The First Seventy Years: 141 - Vancouver And Victoria
Eric Biddulph embarks on a cycling tour of Western Canada.
Eric’s book The First Seventy Years can be obtained for £10 by contacting http://mary@bike2.wanadoo.co.uk or telephoning 01484-658175.
All the cash raised by the book goes to a water aid project in Malawi.
Our Servas host, Margaret Hunter, picked us up from Vancouver Airport in her people carrier. She was going up to Whistler for a weekend's skiing but generously let us have the use of her house whilst she was away.
I fell in love with Vancouver. The city has a wonderful feel about it. Sheltered by Vancouver Island, it enjoys mild winters and hot summers. It is the only major city in Canada which does not experience severe winters. There is a good public transport system. We were close to a trolleybus stop. It brought back memories of my days in Nottingham. It was a pleasant experience to be whisked to downtown Vancouver by these silent knights of the road.
A number of islands and peninsulas make up the city. A good bird's eye view of the surrounding area can be seen from The Lookout, a glass enclosed platform some 170 metres high. There is a long promenade running along the seafront. Extensive pedestrianisation makes it an enjoyable place to visit. Home to one and a half million people make it Canada's third largest city.
Despite its size and strategic position it is not the administrative capital of British Columbia. That honour goes to Victoria, situated at the southern end of Vancouver Island. How it acquired its status goes back to the border dispute days with the USA. The British Government decided to establish a settlement on the island to thwart any attempt by the American Government to occupy it. It grew in importance until 1868 when it was made the capital of British Columbia. It now has regular ferry and seaplane communication with the mainland. The distance between Vancouver and Victoria is about the same as Dover-Calais. One has the feeling of something akin to Calais being the administrative centre of South Eastern England. The population of Victoria is only 300,000. The city has an unhurried
ambience of its own; very quaintly English in character. The Royal British Columbia (Museum, the Parliament Building, Crystal Garden and the Butterfly Park make for an enjoyable visit.
Upon our return to the mainland we travelled by Greyhound bus to Kelowna. A climb over a mountain pass with plenty snow in evidence reminded us that it was still only Spring. We stayed two nights in Kelowna with Dean and Nadeen, our Servas hosts and their two young children. No television set in the house. Dean cycled to the airport to catch a flight to Victoria. He was employed by a public sector re-cycling organisation. They were not your typical North American family.
We had been in Canada a week and had not yet done any cycling. I took the bikes out of the boxes and built them up ready for our departure. Bidding our hosts goodbye we rode across the pontoon bridge to reach the quieter side of Lake Okanaga. A very pretty route as we rode along the western side of the lake without a care in the world. As we began to leave the lake behind us the road became increasingly tough.
