Simon Fraser University (not Poundbury)

Well, not hanging about with suspense we are indeed in the big Van,
beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Spent a few days getting to know our new area, the transit system,
the parks, downtown, the supermarkets (more of these later)
and of course the fantastic Universities.

Now UBC at western Point Grey is a lovely campus university like
Reading or Nottingham, that sort of thing but bigger with some quite
impressive investment in their buildings (Canada generally does
great investment in public infrastructure), with a many year plan,
once the Botanical Gardens catch up, though in its defence it has
a better botany selection than many a uni bookshop.

Simon Fraser University is a newer kid on the block, built on top
of a mountain in something like 1200 acres(!) more in the sixties
vein of Bath, East Anglia and Guildford: the Dalek complex or Captain
Scarlet Cloudbase flying aircraft carrier sort of approach to higher learning.
Reaching for the ivory clouds with jetpack futurescope vision,
but not good for the carbon footprint these heavier than air machines.
Anyway as a ten year old I always wondered where Cloudbase
came to land for a refit and here it is on Burnaby Mountain.
Been decomissioned and makes a great place of learning.

Gave up looking for the nano-science grey-sludge collective....
someone seemed to have furtively removed the signage in a
academic bunker sort of way now the funding has arrived?
However the scientists at SFU do make a pretty mean
maglev linear-motor children's trainset, just have to make it work
on ice-cubes rather than liquid nitrogen, then they'll own Hornby
and a real Cloudbase SFU.

SFU also have their own working replic of the Tamar Elephant Park
(earlier blog).

Rumour is that the'next King of Canada' is visiting SFU Very soon
(Indeed HRH Prince Charles is being promoted in the free press this way).
Just hope he doesnt get a lightbulb moment and plan to thump an SFU
knock-off down on Maiden Castle back at Poundbury.
Please don't mention the Gondola idea either as the Durotriges
baint be wanting that either.

The 2nd last photo is Burnaby Moutain from Stanley Park.

Interesting to me is that Halloween has just come and gone,
but unlike other commonwealth countries like New Zealand
no sign of Guy Fawkes; all-saints-day's a bit more intriguing having
diffused all the way up from Mexico, and far more scarey.