Advertisement
Published: November 15th 2021
Edit Blog Post
Two walks in Stanley Park
In 1886, the council for the City of Vancouver sent a request to the Canadian government for permission to use the military reserve to the west of the city as a public park. The Canadian government granted the city permission to create such a park in 1887. Stanley Park later opened to the public on 27 September 1888. It was named after Lord Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, a British politician who had recently been appointed Governor General. It was originally known as Coal Peninsula and was set aside for military fortifications to guard the entrance to Vancouver harbour.
The 10 km (6.25 mi.) seawall loop around Stanley Park is Vancouver's most popular fresh air attraction, it starts at the Vancouver Convention Centre on the north-east side of the downtown peninsula, and heads north to Stanley Park and around to English Bay, then south and east up False Creek to Science World before heading west past the Olympic Village, Granville Island, Kitsilano Beach and as far as the beaches.
Today Pam started her walk close to the cedar portals and totem poles
There are three beautifully carved, red
cedar portals that welcome visitors to the Brockton Point Visitor Centre and to the traditional lands of the Coast Salish people. Their form represents the traditional slant-roof style of Coast Salish architecture. The gateways show the history and thriving modern culture of Coast Salish people.
Constructed over three years and installed in 2008, the gateways were created by Coast Salish artist Susan Point, in collaboration with Coast Salish Arts to encourage Indigenous people to share their stories through a variety of media.
The nine totem poles are the most visited tourist attraction in Vancouver.
The collection started at Lumberman's Arch in the 1920s, when the Park Board bought four totems from Vancouver Island's Alert Bay. More purchased totems came from Haida Gwaii and the BC central coast Rivers Inlet, to celebrate the 1936 Golden Jubilee. In the mid 1960s, the totem poles were moved to the attractive and accessible Brockton Point.
The Skedans Mortuary Pole is a replica as the original was returned home to Haida Gwaii. In the late 1980s, the remaining totem poles were sent to various museums for preservation and the Park Board commissioned and loaned replacement totems.
After the windstorm of 2006 that devastated Stanley Park, small pieces of wood were given to local woodworkers and craftspeople.
Ninety larger pieces of wood or logs were allocated to the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations (whose traditional territory is Stanley Park) to be used in the creation of canoes, structural beams and artistic and ceremonial pieces.
Representatives of the three Nations selected their favorite pieces of wood.
One of those pieces was a Douglas fir stump, which was transformed into a beautiful raven sculpture.
Entitled "Raven: Spirit of Transformation", the statue by Indigenous artist Richard Krentz is now on display at the Miniature Railway Plaza in Stanley Park.
Our walk with Pamela took us to English Bay, an area where the water next to Vancouver meets the open ocean.
The tide was out giving a glimpse of small shells and rocks where birds would find plenty of nourishment.
By now it was raining quite hard but we ended the tour with a smile as we viewed the bronze sculptures entitled ‘The A-Maze-Ing Laughter’ .
The sculpture was originally conceived as a linear installation and exhibited at
the Beijing Museum of Contemporary Art. The Vancouver Biennale provided the artist the opportunity to reinterpret the work for its new site in English Bay. In his reimagining, Yue Minjun reordered the figures to create a maze.
The bronze characters depict the artist's own face, grin gaping and eyes closed in hysterical laughter
Kelowna - Wine Country on Okanagan Lake
Another beautiful location. As always a bit of bird watching through the trusty telescope and a small family of mule deer too.
Designed with monastic-influence, Mission Hill Family Estate offers an escape from daily life for over four decades, they have discovered small and unique geological pockets to plant vines from Lake Country in the north to Osoyoos in the south Okanagan.
Outdoors, earth-toned buildings circle a courtyard and amphitheatre, curving into a loggia and garden. Halls, theatres, and tasting rooms wind through the estate while barrels of wine age underground.
This was the last port of call on Pamela‘s road trip cut short due to heavy snow end route back to Banff.
Look forward to her tours in Banff
https://www.heygo.com/pamela
Advertisement
Tot: 0.691s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 13; qc: 44; dbt: 0.2231s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb