Vancouver

Welcome back! At the moment, we're sailing down to the Caribbean but I still have a few blogs from Alaska and Canada to show you. Today it's time for Vancouver - the Zuiderdam's home port during the Alaskan run.


Above: Vancouver panorama taken from the departing Zuiderdam - click for bigger version.

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third-largest metropolitan area in the country.


Above: Imposing modern skyscrapers interact with Art Deco architecture such as the Marine Building (built in 1929) pictured on the left of this picture.

The Port of Vancouver, is now the busiest and largest in Canada, as well as the fourth largest port (by tonnage) in North America. Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, making tourism its second-largest industry (forestry is its largest).


Above: Autumnal colours in Vancouver

Major film production studios in Vancouver and Burnaby have turned Metro Vancouver into the third-largest film production centre in North America after Los Angeles and New York City, earning its film industry the nickname 'Hollywood North'. Whilst I was walking round the downtown area, I witnessed a film crew shooting cars driving up and down streets which had been cordoned off - quite exciting!


Above: The Zuiderdam docked at Vancouver

Vancouver has ranked highly in worldwide "livable city" rankings for more than a decade and it has hosted many international conferences and events, including the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.


Above: Downtown Vancouver behind the Harbour

The mild climate of the city and close proximity to ocean, mountains, rivers and lakes make the area a popular destination for outdoor recreation. Vancouver has over 3,200 acres of parks, of which, Stanley Park, at 1,000 acres, is the largest. It is a beautiful park with a huge variety of plants and animals (more about that later!)


Above: Stanley Park with Lions Gate Bridge in the background


Above: A lake in Stanley Park

Whilst walking round Stanley Park I happened upon a group of racoons. Whilst I'm sure these are common sights in North America, I had never seen a wild racoon before!


Above: Racoon!

I'll be wrapping up the Alaskan part of our cruise in the next couple of blogs (Skagway and Ketchikan) before taking you down to the Panama Canal via San Diego! Thanks for reading.