Groovin’ Vancouver
07 Mar 2018
Australians are well versed in British Columbia’s charms, from its Rocky Mountaineer train to the ski slopes of Whistler. But there are some new sides to Vancouver which will give you plenty of reason to return.
It’s a scorching summer day in Vancouver which is apt, as this city is sizzling. Canada’s winsome west coast woman will go on to record her hottest temperatures in 50 years this day, and it’s not only the mercury that’s rising.
For this is a city where everything old is not only new again, but bigger, bolder and better.
RECLAIMING PUBLIC SPACE.
This journey begins in the artistic neighbourhood of Mt Pleasant at a coffee shop called Kafka’s, where, despite North America’s poor reputation for serving a decent brew to discerning Aussie palates, this one delivers.
And it’s also from here that you can pick up a street art map of the area and discover the urban renaissance which is erupting around these parts.
Vancouver Mural Festival (VMF) Executive Director David Vertesi and his team of artists are challenging the perception that the city is too conservative by reclaiming under- utilised public spaces.
The VMF, which is staged every August, is now in its second year and has added 100 murals to the streets of neighbourhoods such as Mt Pleasant.
“Our festival really started in response for the need for Vancouver to dress the part. We’ve got this incredible art, music and cultural scene,” Vertesi says.
“There is this idea that Vancouver is this ‘no-fun city’. But there is a vital and amazing arts scene, it has the most artists per capita than any other city in Canada. It struck us that murals were an incredible way to have that lasting legacy.
“Vancouver has strict graffiti laws and we’ve been challenging that. We are trying to get people to re-think public spaces.”
Among these walls, you’ll find local characters depicted on giant wall murals; tattoo artists swapping bodies for walls as their canvas; and even car spaces adorned with street art.
This risqué revival is spreading like a forest fire all around British Columbia.
ALL ABOUT COMMUNITY.
Over at Campbell River, on Vancouver Island, Beach Fire Brewing owner Matthew Fox opened his craft brewery two years ago.
“We are about community, beer and food. We are the only craft brewery in Campbell River,” he says.
“Campbell River had a lack of places you could gather socially.
We wanted to bring life back to downtown.”
Visitors are encouraged to mingle on old upcycled timber communal tables which sit plonked in the middle of this 1950s building.
For $7, guests can order a beer flight – four flagship beers that are winning awards all over the country.
Sip on the likes of the Beach Blonde Ale, Ember Red Ale; High Tide Pale Ale; or Wheelbender Stout.
Fox and his crafty crew are even experimenting with summer berries in their brewing. Want to go home and bathe in some beer soap? Well, they’ve got that covered too.
OLD IS NEW LUXURY
Back in Vancouver, Canada’s prominent hotel Fairmont chain has some exciting new additions to its repertoire. The Fairmont Pacific Rimhas recently opened its Gold Owner’s Suites – 20 guest rooms that have been converted into 10 guests suites (one per floor).
A highlight of staying in these elegant suites is the old-fashioned record player in each, replete with an extensive menu to suit your tastes.
For those who can tear themselves away from such luxury, there’s also a bike butler where guest have free use of push bikes or BMW electric bikes from which to explore the flat bike trails around Vancouver’s harbour to Stanley Park.
The hotel’s newest restaurant, Botanist, has just been named Canada’s Best New Restaurant by Air Canada’s inflight magazine, and it’s here you can partake in pre-dinner cocktails such as the Go Slow, said to capture moments intime; Vancouver #2, which is about updating the past; or the Vieux Carre, where history repeats itself.
Australian travellers will also enjoy the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel, which is an ideal place from which to rest and refresh before the long-haul home.
Recently awarded the Best Airport Hotel in North America for six of the past seven years, ardent aviator admirers will adore the in-room Plane Spotting Guides which outline the distinguishing characters of 16 types of aircraft.
Grab a perch in the hotel’s Jetside Bar, order a Fairmont Honey Lager made from home-grown honey in partnership with the Whistler Brewing Company, and reflect on Vancouver – which these days is oh, so sweet.
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