North Vancouver, Gastown

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The next day, we started slow. After sleeping late, we wandered down the street to a small crepe shop. We spent a good hour there, drinking coffee, reading the newspaper (in case you were curious, Paris Hilton is front-page news even in Vancouver), and eating absolutely delicious crepes.

After a relaxing morning, we decided to take the scenic route to North Vancouver. We caught the Seabus, a large public ferry, from Waterfront Station across the bay to Lonsdale Quay. During the ride over, we had a nice conversation with the ferry conductor. In addition to warning us (too late) about the perils of Chinatown, he told us about the upcoming nude bicycle protest. Only in Vancouver, he said, would the police laugh and ignore such a spectacle. We finally had someone to ask the question we'd wondered since we first saw the city's dramatic skyline -- why, we asked, are all the downtown buildings greenish-gray? He seemed confused by our question, but responded that the city was proud to call itself the "City of Glass" and, we gathered later, this greenish-gray glass is simply the most environmentally sound. There is an interesting, bold exception to this green-gray skyline: a single, pink skyscraper.

The purpose of our trip to North Vancouver was to visit the Capilano Suspension Bridge. The bridge, built in 1889, spans 450 feet across a canyon. Around the bridge, they have created a Disney-like village (with a Disney-size entry fee). Despite being a little cheesy and streaming with tourists, it was actually a nice place to visit. We took a short "eco walking tour," and enjoyed great views from the various treetop platforms. The bridge itself is fun to walk across. (To be fair, if Michael was writing, he'd probably pick an adjective other than "fun" to describe the journey across the bridge. There were dozens of tourists on the bridge all of whom seemed to think that stopping abruptly and/or swaying was a good idea. Not really fun if you're worried about falling.)

Several successive bridges have spanned the canyon for over a century, from the first rickety wooden structure to the high-tech bridge that now can withstand impressive force, a proposition recently put to the ultimate test. This past November, a combination of wind and snow caused a 46-ton Douglas fir tree to fall onto the bridge. The tree fell with such force that it snapped on impact with the bridge and the majority of the tree (about 30 tons) fell into the canyon. But the bridge held, and the remaining tons of tree were left laying across it. Quickly removing it from the bridge would have created a "slingshot effect," causing the tree and whoever was cutting it to spring sykward. So, they opted to remove small slices at a time while a pulley system carefully lifted the tree off the bridge. The process took several months to complete. The tree is still now-ironically identified on maps as the "Leaning Fir."

After visiting the bridge, we headed by bus to Gastown, a section of Vancover that we had not yet explored. Gastown, we learned, was named after an English sailor known as Gassy Jack. Back in the mid-1800s, Gassy Jack would sell liquor off his boat to the local sawmill workers. Because this was during a time of prohibition, he was a big hit and pretty soon the area was known as Gassy Jack's town or Gastown. Drinking seemed like an appropriate thing to do in this neighborhood and so we headed to the local brewery for some beer and, eventually, some dinner.

All in all, a slow, relaxing day in Vancouver.

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Photos

The Leaning Fir
On Nov. 27, 2006, a severe storm caused this 46 ton, 300-year old Douglas fir tree to fall on the bridge.

View from the Bridge
with Grouse Mountain in the distance

Comments

[jenny]

Thanks for info
We are going to Vancouver tomorrow and had heard of the bridge. Your journal was great to get the idea of what it was like. Thanks