Ireland day 0340. Saturday 03 September 2022- Canada2205

Ireland day 0340. Saturday 03 September 2022- Canada2205
Today’s summary Took the bus out to the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus in the morning then had a lunch in Great Dane Café and a good look round the Museum of Anthropology.   After the museum visit we walked down to the beach and went swimming (yes really) and then trolley bus back into Vancouver.   Fish and chips with beer on the waterfront to finish off another perfect day
Today’s weather Dry and bright but cooler than recently.   Overcast in the morning but some sun in the afternoon.   Light westerly wind.   About 22C
Today’s overview location
(The blue mark shows the location of our route)
Close-up location
(The green line shows where we walked)
(Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected):
Wreck Beach from Path four to Path six
Commentary

We were slightly taken by surprise this morning when we got up and opened the curtains of our bedroom.   Rather than the uniform blue skies and sparking sunshine that has greeted us most mornings this week, we were confronted by a dull, overcast scene and temperatures that felt to have fallen about ten degrees since yesterday.

But actually that bade well for our planned activity for today, which was a trip out to the University of British Colombia (UBC) about 10km / 6mi west of where we are staying.   We wanted to have a look at the campus and maybe even go for a swim on the beach below the university.   But mostly we wanted to take a look at the Museum of Anthropology (MoA).   It’s one of Vancouver’s noted sights and is supposed to be on every visitor’s agenda.   So we added it to ours.

It’s a ten minute walk to the bus stop nearest to us, so once we’d had breakfast we gathered our things and walked down to King Edward street to pick up the no. 25 which would take us direct to the UBC campus.

The bus turned up exactly on time but getting on it was quite a stressful affair.   It hurtled straight towards us and despite our frantic attempts to get the driver’s attention, it didn’t stop.   Rather, he pointed vigorously up the hill in front of the bus – suggesting that actually we should have been waiting at the next stop along the route (probably because there were roadworks going on around our designated stop).   Anyway, the bus ground to a halt about 400metres/yds up the road and the driver kindly waited for us while we panted along in hot pursuit.

The next stressful think was figuring out how to pay.   I had my Dublin “Leap” card and my London “Oyster” card on me but figured that neither Euros nor Pounds would be much use in Vancouver so just hoped that the bus would accept cash.   But better still, it had a contactless debit card reader, so getting on and paying turned out to be relatively simple.

Early misgivings dispelled, we sped along to the campus and arrived just in time to find the lovely Great Dane café where we got some rather delicious focaccia sandwiches, coffee and a scone (at long last).   By this stage I was ready to go back to sleep but we stirred ourselves and completed the final half km / 500yds to the Museum on foot.

I found the MoA fascinating, and well laid out.  A beautiful museum – and what struck me most was how closely the local artefacts (totem poles and the like) from this part of the Pacific resembled those we had seen on a trip to Hawaii a few years ago.   It made me wonder if these peoples all had some kind of common Polynesian root.   Doubtless there are learned tomes on the subject – perhaps one day I’ll read up about it and discover a bit more about the history of this part of the world.

Having despatched the museum , we found a path (Path no. 4, for the curious) at the back of the museum leading down to the Wreck Beach, which borders much of the south west perimeter of the UBC campus.   We decided to go down and have a look – though not without some trepidation as the beach was designated as “clothing optional”.   Mainly we were curious to go as we had heard that it’s one of the best spots in Vancouver for swimming.   I in particular have been going on about wanting to swim in the sea for several months now, so we had taken the precaution of packing our things and seeing if we could gather the courage actually to go in.

Anyway, I am pleased to report that we did take the plunge – literally – and had a quick splash around in the sea.   It wasn’t too shrivellingly cold and I think we both felt pretty pleased actually to have done it.   Although I, for one, was a bit sorry that I had to do it in the Pacific rather than the Irish Sea.   Still, maybe I will feel emboldened to tackle Portmarnock Beach next.

I find that swimming always makes me hungry, so we clambered back up from the shore (it’s 498 steps back up to the campus via Path no. 6) and found a no 14 trolleybus to take us right back into town.   We met up with the rest of the family then enjoyed a delicious and informal fish and chip supper down on the waterfront near to Granville Island.   With a couple of cold beers to accompany it, it would be hard to imagine a better way to finish off the day.

By this stage it was starting to get dark, so we said our goodbyes and Val and I availed ourselves once more of the Arbutus Greenway for the leg-stretching uphill walk back to our accommodation.

A thoroughly excellent day, in every way.   Oh and I forgot to mention – by lunchtime, the clouds dispersed and the sun came out again.  Which just made things even better.

 

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)

We tried to strike up a conversation but sadly he (or perhaps she?) wasn’t feeling very chatty today.   Would have been interesting to see what they had to say In case anyone was worrying that I might be suffering from a lack of those delicious Irish scones from the Kingfisher , we luckily managed to find some in the Great Dane café.   This was an orange flavour one and obviously not as good as the Enniskerry variety, but pretty good nevertheless
I’m not sure that Val quite knew where to look when confronted by this indigenous icon.   Or maybe she did but was just being polite.   Anyway it was a good advance alert for the “clothing optional” beach which lay below the museum, just beyond this point. Wreck Beach, from near Trail No. 4.
When this is the view from the beach, how can you not want to go swimming?   Well – we did!   And it was lovely.  Although I was a bit worried about being eaten by an inquisitive seal that started splashing about nearby.
The no. 14 trolleybus back to town.   Brings back happy memories of a childhood near Bradford, Yorkshire (which also had trolleybuses until they were abolished in 1972). Fish and chips on the harbourfront, close to Granville Island.   Exceptionally nice, I have to say.   Especially with a couple of cans of local beer.
In the Museum of Anthropology.   This particular sculpture is called “The Raven and the First Men” and it was created by artist Bill Read in 1980.   It’s carved from a massive piece of Yellow Cedar wood, and it’s almost 2 metres / 6 feet tall.   The gallery it’s installed in is, actually, an old WW2 gun turret.
Interactive map

(Elevations corrected at  GPS Visualizer: Assign DEM elevation data to coordinates )

Total distance: 3441 m
Max elevation: 94 m
Min elevation: 1 m
Total climbing: 129 m
Total descent: -116 m
Total time: 02:11:07
Download file: Wreck Beach From UBC compressed corrected.gpx

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