Looking at this photo, would you believe it was taken in the heart of a large North American city? Sure, there are a few giveaways if you look closely – streetlights just visible through the distant trees, and a manmade fountain in the centre of the lake.

This is Lost Lagoon, in Vancouver, Canada. Once a tidal mudflat connected to Burrard Inlet, it was home for centuries to the area’s First Nations tribes, who used it as a rich food source. Before it was landlocked in 1916 by the construction of the Stanley Park Causeway, the lagoon was open to the sea, the movement of the tides causing it to ‘disappear’ from time to time.

A local writer who loved to canoe on the lake gave it the name ‘Lost Lagoon.’ She wrote:

‘As that perfect summer month drifted on, the ever-restless tides left the harbour devoid of water at my favorite canoeing hour, and my pet idling place was lost for many days – hence my fancy to call it the Lost Lagoon.’ Pauline Johnson

I used to live very close to Lost Lagoon, and spent a lot of time walking there. Raccoons played in the undergrowth, squirrels and waterbirds made their homes in the ancient trees, yet just a block away were the towers and noise of Vancouver. Such contrast is part of why Vancouver is so often named one of the world’s most liveable cities, that such an oasis of calm can be found at its very heart.

Thanks for joining me on another Wednesday Wander – where will we go next week?