Fish and chips and first swim in Pacific

Travel chores in the morning were followed by a short drive to the village of Steveston an old fishing village. The current fleet is about a quarter of what it was in its prime and the cannery buildings are either trendy restaurants or have been demolished for new apartments.

The reason for the drive down was Dave's fish and shop. I've never had salmon deep fried in batter before but it was ace and the chips were awesome. You'd have to go a long way in England to beat it.

Seeing as it was my last day in Vancouver it was time to go for a swim in English Bay which is technically the Pacific. So braving my fear of sand and a freezing sea I plunged in and bobbed happily in the surf.

I took a picnic down to the beach to enjoy the early evening sun. In the distance were sailing boats, ferries, cruise liners, super tankers and an unfortunate couple whose relationship had come to an end on the beach.

They had obviously started out to travel the world together but it hadn't worked out. Rather noisily the ruck sacks were emptied and in full view of a crowded beach they argued about who had possession of what. The most animated argument was about who would have the cat! Groups of young women started mimicking the girl's plaintive cries and groups of young men mocked his mumbled replies. I'm not sure if this was helping much!

The last I heard was the souls of flip flops running on the promenade and cries of "Stop him he's stolen my cat!".

So long Vancouver I'll see you briefly again at the end of August :-)