Grouse Mountain in the Winter

On a recent day off, we took the opportunity to check out Grouse Mountain, now that winter is firmly here. It takes on a very different atmosphere as it becomes a ski & boarding destination rather than a tourist spot. Doesn't mean you can't take the camera and get some snaps though !

Ski slopes above and below, although I think the slope below is the learners course as more people seemed to be on their bums than their skis or snowboards.

The view above shows North Vancouver. Stanley Park is the nearest dark green peninsular and the further dark green peninsular is where the University of British Columbia is based (UBC).
Above is the view down towards West Vancouver. Adrian is attempting not to slip over below.

Winters Day at Capilano Lake

When we had the snow earlier in the month we stopped for a quick photo opportunity at Cleveland Dam and Capilano Lake. Although we've posted images from here before, on this particular day it looked exceptional....

Lynn Headwaters Jan 30th

Today Charlie and I took ourselves out for a walk at Lynn Headwaters Regional Park. Situated only 5 minutes drive from home it's easy to reach and offers many km's of trails ranging from a gentle riverside amble along old logging tracks to serious backcountry hiking.

Although the recent snow has melted from our own house, it was still in abundance in the park.

We climbed to a scenic outlook, which was a large rocky outcrop, covered in snow and today basking in surprisingly warm sunshine. The view itself was rather hazy and since the outlook was pretty much due south it was straight into the sun. For those familiar with the geography, in the gap between trees to the right of the photo is the 2nd Narrows Bridge, and the 'bump' to the middle-left of the image is Burnaby Mountain with Simon Fraser University on the top. Both were quite visible to the naked eye but have not come out very well in the photos.



Even Charlie can appreciate the view, or perhaps life is so bad he's contemplating jumping off the edge

Charlie was so engrossed in his walk, continually fetching stick and peeing on trees (plenty of opportunity) he completely forgot to drink out of the many streams we crossed on the way up. By the time we reached the top he was gasping and had to eat the snow.

Dating from 1908, 'Old Mill Lodge' above was built to serve the logging industry that prevailed at that time, before the area was designated a regional park. Most of the flatter trails are old logging routes, and some old equipment and machinery can still be found left where they were last used.

A & c

We Live Here.....

In case you've been checking out the Web cam at www.vancouver.com/webcam we thought you might like to know where about we are on the landscape. So here you go.......

Weather Obsessive!

OK so we thought that Brits were obsessed with the weather but here it is a big deal. We have come to expect that whatever the weather, and we admit that they do have alot of it here, weather that is, it will feature as a major news story each evening. It is talked about all the time. If you should miss the news items it is reported at regular intervals. Or you could tune in to the weather channel on TV or there is a back to back weather radio station.

So altough we have posted alot about all the snow, rain & sun we have had, all great weather to talk about, we have not really covered the great wind storms much. We it got really windy & loads of trees were blown down. We even suffered power outages!!

Locally we snapped a few pics of the uprooted trees in the park opposite our house.........

D & A.

Is that Blue Sky ?

A beautiful frosty January morning, seen on www.vancouver.com/webcam showing what had felt like a very rare thing - blue sky and sunshine !

Last day of the Christmas Lights........until next year

Believe it or not we did actually have some lights in the front garden although they battled to be seen through a couple inches of snow.

White New Year

Well, it didn't quite qualify as a 'white Christmas', but the white stuff did come back just before the tree & lights came down in January.

It's A Dog's Life

While we tucked in to turkey, ham and the usual Christmas trimmings, Charlie had his own festive menu - beef cuts with bacon and cheese in gravy.

Orphans Christmas Dinner

While we are not of course orphans, there were a few of David's colleagues who were on their own over the Christmas period and so we arranged to have a 'proper' English style Christmas dinner on Dec 27th.

When we say 'proper' we mean this in the sense that we had to have roast potatoes, roast parsnip, brussel sprouts, turkey, ham and bread sauce. NOT mashed potato, sweet potato and would you believe it a Caesars salad.

Unfortunately we got somewhat caught up in the excitement of dinner and forgot to photograph everybody as we sat down to it, so the photograph below is of us all for breakfast the next morning (except Lorella who didn't stay the night).

The morning after breakfast - Clockwise from bottom left - David (of course), Stephen, Heather, Juan and Addy. Adrian is missing because he's taking the photo and Lorella didn't stay the night.

A & D

This Present's for Me !

Charlie is always a willing participant in the opening of presents, and needs no help when it comes to his own.

Thanks Karen & Andy for mailing this years Rudolph to him.

Merry Christmas & Happy New year from Vancouver

Well our first Christmas in Vancouver is here. What a full year we have had. As the new Boy David got to work Christmas Eve & Christmas day so Charlie & Adrian had a quiet day at home. Our real Christmas started on Boxing Day.

With Bucks Fizz (a Mimosa for Canadian Viewers) in hand we set about opening our presents to eachother & Charlie.

Charlie Loves Presents and helps us open them whether they are his or not. As the next post shows he needs no help opening his own!!

Christmas is about family & so very important was a Web Cam session to spread the festive cheer and a 'Waller' traditional hour long present opening session.

It doesn't photograph well but here is a snap of Annabel getting her Portable DVD player.

This really made our day as did the web chat Ad had with his folks on Christmas day itself. We really missed everyone so much over the holidays and for once felt far from home. Our Webcam has become a prized possesion and essential for keeping our great family close.

2006 has been a full and exciting year, lets hope 2007 is even better. We wish you all a happy & prosperous New Year.

Much Love

D & A