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Vancouver, British Columbia

Boogie Bear and I thoroughly enjoyed our two days in Vancouver.

     The parents of Fiona, my last WWOOFing host, live in North Vancouver and are absolutely wonderful. They've opened their doors to me for my little sejour in Vancouver- not only that, but after picking me up from the Seabus station I was hailed as elegant and offered a glass of wine. Following a six-hour Greyhound bus ride and the customary short hike with the 80-litre backpack, this was more than welcome.
     This morning was spent walking through the Capilano Canyon with the dogs, before I jumped back on the Seabus and into the big city of Vancouver. From thousand-year-old trees to skyscrapers, I wandered a little bemusedly through city streets and the glittering Downtown all spruced up for the Olympics. This is all only a short walk from Gastown, the infamous Amsterdam Café, Chinatown and finally the eastern edges and the highway. Staying on a single road there is a tangible difference in the air as you clutch your camera closer to you and try to hide your full-colour city map.
     Surrounded by water, and bordered by twin bridges, Granville Island sits cosy in the middle of the city. Accessible only by ferry, it is dedicated to two of the world's greatest things- theatre and food. If I had infinite pocket-money and unrestricted access to liposuction, I could stay here all day. Instead, Boogie Bear and I will have to content ourselves with a Cabbage Roll and the local delicacy of the Nanaimo Bar.
     There are a couple of bike rental places just outside Stanley Park, the huge grass-and-lagoon-smothered peninsula about a half hour's walk from Downtown. It's this that I love in coastal cities- the transition from glittering buildings to seedy backdrop and then out to the huge expanse of water which made it prosper way back when. A cycle path runs 8km around the park, and that's where I spent my first hour on the bike, heading out to Jericho Beach where I found chips and the only Canadians with bad intentions.



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