I’ve never heard a single bad thing said about the city of Vancouver, and today I learned why – this place is simply incredible.
The streets are unusually clean, there’s very little honking, people are polite almost to a fault at times. The scenery is like nothing I’ve ever seen before blending mountains and ski runs with a bustling modern city surrounded by pristine waterfront with low-flying float planes overhead. The ocean, mountains and city are all worth seeing exclusively, but the three of them work together to make for a truly unforgettable experience. This is my new favorite city.
Not long after settling into our little hostel we left to meet up with my old friend, Gareth who is the most well-traveled person I know. He grew up in New Zealand and has since lived in the UK, Australia, Mexico and now Canada. He’s a civil engineer as well and has generally worked 7 or 8 months per year while taking the rest off to travel which has enabled him to visit over 70 countries. He and I met while working at a silver mine in the Sierra Madre mountains of Chihuahua, Mexico several years back.
Not long after we met up with Gareth, his girlfriend, Kiran, showed up as well. They are likely the most international, interracial, and interesting couple I know. She now lives in Vancouver but was raised in the UK though her parents originated in India. She had a great wit and taught us the a very amusing colloquialism of differentiating between Indians from India and Indians as in Native Americans when speaking about them. She’d use the term, “Indian dot” while poking her thumb to her forehead to denote those from India, while using the term, “India feather” while putting three fingers behind her head to denote Native Americans.
When Gareth first moved to Canada he did so by way of the Pacific Coast. He bought an RV in Southern California with an Aussie mate of his and drove it up to Canada. They had tourist visas for 90 days and completed the trip in 89. – Ben
Our first full day in Vancouver we took the advice of Ben’s Kiwi friend, Gareth, and hopped on our bikes to bike around infamous Stanley Park. Once we got down to the water, a pedestrian/bike path wrapped around the peninsula, providing breathtaking views of the sea and the mountains rising up from it. We were immediately scolded for being on the pedestrian path, rather than on the bike path, which was one lane over. We shifted our direction on the one-way path and took in the sights. Sailboats sat at their docks slowly rocking, while seaplanes buzzed overhead. A low fog hugged the base of the mountains and sat just above the ocean. The ride was perfect and gave us a panoramic view of the city, which is now one of my favorite cities in the world. If you haven’t been, it’s a must. Tall trees and greenery flood the city and every thing is pristine.
On the ride I kept exclaiming, “Look at that tree! Ohh! Look at that”, which I have since learned from Gareth is typical American fashion. He noted that Americans commonly state, “wow, look at that tree!” while he laughs and asks if that is the first tree they’ve ever seen.
As we came to the end of our ride, we slowed to look at a map. I clipped out my left foot and then leaned right to look at the map. “Whoa, whoa…” Crash. My pride was hurt more than anything. I came up laughing. Well, got that out of the way. I have been told that you will fall at least once when you learn to clip in. Done. – Chelsea
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