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