From Burrard Street, we caught the bus to the waterfront area downtown, and at Spokes Bike Rental, picked up two bicycles. As much as I love my own bike, this one makes me want to trade for a new one! I'll resist the temptation.
Stanley Park is a jewel in the crown for Vancouver. Acres and acres of land on a western-most penninsula set aside for preservation, hiking and biking, and NO development. There are precious few places to park a car inside the park, and in those places you must pay. Keeps all the traffic to man-powered wheels (bikes and skates) and shoe soles.
There are lakes and canals in the park, and an aquarium who's focus is on restoring some of the many streams that once ran through the penninsula, filled with salmon. The 'wheels' trail is paved, as is the 'soles' trial, and the wheels trail is one way. The trail follows the perimeter, giving us grand views of the downtown, mountains, North Vancouver and broad water. It's a glorious day - sun, nice temps, light breeze - and Vancouverites are out in force, with dogs and children, taking advantage of the day.
A seagull is sitting on the low rock wall, just sitting there. Not unusual for a seagull, but this one had something in it's mouth. Oh, my, it appears to be part of a starfish. The other part is partially down the throat of the seagull. Her lower beak is propped wide open, mouth full of purple starfish. She is not in stress (she's breathing), but nothing is happening with the meal...as a few people pass, they only pause to comment that the bird has something in it's mouth, and keep walking. I'm fascinated. Is the bird in stress? I watched her for a long time, Stuart urging me to move on. After a while, someone walked by, got a little close, and the seagull flew away. I watched, and true to seagull nature, as soon as the other gulls noticed this one had food, they gave chase! 'My' seagull was not going to share, however, and soon the others gave up. She settled on the rocks, not far away, and I still wondered if the huge starfish was giving her a problem. She chased after another seagull, who ran from her. Go figure. We biked on. I saw the feast laid out on the rocks below. It's low tide,and the small mussels and hundreds of big, puffy starfish were exposed just 6 feet below our path. Still thinking about the seagull with the mouth full, I soon noticed that many seagulls had tell-tale purple blobs hanging from their mouths.
About two thirds of the way around the seawall, we walked our bikes to the top of a steep hill. Hey, I tried biking to the top, but I only made it half way. We had lunch at a really pretty restaurant, sitting on the patio. I had a tuna dish, served on a green papaya salad, with caviar sprinkled over top. Stuart had wok-cooked calamari, which was the best we've ever tasted. What a treat!
After lunch, we returned to our bikes, and pedaled the rest of the way around the park, back to our rental agent. More photos, and chatter in the next post....
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