Vancouver: Neighbourhoods -- Saturday, June 10, 2006

Our intent this time was to focus on some of the neighbourhood of Vancouver .

A little research indicated that the following, in alphabetical order, would be of interest:

Chinatown
Commercial Drive
Downtown Vancouver and Granville Street
Gastown
Granville Island
Kerrisdale
Kitsilano
South Granville
Robson Street
Yaletown

Upon our arrival at the Tsawwassan Ferry Terminal, we bought an all day Vancouver bus pass from the chocolate bar vending machine for $8.00 per person, and in one hour we were in our first neighbourhood.

Considering how we were approaching from the south along Granville St., it was logical to start with the Kerrisdale neighbourhood and then move on to South Granville, Kitsilano and Granville Island.

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Kerrisdale

This neighbourhood is located in the vicinity of 41st Ave. and West and East Boulevards. The two parallel boulevards are in fact almost the same street being separated only by an apparently abandoned railway track . I know that sounds terrible, but it is not.

If our philosophy was to save the best for last, this strategy was certainly safe in choosing to visit the Kerrisdale neighbourhood first.

I am sure that residentially speaking, it is probably a great neighbourhood to live in, with its beautiful tree lined streets and large, older houses and low-rise apartment buildings. But, as far as being of interest to the casual visitor, one would have to concentrate on the many diverse, smaller shops located along 41st Ave. between Maple and Larch Streets and north-south along 41st Ave.

As such, there is little that would distinguish this from any other larger city in Canada.




South Granville

This neighbourhood is located on either side of Granville St ., south of the Granville Street Bridge. Granville Street, also known as Highway 99 is a major connector between Vancouver International Airport the downtown. If you are looking for a quiet little street to do your browsing and window shopping, this is not it.

Again, other than the beautiful residential areas, the concentration would have to be on the mix of clothing, art, antiques shops and restaurants offered along South Granville. They are located between 16th Avenue and 5th Ave., just before the Granville St. Bridge across False Creek.

One cannot miss being in the South Granville area, as most street lamp poles are festooned with colourful banners proclaiming the fact that one is indeed in South Granville.

As we drove by bus down Granville St. to 5th Ave., the view from up high in
the bus was quite impressive, and I waxed eloquently to Barbara, on how much more elegant and vibrant this section of town was as compared to Kerrisdale .

The excitement, however, was not quite transferred to ground level as we walked both sides of South Granville. Again I came somewhat the same conclusion, this could be any chic shopping street anywhere in a large Canadian city. Emphasis would have to be on "chic", since it is quite a few steps up from Kerrisdale

Looking in a northerly direction along South Granville towards downtown, does result in the characteristic Vancouver backdrop of glossy, high rise condos as well as the huge Coastal Mountain range. This is just enough not to let you forget, that this is not just any large Canadian city, but Vancouver.

Kitsilano - also known as "Kits"

Just before the Granville Street Bridge, we turned left along West 4th Ave., to reach a hub of commercial activity located here, as well as along West Broadway.

For me personally, Kitsilano is a name that I have associated with Vancouver since my first visit here in 1978 .

It has long been the place to go, to enjoy a more relaxed athmosphere, to take life at a slower pace and to enjoy the boutiques and restaurants which abound here only minutes from downtown.

It is a prime residential neighbourhood, know for its beautiful homes, and its proximity to Kitsilano Beach on English Bay, Vanier Park, the Maritime Museum and the Vancouver Planetarium.

While I was enjoying this neighbourhood tour of Vancouver so far, it lacked the excitement which previous outings held.

That changed suddenly as we turned our attention back to the street after some window shopping, only to be confronted by about 200 cyclists passing by.

Normally, that's in and of itself interesting, to see in the middle of a city, a caravan of 200 cyclist, all in one bunch, slowly peddling along. What made this a little spicier, was the fact that, these cyclists, were either nude, or mostly nude, as my attached photos attest .

The reaction of the people on the sidewalk around us was electric with excitement. My gaze went back several times towards the face of a young sales clerk near us who had come out of store. I was honestly of the opinion that it was the first time that she had seen the male body nude. Her indignation just seemed to grow and grow till she finally went back into the store with her face buried in her hands.

Between making these observations, I was of course keeping track of the nude female cyclists going by. Happily, there was no one there to observe my facial expression. I assume Barb must have been to busy with her own thoughts.

There is strength in numbers. The group seemed to be merrily sailing along with none of the members showing any signs of self-consciousness or shall I say it -"shame".

The same could not be said for an older couple, who found the slight incline up West 4th Ave. too steep and who had fallen behind the rest of the cyclists. All of a sudden, they found themselves nude by the side of the road, madly scrambling to get out the contents of their knapsack to cover themselves up, to the stares of the onlookers.

This week was designated as "Bike to Work Week" and this group took it one step forward to make it "National Bike Nude Day" . At the time I thought this could only fly in "trendy" Vancouver without creating a fuss, but upon returning to "staid old Victoria" (sounds negative, but we love the place) we found a newspaper report indicating that on the same day a group of nude cyclists had cycled through downtown Victoria as well. So I suppose it was happing in your home town as well - I hope you saw it!

From here on, it was extremely pleasant, walking a short distance north on Arbutus (what a beautiful tree) St. to the large, sandy expanse of Kitsilano Beach with its giant washed up, sea-and-sun-bleached logs, lining the high water mark.

From here the route is obvious, as we followed along the beach to Hadden Park and Vanier Park, just north-west of the Burrad Street Bridge.

Looking across English Bay brought back happy memories of the Vancouver Seawall Rollerblade Tour. (see Report No.2) On that tour, I was near Stanley Park looking towards Kitsilano Beach and Vanier Park .

Life is wonderful when you consider the various interests in which people take pleasure. In this case it was the British Columbia Kite Flyers Assoc.


In Vanier Park, we found many kite enthusiasts, who were displaying their skills and creativity for all to enjoy. The sky was a hub of activity in a most colourful display of kite flying, punctuated with the sound, that must be music to the ears for these people - the flutter of the kites.

We met an older couple from Bellingham, Washington, who spent their weekends traveling to various places to show off their beautiful handiwork in creating a snake-like kite that went about 100 metres into the air. They had won many prices over the years and their enthusiasm was written in their faces. It was fun to see the smile on Barbara's face as the man handed her the reigns to his pride and joy for a test flight . He did however, have a safety strap attached to his wrist also.

Following the western shore of False Creek to Granville Island, we came upon a Coast Guard Station and a sizeable Fisherman's Wharf. It would be a great place to buy sea food, right off the fishing boats, almost in downtown Vancouver. The view, through the maze of fishing vessel masts, over towards the glitzy glass tower condos, on the other side, was superb.

In this inlet one also finds an assortment of yachts at anchor for the long term. Boaters have lived here, on the water, for years, in an enviable setting surrounded by the beautiful cityscape of False Creek, with the Coastal Mountains in the background. To top of this ideal scene, there are no dock fees, marina rents nor mortgage to pay for boats at anchor.

This floating community of free spirits has apparently a dark cloud on the horizon, and I am not speaking of the meteorological conditions .

Due to pressure from persons not inclined to have others have a "free float" so to speak, Transport Canada has declared False Creek a restricted anchorage area meaning a maximum of two week stays with a permit. The Vancouver Police Marine Unit has the dubious task therefore of "pulling the water out from underneath the bows" of the uninvited freeloading guests. Enforcement is backed up by a $500 fine if the permit is overstayed. The Tenants Assistance Program has been put to the aid of those who will be homeless as a result of this new regulation.

Moorage at a nearby marina, for a small boat, is about $3,000 per year.

Our continuing spectacular walk brought us under the Granville Street Bridge to Granville Island.

This time, it was not Granville Island as seen from the bridge up above, as it was on Trip No. 1. Nor was it Granville Island in the semi-exhausted state achieved in the roller blade Trip No . 2. Instead, it was Granville Island, up close and personal, on a picture perfect, sunny, warm afternoon, that one longs to hold onto, and wishes would never pass.

Arriving in the late afternoon, and being ready for some snacks to keep the energy levels up, we headed straight for the Public Market. We were greeted by a large assortment of luscious fruits and vegetables, as we walked to the far end by the Public Market Courtyard, to enjoy an afternoon coffee and snack.

The setting is spectacular, to enjoy the late afternoon sun, surrounded by passing sail boats, mini-ferries flitting back and forth between the island and Yaletown, and the numerous people jostling for a position at a table to enjoy their afternoon.

Just past the Ocean Construction Supplies Company, with its artsy cement mixers, is the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, one of the premier design schools in Canada.

This sets the tone for the many boutiques, which cater to the artsy side of life and which make for great browsing .

Of interest was an unexpected encounter with a former student from Ottawa-one of the little pleasures that go with being a teacher. It was a flash back, to a moment in time, when the lives of students were touched in some little way.

The record for far-off encounters still remains the bus station in Valparaiso, Chile in 2000, where I encountered a former student who was doing the third year of his International Studies Program at Carleton University in Valparaiso. He happened to be on his way to visit Mendoza, Argentina - a city which I visited during my Argentinean trip this year.

Again, the day had gone by quickly, and the deadline to catch the bus back to Tsawwassan loomed, with our objective of moving on to the next neighbourhood to explore, to be left for another time.

The day must have taken its toll, because on the last leg of the ferry ride to Swartz Bay I fell asleep and apparently Barbara became engrossed in a newspaper article at the wrong time . The article must have been really interesting, because neither she nor I noticed that the ferry had docked and that everyone had disembarqued.

As I woke up, to see Barbara with a newspaper almost wrapped around her head, and no other passengers, there was a sense of panic. Off we went to exit the boat, only to discover that the bridge lowered from the dock to allow foot passengers to walk off , had already been raised.

Finally, we encountered a member of the crew who told us that we had to descend to the lowest deck and leave via the car deck. With the strange stares from crew members we encountered, we finally made it off the boat.

In the final analysis we were two people completely out of sync with the situation and surroundings. We were out of it!

My thoughts went to the two lives that we were lost in the sinking of the Queen of the North a couple of months ago in the middle of the night, off the Queen Charlotte Islands . (I still intend to blog about this) Of course, I don't know what happened, but I had to wonder, if this was an example of two people being completely out of sync with the rest of the passengers-as we were.

I hate to point the finger when it was clearly our responsibility to be alert enough to get off a ferry when it docks. But to protect people against their own stupidity surely the operations manual of BC ferries would call for someone to walk through the passenger desks to make sure that everyone has disembarqued. Was someone not doing their job?

Well, that's one side of the story, the other might be that it was a full moon, and who knows ----