In doing some of the research for this trip, we had read about Bowen Island as a possible day trip from Vancouver. The guidebooks suggested that if you did not have time to see one of the Gulf Islands like Salt Spring or Galliano, you might want to go to Bowen Island instead. As we were reading up on Bowen Island, came across the Bowen Island Dog Ranch, a kind of camp for canines. We really had a day or so of things we wanted to do without the dogs, and it sounded like it might be fun for them to romp in the woods with other dogs for a couple days, so we made arrangements for them to stay at the Ranch. We had to get up reasonably early and drive to West Vancouver to catch the Ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Snug Cove.
The ferry ride was short, but not cheap. BC Ferries is never much of a bargain, but we were pretty appalled at paying over 50 dollars for a 15 minute minute trip, even if that included the return. We drove a few miles, er, kilometers, from the ferry dock to the ranch where we were met at the gate by the charming staff. They gave us back our leashes, since the dogs will not be on leash at any time during their stay, and gave us a tour of the facilities. They have a number of places where the dogs spend the night, but the most interesting were trailers that had been used by journalists during the recent Olympics. “They’re just the right size for dog kennels,” the owner told us, “and they were so cheap!” The dogs looked a little mournfully at us as we left them behind the gates, but I know they’re going to have a fantastic time.
There is some discussion of creating a national park on Bowen Island, as there is already a large regional park there and an environmental reserve. We walked around part of the Killarney Lake, though we did not do the entire circuit. The vegetation was incredibly lush, and you can tell that this is part of a temperate rain forest. Mosses grow on almost every surface, and ferns of all kinds grow on the forest floor under a dense cover of hemlock and cedar.
We drove back to Snug Harbor and parked our car in the ferry line. We looked in a few shops there, but there was not much of interest to us. Instead we walked over to the nearby stream. We learned from some of the provincial signage that this is a significant salmon spawning area. You can see the salmon ladder below.
It was great to just sit there an look over at the mainland where the snow still caps the mountain in August.
Our drive back to Vancouver was uneventful. Both of us were sleepy, and we took a nap. We returned to Denman Fitness where we again had Hector lead us through a really rigorous Pilates workout. The day had grown warm by this time, and the group exercise room was hotter still, so I began to wonder if this was sort of like that hot room yoga. But I definitely felt like I had worked all the muscles between my neck and my knees.
In the evening, we had tickets to Bard on the Beach. This is the summer Shakespeare festival in Vancouver. It is performed in circus-style tents on the shore of English Bay, right by the Vancouver Aquarium.
The tents are open in the back to reveal stunning views of the city and north Vancouver. Photography is prohibited inside the tent, so we had to take this picture surreptitiously while the ushers were looking the other way. It’s not a perfect shot, but it give you the idea of what it’s like inside one of the tents.
Our play was The Merchant of Venice. It’s one of Shakespeare’s most interesting plays, though the issue of anti-Semitism makes it one of the hardest for modern audiences. As the education director for the festival noted in her introductory remarks, “you can’t but be troubled that this was the Shakespeare play most produced in Nazi Germany.” This production seemed to try to deal with the issue by making almost all the characters both sympathetic and unsympathetic at the same time. Shylock was depicted as both a villain and a victim, and neither Portia nor Bassanio, shown in the publicity still below, were totally likeable.
Like a few modern productions, this one suggested that Antonio lent the money to Bassanio because he was in love with him, a modern gloss that I think adds nothing in particular to the play. The princes of Morocco and Aragon, the failed suitors for Portia, were played for maximum comic effect, and those scenes were perhaps the most memorable for me of this production.
Tomorrow will be our day for museums and other places where dogs would be unwelcome. I am sure my boy and my girl are having a great time. But will they send a postcard from camp?
