Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC

Stanley Park, in Vancouver, British Columbia, is remarkable for its size (1,000 acres), its foliage and its extensive walking/jogging trails.  It is situated on a peninsula and nearly surrounded by English Bay and Vancouver Harbor.  A circular drive along its waterfront allows drivers, bikers, roller skaters, and walkers to mingle freely, and safely along specified pathways, in a serene environment at the edge of a major metropolitan city.  Like Hong Kong, Vancouver's skyscrapers rise like an impenetrable wall to the south.  Yet, Stanley Park gives the city's residents an escape to the forest.

Anyone living in the city would be hard pressed to avoid a daily stroll or ride along its paths.  The park feels safe and inviting.  Were it not for the $1000/square foot real estate price for entry into this city, I could live within walking distance of the park in a heartbeat.  Even the occasional tram or bus load of passing tourists, from the city or from the cruise ships anchored in Vancouver Harbor, don't detract from the allure of this place.  The movie industry also covets the mystique of this place.

Along the route of our travel through the park, we stopped for a view of Native North American art rendered in the form of totem poles.  These hold a particular fascination for Jimmy, who possesses an array of wood carving tools, and a desire to duplicate one of the totem poles.  Nearby this display are lawn bowling greens, and a broad expanse of grass that begs for a soccer match or a game of fetch with one's dog.

For thousands of years the park was inhabited by indigenous peoples.  Beginning in 1858, the land was re-occupied by British colonists in search of gold in the Fraser Canyon.  When the city of Vancouver was incorporated in 1886, the park was officially created.  This act preserved around half a million trees, hundreds of years old, with some standing as tall as two hundred and fifty feet!  The only danger the trees have faced in the last one hundred years have been three serious winter storms blowing in across English Bay that toppled many.  Wise-minded guardians of the park have replaced them.

Now take a stroll through Stanley Park with us...