Walking on the wild side

Vancouver

Canada is vast. It must be, because even this small corner of Canada that I am visiting is vast. The wilderness starts just behind the city and is vast. You would not want to get lost there. Even the city-centre park, Stanley Park, where you find the aquarium, can feel like a wilderness once you are off the main paths. A bad storm in December 2006 destroyed more than 10,000 trees but there are still plenty left. Paths lead through the forest, past a lake or two, and if you leave the track you get the impression that you are miles from anywhere and had better not trip over a root. There are photos of a walk in Stanley Park, from the bus stop near the Aquarium to Prospect Point (views) and Lion Bridge and back to the bus.

The UBC (University of British Columbia) covers a lot of territory and is the location for the botanical gardens, which I haven’t visited, and a Japanese Garden, which takes you straight to Japan and is pretty even in the drizzle. The Nitobe Memorial Garden honours Inazo Nitobe (1862-1933) – his portrait is on the 5000 yen note. Considered to be the best traditional, authentic Japanese Tea and Stroll Garden in North America and among the top five Japanese gardens outside Japan, it is well worth the visit. I had actually gone there to see the Museum of Anthropology but it was closed Mondays, so that is yet to come. However, the campus is easy to wander through, with bookshops as a bonus. Actually, the real bonus was a black squirrel that I happened to see. As we do not have squirrels in NZ but they populated our reading material as children, I find them fascinating to watch. Usually it is hard to get close enough to photograph them. I also managed to photograph a grey squirrel when Diana was buying some hazelnuts from a vendor.

Photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/101628277989220379025/Vanwalks

A pretty special walk was in Lighthouse Park, on the way back from Horseshoe Bay, West Vancouver. On the way there we called in to the ski area at Cypress, where they were using a helicopter to cement new pylons into the skifield before the weather stopped work for the year. So the photos take you first to Cypress, then down to Horseshoe Bay, from where the road carries on to Whistler, then to Whytcliff Park and Lighthouse Park. Lighthouse Park walk goes through a forested area out to the sea, where there is a lighthouse (no longer in service) and beautiful views seawards. In Whytcliff, people were sitting on the rocks just enjoying the sunshine and the tranquillity.

Photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/101628277989220379025/HorseshoeBay