- Better to buy icecreams from non-tourist shops (Magnums were up to $6.17 each at the suspension bridge).
- Most prices don't include taxes so mental arithmetic is required to make sure you get the right change.
- Breakfast bagels can be cut evenly and smoothly using a bagel cutter and toasted on one side using the bagel mode on the toaster or you can do it the kiwi way - cutting it with a plastic knife and using the normal toaster.
- Buses don't give change we were told - that's o.k. as our trip was going to cost $5 - what they omitted to say is they don't take notes either.
- There is a high proportion of Asians in the Vancouver community - many arrived in the 1800's during the gold rushes and others in the mid 1800's as migrant workers for the railway. Although, Europeans and Asians seem to live together peacefully Harry and I noticed that there seemed to be little socialisation between the ethnicities (we were the only Europeans in the Vietnamese restaurants) and very few mixed relationships.
- In 1914 a Japanese steamship arrived in the harbour carrying 376 passengers from India. They'd travelled via Hong Kong and Shanghai and were British subjects. They were legally entitled to settle throughout the Commonwealth but officials didn't want them so they were refused entry on the grounds they had not entered directly from their own country. The ship remained in the harbour for two months while anti-Asian politicians tried to prevent their entry. Anti racial feelings continued throughout the early part of the 20th century but with the Second World War attitudes began to change. Asian Canadians got the vote in 1949 and the government apologised for the steam ship episode decades later.
- Stanley Park was the home of the Squamish nations who "buried" their dead by lashing big wooden boxes to the red cedars in the area. Later on, it became the cemetery for most people but in 1906 the federal government began to try and remove the inhabitants (it was afterall now a park!). The park has a range of totem poles commemorating their lives and ancestors and I particularly liked this quote. "Tangible things, such as feathers to use in a ceremony, the meat of wild duck, smoked salmon, are sometimes filled with special significance because they are using in a traditional way during the winter dances. Intangible things are equally important: the sense of community, the importance of the family, sharing, being together, hearing the words spoken...when things become difficult, we remember our ancestors and we are proud" and things did become difficult for the aboriginal people for many years.
One day we caught public transport up to Grouse mountain - a summer tourist resort but in winter a ski field. We were told this was one of the best days they had had all season which was a fairly common comment all throughout the week. It was the first day of school and so very quiet and peaceful. The leaflet said..."Wowed by the wildlife. Inspired by the views. Thrilled by the activities. Everyone can love summer on Grouse Mountain rising 4100 feet above Vancouver". So after two bus trips, a seabus and sky train ride we arrived. We saw brown bears - orphaned but now fully grown. Once these animals have been touched by humans they can't be introduced into the wild as they consider people a source of food and could become a threat to them. Grinder and Cooler live in acres of land with a pond, lots of trees (they eat the bark to gum themselves up during hibernation) and greenery and a winter shelter for hibernation (they don't actually hibernate but are dormant which means they get up occasionally for a wander around). They seemed to enjoy the attention of cameras and put on quite a show for us. We also went up the lift in the tower of the turbine to see the wonderful view of the US and North British Columbia. There was also a lumberjack show which I could have missed and wished I had when except Harry whistled the Lumberjack song all day!! All joking aside the show was quite good.
"I'm a lumberjack and \I'm o.k.
I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night and I work all day".
The highlight for us was probably the ride on the zip wire - 5 flying foxes through the the bush, each one higher and longer than the previous one. For me the biggest challenge was standing on the box and being clipped in - I sure didn't look down until I was securely fastened."Stand atop the platform get harnessed in... and fly. With the wind in your face and your heart racing, experience our dual track, five line ziplining circuit and tour through BCs most picturesque scenery in adrenaline packed two hour tour, travelling up to 80 kms an hour".
As there were only a few people around we had the two guides to ourselves (Tom and Lee) and so we were told about Deep Cove (which we visited) and they also recommended that we should try the national dish pondine (chips, cheese and gravy - does that sound appetising or what?).
A couple of bus stops away from the chair lift is the Capilano Suspension Bridge - a wobbly but fairly sturdy bridge that takes you from one side of the gorge to another so that we could walk around the tree tops in the local forest. Sheer granite cliff faces offer views along the canyon and also of the indigeneous trees - Douglas Fir, Hemlock and Red Cedar. We were surprised that with all these trees there was very little birdlife...
We spent a whole day in Stanley Park. It was named after a Governor General to Canada back in the late 1800's. This was time on our feet. We walked along the coastline where roller bladers and cyclists have their own lane and are required to go anti clockwise around the park. Here we stopped to see otters chomping on fish and playing with their siblings, cormorants diving for their dinner, ducks swimming along, seaweed floating (grows up to a foot a day), topless and not so topless bathers at the beach, police on horse back who warned those smoking weed to hide their cigarettes with the clip clop of hooves and watched the tugs going backwards and forwards as we hummed ...
"Won't you ever grow up Little Toot
Won't you ever grow up Little Toot
When there's work to be done
All you think of is fun
Won't you ever grow up Little Toot"
Horse Shoe bay - with cars and their passengers waiting patiently for the departure of ferries to Vancouver Island, small pleasure and fishing boats and little restaurants, steep hills falling into the sea below. It had quite a Picton-like feel about it.Won't you ever grow up Little Toot
When there's work to be done
All you think of is fun
Won't you ever grow up Little Toot"
We also walked inland to Beaver Lake which was an array of water lillies with frogs, dragon flies and ducks that sat on trees. We saw little black squirrels (which may turn grey as they get older - just like Haz), and then wandered through the rose and flower gardens back to the bus stop. Another day we finished our walk by going the other way around the coast towards the wharves. That was the day of the 'Paws for a Cause' walk and so we were accompanied by 1000 dogs and their owners - all shapes and sizes. We stopped by a cedar tree which has spiritual power as strong as its wood and to receive its power all we had to do was stand with our backs to the tree. Also, as the tide was low we saw the remnants of the fish traps created by the local Salish people centuries before. The fish would swim into the pools made by the rock fences but as the tide goes out they were trapped and caught for dinner.
We wandered around the main city a bit but not as much as we could have. It was often on the way to catch a bus or a ferry or the sky train. We did stop at Gastown (named after Gassy Jack Deighton who was an English sailor who arrived in Vancouver and set up the first saloon in 1867). Beside his statue and the place where the maple tree once grew (where ancestors decided that this city would be called Vancouver) was the worlds first steam clock (not that old but known more for its novelty). It toots every 15 minutes. Around Gastown is some fairly sleazy streets which we walked quickly through on our way to Chinatown. We also went to Whistler (named after a little chipmunk animal that whistles morning and night) but more well known as the home of the 2011 Winter Olympics. The train trip looked scenic but the price a bit steep ($250 each) so we opted for a much cheaper bus trip. It is a pretty ski resort which they have managed to make into an all year resort. Down hill bikers use the slopes in the summer and travel up on the chair lifts and gondolas with their bikes. Tourists do the Queenstown thing and catch the gondolas up for the view (5000 feet and then across to another peak) and in 30 degrees play in the snow - it was great fun.
On our way to Whistler we stopped at a few places. First there was Howe Bay - green and icy waters (known as flowering as the ice melts little particles of rock also travel down with the water and light hits it making it look green). We took a detour hunting for bears (not successful as they tend to go into the forests once food becomes plentiful) and also looked for climbers (a few climbing vertical cliffs - what a sport?). Shannon Falls is the highest falls in Canada and were quite spectacular even though the volume of water cascading from the hills above was nothing like it is after the snow begins to melt. Our last stop was
- Parliament a bit similar to NZ's houses of parliament as you could walk around it without any fences. Outside was a totem carved at the timing of the closure of the Commonwealth games in Auckland and the beginning of Vancouver as the next host in 1994.
- The marina to admire the little floating taxis and sea planes.
- Inside the Empress hotel which stands majestically overlooking the harbour where apparently kings. and queens have had Afternoon Tea in the lobby (which shorts and tee shirts were not the appropriate attire).
- around Helmcken House which is the oldest buildings in British Columbia (150 years) and was home to a surgeon named John Helmcken of the Hudson Bay Company. Beside it is a relocated old school building of about the same vintage.
There was lots more to see but unfortunately we didn't have the time or the energy.
