About The Area

About five minutes away, by car, is the illustrious Park Royal Mall. This indoor/outdoor destination features some exclusive luxury shopping that is not available anywhere else in the city.

Fifteen minutes by car takes you to Lonsdale Quay Market. This waterfront location offers a stunning view of Vancouver’s skyline, as well as quick access across the Burrard Inlet to Vancouver via the Seabus.

There is a wide variety of cuisines available as well as some artisan shopping. The Polygon Gallery, located here, features world-renowned artists and top-notch curation.

Fifteen minutes in the other direction gets you to downtown Vancouver, Here you’ll find Pacific Centre Shopping Mall, Robson Street and its unique stores, and Vancouver’s “luxury zone” – Alberni Street.

Public Transit

TransLink and the West Vancouver Blue Bus provide transit services to Vancouver’s North Shore. See Vancouver’s North Shore’s public transit maps at a glance. There are some connector buses between North and West Vancouver.

TransLink

TransLink is Metro Vancouver’s public transportation authority. You will find helpful information on its website including trip planning, rider guide, as well as details on fares and passes. Most North Vancouver buses, and the Seabus are operated by Translink.

SeaBus, 400-seat passenger ferries, which connect Vancouver’s North Shore to downtown Vancouver in a scenic 12 minutes.

West Vancouver Transit

The West Vancouver buses are also known as the ‘Blue Buses’, and they handle all routes in West Vancouver and some connectors to North Vancouver. If you are looking to go to Ambleside, Dundarave, Lighthouse Park, Whytecliff Park or Horseshoe Bay you would need to take a Blue Bus. Park Royal is a connector point for the North and West Vancouver buses.

Check West Vancouver Blue Bus Transit schedules at westvancouver.ca

Taxi & Limo services

Outdoor attractions in the area include three local ski hills – Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain, and Mount Seymour – which feature skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, tubing, and tobogganing. Hiking and watersports are also popular activities in the North Shore communities. Popular hiking areas include six mountain peaks – Black, Strachan, Hollyburn, Grouse, Fromme, and Seymour Mountains – along with the Grouse Grind, Lynn Canyon Park, Quarry Rock, Norvan Falls, Dog Mountain, and Cypress Mountain. Watersports such as canoeing, kayaking, and stand-up paddleboarding are popular in Deep Cove during the summer months. West Vancouver’s Whytecliff Park is a popular location for scuba diving.

The Harmony Arts Festival is a ten-day arts festival taking place in West Vancouver every summer, the Coho Festival is a celebration of environment protection and nature’s annual miracle of salmon returning to North Shore rivers and streams held every September in Ambleside, West Vancouver, and the Shipyards Night Market is a summer market taking place from May to September with food, locally made products, and live music. The Polygon Gallery at Lonsdale Quay is a non-collecting Canadian public art gallery with a focus on photography and media-based art.

The Capilano Pacific Trail begins at the driveway to the property, as well as a number of other amazing trails nearly. Check out this list for a full description.

This is a great list of essentials for hiking in the area. Please let me know if you are interested in hiking, I might have some things to lend you!

Other popular sites in the area include the Capilano Suspension Bridge, the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge as well as events on the local mountains – Grouse Mountain, Cypress Mountain and Mount Seymour.

The legendary Tomahawk Restaurant

Feast Neighbourhood Table

Village Taphouse

Earls at Ambleside

Cactus Club Park Royal

Caffe Artigiano Park Royal

Kokomo (plant-based)

The district is home to a variety of wild animals, including skunks, raccoons, coyotes, cougars, and bears. The area around Large Marge is an active home for a family of coyotes, a family of bears and other small creatures, as well as many types of birds, such as owls and hawks. There is bear spray in the trailer, but you won’t need it, it’s there as a safety measure. If you do end up using it, please kindly replace it to ensure there is always a can on hand for visitors.

It is exciting to see these animals meandering by. I’ve never had any adverse run-ins with them, and I know you won’t either. Whether they’re searching for food or looking for a warm place to call home, there are steps you need to take to deter their visits.

Make your garbage and organics carts less attractive to animals

The garbage and organics carts with wheels and locking lids are animal resistant but are not animal proof.

You still need to properly handle and store your food scraps and avoid putting them into your garbage cart, to ensure they do not attract bears and other animals.

I can help you with any of these steps, please reach out!

Here is further info on the wildlife in the area.

Cooktop: The igniter usually doesn’t work well, so use the lighter that is provided. Turn the black knob to “ light” and light the burner with the lighter flame – you will hear the gas, if it is flowing for too long before lighting a big flame will blast when lit. Once lit, turn the burner to the cooking intensity desired.

Microwave/Convection Oven:

If you aren’t familiar with convection ovens, it is best to use instruction booklet for baking/grilling as there are many settings. It is a game-changer!!! There is a manual in the closet on the right side, or also can be found here.

There are special Convection Settings for the oven that also offers the option of combination cooking, using microwave energy along with convection cooking. You cook with speed and accuracy, while browning and crisping to perfection. All that is necessary is to enter cooking time. Use this option as indicated to ensure baking success.

Basic Convection Oven Operations:

Convection Cooking (Without Preheating Function)

1.  Press Convection once. The oven will display 100F.
2. Press the convection temperature key to select the temperature you need.
3. Press the Convection button to confirm the temperature
4. Press the number keys to set cooking time. The maximum time is 99 minutes 99 seconds.
5. Press Start/+30SEC. to start cooking. Cooking time will count down.

Basic Microwave Instructions:

Please don’t use any aluminium or metal racks or dishes if you use the microwave setting.

Press Microwave to change or choose the power level. Using lower power levels increases the cooking time. This is recommended for foods such as cheese, milk and long slow cooking of beef. Consult cookbook or recipes for specific recommendations.

1. Press Microwave repeatedly to select microwave power. Power level will be displayed.
2. Press number keys to enter the cooking time; the maximum cooking time is 99 minutes and 99 seconds.
3. Press START/+30SEC. to start cooking, and the remaining cooking time will be displayed.

Microwave indicators will be flashing in the display. Note: In the process of cooking, if the STOP/CLEAR button is pressed once for pause, twice to turn off command. If there is no operation within a minute of being interrupted, the oven will turn off automatically.

The Nespresso Pixie is a breeze to use. There is a water reservoir at the back of the machine, this needs to be filled up.

Lift the lever completely to insert a coffee capsule.

Close the lever and place a cup under the coffee outlet.

Turn the machine on by pressing either the Espresso (40ml) or Lungo(110 ml) button. You’ll see them blink, indicating the water is heating up.

Enjoy!!

A full user’s manual can be found here

Please note: Keep in mind that when you turn the hot water switch on the bathroom wall it can take between 15-30 mins to fully heat up, depending on the time of year and the last time it was heated up.

Turn the shower all the way to the hot side and wait about 90 seconds for the hot water to reach there from the hot tank then back it off to where is comfortable. If you need more shampoo, conditioner or body wash please let me know!

You may notice the switch on the panel near the light that says “water pump.” This will be irrelevant for your stay and is only in use when staying at a sight without access to running water.

The only special note about the sinks is that the hot water needs to be heated up, as with the shower. The switch is located in the bathroom and is labelled “Water Heater.” Bear in mind this takes a few minutes, so plan accordingly and relax into the “vacation RV” experience of it 🙂

It is heated by propane, and should only be on when you need it, mainly for safety.

To adjust TV:

There is a black cord that hangs down the back of the TV, this is the release cord for the spring that securely holds the TV in place against the wall. Without pulling this you won’t be able to angle the TV arm to your desired viewing location. If you get stuck trying to sort this out just let me know and I can help you, it is a bit tricky at first.

Remotes are located in the cabinet above the sink. Strangely, the remote for the candles is the same frequency, so it also turns on the TV, but it doesn’t turn it off, so keep that in mind.

To watch TV:

There is a green light and a push-button to the right of the tv, on the wall. It looks like a cable jack. The green light must be on to activate the antenna. Use the TV remote to make sure the tv input is set to “antenna.”

If you want to use a computer to watch movies, unplug HDMI cable from the back of the TV and use the HDMI cable to connect a computer to the TVand use the remote to change the input to HDMI.

To watch DVDs:

the DVD player is located in the cabinet above the sink. It looks like it could be a car stereo. To operate it, push the button on the faceplate to lower it, and insert a DVD. Raise the faceplate and use the JVC remote to control the movie and sound.  Make sure the TV is on the HDMI setting to watch DVDs. I have a great selection of DVDs, so just let me know your favourite genre or mood and I’ll bring you a selection!

If you notice the black water tank getting full please let me know and I will get it emptied. The level meter is on the wall of the bathroom. Use as little water as possible when flushing so as not to fill the small 18 gallon tank fast. I have to hire a septic service to empty it.

As an example, two people staying for 7 days should fill it to 80% as an example.

The grey water is not a problem as it drains to the storm drain. The trailer has city water so you can shower as much as you like.

MOST IMPORTANTLY! Only RV toilet paper should be used, no baby wipes or such. It will clog.

The candles inside are operated by a remote. It is located in the cabinet above the sink. This remote uses the same frequency as the TV (it can’t be changed) so it will turn on the TV, but not off, so you’ll have to tun off the TV after you get the candles on. Please don’t use any wax-burning candles, they cause issues with the air intake etc.

There is a remote for the lights on the outside of the trailer, also located in the cabinet above the sink. You can change the colour and dimness with the remote, so have fun getting your perfect ambience! 

There is a stack of candles outside in a blue holder. There is a switch on the bottom of the container to turn them on. Please remember to turn it off when you aren’t enjoying them so as not to waste the battery. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a timer.

There is a selection of board games in the cabinet below the kitchen sink.

There are some great books about or featuring Vancouver in the cabinet above the kitchen sink!

some fun local news & entertainment sites are:

Vancouver Is Awesome

The Georgia Straight

The Tyee

Vancouver Sun

Destination Vancouver

Vancouver’s Best Places

Hello BC