Today we are off whale watching again. Yes, we did see Orca on an earlier boat trip but it was from a massive distance and so we thought we'd try again from Vancouver as there are allegedly several resident pods in the waters around the city. Another couple are also staying here for a few extra days and they'd been recommended to use Wild Whales and in the absence of any other info we booked with them too. Originally we booked for an open rib vessel where they lend you everything you need to get soaking wet but given the weather here we decided that was actually going to be too miserable and so we headed to the booking office early with the hope of changing to a covered vessel which may not be as exciting but will save my camera.
The boat leaves from Granville Island which from what we can gather is completely inaccessible by wheeled public transport (there are little ferry boats making the 90 second crossing) and so we decided to walk across the bridge from Downtown Vancouver and then hopefully find a way down from the carriageway to the island. As you can see it was another miserable day and we were togged up in our cold/wet weather gear for the boat ride.
Walking across the bridge we had excellent views of The Giants, a 360°, 70’ tall, mural painted on 6 operational cement silos by Brazilian twins, artists Os Gemeos, and at the time their largest artwork (I wonder what has eclipsed it?)
Finding our way down off the dual carriageway proved something of a challenge but eventually we made it onto Granville Island, a former industrial manufacturing area that has now evolved into a tourist area with a vibrant market, numerous restaurant and bars and upmarket gift shops.
Fishing catches are still offloaded here for processing and no one minded us walking around, or me taking photos.
I think these are a species of clam.
Raw octopus.
I then left Ian sitting on an outside bench enjoying a Cappucino whilst I went for a wander around inside the covered market where most of the stalls seemed to be staffed by Chinese and the produce looked delicious.
This guy was making spaghetti and really appreciated me asking permission before taking his photo as apparently 99% of people apparently don't.
There are two different companies running these little boats which just zig zag their way across False Creek.
We found Wild Whales office/shop and were able to change our booking with ease, although we did then have another hour to kill before our trip so we wandered around for a bit longer.
I wonder if this crow enjoyed its green chilli.
Yesterday we'd bought lunch from a nearby supermarket to eat on the boat, however the fridge in our room wasn't working properly and froze the food - several hours later and it's still got icicles!
When it got nearer to our sailing time we went and stood by the boat so we could get on first and choose our spot. There was a father and daughter couple from New York already waiting there and so we passed the time chatting about a certain president but we need not have worried as the boat was less that 1/4 full and there was plenty of room. Our volunteer guide was a very enthusiastic marine something or other but new a huge amount about the species and also the resident groups in the area.
This is the original type of vessel we'd booked - so glad we changed our minds.
Our first, rather underwhelming, sighting of Orca.
Mmmmm slight better.
Fabulous but unfortunately out of focus.
We followed this pair around the bay for quite a long time and trying to take photos whilst clinging on to the outside rails was quite a challenge.
Until eventually I got a couple of fairly decent shots.
Even in the rather limited colour palette, the scenery is quite beautiful and at first glance you don't really notice the mountains.
We must have spent a good 3 hours following various pods (or maybe the same ones, hard to tell) around.
Then it was time to turn back and head for home. It must be fabulous to own one of these waterside properties.
We then stopped off to see a colony of harbour seals.
One was rather inquisitive.
Whilst this one was totally "laid back" and completely ignored us.
Fabulous camouflage.
Sharp eyed Ian noticed a large bird in a nearby tree which the guide immediately said was a Bald Eagle but when she looked through her binoculars she realised it was an juvenile Osprey which was a rare and exciting spot.
By the time we'd disembarked and got back onto the dual carriageway it was drizzling and the walk back to our hotel was a bit miserable - we were both very weary and my cameras were starting to weigh quite heavily on my back but I resolutely refused to let Ian help as he was more tired than me.
Back at the hotel we had a real giggle - in the morning we'd explained, or so we thought, to the chambermaid about the fridge freezing the food (and wine) but there was obviously a language barrier as we found two hot water bottles left on our bed!
We briefly considered finding somewhere else for dinner but were so tired that we decided to revisit the Italian restaurant for another delicious pizza - good call.