English Bay Beach

English Bay Beach, one of Vancouver’s city beaches close to Stanley Park, faced the Burrard Inlet towards Vancouver Island. Over the gritty sand, logs stretched like beached whales. Having never seen logs on any other beach in the world, I wasn’t sure if the giants escaped from holdings along the Fraser River or were deliberately brought to the site. But in a city with more rainy days than sunshine, it might be useful to sit on a log rather than damp sand.

Churchill’s Inukshuk Beach

I arrived at Inukshuk Beach where not another sole lay in sight. Iced Hudson Bay stretched before me along with the first inukshuk I’d seen in the north.

They were signposts for the Inuit. Where the flat, wintery landscape looked the same and there was no sun in winter to indicate direction, inukshuks were constructed to guide the way. Sometimes, food was stored under stones so a hunter might find something to eat if he hadn’t been successful.