| UBC Student Lounge, Vancouver, Saturday, | | | | just a superbly scenic area. From there I |
| August 6, 2005, 10:10 pm | | | | took NW Marine Drive down towards Spanish |
| | | | Banks and kept cycling eastwards past Locarno |
| Hello from Vancouver (1) - Arrival in | | | | Beach and Jericho Beach which is a |
| Vancouver | | | | recreational paradise. The water level was |
| | | | quite low, however, and people had to walk |
| I left beautiful Victoria early yesterday | | | | out quite a while over the sand to reach |
| morning at 8 am and took the Pacific | | | | deeper water. After a couple of hectic days I |
| Coachlines bus/ferry combination back to the | | | | figured I deserved about an hour of downtime |
| mainland. It was another gorgeous day and I | | | | and bought myself an icecream which I |
| spent the entire ferry ride on the top deck | | | | savoured sitting at a bench while observing |
| soaking in the scenery and the sunshine. At | | | | the action on the beach. |
| about 11:30 I exited at Broadway and Cambie | | | | |
| as the bus driver had advised me and caught | | | | Of course after this little respite I had to |
| the 99B bus to the University of British | | | | cycle all the way back up, which ended up not |
| Columbia campus and arrived about a half an | | | | being as bad as expected. The campus of the |
| hour later. First I found the student union | | | | University of British Columbia (UBC) is a |
| building where I picked up a bus map and a | | | | beautiful facility. It is very expansive with |
| campus guide. Then I asked my way to the | | | | a large number of mordern buildings |
| student residence where I was staying and | | | | interspersed by green zones and parkland. UBC |
| checked myself into a comfortable reasonably | | | | is home to about 45,000 students and it is |
| priced student room that is part of a 6-unit | | | | the 3rd largest university in Canada. The UBC |
| apartment at a very affordable C$38.00 a | | | | Campus is also the home of the world-renowned |
| night. | | | | UBC Museum of Anthropology, the Nitobe |
| | | | Memorial Gardens, the UBC Botanical Garden as |
| After dumping my luggage and getting changed | | | | well as the Rose Garden & Chan Centre. The |
| I had a few hours until check-in for the | | | | First Nations Longhouse serves as a gathering |
| Servas conference and I decided to use the | | | | place for native students and features |
| time by renting a bicycle at the local | | | | sculpted log poles and various pieces of |
| university bicycle co-op to explore the area | | | | First Nations art. UBC also houses the |
| on 2 wheels. I rented a mountainbike and | | | | largest university bookstore in Canada as |
| started heading west to North West Marine | | | | well as the Astronomical Observatory, located |
| Drive which is the road that is parallel to | | | | beside the UBC Geophysical Observatory which |
| the coastline, but the view to the ocean is | | | | monitors earthquake activity. |
| obscured by dense forest. In various areas | | | | |
| trails and steps lead down to to Spanish Bay. | | | | My first outing on the bike gave me the lay |
| | | | of the land and a first glimpse at the |
| I then cycled eastwards and found a beautiful | | | | Vancouver skyline which certainly has one of |
| lookout spot from where I could see the mouth | | | | the most stunning locations of any large city |
| of the Burrard Inlet and the mountains of | | | | I have ever seen. I am glad I had a bit of a |
| North Vancouver. The university grounds in | | | | chance to explore it before I return back to |
| this area have several mansions that are | | | | the student residence to get ready for the |
| surrounded by gorgeous flowers and this is a | | | | Servas Conference. |