Stanley Park - Vancouver
Stanley Park is a large area of land at the tip of Vancouver that forms a perfect natural harbour for the city. Covering 400 hectares it is a fantastic resource for city dwellers seeking a hideaway. We began our exploration of the park by visiting English Bay beach and taking in those sea views. We really miss the sea, in the UK you are never more than 71 miles from it. (for those interested the furthest point away from the sea in the UK is a small farm in Derbyshire called Church Flats Farm which is 70.2 miles from the sea)
We stopped at the supermarket as we walked down to the beach from the hotel and picked up some picnic supplies which we made use of after a short time, the local benches are a bit big but we managed.
The sea wall pathway is separated into walking and cycling lanes and it is a very easy 10km walk to circumnavigate the park.
There's a lot to see in the park including Totem poles, a swimming pool, horse drawn cart rides, cafes, a lighthouse, beaches, lakes and enormous trees, certainly a place worth visiting and revisiting.
We saw a few seals down in the harbour as we made our way back past the impressive array of boats heading toward the hotel, we also saw a sea otter clamber up the gangplank to the path, wait for a few bikes and people to pass and scamper into the grounds of a nearby hotel where it disappeared into the garden. The Stanley Park sea wall pathway is an absolute treasure to have in a city like this where waterfront real estate often devours such areas. We had a great time in Vancouver and if Sarah is ever working out there again I think I would take another ride over.