Welcome back everyone! Sorry that this update is coming late. I’ve been very busy the last few weeks. But good news, another trip report is coming to you right now, featuring Granville Island, the VanDusen Gardens, the Bloedel Conservatory, and Queen Elizabeth Park! So snuggle up with some Tim Hortons and get ready for part 2 of my Day 2, which covers how this day became the most exhausting and physically draining day of the trip for me.
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Battle of Yaletown
So after coming from the laughing men installation, I took a bus to get to Yaletown, which if you’re counting is my fourth neighborhood of the day. Yaletown is located across the water from Granville Island and is a trendy neighborhood filled with boutiques, restaurants, and cafes. It used to be the westernmost terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, but was reinvented in 1986 when a lot of the area of North False Creek, where Yaletown sits, was used for the world’s fair.
The seawall (yes, the same one from Stanley Park) continues towards Yaletown, connecting its two green spaces, David Lam Park and George Wainborn Park, to each other. I ended up taking a False Creek ferry from David Lam Park to Granville Island a little later in the day, but I was mainly in Yaletown to see the remnants of the trainyards that used to call this place home, and that was mostly concentrated in the area that housed the Engine 374 Pavilion.
Engine 374 was the locomotive that first chugged from Eastern Canada to Western Canada, linking both sides of the country for the first time. Engine 374 pulled the first passenger train into Vancouver on May 23rd, 1887. After being retired in 1945, it sat in Kitsilano park for years, casually sustaining wear and tear until it was renovated in time for Expo ‘86. It now sits in the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Center.
I quickly found the Roundhouse center and realized that it was a converted former railroad depot. There were little sheds that, based on how they looked, used to house locomotives. It even had a “turntable” at the center of the complex that was probably how they got the locomotives out of there. Engine 374 was the first space to the right of the complex.
Upon entering, the workers make you sign a guestbook. It was interesting seeing where all the visitors had come from. Afterwards you can go up to them and ask them anything about the train. I had never seen an old style locomotive like this (not including Disneyland) so it was cool getting to see one that actually traveled from Toronto to Vancouver more than 130 years ago. It was colored black and was very sleek, and you could even climb on it and inspect it up close.
There was some information stationed nearby that provided a glimpse into the train’s history, as well as different areas that had some goods for sale. There was a kid’s play area too that had model trains for kids to play with. All in all I was inside for about 15 minutes and then decided to move on. It was a small area, but for me those 15 minutes were well spent. It’s cool getting to see a big part of Canadian history up close, and everyone at the pavilion was very friendly. If you’ve got some extra time, definitely come here to soak up some history. If you lack time, though, it’s fine to skip. Best part, it’s free!
After viewing the train I went to David Lam park with the goal of catching a ferry to Granville Island. I arrived just as one of the boats was leaving but within five minutes another boat came. I quickly got on the boat and soon I was on the way to Granville Island. The route going there was pretty cool and it was nice getting to see Vancouver from the water. It was a gorgeous day out too so it was nice to just watch as the boats and buildings passed us by.
Soon, we ended up in Granville Island, which (spoiler alert) tied Stanley Park as my favorite place in Vancouver.
I Am An Islander
Granville Island, for those of you who don’t know, is not really an island. It’s more of a peninsula that is surrounded by False Creek. It’s the arts and food center of Vancouver, with its myriad of theaters, specialty shops and restaurants, and the famous Granville Island Public Market anchoring the faux-island. It can be a bit overwhelming for first time visitors, as it was for me. The history of the pseudo-island is interesting. It used to be a fishing area for former First Nations people. It was then home to a number of factories, but eventually was gentrified into the space it is today when the island was bought by the government in the 1970s.
I decided to follow the Lonely Planet route to explore the island. To be honest I could have just explored it without the need for a guide, but I thought it was a good idea to get my bearings first. I will say though that, although it may look small, this island has so many hidden nooks and crannies for you to discover. I repeatedly came back here over the course of my trip, and all throughout my trip I would discover something new I hadn’t seen before. From artisanal sake stores to independent theaters, there’s something for everyone in Granville Island.
After getting off the boat I headed for the starting point of the tour. It said it would take an hour to go around, and it was right. I started at the entrance to the island and slowly made my way around the entire island, stopping at stores that looked interesting, including one that looked like a metalworks store and a building dedicated entirely to kids toys and trinkets. I also got a peek at the independent theaters that surrounded the main market area. After getting my bearings I then decided to head for the public market.
Honestly, nature places like Stanley Park and Grouse Mountain aside, this was probably my favorite place in all of Vancouver. The amount of food they were selling, as well as the variety of it, made it so enticing. I had fun just wandering around the market, exploring and seeing all the different foods they had on sale. From fruits and vegetables to baked goods to pizza and pasta and, my personal favorite, Nanaimo bars, the number of choices in the market was overwhelming. After walking around, I noticed a small Ice Cream stall on the outside of the market.
I decided to get chocolate ice cream in a cup to beat the heat. It was so refreshing, especially in this hot summer weather. I then explored the market a bit more, looking at all the different stalls and people watching as I walked around. After a while, I noticed a line for a stall called Lee’s Donuts. I didn’t know that this stall was famous, but I assumed it was because of the line. I ordered two chocolate donuts, eating one of them on the spot and saving the other for later. I will say, they were worth the line it took to get them. They were DELICIOUS. I enjoyed my time eating the donut as I walked around. This was a perfect introduction to Granville Island, one that got me hooked.
Gardens of the North
I had a decision to make after Granville Island. That was the end of my itinerary for the day, so I had two options: go home and rest so that I’d be ready for the next few days of touring, or do some of the attractions I had scheduled for coming days today. I ended up choosing the latter, mostly because this was going to be the last day of blue skies I would have on this trip. Vancouver is still a rainy city after all.
I then decided I was going to do the VanDusen Gardens, Bloedel Conservatory, and Queen Elizabeth Park. VanDusen was my first stop because it’s the bigger and more expansive of the three attractions and, in case I ran out of time or daylight, I wanted to be able to do that completely. I also realized that taking the bus to VanDusen would take forever, so I decided to take an Uber from Granville Island to VanDusen.
I ordered an Uber and was soon on my way to the gardens. When I arrived, I headed straight for the ticket desk and got my ticket. The girl at the counter gave me a map and pointed me towards the entrance and soon I was in the gardens. Now at this point, I only had about 2 hours to explore the gardens before they closed, so I oriented myself with the map and set off to explore the area.
What a beautiful area it was! The gardens were a lot bigger than I thought they would be and included many separate areas. I was able to explore about 90% of the area and found it to be extremely picturesque. The front area by the entrance had a beautiful water feature surrounded by greenery and lily pads, and it just got better from there.
They sequestered the different areas based on the kinds of plants that you could find there so, for example, there was an Australia and New Zealand area of the gardens. There was even a part of the gardens that had totem poles! And here I was thinking that they would be hard to find in Canada. I should’ve known better! The whole garden was just gorgeous view after gorgeous view. It was breathtaking.
One of my favorite parts was the little waterfall they had set up at one part of the gardens. You could tell it was a fake waterfall, but the surrounding flora and fauna made it look extra magical. There was also this area that was essentially a stone garden that had these large boulders that were encircled by smaller stones in a concentric pattern. There were also beautiful flower beds and walk through gardens that honestly reminded me of the parks in Europe.
But my favorite part of the garden was the hedge maze. I was relieved that I was going through the hedge maze with another family in front of me, because it took me a while to get out and I was starting to get scared that I had lost my way and would never get out. But thankfully I just followed their voices and got out of there eventually.
The whole experience was so enchanting. It was like stepping into a portal and traveling back to a time when we were more one with nature. It further convinced me that Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The city really shines in the natural beauty department. I would highly recommend a visit to the VanDusen Gardens on your next trip to Vancouver, and can’t wait to go back so I can take my time and really soak up the atmosphere and the details more.
After visiting the gardens, I noticed that my next destination, the Bloedel Conservatory, was only a 15 minute walk away. Thinking that it would be an easy walk, I hightailed it out of the gardens and made my way to Queen Elizabeth Park and the Bloedel Conservatory.
And let me just say: walking was a MISTAKE!
Cottage Core Conservatory
So I started to walk from VanDusen to the Bloedel Conservatory. I was already hot and sweaty from exploring the VanDusen Gardens. So imagine my surprise when I get to Queen Elizabeth Park and find out that the entire park is on a hill. I was also wearing long pants today and the temperature was fairly warm for Canada. I knew I made the wrong decision as soon as I saw that incline, but I went for it anyway because I didn’t come all this way just to not get to the top.
So I started to ascend to the summit of this hill. The conservatory was on the top of the hill (of course it was) and at first I couldn’t find it. I thought it should be easy enough to spot, but I only saw it when I got to the very top of the hill. The conservatory was this huge, triodetic dome. I was relieved when I finally saw it but at that point I was dripping with sweat in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. I was hoping this thing was worth all the trouble I went through to get there.
While it wasn’t the best thing I did this day (Granville Island and VanDusen Gardens take that crown) it was definitely interesting. Opened in 1969 as part of Canada’s 100th anniversary as a country, it was funded by one Prentice Bloedel, hence the name. It was actually at risk of shutting down in the early 2010s due to low attendance and rising costs, but eventually it was saved when it was incorporated as part of the VanDusen Gardens. What a coincidence that I just came from the Gardens and only found out later that they were connected.
As soon as I entered the dome I was shocked at how much flora and fauna was inside. But more than that, I was surprised at how the plants seemed to grow anywhere they wanted to and weren’t like VanDusen where there were specific sections for specific plants. It was like stepping into a forest in the middle of Vancouver. The best part was hardly anybody was in there because I arrived about an hour before closing. I also noticed how warm it was inside, which made sense for something that has to be open year-round.
The best part though were the animals, specifically the birds and mice. I know, it’s weird for me to say that mice were the best part, but they have an interesting story as to why they’re in the conservatory. At first, the conservatory was trying to get rid of them, but when they realized that they contributed to the ecosystem of the conservatory by getting rid of smaller critters and helping the soil get oxygen, they kind of just left them alone. The birds too were very cool and they weren’t tied down to their perches. They were free to fly around as they please. I was lucky I got to see them on their perches that day, so I got some pretty nice pictures of them.
If you speed through it, you could honestly do the entire thing in like 15 minutes, but I decided to take my time and soak it all in, and so I took about 30-40 minutes to do the whole thing. Take note that, as of this writing, there’s no re-entry. So after exploring the Conservatory, I left just as it was closing for the day.
A Park (Un)fit For a Queen
After exiting the Bloedel Conservatory, I decided to walk around Queen Elizabeth Park for a bit. It was getting pretty late so I didn’t walk around everywhere, but I got to see a big portion of the park. It had manicured gardens, similar to VanDusen, although they were free to enter. They weren’t as impressive as VanDusen, and honestly felt like a maze as I was going around them due to how the park is structured where you can’t really see where you’re going or where you’ve been.
I decided to start from the Bloedel Conservatory and work my way down all the way to the bus station where I was going to ride my bus home. I put it on Google Maps and started exploring.
Like I said, this place was nothing to write home about. It wasn’t particularly big, or at least the part I saw wasn’t particularly big, and the nice part of the park quickly ended and was replaced by concrete and towering, unkempt trees. So while I would recommend going to the Bloedel Conservatory, I think you could safely skip this park once you’re done. But I will admit, on a clear day, the very top of the park near the conservatory is a beautiful place to watch the sunset. Completely unrestricted view of the entire Vancouver from up there makes it hard to beat.
There were some cool looking sculptures scattered throughout the gardens, and there was a restaurant in the gardens too (although it looked too fancy for my budget). While there are other things to do, overall I would still say that it’s a skip for me, especially when you’ve got the VanDusen Gardens and Stanley Park in the same city.
So after exploring I walked to the bus station, got on a bus, and arrived back at my Airbnb. I showered immediately to remove all the sweat and decided to do some work before turning in for the night. And so ended my 2nd day in Vancouver. Tomorrow would prove to be another exciting day as my third day was Museum Day! More on that soon.
Vancouver, Canada ‘24 Trip Reports Introduction
Vancouver, Canada ‘24 Trip Report Part One: Almost Denied Boarding & The Most Beautiful Park
Vancouver Canada ‘24 Trip Report Part Two: The Most JAM PACKED Day Ever Part 1
Vancouver Canada ‘24 Trip Report Part Four: Museums Galore!
Vancouver Canada ‘24 Trip Report Part Five: 200 Feet in the Air
Vancouver Canada ‘24 Trip Report Part Six: Climb Every Mountain
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