Stanley Park Vancouver

Thursday, May 28

Decision for the day made, I set out from home to head down to the Lonsdale Quay to catch the Seabus which gets me across to the city.

According to several locals, it's a mere 15 minutes' walk from the Water Station to Stanley Park. Although I knew it would definitely take me longer than that, I never expected it to be quite such a marathon. 
I walk and walk and walk. Despite the excruciating pain in my lower back and right knee, I can't stop. It's amazing, it's beautiful, it's interesting. There's no way I can just give up now.
So I keep on dragging myself along.

Gardens right along the city's edge

Looking back at the Convention Center with it's green roof

Seaplanes waiting to do a job

Popular lunch places

Dogs are welcome everywhere

Marina with some lovely yachts

and cute house boats

Rose garden

A dual carriage way of sorts - push bikes on one side, pedestrians on the other

An unexpected pond

Another pond

in fact, a whole series of ponds, and then I'm in Stanley Park at last

Settling into the carriage

letting these handsome guys do the walking for me

gentle giants

Lion's Gate Bridge in the distance

not a mermaid but a girl in a wet suit

Rhododendrons

Rose gardens

statue of Robbie Burns

Queen Victoria memorial

The relaxing ride over, I walk along the painter's loop towards the Aquarium

Fountain at the entrance of the Aquarium

Huge tanks full of jelly fish

Sea horses

colourful variety

very large jelly fish

and very large and colourful jelly fish

a pretty blue frog

a pretty fat frog

Outdoors for a bit of fresh air

Looking at the sea otters, penguins, dolphins and beluga whales

and a whole family of fiery red frogs

After all that, I find number 19 bus to take me back into town where I still find the energy to meet up with a couple of my travel mates for dinner.Phew! What a day!