Granville island, Downtown, rain and a free concert

3 May 2017

We’d been warned Vancouver wasn’t called Rain City, Raincouver or the Wet Coast for nothing so, when we woke to a decidedly wet world this morning, we weren’t exactly surprised. After breakfast we popped on the wet weather gear we’d sensibly packed and headed towards Granville Island where we’d had a lovely birthday meal with Jen and Kevin the night before. At least it wasn’t cold and, as we’d previously had Jen as a guide we knew more or less where we were going.

Luckily it isn’t hard to find, although the steep downward slope felt a little more treacherous in the wet than it had the night before when it was dry and the lovely cherry blossom looked a touch bedraggled. With our heads down against the driving rain we tried to recrate last night’s walk, although I wasn’t exactly sure how well we were doing. We may not have taken the same street we took with Jen but, two blocks down, the cherry blossom convinced me we were still on the right track. Despite any misgivings there were several photo stops, mostly in an attempt to capture the steepness of our descent and the lovely blossom. Everywhere we looked there were fallen petals.
“I’m not sure I’d want to park my car here,” Commando said, eyeing the petals covering all the cars we passed.

A sign saying Chocklit Park told me we were going the right way. It’s not the kind of name a girl like me forgets in a hurry. Sadly, despite the name, there was no chocolate anywhere to be found, although there was once a chocolate factory in the vicinity. In fact the little park, complete with stunning views and steep steps zig zaging down to the street below, was built by Charles Flavelle, owner of Purdy’s Chocolates. His motives may not have been completely ultruistic however. In 1970 the factory needed an improved truck loading area and, in exchange for building a children’s play area on an unused right of way on Spruce Street, the City Council approved Flavelle’s plans. To my great regret the chocolate factory closed in 1982 but the flower filled park and the stunning views over the city remain.

At the bottom of the steps we turned left and, before too long, we were walking under the Granville Street Bridge towards Granville Island. Despite the name this is a peninsular rather than an island, connected to South Vancouver by a narrow strip of land under the bridge. It sprawls out into a small inlet called False Creek in a roughly oval shape and was originally a sandbar used by First Nations people as a fishing area.

In 1889 piles were driven into the sandbar to stablaise it and, in 1915, when the road and rail bridge was built to connect South Vancouver with Downtown Vancouver, a reclaimation project began. Even so, the island is still much the same size and shape as the original sandbar. Until 1886 Vancouver was called Granville after Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville. The street, bridge and Island have kept this name alive.

Once the island was stabilised businesses moved in, building corrugated tin factories. By 1923 every lot on the island was occupied by a business. Then the Great Depression came. Several hobo jungles sprang up on the flats opposite Granville Island’s north shore. Shackers lived on the island, in town or in floathouses. They survived by fishing and beachcombing, making an income by selling salmon, smelt and wood.

Under the bridge we caught our first sight of the creek under a curtain of weeping willow. By this time it was raining quite hard so, pretty as it was, we didn’t stay long. Luckily there was plenty to keep us amused in the dry. Today, thanks to investment from the federal government, the island is a tourist attraction, home to two hundred and seventy five businesses and facilities. There is a marina, a boutique hotel, performing arts theatres, galleries, restaurants, shops and the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. When the land was reclaimed the first tennant was B.C. Equipment Ltd, a company who repaired and assembled heavy equipment for mining and forestry. Their machine shop has now become the Granville Island Public Market. This was where we were headed.

For an hour we amused ourselves wandering around the market looking at all the tempting food stalls, the wonderfully colourful fruit and the stalls selling just the kind of Artisan items I love. Eventually we settled down for a fortifying cup of coffee and a cake before we set out into the rain again.

Our mission for the morning was to cross the creek to Downtown Vancouver, explore a little, maybe find the place Commando had to pick up his marathon pack on Thursday and, if the rain cleared up, check out some of the famous Vancouver beaches. By the time we left the market the rain had eased up so we could have crossed the creek on Burrard Bridge, a magnificent structure of steel with two wonderfully decorative concrete pillars. Last night though, Jen told us how she used to live on the other side of the creek and her daily commute to work was on one of the little aquabuses that go back and forth every few minutes. We decided they sounded like more fun than walking across a bridge.

With a choice of several different routes and only a vague idea where we were going it took us a while to decide which aquabus we needed. In the end we chose the shortest route, Downtown via Hornby Street, figuring we could work out exactly where to go once we were across the creek. We stood on the wet dock peering across the water at the odd little boats buzzing back and forth like pond skaters, wondering which would be ours. It didn’t take long to find out and soon we’d paid our money and climbed aboard.

The crossing took just a couple of minutes during which we agreed it was a great way to travel and wondered why we couldn’t have something similar on the Itchen. Before we knew it, we were standing on the opposite dock watching the little boat disappear back across the creek. Commando checked the map, looked at the weeping sky and decided we shound head left away from the beaches.

The rain was getting heavier again as we walked towards the Granville Street Bridge. The breeze blowing off the water whipped it into our faces and sent our coats swirling about us. If it had been dry it might have been a pleasant walk. A collection of small boats bobbed on the rain pitted water and there was interesting graffiti under the bridge and along the opposite shore. Pictures were taken but the rain running down my glasses and seeping through my trousers spoiled the pleasure a little. Still, at least it was warm rain.

There were probably lots of other things along the way to stop and look at but seeing anything became more and more difficult as the rain got harder and harder. Pretty soon we decided proper exploring would have to wait for a drier day.
“There’s a train station around here somewhere,” Commando said, peering at the map on his phone. “I think we can probably get the Skytrain back to West Broadway from there.”
This sounded like an excellent plan to me. We put our heads down and kept walking as fast as we could. The wetter we got the more I wondered why we hadn’t decided on a nice dry museum visit or stayed in the market.

After what seemed like a very long walk but was only about a mile, we came to a huge stadium. This, Commando informed me, was BC Place, a multipurpose stadium home to both the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium is also used for Canada Sevens rugby games and was home to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Frankly it was difficult to work up any enthusiasm because, by now, I was a little fed up with being wet and hoping we would soon find the station or at least somewhere to stop for a coffee and a dry out.
“I’m pretty sure the station is just the other side of the stadium,” Commando called over his shoulder as he marched up the steps of the road bridge leading to the entrance.

At least there was some shelter at the top and we stopped to check the map again, trying to work out which way to go to the station. Just then some loud music started up. Commando and I looked at each other then looked around to see where it was coming from. My theory was the copper coloured building next to the stadium. It was covered with scaffolding and seemed to be under construction so I guessed workmen were playing a radio very loudly. Commando thought they might be testing the Stadium PA system. Wherever it was coming from someone seemed to be very fond of U2.
“If they start playing Beautiful Day I might just scream,” I said.
Another U2 track started as we left the stadium and crossed the road in what we hoped was the right direction for the station.

We found the station without too much trouble but, after a long time staring blankly at the various route maps neither of us could see a way to get back to West Broadway. There were no staff in the ticket area to ask. We toyed with the idea of buying a ticket anyway and going round and round until we worked it out or found someone who could help us. At least we’d be dry. Even that proved impossible though because we couldn’t work out what all the zones meant or which ticket to buy. Perhaps the wetness had seeped into our brains or maybe we were just tired, wet and jet lagged. In the end there was nothing for it but to turn and walk back towards the aquabus quay and Granville Island.

It was not the happiest walk I’ve ever had, despite another blast of U2 as we went back past the stadium. The rain got heavier and heavier and we got wetter and grumpier. Thankfully, the weather forecast told us this would be the wettest day of our stay and, had we been thinking straight, we probably would have found something less outdoorsy to do. As we sat in our hotel room drying out and getting ready to go out for the evening the local news put a whole new spin on our adventure though. Apparently the music we’d heard as we passed the stadium wasn’t a loud radio or the stadium PA system. It was actually U2 playing live. They were inside BC Place rehearsing for their upcoming concert. Maybe if we’d known at the time we’d have felt a whole lot better about getting so wet and hung around to listen for longer. Then again they might have got round to playing Beautiful Day and I might just have had to scream!

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