A Drunken Walk

                                   Long Suspension Bridge

     In Vancouver, Canada I could not resist walking across the longest suspension bridge in the world.  At  230-feet above the rushing Capilano River the 450-foot long bridge swayed with dizzying vigor. The wind swooped down to snare a man’s hat off his head carrying it like a floating balloon over the valley.

     The setting for this steel suspension bridge is in a temperate rain forest in British Columbia, Canada.  Many timid visitors watched as others stepped onto and walked drunkenly across the ravine. I compared it much like walking on a tightrope.

     A Scotsman by  the name of Mackay was so impressed with the beauty of the area that in 1888 he bought 6000 acres spanning both sides of the river.  The following year he suspended a hemp rope and cedar plank footbridge across the deep ravine.

    The bridge became quite an attraction and in 1903 a more secure wire bridge was built. Over the century the bridge was sold four times and the fourth and present steel cable bridge was built in 1956 with 13 tons of concrete firmly anchoring the cables in place on each end of the bridge. In 1962  hurricane Freda uprooted 82 large trees in the park with eight of them falling on the footbridge, but caused no damage!

    On the other side of the  swaying bridge I hiked several of the nature trails through the rainforest. Excellent interpretive signs, with delightful imaginative art work were informative. On successive trips to Vancouver I always make my way to Capilano to again cross the bridge.

On one trip there was a story pole carver on the premises who was happy to answer questions and explain his craft and the history of story poles.

    With no wind blowing it is  quite an easy walk. No matter what the weather, the lovely park-like forest on the far side is worth the walk, swaying and wobbly or not.

Box for What?

                                               A Bread Mailbox?

    One year I ventured off to Tahiti, meaning many islands.  Part of French Polynesia, Tahiti is both a country and an island.  Tahiti is the largest of the 118 islands and atolls that make up the Society Islands. The island is 35-miles long and shaped like an hourglass with two distinct volcanoes, one at each end,  that are connected by an isthmus. The islands are 2790 miles from Honolulu and 4000 miles from Los Angles so it is a long plane ride.

    Papeete’s streets are crowded with sport cars, motor bikes, and the island’s cheap public picturesque transport, les truck. The city is the country’s capitol, and seemed crowded, smelly and dingy  with little resemblance of the common P.R. of swaying palm trees and pristine beaches. Outside of major ‘down town’ there are some nice resort hotels. Bora Bora, Moorea and Tahiti are the major islands of the country. Each island has one road around its perimeter. There are no roads over the mountains.

    Houses were small and almost always on the mountain side of the road; they sat side by side rather than clustered.  The road follows the coastline and there is little room between the road and the water. Riding the road, small waterfalls seemed to appear around every bend in the road. Surrounded by greenery and lush vegetation, they were quite picturesque.

    The thing that fascinated me most in Papeete was the long narrow mailboxes along the side of the road. They were not mailboxes at all, but were for the delivery of freshly baked French bread which was delivered daily. They were built like little houses with slanted roofs. A stranger would never know the express purposes of the cute little bread boxes.

    Bora Bora is an incredibly beautiful island and it is a photo stop around every bend and curve of the road.