Friday, September 25th, 2026

After a good night’s sleep and breakfast, we got back on the Hop On Hop Off bus. It was cloudy with some rain but that didn’t hinder us from getting off at the Stanley Park, Prospect Point stop.

We hiked from Prospect Point down to part of the Vancouver Seawall. It was the the world’s longest uninterrupted waterfront path, over 17 miles. We only walked part of the path!

The Brocton Point Lighthouse was a historic landmark on the eastern tip of Stanley Park and was built in 1914. It was a white tower with a signature red band and its supports were arches where the lower Seawall path runs through it! It was deactivated in 2005.

Looking across Burrard Inlet to downtown

We walked by the Lion’s Gate Bridge that officially opened in 1938. It was a historic suspension bridge that was built during the Great Depression by the Guinness Family. The bridge spans Burrard Inlet and connects downtown Vancouver to West Vancouver.

After our morning walk we needed to get back to our hotel to get ready for our afternoon excursion. We booked a “Granite Falls Zodiac” tour. It was raining when we arrived at our meeting point. They had us get fitted with a warming suit to wear over our clothes and we were also provided with a disposable poncho to wear over our warming suit.

Our zodiac captain was James. The four of us were the only passengers on the tour!

When we walked to the zodiac we felt like “teletubbies”! ⬇️

As we left the marina, a harbor seal followed us for a short time.

This rock outcropping has a legend among the indigenous Squamish people. It was a basalt sea stack that formed around 32 million years ago. Molten magma pushed up through a crack. The Squamish legend was about a man who was transformed into stone by the transformers as an indestructable monument to clean fatherhood and unselfishness. It was also called by early European mariners called it Nine Pin Rock because its shape resembled a bowling pin.

We passed by the Prospect Point Lighthouse. It was a historic landmark located on the northern tip of Stanley Park. This current structure was built in 1948 and it’s a square cement tower with a red horizontal stripe.

Some cruise ships were in port as we left the Burrard Inlet.

The drizzle stopped and our zodiac ride was comfortable. James took us by harbor seals that were relaxing on some logs.

We traveled into the Indian Arm fjord. It was created by glaciers during the Ice Age. It was flanked by the North Shore mountains that were very steep. There were no bridges or roads that cross it.

We saw several waterfalls as we went through the fjord. Granite Falls cascaded down the mountain and we saw some kayakers that had set up camp at the base of the falls.

Below was the private Wigwam Inn with a waterfall up the mountain. You could only reach this by boat. There were no roads in this remote area of the Indian Arm.

A couple more waterfalls that we saw on our ride.

The historic Buntzen hydroelectric powerhouses were built in the early 1900s. They were located on private property that was owned by BC Hydro. The Buntzen Power Station #1 was still functional but #2 was shut down some twenty-plus years ago.

A pair of bald eagles were hanging out on two neighboring trees.

Our ride lasted longer than advertised and we were thrilled to have extra time on the water. James took us up to the dry dock area where a yacht was being updated.

It was a beautiful sunset as we traveled through the Port of Vancouver.

The lights of Vancouver looked beautiful as we headed back to the marina.

What a way to spend an afternoon and early evening!

Day 22

Tuesday, February 13th

Fish Islands, Prospect Point

This morning we did a zodiac cruise through the pack ice and icebergs on our way to the Minnows. The Fish Islands are individual islands that are named after different fish species: Flounder, Plaice, Trout, Salmon and the islets known as The Minnows!

We began our zodiac cruise south of these islands. Following the edge we headed north. We took our time and attempted to traverse the narrow passages between the icebergs, brash & forming sea ice. The sky was overcast, and at times a brisk wind carried snowflakes onto our faces. At one point we were worried that we wouldn’t make it to see our 7th species of penguin, the Adelie!

At least we saw 2 Adelie penguins on an sea ice and a seal resting!

Our first glimpse of the Adelie penguin.

This pair was moving all around the ice!

He just looked at us because we were disturbing his rest!

We saw some incredible looking icebergs. You know how you see shapes in clouds, we were doing the same with the icebergs. It was impressive the color and shape variances. Some of the icebergs appeared to be illuminated and some are so blue. They are spectacular!

We finally made it and had a short time to observe the Adelie penguins at The Minnows, which are low-lying, rocky outcrops. They are occupied by Adélie penguins, with an estimated 1600 breeding pairs between 12 colonies. Blue-eyed shags also breed on the islands and a few were seen flying back to check on their chicks!

The Adelie penguins are the smallest of the Antarctic penguins. They are about 2 feet tall and weigh 8-9 pounds! If you’ve ever read the children’s book Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Captain Cook is an Adelie penguin.

It was very cold on the zodiac due to the wind and waves that got us very wet. The temperature was about 37 degrees F.

After lunch we were going to try to kayak but it was canceled due to the windy conditions. We went on zodiacs over to Prospect Point.

Prospect Point was our second continental landing.

Here we saw the remains of a British Surveying and Geological Base J. This base was occupied from 1957-1959. There are remains of seals (they are mummified from many winters) that were used to feed the dogs.