Vancouver - day 2

Vancouver day 2

A more leisurely start to the day which had started fine and sunny. So the weather has really been  on our side as today we were off on a drive out to the University of BC and the Museum of Anthropology, via some of the well known (well to Vancouverites) beaches.

We negotiated our way out of our accommodation and across the Burrard Street Bridge which is one of two bridges spanning False Creek. First stop was Vanier Park near the Maritime Museum. This stop afforded us the opportunity to see Stanley Park from across the water.

We cruised through the suburb of Kitsilano and stopped at the beach which, being so close to the city is very popular with families. This suburb is one of the sought after areas in Vancouver and it was very interesting passing through and seeing the different architectural style of the homes.

Looking towards Stanley Park

Totem pole near Vanier Park

Kitsilano Beach

We stopped for coffee at Spanish Banks beach. It was somewhat peculiar sitting on a park bench looking across the beach to the relatively low mountains of Vancouver’s North Shore, but also seeing high, snow-capped mountains further in the distance.

We continued our drive out to UBC where we parked and visited the Museum of Anthropology (MOA). This had come highly recommended and did not disappoint. What a wonderful museum. Beside lots of totem poles and a recreation of a First Nation long house, the museum houses , collections of native artefacts from all points of the globe. Even Australia is represented.

We found it very interesting to hear about the early life of First Nation peoples in British Columbia and were fascinated at how similar or perhaps parallel their lives were to other native peoples from distant parts of the world. For instance they built middens for catching fish, so did our own Aboriginals. The women of one tribe would pierce their lip and insert progressively larger plates; so too do some African tribes.

Fijian wedding dress 

View from Rose garden, UBC

We drove back into Vancouver so we had time to attend to some domestic duties. I’ll report another time on our sunset dinner cruise. Hoping for the weather to hold for tonight. Tomorrow we head for Whistler.