So yeah, that’s been a helluva lotta walking. Yesterday I estimate I clocked around 15-20 km of walking through downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park. Not entirely intentionally, mind you – I missed a few buses and took a few long-cuts through the park. Also unintentional was my leisurely stroll through the park turning into an ascetic trial. You see, no one told me that once you got onto the Sea Wall path around the perimeter of the park, you were stuck down there for a goodly portion of the distance, nor did they tell me that there was nowhere to get food or water down there. What this meant was that I was trudging around the path for the better part of an hour having not eaten or drank anything for hours in quite a hot sun, moderately heavy pack slung over my shoulder. Fun. Actually, it wasn’t that bad but still more arduous than I’d intended. At least the scenery was terrific.

Also in Stanley Park was the Vancouver Aquarium. I don’t think I’ve been to an aquarium in many many years, so that was pretty fun. It’s small but well-stocked with exhibits. The Amazonian exhibit was particularly impressive, with these monstrously large fish just sort of hanging around. I was lucky enough to catch the beluga whales at feeding time and then see the dolphin show right after. Dolphins are nice.

I also trudged around downtown some more, stopping by Tom Lee Music to play some guitars. They had a Burns Steer in stock – now that’s a guitar only Billy Bragg could love. Depiste being uglier than an ingrown toenail, it actually sounded pretty cool. Played some “Levi Stubbs Tears” on it and had an immense sense of self-satisfaction for the rest of the day.

Come evening, I met up with my friend Andrew from university whom I hadn’t seen in over three years – went out for dinner to do some catching up and then he gave me a driving tour around the city. Swung by Main and Hastings looking to ogle some junkies but alas, they weren’t out last night. Just your typical homeless people and prostitutes – hey, I can see that sort of thing back in Toronto. I wanted to see Vancouver’s fabled heroin addicts! Oh well.

So this is my last day out west and I have nothing to do. No plans whatsoever. And that suits me just fine, actually – the past week has been non-stop on the go, so I don’t mind having a chance to kick back and rest for a bit before heading home.

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