We woke up to a cloudy but beautiful morning. We packed up our stuff after an awesome breakfast at Muddy Waters Cafe. As I dropped the key off and headed to the bikes, the folks in the room next to us were just leaving. Lo and behold it was the couple we had run into the night before and had a great chat with. They had returned to Harrison Hot Springs were they met and had married. He was Canadian and she from Australia. We exchanged emails and phone numbers as they will be travelling through California around the same time as we will be there. We also got an invite if we ever decide to travel to Australia.
We had a fun ride along Highway 7 connecting to the 11 especially as we left Harrison Hot Springs. We climbed around the mountain with a 11% grade and sweeping turns. There was a little rain, showers mostly but it was still cool at 17 degrees when we left. Made for a very comfortable ride.
We came into Surrey along 16th Ave. A lot of very large homes and horse stables, and fruit farms. This was a much nicer drive into Vancouver than the TCH 1. We arrived at Mori and Kelly’s home around 1 p.m. probably the most refreshed since we started this trip.
After supper, Mori took us down to White Rock…this was an area of Vancouver that I did not know about and had not explored. The site of Canada’s longest pier. That is not the only thing it is known for however. Aside from a lot of shops and a great trail along the sea wall where you can see Washington State and Mount Baker on a clear day, they have “San Francisco” type streets heading down over the hill…we are talking serious grades. The one we came down was 23% grade with two level areas and rotaries on the way down….the sidewalks are two part smooth and raised for walking up, especially in the winter. Apparently the road is closed to traffic in the winter which is of no surprise. I am told that there is one other street that has an even steeper grade and is one way only.
We had a great walk along the sea wall, got to see the original White Rock. A bit of debate as to whether the white colour of the rock is natural or “enhanced”. We didn’t do a close inspection but suffice to say it is a large natural rock on the shore and very visible from the pier. We walked out along the pier and as we were returning to the car the sun was getting ready to set. One of the restaurants along the street advertises “free sunsets” and given that is the west coast, I am sure all of the sunsets are as beautiful as this one as it was getting ready to set. We finished off the evening with a little wine around the fire in the back yard. Next on the agenda are a couple of berry farms and getting together with some friends who live in the area. Here are a couple of pics from our walk.
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| Local art work |
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| White Rock |
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| Washington State |
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