now bustling with nice restaurants and boutique shopping. We chained up the bikes, grabbed a coffee and had a walk around. 

We then backtracked the waterfront back to Stanley Park, where we checked out the Lost Lagoon. The lagoon is home to a bevy of swans who when we arrived were being fed by a lovely old lady (old seems a little harsh but i'm sure she won't mind). She informed us of all the Swans names and that 'Mumma Swan' was 23 years old and laying. Good to know.

Crazy Swan Lady

Next we returned our bikes and headed for Robson St in the city. Robson St is full of shopping and restaurants etc. I purchased a 'Vancouver Canucks' cap (Local Ice Hockey Team) as a souvenir and Jo just had to buy something for Harper!! We also checked out some street performers and artists.

Mitchy outside Urban Outfitters

Chalk painting

On our way to the bus stop we grabbed some lunch from Kitsano Ramen Noodles. Very delicious.

We arrived home at around 1600 for a little R & R and of course to 'regroup' before heading out for some dinner. For dinner we went to The Cactus Club, which is a large casual/fine dining franchise where Tobi works. There are around 25 franchises in Western Canada, it seems like there is one on every block. We all had really nice meals - I had a the Duck Club Sandwich and Jo shared a chicken curry and spaghettini with truffle oil and meatballs with Tobi.

The Cactus Club we went to was next to the 2010 Winter Olympic Torch.

Olympic Torch

Panorama of Vancouver's North Shore.