Harbour Cruise Continued

Hello friends,

A few weeks ago I posted part one of the Vancouver Harbour Cruise which my friend invited me to join her on. If you missed it you can find it here. Today's post is the conclusion of the Harbour Tour Cruise. 

 The cruise is just one hour long and so it's easy to fit into a busy touring schedule. The departure point is conveniently located between the downtown Vancouver core and Stanley Park just past the Westin Hotel.

Vancouver Yacht Club located a few steps from the Harbour Cruise office.

The old fashioned boat named the Constitution is the boat that takes us on our journey.

I rode this boat many years ago when I took my youngest sibling on a journey up to Indian Arm.

I was surprised to see the boat is still in operation.

That's how long ago I took the last tour!

My friend poses before we board the boat.

I was looking for a map of the cruising route but couldn't find one so I am sharing a map here that gives a good idea of where we were in relation to the City of Vancouver.

If you look on the map below our departure point was from Coal Harbour near Denman Street.

The cruising route was roughly in a circle across the harbour to around Lonsdale Ave in North Vancouver and back.

In case you might be interested in one of the cruises offered by this company you can see what other visitors here have had to say about it at Trip Advisor.

By and large people seem to enjoy their experience.

We're off!

You can see it is quite cloudy and it looks like we are going to get a deluge of rain.

However the rain held off and it became a bit clearer later in the afternoon.

We are heading eastward.

On the right we get a great view of the Vancouver City skyline and the two different buildings which make up the Vancouver Convention Centre.

This next photo captures a mountain view to the north.

The tower with the round observation deck on top is called Vancouver Lookout.

Once we finished our Harbour Cruise we went to the top of the lookout.

I've been there many times over the years.

Another view to the northern mountains and the city of North Vancouver.

I learned that these barges contain salt from Mexico.

The salt is what is used in our winter on icy sidewalks, parking lots, etc.

You might be able to make out the round sign (white and red) in the photo below.  That is the sight of the public market area called Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver.

The next few photos are of seals who are lying on the logs.

Below is a longer view of the seals and the City of North Vancouver in the background.

 Below is a close up of the boat mooring area in North Vancouver which is very close to where the seals are enjoying their leisure.

We are making our way back to Vancouver and this view is toward the northern mountains and North Vancouver. There is the circular Lonsdale Quay sign on the right and the sea bus on the left making it's way back to Vancouver's Waterfront Station.

These barges contain sulphur (yellow mounds). To be honest I'm not sure what sulfur is used for even though the tour guide did tell us.

After a brief google search I discovered that the sulphur seems to be owned by the only Canadian manufacturer and supplier of sulphur, Petrosul which has it's head office in Vancouver. Petrosul markets sulphur to North American and offshore markets.

Sulphur is also used in many other industries including non-ferrous metals, pigments, fibers, hydrofluoric acid, carbon disulphide, pharmaceuticals, agricultural pesticides, personal care products, cosmetics, synthetic rubber vulcanization, water treatment, and steel pickling. (Source: Sulfur Institute).

and

Today, it's most common use is in the manufacture of sulfuric acid, which in turn goes into fertilizers, batteries and cleaners. It's also used to refine oil and in processing ores. Pure sulfur has no smell. ... Rotten eggs and stink bombs get their distinctive aroma because of hydrogen sulfide. (Source: Live Science).

( Sulphur is spelled a few different ways as noted from the above quotations taken from different sources).

Who knew sulphur was so useful? 

I like this photo of the Vancouver City skyline.

This seagull seemed to follow our journey for awhile.

Above and below is a great view of the "sails". This building is the home of the original Vancouver Convention Centre and the Pan Pacific Hotel. Both of these sites remain but the convention centre is now referred to as Convention Centre East.  The low lying building to the right is the new addition and called Convention Centre West. 

Convention Centre East

Convention Centre West

Sadly the tour has come to an end.
I hope you enjoyed it.

I'll be linking up this week (once the linkys open)

Through My Lens

Friday Foto Friends

Skywatch Friday 

and 

Saturday's Critters 

Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Birthday was sung a few times yesterday. I celebrated a birthday on Monday and though I don't generally go for big parties I do enjoy more intimate gatherings with family and friends.

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A friend made a scrumptious and diverse dinner.  There were 3 kinds of rice (plain white, brown and chicken pilau), millet ugali, chicken stew, sauteed kale/onions, roasted plantain, roasted chicken legs with a lemon sauce and chapati. Not to be outdone her son made 2 flavours of muffins in two different sizes.  We had a feast and I was stuffed.

I thought it was rather creative how this young boy made cupcakes and bought candles to spell out Happy Birthday. 

It was very sweet.

Here is the young chef lighting up the cupcakes before they sang and I blew out candles.

Not to be outdone my "baby" brother bought me a beautiful fruit cocktail cake with whipped cream frosting topped with fresh fruits. This is my favourite cake and it has now become a staple for family birthday celebrations. I will have a few more birthday luncheons as friends have invited me out later and as time allows in my schedule.

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I haven't had time to post a lot of photos of my various outing over the past few weeks so I'm sharing a few from a few weeks ago when a friend invited me on a harbour cruise.

I have a lot of photos to share.  This post will only cover the walk along the northern sea wall toward the departure point for the cruise.

I alighted near the sea wall close to the entrance of the Westin Bayshore Hotel.  This hotel is popular with tourists and is located almost at the entrance to Vancouver's Crown Jewel, Stanley Park. Stanley Park is a 405-hectare public park that borders the downtown of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada and is almost entirely surrounded by waters of Vancouver Harbour and English Bay.  Read more about this beautiful park at this link.

I'm headed north west of the hotel so I need to go around it.  I found the hotel rather large and spread out.  It is also undergoing some redevelopment though it is still open for business.

A view west towards downtown Vancouver.

A small marshy pond located adjacent to the hotel. Too bad there were no birds splashing about

I love the riotous colour in all the blossoms.

Just as I am about to head due west, I look to the east and snap a few photos. 

The  white building with the 'sails' in the background right is the east wing of  the Vancouver Convention Center and where I was last week for Flyover Canada.  I just learned that it is still part of the Convention Center. I thought it had been replaced altogether by the new one (see photo below) but now I understand there is a west wing and an east wing which are actually two separate buildings.

See the paddle boat with tourist on the top deck.

You can see the port of Vancouver with the multi-coloured shipping containers in the background.  The float plane on the far right is part of the fleet for Harbour Air which flies to our provincial capital, Victoria and to many other points on Vancouver Island.  In late April the airline added flights to Seattle, Washington.

In the photo above you can see the structure in the middle with a green roof. That is the new 'west wing" of Vancouver Convention Centre.   It is built on stilts over the water.

 The living roof, seawater heating and cooling, on-site water treatment and fish habitat built into the foundation of the West Building make it one of the greenest convention centres in the world. The Centre recycles an average of 180,000 kilograms of materials annually, nearly half of the total volume of waste generated. It avoids canned goods, disposable utensils and dishes, and donates leftover food to local charities (source: Wikipedia)

The grey, concrete building peeking out just to the right of the lamppost in the foreground is the Vancouver Lookout Tower. At the top there is an observation deck and the only remaining revolving restaurant in the city.

I enjoyed my walk along the waterfront looking at all the activity on the water and the various boats and ships which were docked. Though the weather was overcast it was perfect for a day out.  Signage was present here and there announcing various tours and yacht rentals.

A float plane comes in for landing.

Signage announcing some water adventure tours.

 

I've now arrived at the departure point for the Harbour Cruise. Here I sit and wait on a bench for my friend to arrive. 

It isn't too long before I heard my name.

My former boss was out for a luncheon walk and recognized me in profile as I gazed out over the boats and yacts.

What a small world we live in.

In a short while afterward my friend arrives and we set off for our adventure.

Stay tuned.

Joining in with 

Our World Tuesday

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