Aboard Regina

[lupestripe]

After a rather refreshing swim in the hotel's swimming pool, during which I had to navigate my way around a large couple who were just bouncing up and down in the water, we headed to Broadway-City Hall station to meet with Univaded Fox. He is a magenta, not pink, magenta fox who had very kindly opted to meet up with us and show us around.

On our way, we talked to a trapper whose daughter now lives in Vancouver. He was very hairy and telling us about a trip he made to London in 1974 when he bumped into Elvis Presley. Canadians will talk to anyone it seems - loads of people in the hotel chatted to us in lifts which is a nice change from the dour foot-shuffling silence which is so prevalent in Britain. Our pink, sorry magenta, fox friend was easy to find as he was wearing a fox tail and loitering outside the station looking furry. After a quick friendly chat and some introductions, we soon headed to his car with our tails in tow.

We first headed to Stanley Park, a huge expanse of greenery on a peninsula, surrounded by water. The views across the bay here are stunning, catching Vancouver from every angle including Downtown, West Vancouver and the stunning steep mountains which provide a backdrop to the city from the north. The views from Brockton Point give the best panorama of the city, taking in the docks and exhibition centre too. There is a lighthouse here too, as well as a memorial to the storms of December 2006 which destroyed over 10% of the trees in the Park. It was only with the philanthropy of local residents that the park was restored to its original state but the scars from the month of storms is still visible.

The maritime past of the city is evident everywhere, being a major British colony during the tail end of the Empire. The cricket field with ongoing cricket match was a clear demonstration of this, along with the flag of British Columbia which flies everywhere, consenting the Union flag as it does. Juxtaposed to this in the Park is a memorial to the First Nation natives who used to live here, an array of beautiful and colourful totem poles. The park was going to be renamed back to the First Nation name but this is largely unpronounceable to Western ears so it was decided against.

We then drove down to the Lions Gate Bridge, one of the two bridge crossings from Downtown to West/North Vancouver. This is a dainty green suspension bridge which supports a road which cuts straight across the park (this was controversial when it was built in the Thirties but they have blended the road with the park quite well). The bridge is guarded by two magnificent stone lions, which we looked at before heading up to Grouse Mountain which stands as a guardian above the city. On our way, we saw a couple of nosy raccoons nuzzling about, plodding along. We just watched them rather than interacting as there have been cases of raccoon attacks recently and we didn't want a face mauling.

Grouse Mountain is some twenty minute drive from downtown Vancouver and already you are heading into the stunning Canadian countryside. On our way, he called off at a local salmon hatchery, constructed due to the decimation of the ecosystem due to overfishing before the Seventies plus also due to the construction of a dam further up-river which produced a reservoir responsible for a third of Vancouver's clean drinking water. Here, we saw the salmon in the river as well as jumping over the specially created dams at the hatchery so they could mate and help conserve the salmon in the area. They are responsible for rearing six different species there and it was great to read about their conservation efforts. Watching the fish yawning was quite hilarious. The river here, raging through a steep ravine bedecked in pine forests was a very magical sight and I must admit I feel Vancoverites are very lucky to have such stunning nature on their doorstep.

After heading up to Grouse Mountain, we parked and headed to the wolf enclosure at the base of the mountain, where three timber wolves are kept to aid conservation of this noble species. Wolfie was particularly excited about seeing the wuffles and we did get to see one lazy white wolf, lying in the sun listlessly.

After seeing a wolf, we headed on the cable car up the mountain, which at fifty dollars was somewhat expensive. However the views from the car, as well as the top, were breathtaking, giving you a full appreciation of the city and its environs. At the top, we caught a lumberjack show where two lumberjacks were engaged in a log rolling competition while another one was pretending to be a dumb ass by climbing up a large pole and doing a show 60 feet up. It was brilliant to watch with fantastic showmanship and a large dose of humour.

After spying the show and taking in some more views, we headed to the bear enclosure where we tried to spy a grizzly. Sadly first time there was none but checking an hour later, we did see a big beast, just mooching around, minding its own business. I'd never seen a bear so close before, literally a metre away, and their sheer size makes them very frightening and an imposing presence. Mister Bear looked a little bored as he was plodding around but it was great to see him.

We then headed further up the mountain, hiking up steep hills as Wolfie was scared of the chairlift, to The Eye of the Wind, a turbine placed atop the mountain to generate power. There is an observation deck on top of this and our tickets covered this so we headed up to take in some more panoramic views. The pod rotated and this was a little too much for Wolfie, who is scared of heights, and he had to go back down rather quickly. Meanwhile a little girl was having a temper tantrum and she hit her mommy, which thankfully wasn't a fate Wolfie gifted me. There was also a transparent floor through which you could see the ground which was a bit of a headfuck.

Back down, we saw some people doing zip lines over the ravines before we grabbed a cookie in the restaurant there. The server lady was from Manchester and she was telling us her sister lives in Pudsey, where we live. She also said she was going to live in Pudsey from next May - what are the chances huh?

We then headed back to the car to try and take another look at the wolves. Sadly they were nowhere to be seen so we headed for dinner - another fantastic burger with yam frites and spicy chipotle sauce. It was amazing :)

The sun was going down by now, signalling an end to a wonderfully warm autumn day, so we decided to go down to Gastown, a former rail yard which has become a bohemian hangout over the last twenty years. The street, with its converted brick industrial units and intricate lighting was very trendy, evoking a feeling of New Orleans for some reason. A homeless guy, who was friendly enough but quite persistent, helped us park while we also saw the steam clock, which blows steam through blowholes at the top every fifteen minutes. It was unveiled 35 years ago today and the pan pipe sound and transparent sides allowed you to see the engineering, which was quite wondrous. We also went into the heart of Gastown to see the statue of Gassy Jack, a Hull-born merchant whose bar here founded the city. We were wearing tails by this point, attracting strange looks and homeless people galore. Many loved the style though and shop owners gave us some banter, including an Indian chap who informed me that England had lost to India in the T20 cricket. We then wandered around the city a little after meeting up with the wonderful Kheetah, taking in the Olympic Cauldron from the Winter Olympics from 2010 as well as getting lost amongst the skyscrapers before heading back to our hotel for an average fizzy beer before heading to bed.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

Comments

[skawinski.livejournal.com]

Hee, you got to see a lot of the area then! I'm yet to visit Grouse Mtn., and that cablecar ride is just one damn good reason to go there! See you on Tuesday :)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Grouse Mountain is brilliant but the cable car ride is quite expensive. We still have loads of Vancouver to see but we still have four days to do it in ^^

[adia-wolf.livejournal.com]

Wolfie, scared of heights? That's madness! :p

Sounds like you're having a great time, so jealous that you got to see wolves, I haven't seen any for ages! :(

Have fun, reading your posts is fun! :)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you like the travel posts, they do seem to be quite popular which is really humbling.

The wuffles were brilliant, it was great seeing them. We really should go and see them at the Wolf Sanctuaries in the UK.

And yep Wolfie is scared of heights, which is sweet.