Meeting Bobskoot and Sonja, part 1

When I travelled around much of the USA last year, one area I didn’t go to was the Pacific Northwest, specifically the states of Washington or Oregon. I could have easily gone to Seattle, as this is where Jackie’s family live, but as I have previously been there many times, I felt I didn’t need to see it on my tour of the USA.

This decision had one drawback though. I wanted to meet some fellow bloggers on my tour of the USA, but not going to Washington meant I also wouldn’t get to see one particular blogger that I had really wanted to meet, Bobskoot. I did know however, that I would be able to rectify this one day and last weekend I had my chance. I was in the Seattle area to visit Jackie’s family, so I rented a Harley and rode north into Canada to meet Bob.

I left early and rode an Electra Glide Ultra Limited as quietly as possible for the first few minutes, trying not to wake the neighbours in the leafy residential district. Maybe I shouldn’t have worried, as the big Harley was still fitted with its stock factory pipes and barely made a sound. Heading north on I-5, the traffic was light and I made good time, arriving at the border in time to meet Bob, who had kindly ridden down to meet me and was, I assumed, waiting as planned just out of sight on the Canadian side of the border crossing. It was here that I made the mistake of saying something stupid to the border control guard that I had written about in my last post.

Having crossed the border, I rode the very short distance to the place I had arranged to meet Bob, and there he was, wearing his famous pink crocs….

It was like meeting an old friend! We had never actually met in person before, but through reading his blog for so long, I felt that I knew Bob well. I had regretted not meeting Bob on my tour of the USA last year, but it was good to now be able to put that right and spend a couple of days with the person who I had admired from afar, the person whose blog had entertained and interested me for a couple of years, the person who had given me lots of help about both blogging, video editing and choosing a new camera, the person I had become friends with.

Bob had previously asked where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see in the Vancouver area. Having never been to this part of Canada before, I knew I wanted to ride with him, but I had left the choice of where to go firmly up to Bob. I knew I could rely on Bob to show me some terrific places and he certainly did that!

We first went to an area called “White Rock”, along the edge of Boundary Bay, close to the US / Canadian border. The city of White Rock runs alongside a 5 mile / 8 km stretch of sandy beach and is well known for its 1,500 ft. long pier, its beach promenade and a large white rock which weighs in at nearly 500 tons, a glacial deposit.

Running along the back of the beach is a railway track, a great place to put your camera down and set the shutter timer!....

We had parked the bikes, the rented H-D and of course, Bob’s famous V-Strom, in a car park and only noticed what we had parked next to when we took a photo….

As we rode along, it was a strange feeling to recognize some of the places I was seeing. It occurred to me that I had seen some of these places before from Bobs blog and Sonja’s blog also. One of those places was Ladner where we wanted to get breakfast, but sadly the restaurant next to the river hadn’t yet opened for the day. Instead we took some pictures of the river, a view that looked familiar to me….

Whilst writing this post, I looked back at Bobs blog and from July 2010 found a picture of the same place, so I “borrowed” the picture below from his blog for comparison….

Bob then took me to see another familiar looking place. Finn Slough is a small fishing community located on one of the surge channels of the Fraser River. There are about 30 residents living in wooden houses that sit on stilts along the marshy river bank. Most of the houses are decaying badly and have survived in this harsh environment since being built between the late 19th century up to the 1950’s. The channel makes for a confused sight, with both wooden boats and wooden houses set in a green scene that makes your eyes jump around while you try to take in what you are looking at....

One of the things I have learnt about Bob from his blog is his love of food. Hardly a post goes by without Bob mentioning or photographing food. We were hungry, so food finding food jumped to the top of our agenda and we sought out something to eat at the Wharf at Steveston. Exploring this fishing port would have to wait, as we first went in search of a restaurant that would serve brunch. Sockeye City fitted the bill perfectly....

We both ate crab cakes....

After eating and being suitably sustained, we wandered around the fishing port. Unusually, the fish caught that morning were sold directly from the fishing boats moored at the port.

The ramp down, over the surprisingly murky water....

There was a huge choice of different types of fish for sale, from prawns to salmon....

Some of the fishing boats are huge...

Many of people buying fish were of Asian descent and Bob told me most of the fishermen were Vietnamese. Steveston is a part of Richmond, a city that forms part of the Metro Vancouver area. I looked on Wikipedia and read “Richmond has an immigrant population of 60%, the highest in Canada. More than half of its population is of Asian descent, many of whom immigrated in the early 1990s, most of them from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China.” Bob had told me many people moved to Richmond when Hong Kong was given back to China by the British in 1997. I can remember that at that time, many that lived in Hong Kong feared what the reaction of the Chinese Government to those that had moved out of mainland China and enjoyed the different, western and more modern lifestyle of Hong Kong. Many either held or were given British Passports and presumably, this meant they could travel and live many places in the world, including Canada....

Is Bob a Gift or a Souvenir?....

Soon, we were riding again and I was taken to something I had never seen before. We went to the Yaohan Centre Mall, which is a large Asian shopping centre. Most of the products for sale were from different parts of Asia and written in their native language. Bob was of course, interested in the food....

A huge sushi counter....

Cans with contents I could only guess....

Delicious looking cakes....

I remembered to take my GoPro camera with me, so we stopped to attach it to the Harley, so I could make a short video of Bob. So, for your viewing delectation, I am pleased to present Bobskoot in glorious techicolour....



Much of the video was shot in Stanley Park, a 1,001 acre urban park located on a peninsular on the northern side of Vancouver. With an estimated 8 million visitors each year, the park is very popular and I could see why. Many city parks are mainly grass, but the majority of Stanley Park is kept natural with a forest making up a large proportion of its natural environment. However, the park also has a 5 mile / 8 kilometre seawall path and the views across the water are both interesting and spectacular.

Looking across the water to downtown Vancouver....

We did spot a group of women out for a bicycle ride as part of a hen party in advance of a wedding. What happened to good old fashioned drinking and other nocturnal activities?.....

Brockton Point lighthouse, in Stanley Park....

Bob, with Lions Gate bridge in the background....

Looking over the water at huge container cranes....

We saw a seaplane taking off. This picture shows the importance of sometimes getting a clear background, as it is difficult to see the plane clearly....

However, I swung around to try to capture the plane as it flew near us. I think I did a pretty good job!....

The bikes waited patiently for us to return....

Still within the park, we crossed the approach to the Lions Gate bridge and stopped to look at the view....

A zoomed in shot of one of the lions on the bridge....

Sometimes, a photo can be deceiving. This is a shot of one of the lion plinths at the side of the road. It looks huge, clearly built to match the sheer size and grandeur of the bridge it signifies....

... or maybe not. Not so much a lion, more of a pussy cat....

We needed something to drink, so Bob took me to the Granville Island Market where we parked under the Granville Bridge....

The market area is very cool, selling both food, produce, and the usual market arts and crafts. Street entertainers did their best to earn a few dollars while we sat and enjoyed the view of False Creek and its boats....

The market is indoor and was very busy with weekend shoppers...

We liked the tip jar where we purchased our drinks....

It had been a long day so far, but we had the evening festivities to come yet!

To be continued.....