Stanley Park

This is my daughter’s favourite park in the world. I get the attraction. It’s a huge 400 hectare site with nearly nine kilometres of walk/cycle/roller blade trails that skirt the park plus internal trails. The view of the sea and surrounding coastline is to die for and I’m impressed too. I hiked the ocean view trail and liked the two paths—one for walkers and a separate for the faster cycle users. For me, it’s an impressive park but far from my favourite. 

A Downtown hike

I took to the water’s edge of Burrard Inlet and circled around Canada Place. Across the inlet, behind Stanley Park, snow covered the North Shore mountains.

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.

Alberta’s Lake Louise

I compare Lake Louise to two locations in British Columbia, Stanley Park and Whistler.