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Published: September 19th 2013
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September 15, 2013 – Vancouver, Horseshoe Bay, Squamish
Mum and Dad come by the hotel at 9am and we set off for a day over Lions Gate Bridge and beyond.
Unfortunately the weather has reverted to typical Vancouver low cloud and mist. The mountains have disappeared – it’s like they don’t exist and were just a figment of our imagination.
The forecast promises a clearing of the mist around noon and we will apparently have a few hours of sun until the rain really strikes at around 4pm. As it turns out the mist continues after noon until it meets a slightly earlier than expected rain, sadly giving the sun no chance at all to make an appearance.
It’s dry for the most part though and works to our advantage as we start with a wonderfully atmospheric walk through the temperate rainforest that is Lighthouse Park. It’s an absolute delight to wander through the fern and moss decorated woods when the mist rests like a low hung blanket across the top of old growth firs, making it feel almost enclosed around us.
We find our way down to the horseshoe shaped beach where we
Lighthouse Park
A bit of rock climbing can see no further out to sea than the edge of cliffs surrounding us. As the boys clamber over the many logs littering the beach (those pick-up sticks scattered randomly on every beach in the Pacific Northwest) the mist slowly but surely retreats, eerily revealing one or two tankers that anchor off shore until there’s room in Vancouver Harbour for them.
Then it’s onto Horseshoe Bay where we drink coffee, check out galleries and gift shops and watch playful seals performing in the shallows for us while BC ferries come and go on between Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island.
It’s still dry as we eat lunch at Shannon Falls just outside Squamish. We feed a dear little mouse (later discover is the Pacific Jumping Mouse) with cheese. He’s so tame the boys manage to very gently stroke his tiny back as he nibbles contentedly and politely poses for a few photos before bouncing away, having had his fill of cheese and pettings.
It’s a relatively quick walk to get as close to the falls as possible for we can hear the distinctive roar of thunder and know that the rain won’t be too far behind.
Finally
Lighthouse Park
A ghost ship looms out of the mist! it’s a quick trip to the Walmart in Squamish for a few bits and pieces (including for us a new holdall to replace the one we have brought with us which is deteriorating rapidly and will certainly not withstand the full-on assault of airport ground crew).
Our return over Lions Bridge is more swift than anticipated and we’re soon back in our hotels, taking a breather before we come out again later and eat together in the Red Robin (Mum & Dad’s treat!). I’m not at all convinced we’ve really walked enough today to earn the burger and fries we polish off but it’s delicious and we’ve a table by the window looking down over Robson Street, even more shiny and sparkly thanks to the lights reflected in the rain soaked tarmac. And it’s only the return trip from restaurant to hotel when the rain finally manages to locate and soak us. And by then it doesn’t really matter.
September 16, 2013 – Vancouver (Granville Island and Stanley Park)
The next day is cloudy with a low mist again but dry so we are able to wander without getting drenched even if we
really are beginning to doubt the existence of mountains, indeed the existence of North and West Vancouver at times! The six of us walk over Burrard Bridge and onto Granville Island where we explore the shops and grab a bit to eat (once we’ve considered the many options that is! However a Red Robin burger last night, still fresh in our memories, is enough to persuade us to steer towards the more healthy options. Besides, a healthier lunch allows the possibility of a little something later with less of the accompanying guilt trip!).
My parents (who had already explored Gastown and Chinatown that morning) opt for the slightly easier option of getting the aquabus back across False Creek and the boys immediately jump at the chance of a bit less walking combined with a trip on the aquabus, which means Steve and I get an hour or so to ourselves and some speed walking in as we choose the longer route back all the way around False Creek, past the Science Museum and across town to Stanley Park. My parents fancy checking out the artists area in the park (they have their eye on a oil they’ve seen) as
Totem Poles
Stanley Park well as the Totem Poles at Brockton Point in Stanley Park and we agree to meet them there.
We’ve seen lots of totem poles around BC and these are no different, except for the fact that these specific totems are the most visited tourist attraction in all of BC, with about 8 to 10 million visitors a year. That doesn’t make them any better or older than the others, in fact the ones on show in the park today are new ones commissioned or loaned to the park between 1986 and 1992. They are wonderful pieces of BC First Nations artistry and are from all around BC but many of the original ones, carved as early as the 1880’s are now in museums for preservation. And there lies the problem with totem poles.
I think the ones I would most like to see would be the oldest collection
in situ, still standing. And for those I would need to go to Anthony Island in the Queen Charlotte Islands. It’s a UN World Heritage site but that doesn’t really help preserve pieces of dead wood. To quote a website I found, “the few remaining totems are like melting gray
Totem Poles
Stanley Park ghosts” weathered by the wind and rain. “It won’t be too many decades until it’s the worlds oldest collection of standing toothpicks that used to be totem poles”. But what to do? Leave them be or remove them to museums as many have already been. Needless to say it’s a controversial subject.
The totems in Stanley Park may not be as impressive but they’re somewhat easier to visit than the Queen Charlotte Islands. It’s a no-brainer for most people.
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