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Vancouver – Honeybees and Salmon

Emma De Fry | October 22, 2012 | 9:38 am | Comment

Clint holding a huge salmon in Granville Island, Vancouver
Clint holding a huge salmon in Granville Island, Vancouver

One of our favourite parts of Vancouver, Canada, has to be Granville Island. We were totally unprepared for how cool this little part of the city was. And it has a great story as well.

Once an industrial manufacturing area built on a sandbar across from downtown Vancouver’s peninsula, the area was originally called ‘Industrial Island’, but the name didn’t stick and Granville Island was named after the bridge that spans overhead. The very first tenant, B.C Equipment Ltd. set that standard by building a wooden framed shop clad on all sides by corrugated iron.

Nowadays, even after the region has been transformed from an unattractive industrial area in serious decline into an eclectic and people-friendly place to which locals and tourists alike flock for its public market, cool shops and art galleries. The areas heritage is still acknowledged with the use of corrugated iron and industrial architectural influences everywhere you look.

In the pedestrian-friendly zones, licensed buskers provide a melodic background harmony to your visit and the atmosphere is fun and busy as visitors mill about enjoying the area.

Vancouver’s Markets and Fresh Produce

Fresh produce at a market in Granville Island, Vancouver
Fresh produce at the Granville markets

We LOVED the public markets here. You can buy all kinds of amazing local produce, from B.C. berries to maple syrup to deli items, beautiful pastries and salmon. We had a chat with salmon vendor Scott who has been selling the famous fish here for more than 30 years, following in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather. The bounty of salmon in this part of the world has made it famous, with numbers in the nearby Fraser River some of the greatest on earth. And the Canadians sell salmon in every which way; candied, smoked, jerky, fresh, and all packaged up to take home to Australia!

Exploring Granville Island, Vancouver
Enjoying Granville Island

Vancouver is consistently named one of the most liveable cities in the world. The people are friendly, the city is clean and beautiful, and from the rooftop of our hotel at the Fairmont Waterfront, you can see iconic Canada Place and amazing harbour and mountain views.

But we have another reason to be up on this rooftop, and it’s quite unexpected. We are meeting the hotel’s Sous Chef Mark, who doubles as the hotel’s beekeeper. This is part of the Fairmont Hotel’s commitment to sustainable hotel management and in 2008, the Fairmont Waterfront welcomed two hives of honeybees for their apiary on the 3rd-floor roof.

Honeybees in Granville Island, Vancouver
Honeybees and hives in the middle of the city

It is amazing to see a bee hive here in the city. The hives are positioned adjacent to the hotels 2,100-square-foot herb garden and are a little patch of green oasis in the CBD jungle that surrounds it.

Chef Mark is a third generation beekeeper and under Mark’s management, the hotel produces honey each year to serve to their guests in the hotel in many different ways. This year, the hotel is on track to harvesting 800-1000 lbs of honey. We can attest that the honey truffles in our rooms that night were absolutely delicious.

Clint had the chance to get up close and personal to the resident honey bees – there are about 60,000 of them per hive – and afterwards had to admit it was scarier than going shark cage-diving, but we really applaud the initiative.

Have you ever been to Vancouver? We’d love to hear your thoughts on the city in the comments section below!

About Emma De Fry

Emma has been exploring the ends of the earth since she was a teenager, notching up adventures in more than 60 countries and living in 5. Now, with a 5-year-old daughter and baby son, Emma is passionate about family adventures. As producer of Places We Go, Emma helps dream up where we go next, and loves to share our adventures through our stories.

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I was lucky enough explore regional Victoria earli I was lucky enough explore regional Victoria earlier in the year (between lockdowns!), and tour the Goldfields with @big4holidayparks – Sure, I got my much-needed fix of the outdoors and was able to feed my insatiable curiosity as I explored the regions utterly fascinating history & culture, but it was sitting up at the old bar of family run Munari wines, just outside of Heathcote that got me.
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Here’s to a happy summer holiday for us all, of enjoying those ‘moments’, wherever we are. 
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 I based myself at the @BIG4BendigoAscotHolidayPark 
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 See link in bio if want to plan your own getaway 😍
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#holidayhearthisyear #ExploreBIG4 #BIG4HolidayParks #VisitVictoria @visitmelbourne
WHO WANTS TO **WIN** A LUXURIOUS 2-NIGHT GETAWAY? WHO WANTS TO **WIN** A LUXURIOUS 2-NIGHT GETAWAY?
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How would you (and a friend!) like to escape to NSW’s New England Tablelands on a 2-night LUXURIOUS getaway, experiencing the best of Armidale’s premium accom, stunning food, wine & beer, an immersion in the local arts AND a World-Heritage Listed backyard to cap it off? 
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Your weekend will include: 
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- A special Hema Australian Atlas & Guide plus a NSW State Map 
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Take it from me, this is worth entering, and if you do in fact WIN, set your alarm and get up for sunrise in the New England National Park, followed by a trip to Wollomombi Falls (the second highest falls in the county!) - it was sincerely exceptional.
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Oh and say hello to John at the Tattersalls Hotel, Rachael from the Art Gallery, and Sam from Great Hops Brewery. 
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 **TAG A FRIEND YOU'D  LOVE TO TAKE, and increase your chances of winning by both entering.. I know I would 😉❤
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Good luck, 
Jen xx
WE HAVE LIFT OFF!!! ON TV TODAY 😎🕺 . Would WE HAVE LIFT OFF!!! ON TV TODAY 😎🕺
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Would love you to join me as we celebrate the locals of #armidale on TV today
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Tune in (or set your record buttons) @ 1.30pm, ON TEN **TODAY**
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A special thanks to all those that not only shared their magnificent backyard with us, but who opened their hearts and let our TV cameras in.
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ARMIDALE IN THE SPOTLIGHT Ready for another cele ARMIDALE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
 
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Meet James Rainger from @fleetadventures 
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