Sister Act Day Three

So to Monday morning and preparations for our drive into Vancouver.  In my haste to post these blogs I for got one key event from yesterdays happenings.  We lost our water supply.  Suddenly and without so much as a by your leave, the water stopped and the pump mechanism began clunking and grinding with terminal volume.  Manuals were checked and the water softener was regenerated but to no avail.

So what do you do if you have a crisis of this type?  Call Bob....and if you are very fortunate you'll get two Bobs at the same time.  One of whom is a qualified electrician.  I turned off the mains and the grinding stopped and that was before we headed out to Hayward Lake etc.

The Bobs stared at the mechanism and I turned the power back on.  The sound of water flushing through the system was a huge relief.  We were back on the supply.  I maintain that the mecanism faced with two Bobs simply staring at it simply conceded and went back to work.

So back to Vancouver or almost......Another sudden crisis.  The basement toilet decided to back up and wash the floor.  An hour later and after substantial baling we opted to face that crisis after our day out and left.

First port of call in Vancouver and at Cherie's request was Granville Island.  This complex is a mix of public markets and retail outlets on the inlet and quite remarkable.  Cherie had a specific task to find a soft toy for a small mouthed dog on Granville Island.  The toy, unusually, was designed to lay soft toy eggs when gripped by a dogs mouth.  We found the store with no effort at all; it simply appeared in front of us.  The picture captures the egg pooping soft toy moment of discovery.

Next up we toured a childrens toys emporium.  A real throwback to the old style toy shops I remember in the UK before IT games and videos took over.  It was nostaligic.

The public market is something to behold.  A sea of colour and products not often found around these parts.  A Cornish Pasty with a flavour reminiscent of home for the first time since being here.  Sausages that actually looked as though they might deliver.  We had a light snack and coffee's and then headed out to the water front and the bright sunshine. 

The scenery is amazing. We took a few pictures and posed a couple of shots for the family album. An older man called Jim who was loitering with intent volunteered to take a picture of the four of us. "Hi, I'm Jim and you are?" Cherie replied, "Manda, Cherie, Michael and Kim", he repeated "Manda, Cherie, Michael and Chimp". Poor Kim had that name tag for the rest of the week. Jim has no idea how much amusement he caused.  We wet ourselves continuously.

From an initially cool Granville Island we headed across Vancouver and to Stanley Park.  We drove through Robson Street (Vancouver's own Oxford Street) and the downtown and into one of the nicest parks I've ever seen.  The Totem Poles were a highlight as was the view of the most familiar features on the Vancouver Skyline.

Lunch proper was a coolbox of chicken and cheese rolls and after a bit of fresh air even the earlier snack on Granville Island couldn't prevent strong appetites.  Our next stop was the Pan Pacific and the cruise liner moorings.  We parked on Level P2 for some strange reason and had a bit of a walk to get to the street.  The sails are something to behold.

Gastown and the old heart of Vancouver. Dozens of souvenir shops and curios. Manda and Cherie shopped; we stood by the Steam Clock a legacy of Gassy Jack and listened as the tubes played the same tune that emanates from Big Ben in London.  We then wrapped our our day with dinner at the Spaghetti Factory before returning exhausted to the car and then home.