Vancouver: A Bad Finish

Totem poles in Stanley Park

I should say up-front that the bad finish was hardly Vancouver’s fault. Sometime during my Stanley Park day, walking round in sandals,  I remember turning my right ankle, but since it didn’t hurt at the time I thought no more about it, even when the strap on my sandal started feeling tight.

The next day I set off for some proper hiking, wearing boots and with my hiking stick. The guide books and brochures all give prominent mention to the Capilano suspension bridge, with its “story centre, totem park,” and “suspended walkways”. And its hefty $29.95 admission fee. They give rather less coverage to Lynn Canyon, which also has a suspension bridge, fewer tourists, and is just as reachable by bus. It is free. I went to Lynn Canyon.

After my experiences with the Pakistani version, I found the suspension

The very safe suspension bridge at Lynn Canyon

bridge a bit tame, although I loved the forest scenery – huge old trees, deep red rotting stumps, bright green moss, and the occasional waterfall. I had acquired a companion when I got off the bus, an amateur horticulturalist from Toronto, and followed him upstream to a clear, deep pool, where I stopped for lunch. (I had picked up a sandwich at the totally disappointing Lonsdale Quay market. In no way was that a fish market!)

Then, despite a worsening pain in my right ankle, I kept hiking – upstream, across the river, back downstream and across the suspension bridge again, and downstream to Twin Falls  (I can never resist a waterfall) and on towards a road promised on a signpost. At this point, on a deserted trail,  it occurred to me that I should have brought my cell phone… Luckily, near the end I met a couple walking their dog who very kindly gave me lift to the bus.

It was when I got off the bus that it finally dawned on me that I had a real problem. I was limping, and I limped more and more slowly as the day progressed. The next day I took things very  easy, aside from a walk north to the Salt Tasting Room, located in a very dubious looking alley. This was my splurge meal for Vancouver, but although the cheese and meat were good, the portions were very small for the price, and the wines chosen to match them disappointing. Add in seriously slow service, and it wasn’t worth the walk – or rather limp.

Farewell to Vancouver - a very large crise ship leaves port

On the 19th I rode the SkyTrain back out to the airport, noticing that the lights on the curve of the ceiling cast white beams down the wall that made me feel I was riding through the skeleton of some great beast. The Japanese Airlines lounge was no match for the BA lounge at JFK, so small it didn’t even have rest rooms. Nor were the seats, service and food on the flight to Tokyo a match for the Cathay Pacific flight. So I was already unhappy with JAL as I limped off the flight.