Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ging pieces - which explains the billboard-style depiction of an Iraqi city outside, com-
plete with the caption 'Because there was and there wasn't a city of Baghdad.' Inside,
you can expect a revolving roster of traveling shows plus chin-stroking exhibits from a
permanent collection of Canadian avant-garde works.
Although the gallery only opened in 1995, it replaced the UBC Fine Arts Gallery,
which opened in 1948 and for many years was the only place where Vancouverites
could view contemporary art.
PACIFIC SPIRIT REGIONAL PARK
PARK
ning 763-hectare park stretches from Burrard Inlet to the North Arm of the Fraser
River, a green buffer zone between the campus and the city. It's a smashing spot to ex-
plore with 70km of walking, jogging and cycling trails; you'll also find
Camosun Bog
wetland
(accessed by a boardwalk at 19th Ave and Camosun St), a bird and plant
haven.
Some of the denser forest trails here give an indication of what Vancouver would
have looked like before it was developed: a rich, verdant jungle of huge ferns, unen-
cumbered birdlife (including bald eagles) and towering trees arching overhead.
SPANISH BANKS
BEACH
(cnr NW Marine Dr & Blanca St; 44, then C19)
This tree-backed public beach is a popular
locals' hangout - they're the ones jogging past in Lululemon outfits - and is a good
spot to unpack a picnic and perch on a log to enjoy some sigh-triggering waterfront vis-
tas. It was named after English Bay's 1792 meeting between British mariner Captain
George Vancouver and his Spanish counterpart Dionisio Galiano.
While the two captains parted amicably, it was Vancouver's name that would eventu-
ally grace the city that he almost certainly did not imagine would rise out of the area's
dense wilderness. As for Galiano, posterity remembered the Spaniard by naming a tiny
Gulf Island after him.
WRECK BEACH
BEACH
(
www.wreckbeach.org
;
via Trail 6; 99B-Line, then C20)
Follow Trail 6 into the woods and
down the steep steps to find Vancouver's only official naturist beach, complete with a
motley crew of counterculture locals, independent vendors and sunburned regulars. The
