Stanley Park is a 403-hectare park that borders downtown Vancouver. It is a wonderful juxtaposition to have this huge mass of trees, forest trails and beaches in the midst of the urban landscape. I have been to a couple of the beaches in Stanley Park before, and of course they are incredibly beautiful, but this time, we decided to explore a little more thoroughly on rollerblades.

It took us a little while to work out what we were doing, but once we got ourselves going, it was near impossible to stop (literally – I had zero control over the brakes and going downhill was completely terrifying). It was seriously fun though, and I didn’t realise how much of a workout rollerblading actually is. My shins and hamstrings definitely felt the aftermath in any case. We were again lucky with the weather – it was a beautiful day and we were soon overheating in our jackets, not having anticipated how much more tiring rollerblading is to walking.

We skated through the trees (some standing as tall as 249 ft), past a stretch of lake called the Lost Lagoon, and along the seawall. We didn’t talk much; all of us concentrating on the glorious views, and perhaps more importantly, not falling head-over-heels into the trail.

This is another thing that I would absolutely recommend to any newcomers to Vancouver. The rollerblades were not expensive, and can be rented from most of the local bike shops – if rollerblading is not your thing, then bikes, or indeed a leisurely stroll, are just as fun.