I type this as we sit in Jericho Park at 4pm on Wednesday June 5th. The sun blazes across a varied summer landscape, the sky is perfectly blue, and without a single hint of cloud. The cooling sea breeze here on the coast brings the temperature to a manageable 23 C in the shade. A few minutes’ cycle back to our apartment and it’s over 30 C. Today is a pause in our manic investigation and organisation as we simply drink in the delights of our new neighbourhood in the gorgeous summer weather.
The foreground is a meadow of short green grass and daisies, Tom shelters under a sycamore in shorts and polo shirt, while Liz suns herself in bikini. The predominant sounds are the wind in the trees and bird song. Listen carefully and we hear the throb of West 4th Avenue’s traffic behind us, attempting unsuccessfully to draw us into the commercial throng of city life. We’re on the edge of woodland and a pond alive with ducks and the obligatory Canada geese.
Ahead
we see people simply enjoying the surroundings. Sitting, ambling, cycling,
every age from pre-school to retired. Crowded? Well I see 9 sitting, 6 walking
and 2 cycling at this moment, and none within shouting distance. Beyond the
seaside path, the grass drops to sand, punctuated by stripped logs 15 to 20ft
long. Vancouver’s beaches are all similarly set out for simple recreation. The
logs act as seats, shelters from the wind, barbeque stands, decoration, a place
to set up home and gather with friends – beautiful, recreational and practical …
how very Vancouver! A heron paddles in the shadows, gulls float above. The sea
is not the crashing swell of the Pacific one might expect, thanks to the shelter
of Vancouver Island a couple of hours’ boat trip to our left. However the wind
brings the water alive with small waves at the shore and some perfect sailing
and windsurfing for those lucky enough to have escaped work for the afternoon.
Today’s breeze is not for the beginner, but the enthusiast. In the middle of
the deep blue channel anchored like water-born castles, are 3 enormous oil
tankers. Their immensity suggests permanence, and yet one is now gently tugged
to the right into the harbour to fill up before embarking on a voyage to some
distant land. Above the inlet the odd helicopter may noisily distract, but more
often the small Beaver seaplanes hum in and out of their home landing channel
downtown to our right, behind the shelter of Stanley Park.
Stanley Park itself is a giant whale shape of evergreen, so admired by any that set eyes on it, and so enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. Surely in any other town in the world this area would have been developed beyond all recognition. But Vancouver is eternally grateful to Lord Stanley – at the very first meeting of the very first Council of Vancouver 100 years ago, Stanley recognised the importance of the area, both to the native First Nations people, and to those that have since settled. He successfully passed the motion that Stanley Park would be unspoilt for ever, enjoyed by all people – no matter what race or religion. The contrast of downtown skytowers, various in height, colour and design, crammed up next to the forest wilderness is quite beautiful, and at least as impressive as the streets surrounding Central Park, New York. However in the Big Apple, you need a helicopter to see the contrast, here it’s part of our view from Jericho Beach. The park and downtown are almost symmetrical from here – two whales back to back, neither dwarfing the other, both creations of beauty.
For those that
love natural landscape and manmade cityscape together, the view described is
already something special. But what makes Vancouver truly unique as a Canadian
city? Place the white flecked blue of the water, the dark green of the park,
the yellow of the beach, the glistening white and pink of windowed downtown
against a breath-taking backdrop of snow capped rugged mountains. Beyond the
water, the foothills of the mountains show North Vancouver.
Impressive
slightly smaller skytowers along the coast stretching up to ordered housing into
the hills. The slopes, of course, are pine clad, and the two main escarpments
we view from here are appropriately named The Lions – slumbering eternally in
every weather. Access to the North Shore is via the Lions Gate Bridge, just
hidden from our view by Stanley Park. Cypress
Mountain, our favourite local ski hill, pokes its head above the left-hand Lion,
snow persistent on its peak with 4 pistes evident from here. The snow has not
been the best this year, which often heralds a great winter to come!
We feel incredibly blessed to call this view home. It is still so hard to bring some reality into our situation. The apartment we have rented from July 1st is 2 blocks from this spot – that’s a few minutes amble, not even the short bike trip we made today.
And this is just one angle to experience the beauty and vibrancy of Vancouver - did we mention the sunsets from Jericho ...
we look
forward to more ...