As I caught the ferry across the
Strait of Georgia for the second time in as many days, I was pretty excited to
make my way into Vancouver, a city that I'd noted always rated highly
on the livabiility stakes, and a city I'd heard many positive things
about. The city had obviously gone through a lot of work to become
easily accessible for the Winter Olympics a few years back, and it
showed through the ease of which we were able to catch public
transportation to our hostel without missing stops or travelling in
the wrong direction as in previous cities.
With half a day to kill, we opted for
the standed 'amble down to the waterfront when you have nothing else
to do', and the impressive view of North Van across the Vancouver Harbor was occasionally interuppted by skyplanes setting off. The contrasting of surrounding mountains, water and forrests
combined well as the nature provided an aesthetic backdrop to the
teeming metropolis.
We decided to hit up a pro-am comedy
night at a bar several blocks away from our hostel, a move almost as
risky as deciding to sit by ourselves on the Greyhound busses of late
on the hope that the bus doesn't get full enough or pick up enough
passengers and having to share a seat with a stranger. The comedy
was hit and miss, much like the food and drinks on offer. I couldn't
convince anyone to split a massive bowl of nachos with me (they
wouldn't get close to eating a fair share, apparently), and the
heftier Vancouver drink prices (compared to the US) were a a bit of a
dampener.
With different agendas, the next day
the three of us went off in different direction the next day. After
being dissuaded from seeing the Capilano Suspension bridge by its $35
price-tag, I headed up to the apparently equally as stunning, less
touristy and free Lynn Valley National Park which also contains a
suspension bridge. I've always found getting off a bus at the last
stop a weird feeling. When the engine stops and the driver looks
around at you and tells you that's as far as he goes, there's always
a sense that you could be stuck in the middle of nowhere for a while.
In a way it's kind of like the prelude to an adventure.
My public transport gaff turned movie
opening did not disappoint as I trekked through, across and over
streams falls and waterfalls before coming to the bridge in question.
Despite the thick sturdy chains suspending it over a 50 metre
drop, it was hard not to feel uneasy walking across, no thanks in
part to the young kids terrorizing their parents as they moved the
bridge by way of jumping and swinging.
Moving further south to Stanley Park, a
sprawling park that acts as the junction point between north and
central Vancouver, and the decision to opt against hiring a bike
again was a tiring decision, but rewarding experience as I continued
to work off the curry I had for lunch whilst had the freedom to walk
wherever I wanted wihtout having to dismount from a bike and rush to
have it back in time as had been the case in days gone by.
I met back up with Mike and Harry in
town who had acquainted themselves with the Vancouver Southsiders,
the supporters group for the MLS (Major League Soccer) side the
Vancouver Whitecaps. A brilliant pint of Rickards Red (second only to
Rickards White as the best Canadian beer) and some fries and aoli later and the men in white
were on their way, marching from the historical Doolin's pub to BC
Place, the Winter Olympic Stadium turned home of the Whitecaps.
As I was following the Vancouver Southsiders (Whitecaps fans) down on their march to the game today, a homeless man got the fright of his life as dozens of singing and shouting supporters passed by. After making eye contact with me and then noticing I was taking photos of the supporters, he decided to throw his arms up in the air and dance along. As I walked past he extended his arm and gave me a fist bump. It was pretty cool. A few minutes later I realised I should have given him some change, but as it happened the thought didn't cross my mind, as 'in the moment' as we both were.
After as a group deciding a day trip to
Whistler would be money better spent on extra time elsewhere, in
addition to it being a transportational headache the next day when
due back in Seattle, we opted to spend another day in Vancouver.
After an amble across the Granville Street Bridge and past Granville
Island, I headed through the trendy Kitsilano District, before
catching a bus to the University of British Columbia.
Disappointingly, with the college year out, my interaction with
college types was limited to observing a variety of athletes
practice, from rugby players (terrible) to cheerleaders (less so).
The sheer grandiosity of the campus and its facilities was something
to behold, with some arenas being professional size and quality, most
notably the $45 million ice hockey arena that hosted games during the
Olympics.
Kitsilano Beach was a short sidetrack
on the way home, and as I traversed through crowds of sunbathers
lapping up the mid 20 degree weather and collegiate aged students
throwing footballs to each other, I regretted not coming more
prepared to a quick beach dip.
After rendezvouing back at the hostel,
we continued on our disciplined approach to limting our spending
after the expensive couple of weeks up the west coast of the states
and set about finding a cheap place to eat. After several weeks of
living off massive american portions, we were disgusted at the
expensive Vancouver standard of living result in “Perth Prices”
(our tongue-in cheek jab at the prices we pay in Perth... which given
the high wages are probably not that bad, but that's another story).
We ended up settling in at a small bar which offerred discounted
food, seemingly on the hope that you'd buy a few drinks (ie Beef
sliders being $1 each with a drink purchase etc). Given our temporary
and overt thriftiness, our decision not to purchase a drink with our
meals must have irked the wait staff (who receive more tips the more
drinks they serve), and after being asked on three or four occassions
if we wanted drinks, I felt we were demoted to annoying customers.
The apaghetti and meatballs they dished up was quite nice, though,
for the record.
Vancouver Harbour
View from Burrard Street Bridge
Downtown Vancouver
Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge
Beaver Lake, Stanley Park
Beaver Lake, Stanley Park
Homeless man on the walk to BC Place
Harry and Mike outside BC Place
Along the Seawall
Along the Seawall
Along the Seawall
Thunderbirds Field, University of British Columbia (UBC)
Thunderbirds Field, UBC
Kitsilano Beach
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