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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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Vancouver by Helen Bennett Vancouver is a place surrounded by natural beauty. Whether you like the busy big city, parks, beaches, mountains or peace and quiet away from the crowds, Vancouver and the vast surrounding area has something to suit every taste. It has been the setting for many films and TV series because of its varied landscape. Situated in the Pacific Northwest it is the perfect place for starling or ending a journey through the Canadian Rockies, but it is worth taking some time and exploring the city fully rather than just passing through. One of the first things to hit you when you arrive in Canada is the friendliness of the people. In bars, restaurants and especially shops the staff are always helpful and smiling. It's common for them to stop and have a conversation with you if it's not busy. This is quite a culture shock when you're used to the abrupt kind of service we often get in this country! The downtown area is compact and easy to get around. If you should find yourself lost then the locals recommend you look for the Hotel Vancouver. One of the highest, oldest and more expensive hotels in Canada (the Royal Family always stay there when they are in town!), it is easily distinguishable by its green lead roof, visible from most parts of the city, so just heading towards it will soon get you back on track. Probably one of the most famous landmarks and the most popular postcard picture is Canada Place, which overlooks the harbour. This large exhibition complex was originally built for EXPO 86 and is now home to Vancouver's convention centre, an LMAY theatre, the Pan Pacific hotel and the cruise ship terminal. As it juts out into the harbour, it is cleverly designed in the shape of a ship complete with five white fibre glass sails on the top. Around the outside is a walkway with lookout points and seating areas. From here, you can get a superb view out over the busy harbour. This is a fascinating place to watch with an array of transport from ferries, cargo ships and cruisers to helicopters and sea planes which are landing and taking off even few minutes. No matter what time of day or night there is always some activity! During the summer, cruise ships dock at the terminal here on their way to and from Alaska. Inside Canada Place there is always a convention of some sort taking place, so there are usually lots of people around. Also inside there is a small food court with large windows overlooking the harbour and a couple of good value souvenir shops. The IMAX theatre is definitely worth a visit, especially if you've not managed to get to one of the few in this country. The screen is 5 storeys high and the films shown are specially made for the IMAX theatre, so you can really get involved in them. You even get a brief talk at the start of the show about what to do if you start to feel dizzy as the images appear so close! The Pan Pacific Hotel is pure luxury. During three trips to the city, my budget has only stretched to one night's stay here! The rooms are massive and, if you are lucky enough to get one at the back of the hotel, you get another great harbour view, though we only managed to catch a quick glimpse of this when the maid left the door of one of the rooms opposite open! Their bar has a great cocktail list to work through, although being a top class hotel it is a bit pricey! Another attraction is the Harbour Centre tower. An outside glass fronted lift takes you to the lookout point 167 metres high. Not one of the tallest towers in the world, but you can still look down over most of the city, although some of the skyscrapers are cowing to equal height! Your ticket is valid until 9pm for as many trips up as you want, so you can see the city both by day and night. At the top there is a small cafe and a theatre, which shows a short film on British Columbia and the next floor up has a revolving restaurant. Not surprisingly this costs more than your average restaurant but it is worth splashing out for the good food and great view. At the other end of the city is Stanley Park, one of the largest inner city parks in the world. Bordered by both the city and the Pacific Ocean the outside edges tend to be manicured and busy but it is possible to escape the crowding in the denser middle areas of the park. This is the place where Vancouverites go to exercise - you cannot go a couple of minutes without being passed by a jogger, cyclist or roller-blader! The park has a perimeter walk around the sea wall, which is very good exercise! We decided to do the walk thinking it would he a nice pleasant stroll, not realising that it was actually 6 miles. We learnt our lesson then that you should look in the guide books or read the notices before you start! If you don't fancy the idea of walking all that way, it is possible to hire bikes and cycle along the special paths marked out for you, or the more adventurous can hire roller blades! There are a couple of cafes and beaches lining a lot of the walk, so there are plenty of opportunities for a break on the way round. It is just one of those things that you have to do, as no visit would be complete without a walk around the sea wall. Vancouver Aquarium is situated in the middle of the park and has a variety of aquatic creatures including sharks and beluga and killer whales. An area of the park has been set aside for a display of totem poles of various size and design. The Pacific Northwest is famous for its native Indians and all around the city are shops and galleries selling Inuit art, so Brockton Point is a display of the most well known Indian art - the totem pole. Having your photo taken here is a must even though its one of the biggest tourist traps and you may have to fight your way through the crowds to get it done. Stanley Park is so big that you can spend a whole day going round and still only scratch the surface. The oldest pan of the city is an area known as Gastown, where some of the first inhabitants settled around a saloon owned by one of Vancouver's famous citizens - Gassy Jack. He got his name because he loved to talk and there is a statue of him at the end of Water Street, the main road which runs through the heart of Gastown. Halfway down the street is the Steam Clock - a large grandfather clock powered entirely by steam which chimes (or rather blows!) every hour. Once a run-down and derelict part of the city, Gastown has now been restored to its former glory and is a popular tourist attraction owing to the old style buildings and the many shops and art galleries which line Water Street. Vancouver is a shopper's dream. The main mall is the Pacific Centre, a massive place with hundreds of shops, which is linked together by over and underground walkways, so you can go for miles without having to step outside. There are also several smaller centres, a few of which house the more exclusive shops. Another favourite shopping spot is Robson Street. This stretches for miles and is one of the city's trendiest areas. As well as containing all the chain stores and many souvenir shops, it also has lots of upmarket boutiques and cafes where the young and trendy hang out. This is the perfect place to do a spot of people-watching! Accommodation in the city ranges from top class hotels to youth hostels. There are at least 3 hostels in the downtown area for budget accommodation and also plenty of reasonably priced hotels and motels around, so there is something to suit every kind of traveler. Most hotels have cable TV as well as tea and coffee making facilities in the rooms. For eating out, as you would expect in a big city, there is plenty of choice. There are loads of fast food places dotted around like McDonalds, Burger King and A & W, and most of the shopping centres have their own food court. There are also plenty of good restaurants around offering all kinds of international food. The best we've found are Forsters near Canada Place and The Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown. Both offer all inclusive meal deals, which helps if you're travelling on a budget Like all major cities, Vancouver has its seedy areas that should he avoided, but normal city common sense rules apply. At first I was quite concerned that, if you go out at night, there were few people walking out on the streets and wondered if it was safe. This was until I realised that Vancouverites never walk anywhere. Even just to go down the road, they take the car! Despite the locals driving everywhere, there is a very good public transport system. The main sights are within walking distance of each other, but there are frequent bus, train and ferry services to get you farther afield. For tours out of Vancouver, there are a number of companies running trips to the surrounding areas. I would recommend a trip to the North Shore. This takes you across the harbour over the Lions Gate Bridge - a giant suspension bridge, which links up downtown with the North side - and into the Capilano region. This is beautiful country with mountains, rivers and forests. The first stop is the Capilano Suspension Bridge, which is the exact opposite to the Lions Gate! This is a suspension bridge in the true sense of the word - wooden planks and wire rails suspended 230 feet over the side! Next is Grouse Mountain. This is Vancouver's local ski resort and you can take a cable car to the summit 3700 feet up. On the way up and from the top, there is apparently a great view. Unfortunately, both times I've been up, it has been covered in cloud and we only managed to catch a glimpse through the mist! On the way back to the city you also get an alternative ride across the harbour on one of the sea buses (small passenger ferries) Another good trip is Vancouver Island. This takes approx. 2 hours to reach by road and by one of the large B.C. ferries that travel to the island every hour, passing through the Gulf Islands on the way. First stop is the Butchart Gardens. This was started in 1904 by the Butchart family and now covers over 50 acres. Not being particularly interested in plant life, I wasn't really looking forward to this stop, but even I had to admit that the gardens are beautiful and very peaceful. After that, it's onto the capital city of British Columbia - Victoria. Although the capital, it is the complete opposite to Vancouver and reminds me of an English town rather than a Canadian city. The centre is full of old-fashioned buildings with smaller streets and quaint shops. There are no skyscrapers here to spoil the skyline. Because of this, it is a very popular place for the English to retire to. It even has old red double-decker buses from London and the famous Empress hotel serves afternoon tea, so this is the place to he if you are feeling a bit homesick! Also worth a visit is Whistler. This is about 2 hours drive out of town and is one of Canada's premier ski resorts. The dive there takes you through some beautiful country, travelling along the Sea to Sky Highway and into the B.C. mountains. Not quite as spectacular as the Rockies, but still very scenic. Stops along the way are at Shannon and Brandywine Falls. Both waterfalls are pretty impressive with Shannon Falls being the highest and most powerful. Whistler is a specially built ski resort but despite this it does have some character. It was built in European style around the Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, complete with wooden buildings and chalets. The resort is open all year round and, although the ski season is their busiest time, there are still plenty of summer visitors to take the cable cars up to the top of the mountains for a great view. There are also plenty of different walks you can take to get off the beaten track and see more of the countryside. Another fascinating way to see the city is from the air, the helicopter and sea-plane companies, although mainly operating a cargo service, also offer tourist flights around the area. We decided to take the sea-plane for a different experience and it's quite weird to see the water looming at you when you come in to land. It also gives you the opportunity to take some great aerial photos! There are
still plenty of sights and trips that I haven't mentioned here and others
that I have yet to visit. Vancouver really cannot be seen in one trip.
As well as lots to see and do in the city itself, there is also a variety
of scenery and places to go in the surrounding area. So it is definitely
worth spending some time exploring this beautiful part of Canada. First published in VISA issue 21 (summer 1996). |