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Published: June 29th 2009
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So, as I mentioned in my last posting, I arrived here in Vancouver before I left NZ. Although the flight was only 12 hours, it was a
long 12 hours stuck in the middle seat. After clearing customs and immigration, I headed for the taxi rank as my accommodation is outwith the zone for the shuttle buses. As the driver was putting my luggage into the boot (or I should say, the ‘trunk’), I got into the front seat of the car, only, forgetting that everything’s on the wrong side over here. It took me a few seconds to realise that it wasn’t some strange kind of dual control car with a steering wheel on the passenger’s side; rather sheepishly I got out, but not before several people spotted me, pointing and giggling. I’ll chalk that one up to jet lag I think. Considering all the flights I’ve taken and the time zones I’ve crossed, I’ve been fairly lucky not to suffer with jet lag at all; everywhere I’ve arrived I’ve almost straightaway been able into get into the local time zone and carry on.
Unfortunately, the 19 hour jump back in time, together with not much sleep on the
flight over, has hit me quite hard. I’m getting up at the right time and going to bed at the right times, so I’m supposedly doing all the right things to get over jet lag, but this week has been a tough one! For some reason, I keep hearing the Boomtown Rats in my head, although my version is a bit more like “I don’t like 43 hour Sundays!!”, which doesn’t fit quite so lyrically.
Vancouver is hosting the Winter Olympics in February 2010, and so, there is a lot of construction work going on, getting everything ready for that. I’ve seen a lot of this as I’ve been wandering around downtown. Also around town just now are lots of eagle statues, around 4 feet tall, and all decorated. After the Winter Olympics have finished they will be auctioned off for charity. This is something Vancouver has done successfully before; going round town you will see bears and dolphins outside some businesses, which were previous fundraisers.
Stanley Park is Vancouver’s main park, bounded by the sea wall, which many people walk, run, cycle and rollerblade around. I walked around, and came across the statue of the girl in
the wetsuit. She sits on a rock, just a little offshore, and is positioned so that when it is high tide, the water comes up to her hand, like she’s dipping her hand in the water. I did quite of walking around Stanley Park; there are lots of trails that you can follow and link up to the main road or the sea wall to lengthen or shorten your route.
Also in Stanley Park is a selection of Totem Poles from Native Indian tribes. These are all replicas of old Totems, as sadly, many of the originals were lost or destroyed in earlier times. The Totems represent a family history. Some are very intircately carved, others more simple, but all quite something to see.
At the far end of Stanley Park is the Lion’s Gate Bridge which takes traffic over to North Vancouver. From downtown Vancouver there is the option of taking the Seabus across the water to North Vancouver, which gives commuters a bit of choice for getting to work in the morning.
I took the Seabus over to North Vancouver, it took less than 15 minutes, and then jumped on the bus to go to
Grouse Mountain, which is Vancouver’s mountain. I took the skyride up to the top of the mountain, and from the top you get some really great views. At the top, there are various activities to keep you occupied. There are a couple of trails (I also discovered that there are a couple of different trails you can follow to climb up the mountain rather than taking the skyride. There was a lumberjack show which was quite funny, with 2 lumberjacks competing in different events chopping and sawing and throwing axes, with the usual audience participation. They have a couple of grizzly bears which they rescued when their mothers were killed, possibly when they were struck by passing cars, and left the cubs orphaned. They live in a little enclosure on top of the peak, surrounded by an electric fence. When I was there, they didn’t move all that fast, but I can imagine if they needed to, they could cover a lot of ground pretty swiftly!
After Grouse Mountain, I headed to Capilano Suspension bridge, which was on my bus route back to the Seabus. There’s a suspension bridge: you cross it; it’s very bouncy; good fun! Over the
other side are lots of boardwalk trails and treetop trails you can follow, then it’s back over the bouncy bridge.
Vancouver is quite a popular city just now with film and tv producers, with lots of filming going on throughout the year. I saw the revolving doors that are used as the front door of the Daily Planet in “Smallville”.
The Chinatown in Vancouver is the 2nd largest in North America, second only to the one in San Francisco. My accommodation was just beyond Chinatown, so I passed through it every day on my way to and from downtown.
I took the False Creek ferry over to Granville Island, which is a big market area, with lots of arts and crafty stalls and shops to browse through, and a nice way to spend a couple of hours.
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Wendy
non-member comment
Had to laugh at your taxi story!! Bet you aren't the first thought, and certainly not the last.