A bicycle built for three

Day 3 in Vancouver was spent in Stanley Park. Bayshore bike rental is just steps away from our hotel. We picked up a bike with an extension for R and Mum, a bike for Dad, some helmets and locks, and were on our way. This was the first time that R (and D!) tried this particular biking configuration,  yet we were surprisingly wobble-free. There are hundreds of cyclists biking the paths of Stanley Park on a beautiful day. So we quickly learned how to find breaks in the packs where we could nose our way into the fray. Our first stint was the sea wall that is on the perimeter of the park. We stopped to see the totem poles, and then for sculptures of a diving girl along the way.

At one point, maybe close to half way around the perimeter, we noticed a small group of people peering over the side of the sea wall. A mother river otter and two pups were having a bit of lunch on a seaweed covered rock. One of the pups was chomping on a flatfish, while the mom did some washing, and the other pup explored.

The next group of cyclists, runners and walkers we saw gathered were gazing at a bald eagle with its freshly caught fish. I couldn't get my camera out in time for a picture. The eagle flew ahead (as did the more enthusiastic photographers)  and then off to where the photographers could no longer fly.

At third beach we had a break to put our feet in the waves. We decided it was lunchtime, so made our way up to the Stanley Park Tea Room for a lunch of local Halibut, steak and frites, and a refreshing lychee and watermelon drink.

Our destination after lunch was the second beach pool. We decided to go via some of the interior bike trails. The woods were cool, the towering trees lovely, and the hill-up a bit of a challenge. R discovered on our way downhill towards second beach, that she had the power to pedal both her and her mom from her backseat in the bicycle. Mom just relaxed while R did the work.

Second beach was cooler this time round so we had a shorter swim and headed back to return our bicycles and have an ice cream.

Dinner was at a Japanese restaurant named Guu with Garlic. The one disappointment of the day was that mom dropped Aurora, the beluga stuffie on the way to the restaurant. Promises for a new beluga sometime soon.