Hop across to Horseshoe Bay

Francis Drake was propably the first European explorer to spy mainland Canada during his round the world voyage of 1579. Spanish from California and Russians from Alaska explored this coast almost two centuries later but it was fellow Briton, our man Cook who recorded the first landing on 1778.

Over the last 30 years immigration has dramatically increased making the city more ethnically and linguistically diverse; 52% do not speak English as their first language and almost 30% of the city's inhabitants are of Chinese heritage! Vancouver has ranked highly in worldwide "livable city" rankings for more than a decade and it was acknowledged by Economist Intelligence Unit as the first city rank among top-ten of world's most liveable cities for the five straight years!

A short bus ride from the hostel got us to Departure Bay, an apt name for a island ferry port no doubt you'll agree. Never been on a ferry before where they'd had to grit the decks and walkways to stop them freezing over. It was around 5 degrees but as we got off the bay a toe curling wind marched it down to around zero. I managed a brief chat with Mike Briganza, the ship's captain, who seemed, though I couldn't bring the conversion round to actually ask him outright, to be a proud Welsh/Indian/Canadian! He was as equally interested in our trip as I was his daily job. Mike gave us some great tips for our up and coming mountain adventure round the Rockies. Must ski runs, to must trek trails. You just can't beat the inside track from a local.

The ferry ride itself was only 1 3/4 hours and was no doubt no where near as dramatic as Drakes back in 1579. The crossing gave all passengers great views of the mainland mountains, dusted with powder, due to recent cold spells. A great tonic to get the ski legs a twitching. We braved the 'sun' deck but soon turned blue and retreated inside to the warmth of the Sea West Lounge. Marketing a little misleading here as it was promoted as 'oceanview dining'. An ocean view goes without saying being on a ferry and all. But what it certainly wasn't was dinning in an elegant Lounge!!

After cruising for only 30 minutes you could see the skyscrapers of downtown Vancouver sat as if cradled by towering alpines and snowcapped mountains. As we docked an otter swam through the shallows no doubt enjoying the warmer shallower waters of the marina. The bus ride into town gave rise to great views across fine looking English Bay, the Lions Gate Bridge and onto Stanley Park. The place felt instantly different to the island. For one the Friday afternoon traffic was murderous but also the wind was not so biting on the back of the neck.