Jim found a deal on Travelzoo that instantly appealed to both of us, in New Westminster. We are a distance from wanting to get on an airplane and BC has some pretty fabulous opportunities for fun so we booked an overnight at the Inn at the Quay in NW and a 6 hour excursion with Paddlewheeler River Cruises up the Fraser and Pitt rivers to Pitt Lake. I think we might have driven through New Westminster once but we've certainly never been there before and now we will probably go back.
The hotel: We took the 9:00am ferry to give us time to mooch around a bit, arrived in NW by 11:30. Jim checked with the hotel to see if we could put the car in early and they let us check into our room! Sure it's still COVID and they didn't seem to be full but still, it was certainly more than what we were paying for. Went up to our room not knowing what to expect to find we had a tiny balcony with a sweeping view down the Fraser. Next day they let us leave the car in the parkade till 4:00 to accommodate the river boat schedule. Beyond impressed at this point. In this pic, we were in the room just above the furthest out pylon and the excursion boat is right there below. The entertainment on the river was endless!
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| our view |
The food: We had lunch at the Paddlewheeler Pub, sharing the bruschetta and calamari. Seriously delish! Dinner was at the Boathouse Restaurant also excellent. Both these places are directly adjacent to the hotel along with several other places including a marketplace. Lunch on day 2 was on board, a choice of cold plates created as you ordered and absolutely fresh, included in the excursion price, accompanied by pay-as-you go drinks and snacks.
The excursion: We loved it. The crew (Captain, Purser/server, Guide, and Cook - all first rate and happy) were thrilled to have guests on board, the narrator who looked about 15 had just graduated from UBC and talked almost non-stop telling stories of the river, First Nations legends, BC and local history. There were about 35 passengers I think, certainly 20 on the top deck. We slogged upriver against the current, took the left fork into the Pitt River, and then on up to Pitt Lake. The Pitt River train bridge has a swing section that we had to wait for briefly in both directions. Apparently the rivers are very high from rapid snow melt and a high tide but when the water is low, the boat can sometimes slide under one of the bridge sections by taking down its mast. We were against the current in both directions, literally uphill both ways, as the tide turned mid way.
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| the swing section of the train bridge |
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| heading toward Pitt Lake |
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| green water and lichen |
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| happy camper |
Coming back down stream, the convergence of the silted Fraser water and the clear Pitt water drew a distinct line until the water eventually merged. Watching loose logs almost flying down stream past our hotel balcony it was hard to imagine that the ocean tide could exert enough pressure to reverse the flow but it pushes water all the way up into Pitt Lake which is billed as the largest tidal lake in the world. Seems more likely to me that it could happen when the river and lake waters are low, later in the season, not that I know anything about it!
New Westminster: While it is mostly a bedroom community for Vancouver, served by the Sky Train, it has a charming main drag and a gorgeous waterfront walkway and parks. I'm sure the Columbia Street businesses struggle and even the quayside marketplace was pretty empty but there is huge potential for this to be a trendy location. Clever people, they've planted succulents in the hundreds along the boardwalk rather than trying to cope with water hogging florals in a full-on sun and wind location.
