Just a quick note to say that we’re alive
and well; still busy getting the apartment in order and slowly finding our
feet. But, this weekend we took a break
from apartment organizing and did some exploring around Van, checking a few
more beaches off our list (apologies in advance: this is a photo-heavy post).
We started with the Sea Wall in Stanley
Park yesterday. The Sea Wall is a total
of 22km (I believe), 9 of which border Stanley Park, so we grabbed our
longboards and joined the crowds of people making the most of the beautiful,
sunny Saturday (I should note, we’ve been super lucky, only having a day or two
of rain, but we were nonetheless excited at the prospect of sunshine and a few
hours of dry weather to get outside). The
Sea Wall was beautiful, wrapping along the shoreline with views of the Harbour,
oceangoing tankers, the Lion’s Gate Bridge and a couple of playful sea
lions! We had a lot of fun snapping
photos (me) and cruising along the walkway [well, J cruising and waiting for me
to catch up every few minutes, but I like to think I’m pretty cool at my
granny-pace, too ;) ]. We managed to get a
few good kilometers under our belts before the sun started to sink, forcing us to set off back to the parking lot, trekking through the forested walking paths and making plans to return soon (but with a picnic basket in hand).
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| Lion's Gate Bridge from the Sea Wall |
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| Some industrial perspective to balance the beauty... |
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| Seashell beaches |
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| Ferns and giant trees |
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| Colours of the lighthouse (story of the lighthouse below) |
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| Breaking in the longboard |
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| Rock island with a lone tree |
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| Ships at dusk |
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| Sunset at Third Beach before heading back to the car |
We (I) managed to get our boards thoroughly
dirty (pine needles, sand, and salt water, all things longboards are not meant to mingle with), but what’s an adventure without a
little dirt? Luckily, I have a sweet boyfriend who’s willing to clean bearings
and boards with makeshift tools and olive oil – good as new.
Today we set off for Wreck beach (the nudie
beach, but in the “winter” – it was 9 degrees today, sorry Ontario – everyone
was fully clothed). We ended up driving
past the beach, following Marine Drive out of curiosity, and got a little
sidetracked ooh and ahhing over the beachside mansions, until we accidentally stumbled upon Spanish Banks; a happy find. The view of the Vancouver skyline was pretty
incredible. We spent a bit of time at
Spanish Banks, noticing the little details - the huge mossy, driftwood logs,
crab skeletons, and shells - before backtracking to Wreck (finally!) just in
time to catch the sunset. We clamboured
along the rocks (sea break, I would guess), found a little spot and nestled in
to watch the sun dip behind the mountains.
Not a bad way to see the weekend off, that’s for sure.
Spanish Banks
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| Details in the driftwood |
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| Seashells on a log |
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| Beautiful wood |
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| Fern and moss growing on a driftwood log |
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| Bird prints in the sand at Spanish Banks |
Wreck Beach
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| Walkway down to Wreck Beach...those stairs are endless on the way back up again! |
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| Wreck Beach |
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| Mountains, on mountains, on mountains |
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| Rainbow people on the beach |
It was nice to be back on campus (Wreck is a
part of the UBC campus) and it feels strange to think that we’re no longer
students, no longer a part of any campus.
For a moment, it felt like being back home, but also a gentle reminder
that it’s time for the next chapter, time to move on.
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