Walking Club

Linda, Flora, Helga and Virginia met at 10:55 am and planned our route to Stanley Park: #20 Victoria bus south from Commercial Drive and Napier to the Broadway Skytrain Station, skytrain to Main Street Station; from there, the #19 Stanley Park bus took us to the bus terminal near the Vancouver Aquarium ...

From the Aquarium we walked south to the seawall facing Coal Harbour where we had a magnificent view of downtown Vancouver ... we followed the seawall to Totem Park where Linda got a massage to alleviate a muscle spasm in her calf while she carried on a conversation with a small group of visiting Italians ... from Totem Park we continued along the seawall past Vancouver Lookout and the 9 o'clock gun and around Brockton Point Lighthouse ... on the north shore of the park, Linda and Helga caught the next free shuttle bus to town and took the skytrain/bus back to Britannia Center ...

Flora and Virginia continued along the north seawall past a figurehead (bowsprit) from the Japanese ship "The Empress of Japan" which transported Canadian raw materials and goods between 1891 and 1922, including coal, raw lumber, sulphur from Alberta, potash and wheat from Saskatchewan ... on a small rock above the waterline about 10 meters from shore sits the "Woman in Wetsuit", a life size figure of a young woman ... she represents Vancouver's dependence on the sea ... in 1968 she was sculptured in the nude in bronze by Elek Imredy and reminiscent of the Little Mermaid that sits in the harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark ... however, a public outcry against nudity forced our statue into a full wetsuit, goggles and flippers ...

We continued to Lumberman's Arch where we caught the free shuttle around Prospect Point which is still undergoing reconstruction ... the parking lot was unpaved but open to vehicle traffic ...

past Siwash Rock, the Hollow Tree (which will be removed as it was damaged by winter storms two years ago), the shuttle driver reported that black and brown squirrels lived in Stanley Park, as well as raccoons, skunks and coyotes - but no bears, cougars or snakes ... Flora says there are also martens on the cliffs... the road wound past Sequoia Grill Restaurant (where there are no Sequoia trees) to Second Beach where the sun broke through the sketchy clouds ...

We got off the shuttle at Second Beach where many colorful tents and canopies were set up ... we could hear East Indian bhajans (songs) being played ... only a handful of people were there and we wondered if the overcast skies were responsible for the poor turnout ... however, when we stopped to sample the "Free Food" we were told it would not be served until 3:30 pm (it was only 2:20 at this point) ... the literature and sign boards indicated this was a Hari Krishna festival ... Hari Krishna devotees follow the Bhagavad Gita, thousand year old scriptures of India ... they profess a spiritual discipline which includes meditation and vegetarian diet ... Festival of India, also known as Harinam Festivals Inc., was originally established in mid 1979.

From Second Beach we walked to English Bay and caught the #6 Downtown bus at Davie and Denman Streets, transferred to the #20 Victoria Drive at Seymour and Robson and arrived at Britannia Center just before 4:00 pm ...

I reminded our walkers to always be prepared by bringing light jackets, hats, water and snacks to our Saturday excursions as we never know how long they will last ... anyone who has reached their limit at any point in the outing is welcome to return to Britannia or home ... no-one is obliged to stay with the group ...

Contributor Virginia B