Pablo in the Park

Nestled in the heart of Vancouver is Stanley Park. At roughly 10km in circumference it is larger than New York's Central Park and offers unparalleled views of Vancouver's city skyline, the harbour and across to North Vancouver and the mountains.

I spent an entire day in the park (well not quite a full day as I had become accustomed to sleeping in by this stage) but you could easily do it. Walking the sea wall around the park is a good outing in itself and very popular with both tourists and locals trying to find space for exercise in a big city.

The pictures below show the view from the Nine O'clock Gun (south to north) starting with the city across the harbour to North Vancouver.

Stanley Park is full of great Vancouver attractions including the Vancouver Aquarium, a series of statues purchased by British Columbia over the years and plaques detailing the many historic events which occurred in and around the park.

The Nine O'clock gun was traditionally fired at precisely 9pm every evening so the captains of the ships in the harbour could set their chronometers. Of course the ship's captain would have to look for the flash of the gun to set his (or her but really....unlikely) watch otherwise by the time the sound travelled to him (settled on this now) it would be a few seconds past nine...

Today the gun still fires every evening at precisely 9pm and can be heard as far away as North Vancouver. The ship's captains however, look in the bottom right hand corner of their computer screen and see the precise time and date without any regard for the gun.