(Message sent Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:31:04 -0700)
Hi everyone. I made it to Canada with no problems beyond the usual horror of spending 16 hours in a space that would be considered miserly for a coffin.
I had an interminable stop-over in San Francisco airport, made worse by the thrice-delayed outbound flight. Just to cheer me up, they made the following chilling announcement every 15 minutes or so: "We are at Homeland Security threat level Orange. Please report any suspicious activity."
One thing I liked about that airport was that the police got about within the terminal on mountain bikes, which where even equipped with blue-and-red flashing lights. One cop had a worryingly well-worn truncheon strapped to his carrier.
I find I really like Vancouver. It's a very pleasant place, and the downtown area reminds me strongly of downtown Sydney, with its grid layout and tall gleaming office blocks close to the intricate harbour. The streets are clean, the cars new, the people friendly.
The only discordant note is the large number of homeless people amidst the orderly cleanliness. Most of them are your standard hobo - old, stinking men carrying their lives around in plastic bags, talking to people only they can see - but there are some startling sights: one huddle of misery was a young woman with an imploring look, a begging bowl, and a heart-wrenching sign that just read, "Fleeing Abuse".
I think Vancouver's best feature is the massive Stanley Park. Four square kms of mature trees, lakes, and pathways, bounded on one side by downtown, and on all other sides by the sea. A seawall stretches for 10km around the park, with a pedestrian path and a cycling/skating path covering the whole distance.
The walk around the seawall is a delight. To one side you have a busy port, with acres of marinas, improbably vast cruise ships being provisioned for departure, the odd paddle-steamer, and lots and lots of seaplanes landing and taking off at crazy-steep angles. And on the other side you've got a forest of 100 year-old trees. At one point you pass a canon that has been fired every night at 9pm for 120 years, although no-one is quite sure why anymore.
In the park there's a pretty neat aquarium. (N 49 18.000 W 123 07.851) It has all the usual creatures you might expect, and quite a few that you totally wouldn't. My favourite moment came when I looked up to find myself being calmly regarded by a two-toed sloth called Havoc.
Today I went a few km north of the city to a remarkable place called Capilano Canyon. This is a very steep, heavily-wooded canyon across which they have thrown a 140m-long, 70m-high swing bridge. Now this thing is as well-made as it is possible to make such a thing, but still when you have 20 or 30 people all clomping along it at once it bounces around a fair bit, which makes it feel a lot more Indiana Jonesy than it looks. (N 49 20.567 W 123 06.889 - this reading was taken from smack-bang in the middle of the bridge.)
So far I have found the Canadians to be unfailingly pleasant and polite. They seem genuinely happy to help you out, even if it's just to sell you a ticket or get you a coffee.
That's all for now - I'll talk to you again from the other side of the Rockies. Love Joff.
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