Vancouver Life

Alouette River Dykes

2012-01-27T10:24:00.001-08:00

The weather so far this January has been, well, very January. A period of rain, followed by a period of snow, followed by another period of rain. However, yesterday morning the only thing falling from the sky were glorious rays of sunshine ! I ensured Mojo and I got out to soak up some vitamin D.

The Alouette River Dykes walk is a reasonably lengthy but easy walk as the name suggests alongside the Alouette River in Pitt Meadows, a few kilometres south of Pitt Lake. We had considered doing it a week or so ago but on that day the air temperature was –7 with a wind chill of –15 and knowing how the wind can blow over the flat farmland decided life was too short to get that cold deliberately. Yesterday however was a lovely +7 and the wind gusts were invigorating rather than bone chilling.

The walk starts from the parking lot on Harris Road, where it crosses the Alouette River. Views here from that point.

The view towards Golden Ears Provincial Park.

While we are bathed in sunshine many of the local peaks are shrouded in cloud.

There was endless stick fetching, although from previous experience I remembered to bring a couple of sticks from home for this walk….they don’t grow trees properly in Pitt Meadows and all you get are little twigs.

He also enjoys the first of several swim opportunities, there are various points along the walk where dogs can get down to the river.

The city of Pitt Meadows and to an extent it neighbour, Maple Ridge were both built on predominately marshland which was drained and farmed in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. While they have preserved great swathes of the original marsh in the Pitt-Addington Nature Preserve nearer Pitt Lake the rest of the marsh is within city limits and developed as such as farmland and residential areas. The two cities have also worked together to create an extensive network of trails along the river dykes not only on the Alouette River but also along Pitt River and the Fraser River. While I can’t find the actual number there must be over 100km of riverside trails. Some, like this section are maintained to the extent that they have gravel surface and allow bikes, strollers etc while others are left more natural with grassy tops and allow equestrian use and so on.

Say “cheese”

Like the rest of the Fraser Valley, the fertile land is rigorously farmed and although blueberries are the crop of choice for many farmers here in Pitt Meadows, this particular small holding is a shrub/tree farm.

When the clouds lift a little, there’s a very visible snowline.

This blueberry farm looks more like a paddy field with all the precipitation we’ve had in the last few weeks.

We are lucky to be in such lovely sun, there appears to be rain or snow in the distance over Pitt Lake.

The farmers will be pleased that the irrigation canals are full.

Mojo leads the way….it’s funny how dogs always seem to know where they’re going, even when it’s their first time. Mojo has only been on this walk once before, in the opposite direction. He has never been this way around the dykes system before but still knew where we were headed at each turn.

Views North-East towards Golden Ears over the blueberry fields.

Some sections of the walk pass through undeveloped areas of marsh which still attract a lot of wildlife. Last time I walked here we saw coyote and this time for a 1km or so section of the route we were inundated with blue heron. There were loads of them – at one point I counted 11 within easy sight. It must be a good time of year to see them.

It was much clearer to the naked eye and doesn’t show well with my simple point-and-shoot camera, but if you look closely you can see 5 heron on this side of the canal, one on the opposite side and one just flying off.

Another section of marsh with 6 blue heron

I can think of worse places to be a farmer, and wake up to these views each day !

The Alouette River Loop in this direction initially takes us along the North side of the main Alouette River, before it forks and becomes the North & South Alouette Rivers. The North Alouette River is fed by the mountains in Golden Ears Provincial Park while the South Alouette River is fed by outflow from Alouette Lake. The loop takes us along the North side of the North river, across and back along the inside of the ‘Y’ fork, and across the South river. Our final leg is then returning along the south side of the South river.

As we return along the South side we see horse riders along the section of dyke on the opposite side where we had previously walked.

Mojo is allowed his final dip in the water, calculated to hopefully be enough time to dry before getting back in the car !

Then a last view of the Alouette Rivers where they merge and the mountains in the background before we return to the car. A reasonably long walk of just under 15km, so Mojo ran his little legs off and snoozed for the rest of the day ! While the terrain is not at all challenging and perhaps a little monotonous with no elevation change it is a bright and exposed walk, great for a winters day.

Bess

2012-01-26T17:00:00.001-08:00

It’s been a very sad week as my sister and her husband lost their border collie Bess this week after a very short illness.

She was a beautiful, sweet girl, and the only dog I know with a taste for a madras curry. Bess, here on the left.

She was the best friend of our late Aussie Charlie, seen snuggling her on the sofa. I hope they’re together again having fun.

Bess, you will be dearly missed by Karen, Andy, Crag, the rest of your family and friends.

A, D & M

Blasts from the Past!

2012-01-22T16:06:00.002-08:00

Santa came late today to complete some purchases we made for our media room with Christmas money from Mum, Sister & Co.

For many years we have stored & moved our old Vinyl records around from house to house & even here to Canada with us though we have not had a system to play them on since the CD took over in the 1990’s. Though music is digitally available & easy to access through our home network direct to media systems & the IPod reigns supreme there is something very special listening to an artists work as they made it on a record so we bought these vintage items.

The speakers I already had having kept them for many years. Now rarely available Wharfdale Diamond III’s.

The Receiver came first a couple of weeks back and is a 1980 manufactured Yamaha Natural Sound CR-640.

Classic build and great sound. We were able to inspect it thoroughly when the guy we purchased it from made final checks inside of all the working parts.

Today we bought a turntable for the Vinyl. A Dual CS-508, Made in Germany between 1980 to 1984. Semi automatic and works beautifully!

Here is the sale brochure from when they sold new back then for around $160!!

Guess what I am doing all afternoon.

Thanks Mum. Thanks Denny, Jay & Annabel. Merry Christmas again.

An Arctic Blast

2012-01-17T14:28:00.001-08:00

Here on BC’s South Coast we have been enjoying reasonably comfortable temperatures hovering around freezing with on/off snowfall for a couple of days and more to come this week.

However, most of the Province has been blasted with bone-chilling cold temperatures as an arctic outflow comes down from the North. The Southern Interior cities of Kelowna and Kamloops will be dropping to –19C and –23C respectively while the town of Dease Lake in the north of the Province will be cooling down to a rather chilly –40C (which interestingly is also –40 in Fahrenheit) - and what’s more, that’s not taking into account wind chill !

Roll on Spring…….

Old Man Winter Pays A Visit

2012-01-15T16:07:00.001-08:00

After a very mild December and early January, we finally get a good drop of snow. Not a huge amount, about 2-3 inches – enough to make everywhere lovely and white without being a problem. We enjoyed a lazy weekend, walked Mojo in the whitestuff at Bridgman Park with Sig, Buddy and Missy and wrapped up warm indoors. With more snow forecast over the next couple of days we will try and get out during the week to enjoy some of the fresh powder on the mountains.

False Creek Seawall, January 2012

2012-01-13T07:53:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we completed the second of our two recent city walks. Again, I had been working at my listing on the edge of Yaletown so it was convenient to cross the Cambie St bridge and walk part of the Seawall that runs around False Creek.

We managed to get one of the rare 2hr free parking spots on Moberly Road which was great $ saving but ensured we could only be two hours. We walk the remaining block or so to the waterfront, hitting it close to The Wicklow pub (on right with deck).

Views across the adjacent Heather Marina, along False Creek with the Granville Street bridge in the distance.

We start our walk along the Seawall. Even though it’s wintertime the Aquabus water taxis are still numerous, ferrying commuters and tourists around the waterways.

Panorama view of False Creek from Granville St bridge to Cambie St bridge.

Views of the south-Yaletown end of False Creek

Yaletown again, across to the edge of the Cambie St bridge.

An impressive collection of yachts in the marina

Yaletown, roughly looking across at the head of Davie St.

The soon to be extinct Edgewater Casino which has been a landmark on False Creek since Expo ‘86.

Condo towers behind Coopers Park, with the edge of BC Place visible between them.

Soon we approach the Olympic Village (now rebranded The Village on False Creek). These towers were constructed for and housed athletes for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Now this development is either a lasting legacy for future generations to enjoy, or a bottomless drain on city coffers – depending on which side of the fence you sit !

Back on the opposite side of False Creek we look across at BC Place Stadium, home of the BC Lions and where they won the 2011 Grey Cup in November, and the Edgewater Casino to the right.

A closer view of BC Place. This stadium underwent a major renovation through 2010 and the first half of 2011 to give it a giant new retractable roof.

As we approach the Eastern end of False Creek we reach Science World with the residential towers of the Citygate neighbourhood behind.

Panorama view from the Eastern end of False Creek, from Yaletown, across Downtown and the arenas, Citygate, Science World and then the Olympic Village.

BC Place on the left, the much smaller grey dome to the right is Rogers Arena, home of Vancouver’s beloved hockey team, the Canucks. Snow-covered Lions just peeping out between the first two condo towers to the left of Science World. In the foreground dragon boats resting, waiting for warm summer days to return.

Views West along the still waters of False Creek, the Olympic Village and Seawall where we have just walked on the left.

As we only had a limited amount of time available with parking, we decided to turn around at Science World and make our way back, rather than make a loop around the False Creek as we did previously when walking here with my parents in 2009.

On our route back we head through the Olympic Village to see the new shops that have opened.

In plenty of time we are back at the car.

Mojo may be unimpressed at trading sticks and wading in creeks for avoiding joggers, strollers and hanging out with micro-sized condo-living pooches out for their morning stroll. But on the other hand, Mojo does finish his walk as clean as he started it which is a treat. No hosing down and towel drying off today !

Another fun, different walk in our beautiful city on one of our rare beautiful January days.

Stanley Park Seawall, January 2012

2012-01-12T14:25:00.001-08:00

The last couple of days I have had appointments on my listing Downtown. The weather has been great so I have combined my appointments with taking Mojo for some pavement-pounding city walks rather than his usual (and probably preferred) forest stomps.

Wednesdays walk was the Seawall around Stanley Park. A cool breezy January day we set off as usual from Third Beach across the South-West corner of the park to give Mojo a chance to stretch his legs and burn off some of his 2yr old energy before hitting the Seawall.

As always, the forest trails in the middle of the park are quiet, most visitors stick to the Seawall so this gives Mojo a great opportunity to fetch some sticks and hunt for squirrels.

Mojo is quite happy. This may be a city park but they grow sticks here just as good as the North Shore !

We continue along the Tatlow trail towards Lost Lagoon.

We soon reach Lost Lagoon, with views here across the water towards the West End.

We head East along the waterside trail, cross under Georgia St and join the Seawall. Here Mojo takes in the view of the Vancouver Rowing club and the Vancouver Downtown skyline beyond.

Coal Harbour

HMCS Discovery (Naval training centre) and Downtown.

It’s a rare, beautiful day and the Seawall keeps us out in the sun a lot. Views here from the Seawall across Burrard Inlet.

The Lonsdale corridor of North Vancouver with Mt. Seymour beyond.

North Vancouver port with Grouse Mountain as the backdrop.

This panorama shows the view from West Vancouver all the way along the North Shore, North Burnaby and the Northern edge of Downtown.

A huge army of ducks tease Mojo mercilessly.

The Yang Ming Busan arriving with it’s routine delivery of goodies from Asia.

We too pass under the Lions Gate Bridge.

Views of West Vancouver

Finally we pass Siwash Rock and soon reach the parking lot.

No new scenery here but a pleasant change nonetheless from our usual forested walks and a great chance to enjoy some of this welcome winter sun.

Vote for the Canada Party !

2012-01-07T13:48:00.001-08:00

A funny You Tube video has just gone viral…… written and produced by an American professor living and working here in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia. Despite the fact it pokes fun at ourselves as well as our southern neighbours, it has still ruffled a few feathers !

Basement Renovations

2012-01-04T14:42:00.001-08:00

Our basement renovations were largely complete at the end of November but I have been holding off on the blogpost until our furniture arrived so that we could have a ‘done’ picture to round it off. Well, some of the furniture arrived yesterday and with a lack of good walks due to our days of torrential rain this week I figured I could make a post out of what we have.

In essence the original layout of our above-ground basement was a reasonable size rectangular ‘recreation room’(Canada)/’living room’ (UK) / ‘bonus room’ (US) with a wood-burning fireplace, an almost as large (and hence oversized) laundry which was probably largely untouched since the house was constructed in the 1970’s and a small square inner hall giving access to the laundry, furnace room and our rental suite.

We decided to halve the size of the laundry while renovating it to make the best use of the smaller space, then give the remaining half of the old laundry space to the ‘rec room’ to make it ‘L’ shaped while turning this new larger space into a more dedicated media room for watching TV, movies, listening to music, reading etc. We also decided to remove the inner hall as this was really wasted space and give the floor area to the new laundry.

In our 5.5 years living in this house we have not really used the rec room, merely dumped unwanted boxes and furniture in there and just ran back and forth to the washer and dryer in the laundry. We wanted to reclaim the 500 or so sqft and turn it into living space we wish to use and enjoy.

This was our rec room before we started the renovations. Particular features of note are the stained and damaged laminate flooring, plastic panelled walls and redundant boxing above the window.

This angle shows the section of wall into the laundry which will be removed to make the new rec room ‘L’ shaped. We were kind of committed to the job once our contractor had punched a hole in the plastic panelling to see what the framing was like inside !

The laundry was large, but badly planned and very scruffy.

The nasty single-glazed metal windows which are draughty and do nothing for insulation will be going too.

With the help of a big orange bin our contractor got to work removing panelling and cabinetry.

The walls get stripped of their panelling in the rec room.

The suspended ceiling is removed from the laundry.

The ugly green closets are gone too…

Soon the wall between the rec room and half of the laundry is removed.

We had laughed when we first bought this house in Vancouver that it felt vaguely like living in a huge garden shed, by comparison to our last home in the UK which was built in the 1800’s and had 18'” thick solid stone walls. The photo below is Queens Cottage, the home we owned for the previous 5 years in Oxfordshire. It was a lot better insulated than our current 1970’s house, but there was no opportunity to change the layout and jobs like rewiring were hugely challenging with the solid walls.

New walls spring up even more easily than the old ones coming down. This is the new partition to create the new laundry and ‘L’ section of the rec room.

The next job is the framing for the new smooth ceiling. We’ve said goodbye to ceiling tiles forever !

The next jobs to be completed were personal upgrades we chose for our particular usage of the new rec room as a media room. One job was to increase the insulation. Not only was there minimal heat insulation but we were concerned about noise transference from our media room to our vacation rental suite on the same floor. So we had fire-resistant sound insulation installed throughout the new media room. Mojo is quite sure he could have some fun making a mess with this stuff…..if he could only get the packaging open.

We wanted to have the surround-sound pre-wired and some additional power outlets both in the rec room and the laundry. It was quicker and easier for our electrician to just re-wire the basement area which was great as it removed the old aluminum wiring we had been living with. The new power and speaker outlets are connected by ducts to make it easy to add and remove wiring in the future.

Next comes the drywall delivery.

The drywall (like plasterboard in the UK) is installed and then ‘taped’ over the joins. These joins then need a skim of plaster which is allowed to dry, sanded and another layer of plaster. This process is repeated a couple of times until the walls are smooth.

Here the wall has been removed from the old ‘inner hall’ giving a clear view through to the new laundry and new ceilings.

The new nook created off of the rec room with the additional window previously in the laundry now allowing more light into the rec room.

Other work completed by our contractors over the 5-6 week period included replacement of both the windows in the rec room with new double pane vinyl windows. We rediscover the view to the front of the house from the rec room.

While the side window lets in welcome light but still looks into our neighbours rental suite. When we get new blinds this will give more privacy in this section of the room.

We had new pot lights on dimmers installed throughout.

New speaker wiring outlets.

We had the pre-existing baseboard heater in the rec room replaced with a newer more efficient model and another new one added in the nook.

We also had all the 1970’s wood veneer doors replaced….

We also had the fireplace and chimney cleaned. This doesn’t involve a guy with a big brush with a long handle like it does in the UK, here they send around a giant vacuum on a truck which they blast up the chimney stack. The odd looking truck outside while they suck the debris from the chimney.

Yesterday we had our sofas delivered. I hadn’t told David they were due for delivery so it was planned as a pleasant surprise for his return home from work on his first day back after New Years. We had ordered a 3-seater sofa and a 2-seater (called a loveseat in Canada). Unfortunately a bigger surprise of the furniture delivery was that the longer 3-seater sofa couldn’t get into the rec room ! It fits through the door into the room but needs to do this straight-on – the smallish hallway at the bottom of the stairs isn’t long enough for it to approach the door straight. The smaller 2-seat sofa went in fine.

So, the bigger sofa has gone back to the store and we now have to wait 5 weeks or so for another 2-seater to be made and delivered which we will have as a compromise. We might also buy a different, more upright armchair for the room too.

Our new media room is sufficiently finished that we can enjoy it now. With one sofa in place, our fantastic 70” LED TV, a new blu-ray player and an updated cable TV system being installed on Sunday we can use this space while waiting and saving for the finishing touches. Still on the shopping list for this room are side tables, footstools, blinds for the windows, cabinetry for the audio/cable equipment and no doubt a bunch of other things we haven’t thought of yet !

We love the new TV and are already enjoying the wood fire. The new carpet flooring is cosy (we have wood & tile everywhere else in the house so it’s a real treat to come down to the soft floor) while the sound insulation works great – on our last changeover day we experimented by playing a movie loud on the TV with surround sound and went into the suite – it couldn’t be heard !

The nook is going to become a very nice space to hangout. We will be moving the cream coloured ‘grandads’ couch into here when we get the 2nd sofa delivered, we bought a vintage (1980’s) amplifier at the weekend which we will connect up to a turntable to play our old vinyl. With the fireplace it will become a comfortable space to sit and read or listen to music. When we next replace the PC we might bring the new computer down here also.

The new laundry has worked out very well too. The view here through the new opening with the door straight ahead which leads into the laundry of our rental suite. We still need to install more attractive light fixtures, we just have basic bulbs right now but this is a job that can wait for now…

The laundry still retains a window, albeit looking out under the deck and we installed a new stainless steel laundry sink with storage under.

We have a whole wall of new cabinetry with a mix of cupboards and drawers and plenty of clothes-folding countertop.

There is a good amount of storage despite the smaller size of the laundry and it’s now a much nicer room to be in. We have left an appliance space under the right hand end of the worktop where we hope to put in a wine-fridge at a later date.

We have been really pleased with the work carried out by our contractor and the end results of the job. We look forward to our visitors this year, watching movies in our media room with them and perhaps even doing their laundry !

On the Tele……

2011-12-30T12:54:00.001-08:00

Children’s receives a gift from a past patient…..

Santa is clever

2011-12-30T08:23:00.001-08:00

OMG! How did Santa ever get this new TV down the Chimney?

Hope you all got great presents too.

Wonderful Christmas Time

2011-12-27T11:59:00.001-08:00

We have enjoyed a lovely Christmas with our Mojo, friends & Family via WebCam.

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-24T10:00:00.002-08:00

Well it’s finally here once again, so we wish all our family, friends and loyal readers a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Mojo “Now, will someone ‘please’ give me my presents”

Adrian, David and Mojo

DeBecks Hill

2011-12-21T17:10:00.001-08:00

Todays walk took us back out to Alice Lake Provincial Park, just North of Squamish. I was undecided enroute whether we would do the Four Lakes Trail or perhaps the DeBecks Hill route which we last walked in August 2010. Not knowing what the trail conditions would be like we kept an open mind.

On reaching the park we discovered that the main park area is actually closed over the winter months. Access is still allowed but the ‘developed’ aspect of the park such as the campgrounds, washrooms etc are all closed and the trails are not maintained by the parks department until the Spring. This also meant we had to park on Alice Lake Road road than our usual parking lot right inside the park.

The different parking location made our decision on where to walk, as it would add another 2km or so to the 4km round trip up and down DeBecks Hill and make a sufficient stomp on this frosty morning without adding the Four Lakes Trail also.

There were small pockets of snow at the side of the road left from the last snowfall but the trails were completely clear.

Because the park was essentially closed it was eerily quiet….just one other car parked on Alice Lake Road and we didn’t see another person.

We took the opportunity to use the lakeside trail around Alice Lake. This is usually a ‘no dogs’ trail but since there was nobody to object…..

Approximately two-thirds of the lake had frozen overnight

Views across the lake towards peaks in the Tantalus Range.

These picnic benches won’t see much action until the Spring.

The pontoons aren’t getting much use this time of year either.

But that doesn’t stop Mojo from jumping into the freezing water for a paddle……

…..and a drink…..

…..and to blow some bubbles…..

…followed by a good shake.

After our paddle/drink/bubble blowing in Alice Lake we head reach the start of the DeBecks Hill trail. This trail has no long history, it was only developed in the 1950’s by logger Denis DeBeck who cut and blasted rock to create this track for use as he logged the hill. He closed his logging business in 1966 but in honour of his work Mojo attempts to keep the tradition alive.

There are just a couple of the old growth trees left here that managed to escape the chop, the rest are the result of replantation of the site.

Soon we reach the top of DeBecks Hill. We get great views across the Squamish Valley.

The Tantalus Range – this ridge marks the edge of the large and extremely remote Tantalus Provincial Park

Views to the North

On our way back down we get a brief glimpse of the Garibaldi Range to the East.

More views around Alice Lake on our return.

Where’s Wally ? He’s hiding in the shadows looking for an elusive squirrel or bird.

Views from the parking lot as we depart.

On our way back we warm up with the help of a mocha from Tim Hortons. One of the things I like most about Squamish is that there are great views everywhere, even at the mall !

We continue on the Sea-to-Sky Highway getting these views of Mt Garibaldi with the town of Squamish in the valley below.

Then we stop for a brief photo op. in Porteau Cove.

Views here across Howe Sound towards Tantalus Provincial Park.

Mojo spots a seagull he’d like a ‘friendly chat’ with. Thankfully he’s on leash.

And the seagull tantalisingly paddles across in front of us.

We then continue the 30 minute or so drive home, where there is an inevitable outcome……

Great walk, great weather, what else is there to say ?!

I’ll keep the orange ball, thanks.

2011-12-19T13:53:00.001-08:00

Our basement renovations are nearly complete. All the contractor work is finished and I will post a full blog entry on the renovations when we receive our sofas, around mid January.

Today we are mounting the new huuuuge TV in the media room. Mojo is quite sure however much fun our new TV is going to be, it’ll be no match in awesomeness for his orange ball.

Capilano River Regional Park, December 2011.

2011-12-14T14:05:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I needed to find a walk here in North Vancouver that was closeby and I could do a comfortable hour or so without taking up the whole day with a huge hike. Capilano River Regional Park seemed like a good choice as it was also close to shops I needed to get to afterwards.

Capilano River Regional Park is located just off Capilano Road about halfway between the tourist meccas of the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain. Therefore this park and the entrance around Cleveland Dam in particular see hoards of visitors as well as locals strolling and walking dogs. This has eventually led to a few disputes between visitors and dog owners and ultimately to the city having to strike a balance between many people and many dogs.

Until September 2011 this park, like most other parks in British Columbia had been either ‘off-leash allowed’ or ‘officially on-leash but as long as your dog’s under control we’ll turn a blind eye’. Generally this system seems to work and keeping most people with and without dogs fairly happy. However in September the Metro Vancouver Parks Department instigated a new Dog Management Pilot Program in Capilano River Regional Park which resulted in typical British Columbia try-and-keep-everybody-happy fashion, in a convoluted and complicated mix of ‘on-leash’ trails, ‘off-leash’ trails, ‘on-leash during the winter, no-dogs allowed during the summer’ trails and ‘on-leash allowed but not on the grass’ trails. I was interested to see what if any impact it was having on the users of the park. Mojo couldn’t care less, he just wanted a walk.

We park as usual at the Cleveland Dam entrance. There’s some high cloud already approaching from the North West but we still get good views over Capilano Lake.

Goat and Grouse Mountain

The Lions

The skyride to Grouse Mountain will be packed with skiers and snowboarders on a sunny December day like this.

It was a beautiful crisp, cold sunny morning. The overnight temperature had been around –4 so we had to watch out for pockets of ice it was lovely crunching through the frozen fallen leaves.

I guess the parks department realised nobody would understand their new ‘dog management pilot program’ so they put up big and impossible to miss plain English signs at every turn. Great that you understand, pity that it takes away from the natural forest canyon feel of the park having such a large number of shiny new signs everywhere.

One of the trails we have taken previously in this park has become ‘on-leash in winter, no dogs allowed in summer’. We still took this route and met just two other people – both with dogs – both without leashes. Oh well, this is BC ! In all fairness, there wasn’t exactly anybody else around to complain.

We pass some giant douglas fir trees, believed to be over 900 years old. Wow, they’ve seen some changes in their lifetime.

It’s impossible to photograph them in their entirety, even with the wide angle lens, because they’re so tall. A quick view clip of the giant douglas fir trees and surrounding forest.

We reach the Capilano River as it snakes it way through the canyon. It is currently around noon but the sun is still so low this time of year much of the park remains in shade.

Downstream past the waterfalls and salmon hatchery.

More views around the park as the skies continue to cloud up in readiness for a weather front passing over us as we type.

After a great 1hr15 walk and good workout down into the canyon and back up the other side we return to the parking lot. Here we have one Aussie + 1hr15 run + a healthy dose of mud & pine needles + a soaking of fresh river water = happy snoozy dog who will not even notice I’ve gone while I continue my errands and head home.

It appears during the winter the new restrictions for park usage are not too restrictive at all but during the summer they would be a little more so. We usually avoid this park during the summer anyway because of the crowds but it’s good to see Mojo would still get a decent off-leash run here at that time if needed.

Decorating the tree

2011-12-13T19:11:00.001-08:00

In what has become something of a tradition in the last few years our friend Andrea joins us to decorate the tree ready for Christmas. This year our friends Stephen & Glenn joined us as well as Esther who is down from Whitehorse in Yukon on a course at one of the hospitals.

The troops get to work.

An hour of fun, giggles and drinks (hence the blurry picture !) and we have a decorated tree. It looks fantastic, thanks for your help guys !

Only one of the tree ‘crackers’ has teeth marks in it which is quite an accomplishment given the number Mojo tried to steal in the process. They are now all strategically placed above dog-head-height.

The reward for such great tree decorating (and rumour has it the reason we had such a good turn out to help), a fantastic dinner laid on by David. Clockwise from left – David, Esther, Andrea, Glenn and Stephen.

Lamb shanks cooked long & slow in a delicious red-wine and vegetable sauce with garlic mashed potatoes, green beans and carrots. Mum & Dad FYI – the lamb shanks were about $10-$11 for a pack of three from Superstore although I didn’t notice the price per kg and have now thrown away the packaging, sorry !

Now we are all set for Christmas and our ‘first’ Christmas dinner, to host the 10 program managers from Davids hospital on Thursday evening, right after a forecast 24hrs of snow….it could be an eventful couple of days ahead !

Bear in Downtown Vancouver

2011-12-12T19:19:00.001-08:00

This afternoon we had one of those ‘we know we’re not in England anymore’ moments when a black bear was spotted in Downtown Vancouver. While bear sightings are not very unusual here in North Vancouver, to see one in the centre of the city is extremely rare.

It is believed the bear had found it’s way into a dumpster in the underground parking garage of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, right in the heart of Downtown. The dumpster was collected by a garbage truck when someone spotted the bear as the garbage truck pulled away. UPDATE: Conservation officers now say they think the bear climbed into the truck when it was parked on the North Shore and hitched a ride into Downtown.

A tranquiliser dart was shot into the bear and conservation officers and the VPD had to wait for a couple minutes for the sedative to take effect. A brave and brilliant conservation officer then jumps up onto the back of the truck to catch the bear as he eventually falls asleep, before dropping him into a net held by some VPD officers. Not a problem many Oxford police officers have had to deal with !

Conservation officers say they have tagged it and will release the 18 month old boy back into the wild in the Squamish Estuary tomorrow.

Frosty walks with friends

2011-12-12T18:07:00.001-08:00

Last Friday, in between the mundane tasks of a visit to Costco and the excitement of picking up the Christmas tree we were able to squeeze in a dog-walk with our friend Sig.

Before we left, telltale signs of Mojo in the garden, sat waiting for a crow or squirrel sighting. An area of defrosted grass the shape of two paws and a big ole rump (no offense Mojo, just sayin’).

We walked in and around the ravines close to Sig & Helens house in The Crest neighbourhood of Burnaby. The ravines are criss-crossed with a network of trails and perfect for the dogs to run around freely away from roads.

In a few locations on the walk we saw this unusual sight. We think it’s where a tree branch has given off moisture which has steamed when the sun shines on it but the cold air temperature has frozen the steam as it’s rising from the branch. It looks like cotton wool wrapped around the bushes.

Mojo as always was beside himself when we arrive, not knowing whether to get fuss from Sig, follow Buddy and worship the ground he walks on, sniff Missy intimately or fetch his stick. He does a little of each followed by plenty of throwing the stick downhill to take some of the puff out of him although he still remembered to cock his leg when pee’ing in Buddys company, something he never does on his own !

Last Christmas

2011-12-10T07:54:00.001-08:00

As we get ready for this Christmas at home we were looking back at the pics we had of the great time we had visiting Family & Friends in the UK last year......

It’s not Christmas yet Mojo

2011-12-07T15:54:00.001-08:00

Mojo has been a little perturbed this week. He has spotted some wrapped presents sitting on the sideboard in the living room that David brought back from England in November.

A fun tradition with our previous Aussie Charlie was that he would unwrap his own presents (and most other peoples if invited). He loved the whole process of ripping of the paper and tape and pulling out whatever was inside. Mojo has also quickly caught onto the spirit of receiving. It’s too bad that Charlie used to unwrap and enjoy while Mojo tends to unwrap and destroy.

So, Mojo has developed a full understanding for shiny crinkly paper with twirly bits and bows. He just doesn’t quite get that not all presents are for him and some presents that are for him he isn’t necessarily allowed just yet. Not the greatest photos and video here as taken on my iPhone as it was to hand rather than grabbing the camera.

He spent over an hour sat looking, pacing and occasionally whining or huffing & puffing asking to be given the presents to open. Now, a couple of days later he still looks up there expectantly every time he walks past, just incase now is his moment.

Given that these are just a couple of presents on the sideboard, goodness knows what he’ll be like when we start putting them under the tree. Here is a photo of Charlie from Christmas 2002, exercising perfect self-control and patience awaiting the invitation to start shredding paper and undoing bows. Mojo……watch & learn.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chuck it out !

2011-12-07T10:34:00.001-08:00

Hahahahahah ! After we had finished rolling around on the floor laughing I felt compelled to record and post this recent TV commercial.

It is of course the season for cheap junk imported from China, we mustn’t forget the sound of approaching hooves on the super Horse Clock nor the ‘almost miraculous’ spiritual accessory of the Prayer Cross.

Quite why the 44th President of the United States was targeted is a little unclear, poor guy. What happened to the days of growing cress in a little plastic tub on the kitchen window sill ?

“Show pride and support”. Where’s the pride in making the President look like an oompa loompa ?

It also occured to me that the timing was strange…..he was elected in 2008 and the next election isn’t until next year. Given the time of year I thought a Chia Jesus might be more appropriate, but then after a quick search online I found some high school kids already had that idea……..

Oh well, happy Christmas shopping season everybody !

Snow-shoeing on Cypress

2011-12-02T15:36:00.001-08:00

Today I decided to take Mojo snow-shoeing. I had a quiet day in my diary and the forecast was for a day of full sun.

Well, sun wasn’t exactly visible as we set out at around 9.30am, infact the clouds looked dark and were quite definitely covering the tops of the mountains. Nonetheless we headed out, I decided to go to Cypress Provincial Park this time and use the winter snow-shoe trail to Hollyburn Peak – a route we had taken during the summer a few times before but not in the winter.

We set out on the trail, under very grey skies. However, at +2 degrees and dry it was very comfortable walking.

Views here where the hiking trail is close to the cross-country ski runs.

Because the hiking trails are close to the ski facilities there are signs posted advising all dogs must be under control. It seemed like a good time with Mojo to practice our ‘recall’ to make sure he remembers ‘come’ must still happen even with all the fun of a snow-day.

Good boy !

For most of the route up Hollyburn Mountain the trail is denoted by orange markers on poles. The backcountry mountains in the winter are not somewhere to get lost, plus there are many sinkholes where a thin layer of snow covers a huge hole in the ground which are very dangerous – best to stick to the marked trail.

Mojo thinks one of the best aspects of hiking in the snow – the whole world is edible !

Now, as shown a little later in the post, the sun did eventually make an appearance, so here I have a photo that I took on the way up, followed by the identical image taken on our way back down. What a difference some sun makes !

The mountain was however beautifully peaceful and quiet, just a few birds chirping and Mojo crunching in the snow. And no, that’s not Mojo walking on the ski run, that must be someone else’s dog. Mojo knows he isn’t allowed on the ski run.

We find great proof of why you need to wear snow-shoes and not just your regular shoes for this kind of hiking. A deep (probably 2-3ft) hole where someones foot has disappeared deep into the snowpack. As well as having a very wet leg that person has most likely decided to get snow-shoes now !

A dog with a face full of snow is a happy dog.

Ahead we see the trail disappearing into cloud. At this point I was very seriously considering turning around and heading back. The route had been steep uphill virtually all the way and it was obviously continuing that way and if we were just going to end up in mist & cloud it hardly seemed worth the effort continuing. People were passing us having been at the top saying you can’t see a thing, just thick fog.

The trees are getting smaller in the sub-alpine of the higher elevation and all silver with frost.

I decided to continue a bit further up the trail and then suddenly the clouds completely disappeared in the matter of just a few minutes.

This photo is recorded on the camera as taken at 11.14am.

Then just 8 minutes later I take these images of Mojo basking in glorious sun, recorded at 11.22am.

A final few minutes push to the top and we’re at the peak of Hollyburn Mountain.

As we arrive there is another walker who is clearly aware that the birds up here are very tame…..here he is feeding a grey finch with some food he’s brought up with him. He graciously allows me to photograph him in the act.

The views from the top of Hollyburn Mountain are superb. There are still some clouds hanging around but they are burning off and the views are still excellent.

Views East towards the peaks behind Grouse Mountain.

The Lions are just coming into view.

Mojo takes in the view to the North of us.

The downhill-ski and snow-boarding area of Cypress Bowl across the valley from us.

Cypress Bowl again with Howe Sound, Bowen Island and Sunshine Coast beyond.

The top of Hollyburn Mountain at 1325m (4347ft).

After soaking in the views and the very welcome sunshine we make our way down. Some of the views along the trail.

In about half the time it took us to get up the mountain, we are back down at the parking lot. Final views here of the downhill ski area from the car.

Mojo and I had a blast on this walk and with 1.3m of snow already on the local mountains it looks like it’s going to be a great winter for snowy walks.

Pitt Lake & Burnaby Mountain

2011-11-30T13:31:00.001-08:00

The last couple of weeks have brought several days of torrential rain and a little snow, only today are we seeing some very welcome sunshine !

Most walks with Mojo have been dashing through Princess Park, or further afield at Lynn Headwaters but I wasn’t going to risk taking the camera out in some of our recent weather.

However, on two days we did manage to at least get walks in and stay dry.

The first was a revisit to Pitt Lake and the wildlife reserve. I had to visit a furniture store in Coquitlam to collect a sample for our new media room sofas so it seemed like a good opportunity to continue on to Pitt Lake.

Mojo is pleased to be back here, this walk is always a good supply of birds to chase and plenty of water to go for a dip in. No surprises he’s also armed with a nice big stick.

The day we were walking here was following a couple of good wind/rain storms and there was debris and damage to the trail in several places.

We then had a slightly surreal and brief Skype session – with Davids mum Sue, her friend Mal and their friend Bridget – Bridget lives just a few miles from Pitt Lake where we are but is visiting her family & friends in the UK and was at Sues house for the evening. Sue wanted to show Bridget the wonders of modern technology – webcamming, and I wasn’t going to be home at the computer before Bridget left Sues house for the evening. So we had a brief webcam with me on my iPhone walking Mojo and Bridget in Sues living room before continuing with our walk.

A little further along the trail winds North through the marshland towards the lake. Views here North over the marsh.

And the view South back over the nature reserve.

Soon we reach Pitt Lake itself, Mojo of course has to jump straight in and check it’s still as great for swimming as his last visit !

Final views of the lake as we head back along the causeway. Up to the right the recent wintery weather has left a very defined snowline.

Another recent walk in pleasant weather was on Monday when I took Mojo out for a couple hours to Burnaby Mountain.

At just over 1200ft this ‘mountain’ is a mere lump by comparison to many of our other local peaks, nonetheless it is easily accessible and we were able to do a circular walk starting much lower down on Hastings Street and walking up the south west side to Centennial Park, taking in the views and then returning on the north west corner.

The walk starts like most others……lots of pent up energy and enthusiasm to burn off fetching sticks and chasing the occasional squirrel.

Like everywhere else in the Lower Mainland fall is definitely over, all the leaves have dropped and the canopy in our deciduous forests have completely opened up.

We follow the boldly named Trans Canada Trail, although the trail looks a little minor for such an important title.

Soon we reach the clearing that marks the edge of Centennial Park atop Burnaby Mountain. Beyond the trees ahead is Simon Fraser University and the adjoining residential development. Aside from this the majority of Burnaby Mountain is still predominately wild forest environment.

Mojo waits patiently for his stick to be thrown again, although he’s beginning to realise that I keep throwing it downhill and it’s a long slog back up again ! The wide open parkland is great for stick throwing and would be perfect with a chuck-it ball too.

Great views of Vancouver downtown skyline from the top of Burnaby Mountain.

Hiding behind a rock won’t stop me finding your stick and throwing it !

Good views from Centennial Park on Burnaby Mountain towards the North Shore mountains.

Panorama from the top of Burnaby Mountain.

Horizons Restaurant is fully re-opened after a massive fire destroyed it in April 2010.

Just beyond the restaurant is a lookout from the North side of the mountain. Here we get views North East along Burrard Inlet towards Port Moody.

Looking due North up Indian Arm.

The Dollarton neighbourhood of North Vancouver.

The villages of Deep Cove and Belcarra can be seen on the left and right respectively of Indian Arm.

These totems were erected to celebrate Burnaby’s twin city of Kushiro, Japan. Called Kamui Mintara meaning ‘Playground of the Gods’ they depict the story of Japans native peoples, the Ainu and of the gods who came down to Earth to give birth to them.

After visiting the totems we follow the well marked trails back down the inlet side of Burnaby Mountain to where we have parked the car just off Hastings St.

A couple of pleasant walks and with two more sunny days forecast this week hopefully we’ll be able to get out on another one this week !

The Christening of Oscar Stanley Lancaster

2011-11-24T12:44:00.001-08:00

We haven’t published any blogposts in the last couple of weeks due in part to finishing our basement renovations, the disgusting rainy weather and the fact that David was away for 10 days or so for the christening of his godson in England.

David flew into London Gatwick, hired a car and initially drove up to Peterborough to spend a couple of days with his mum and sister and her family before driving down to St. Albans in Hertfordshire to stay with his family friend Craig, his wife Mia and their six-month old baby son Oscar.

The last time we saw Craig & Mia they were still living on the top floor of a five-storey (walk-up no elevator !) townhome-flat conversion in London so we hadn’t seen their new family-friendly digs (ground floor with garden) in St. Albans.

Their new home is close to the centre of the city, so the first afternoon they went for a walk around the neighbourhood.

The little guy snoozes while they wander the narrow windy streets of St Albans.

They pass the cathedral. The tower seen here built in Norman times using Roman building materials.

The next day was the christening. They are driving into London to the home of another of Oscars godparents where they will all meet before heading to the chapel. Oscar is all dressed and ready to go.

Gill lives in Clerkenwell in the borough of Islington, very much part of Londons inner city. Her home is part of an old converted building overlooking the streets of Clerkenwell with the steeple of St. James Church visible in the background.

Views here from Gills rooftop garden, again over the rooftops towards the church steeple. This particular church was built in 1792, the previous ancient one situated on this site collapsed in 1788

Craig in the rooftop garden before heading to the chapel.

Oscar seems pretty content, infact he’s a very laid back little fella happy with lots of strange people, noises and places.

More of the party arrive. Carrying the light blue bag is Rebecca, Craigs sister and in front is her husband Andy and their little girl Emelia.

They take a cab to the Savoy Chapel, situated just off the Strand, about 0.5kms East of Charing Cross.

Built by Henry VII during the 1490’s the Savoy Chapel originally formed a side chapel off of the Savoy Hospital built around the same time. The hospital closed in 1702 and was demolished in the 1800’s but the chapel survived.

Arriving for the service are the paternal grandparents, uncle and cousin.

The five godparents with Oscar.

Oscar checks out the font with Gill.

Inside the Savoy Chapel. Only one of the stained glass windows is original, the others having all been blown out during the Blitz of World War II.

Oscar with mum Mia, and grandparent Chris,

Craig, Mia and Oscar.

After the service everyone returned to Gills for food, drinks and most importantly, cuddles !

Gill had laid on a traditional spread and bubbles.

Oscar also had a cake, although I’m not sure he actually saw any of it !

Oscar Lancaster with the two previous generations of Mr Lancasters.

That evening they spend the night in London.

The following morning they return to St. Albans and Oscar shows off a new outfit we had bought for him.

David and Oscar

They decide to head out and explore more of the town and parkland. Oscar is wrapped up ready for a winters walk.

Craig and Oscar.

The City of St. Albans has an incredible amount of documented history having been continuously settled for over 2000 years it was originally named Verlamion and was the main city of the Catuvellauni a Celtic tribe resident here until Roman occupation in AD43. At that time the city was renamed Verulamium and the city was encircled with gated walls in AD275.

After the Romans departed the city in AD410 the city was renamed St. Albans in memoriam of Saint Alban, believed to be the first British Christian martyr who was executed in the city around AD250.

Over the next several hundred years the town continued to grow and in 1089 the new cathedral was completed. The materials used for the building of the cathedral were recycled from the buildings of Roman Verulamium so while the cathedral was officially built in Norman times the actual materials used to build it are significantly older. It played an important part in political history, at one time being the principal abbey in the country and it was here that the original draft of the Magna Carta was drawn.

The cathedral seen here from Verulamium Park.

The walk also takes them past Ye Olde Fighting Cocks pub, believed to be the oldest pub in England, dating back to 1539 and sitting on foundations dated 793. St. Albans has traditionally had a large number of inns due to its history and proximity to London, being one days travel by horse & coach, making it the perfect overnight stop.

Views over the meadows and lake in Verulamium Park.

Feeding the ducks.

They stop for lunch at The Waffle House, an established restaurant situated in a working 16th Century watermill situated on the River Ver.

Outside the Waffle House on the banks of the river. Not sure the uneven surfaces-please take care sign is a genuine 16th Century installation.

Parts of the original Roman wall are still visible in Verulamium Park.

The final day in St. Albans they walk into the shops so David can pick up a few essentials to bring home.

Plus a little more playing

Finally a little video clip of Oscar honing his driving skills as he practises for the narrow winding roads of St. Albans.

David then returned to Peterborough for one more night before heading home. An extremely brief but lovely visit, great to meet Oscar and David looks forward to being the best godparent to him that he can.

He was greeted by a very excited Adrian and Mojo and a nice wintery scene with our first sprinkle of snow for the season.

New Brighton Park and the Fraser River

2011-10-29T21:27:00.002-07:00

As our renovations continue in the basement we had to order the fixtures & fittings for the new laundry. We had managed to order and arrange delivery of 95% of the cabinets, cabinet doors, sink etc from a certain well known Swedish furniture outlet. However, when ordering our cabinetry from our nearest store in Coquitlam a couple of items were out of stock. After checking what we needed was available from the other store in the city located in Richmond I decided to head over there this week to ensure we had everything required for our contractors to install on Monday.

After setting out Mojo seemed a little restless in the car, perhaps because I hadn’t walked him before we left home. So I pulled into a park en-route to let him stretch his legs and do his business. This was a small city park I had never visited, located just West of the Second Narrows Bridge right on the shores of Burrard Inlet in East Vancouver, called New Brighton Park. It turned out to be a really lovely little dog-friendly park in amongst the urban industrial neighbourhood.

Gorgeous fall colours of the maple trees in the park.

New Brighton Parks history actually goes back further than the rest of the city, being the original location of Hastings Townsite, established in 1865 it housed the citys first post office, dock, stable, playing field, customs office and museum.

The dock and sea oriented history of the city is still very visible from this location, being surrounded by water, a container ship terminal to our West and immediately to the East the Viterra terminal which exports by sea feed for cattle and poultry using grain grown in Saskatchewan and brought here by rail.

We are close to the Second Narrows Bridge.

Views from the waterfront park to the West down Burrard Inlet towards downtown and West Vancouver.

Across to North Vancouver with The Lions on the left and the ‘bump’ of Mt Fromme on the right. In the centre the dry ski-runs are visible although at the time of writing the local mountains have just had their first snow of the season so winter is definitely on it’s way !

Zoomed in on Grouse Mountain and Mt Fromme.

Panorama of the view from New Brighton Park.

After a good chase around after a stick and a couple of other dogs we head back towards the car, views here as we leave New Brighton Park.

We continue the approximately 40-minute drive across town to Richmond, passing this colourful street scene on the way.

We reach the Richmond branch of Ikea. This particular store is almost directly under the flight path for Vancouver International Airport. If you have ever approached YVR from the East you have most likely flown right over the top of them.

After spending absolutely ages in Ikea sorting a few of their administerial errors we collect the missing items we required and then get back to the car and Mojo who is still waiting patiently in the back. I had seen on the map that there were a couple of small riverfront parks near to us that we could stop in for another run around before returning home.

Views here across the North Arm of the Fraser River, looking at Vancouver from the Richmond side.

Views West along the Fraser River.

More views across the river.

Finally a panorama from the riverfront park before heading home.

A Week of Local Walks

2011-10-25T08:39:00.001-07:00

Over the last week our contractors have been working diligently in our basement with the renovations which will hopefully be complete the first week of November. In the meantime there is much incentive to get out of the house with the noise and interuption more for Mojo than myself. However, with other work commitments of my own and the need to stay in touch with the contractors we have stayed close to home and walked only in North Vancouver. No new walks here just retracing some of our usual steps in bright fall weather.

Lynn Headwaters.

We completed the long loop at Lynn Headwaters and added the Varley Trail to the route for an extra few kilometres. The Varley Trail as it winds through the forest.

Views up Lynn Creek from the bridge at the picnic grounds in the park.

The couple of weeks before this had been extremely wet so the forest trails are already soaked….it’s not even November yet ! The stepping-stone-logs are coming in handy.

A paddle and a drink – all of the seasonal creeks are flowing fully again.

After a couple hours walking we reach 3rd Debris Chute and nice views across Hanes Valley.

Beside the river at 3rd Debris Chute.

We then return on the faster and easier riverside trail getting these views along the way.

Buntzen Lake.

Another day last week we met up with Sig and walked the dogs at Buntzen Lake. Three sitting dogs here waiting for the rewards for their efforts.

Mystery Peak, Mt Seymour.

On another bright clear day recently we walked on Mount Seymour to Mystery Lake and Peak. I had hoped to actually do the Mt Seymour Peak route this year but on this day we didn’t have time for the longer hike and it won’t be long before the first snows arrive….so that will probably have to wait for another year.

We first walked the Mystery Lake and Peak route about one year ago. Today started sunny but clouded as the day progressed so the photos aren’t as great as last time. Still a lovely change of scenery, alpine vs forest and being so exposed plenty of chance to enjoy the October sun.

From the main parking lot on Mt Seymour the trails head off in different directions, left to Dog Mountain, straight ahead to Mt Seymour or ahead and right to Mystery Lake.

As we climb the trail winds back and forth under one of the stationary chairlifts, awaiting the upcoming ski season.

Gorgeous fiery reds mark the colour of the season.

We had intended to stop and have a paddle in Mystery Lake on our way to the peak but our unfortunate timing meant a couple had just sat for a peaceful lunch right at the beach area of the lake and I didn’t think they would appreciate the sights, sounds and smells of a disgusting, wet Australian shepherd bouncing all over them. So no photo op at the lake today we just headed on up towards the peak.

At the top of the last steep scramble the clouds have rolled in to the south so no views over the city today but we still have a nice aspect West across the lower slopes of Mt Seymour.

The peak of Mt Seymour, we’ll try and get there in 2012 !

Snowy peaks to the North, probably on the edge of Garibaldi Provincial Park.

Having missed out on a drink in Mystery Lake Mojo settles for a small pond we found near the top of Mystery Peak.

More views from Mystery Peak before making our return walk down on the other half of todays circular walk.

Quarry Rock.

Another recent walk was to Quarry Rock in the village of Deep Cove on the Eastern end of North Vancouver.

We park in the village and set out across Panorama Park, views here along the waters edge into Indian Arm. The ridge on the opposite side of the water is in the Buntzen Lake Recreation Area and contains the Diez Vistas Trail we walked back in August. Click here for that post.

Mojo waits patiently for his off-leash walk. This whole taking photos business seems so unnecessary !

The route to Quarry Rock uses the Baden Powel Trail

The trail climbs up through the forest, mostly second generation with a few impressive old-growth stumps left.

Lots of fall colours in amongst the evergreens.

The Quarry Rock lookout was very busy when we got there so we only stopped for a few minutes. The high cloud meant there wasn’t going to be an impressive view anyway. We took this quick snap looking back down at the village of Deep Cove before returning the way we had come.

A Day Trip down to Washington

2011-10-17T11:02:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I didn’t have any work commitments and David needed a few new clothes for the christening in November so we decided to have a day out in Washington to visit the outlet mall and enjoy the forecast good weather.

Setting out around 8am there was an inversion so while it was gorgeously sunny at home down by the water thick fog lay. The drive down was misty in patches across fields streams and the bays.

We stopped for breakfast in Bellingham and then continued on. This real estate agent had a cool license plate…..”email me”

Our first shopping stop was Seattle Premium Outlets. We get our coupon book and hit the three stores we know we needed, Gap, Banana Republic and Levi.

We then continued on a little further South to Lynnwood where the Alderwood Mall is located. This mall contains a non-outlet branch of Banana Republic which had the specific coat David was hoping to buy.

After another successful visit here we headed back North on the I5. It had been cloudy over Marysville (where Seattle Premium Outlets is located) and Lynnwood but once again we returned to sunshine as headed North. Views here from I5 as we drove back towards Bellingham.

Having spent much of the day in-and-out of shops we decided to stop at Lake Padden Recreation Area, just south of Bellingham. It had been recommended to us by our friend Sig as a great place to walk the dog when in the area.

The late afternoon sun cast a lovely light through the trees on the road into Lake Padden park.

Views of Lake Padden. It was certainly a beautiful place to stop and very conveniently only a few minutes drive off of I5.

Mojo was very grateful for the chance to run around, fetch sticks and have a swim. While he had got out for brief breaks during the day most of the time he was ‘car-sitting’ for us at the malls.

More views of Lake Padden

A couple going for an evening paddle.

Evening sun over the lake.

There was an easy trail which circled the lake together with a network of more strenuous ones through the surrounding hills.

A great spot to stop when we are in the area and perfect for Mojo with a dog-beach and off-leash areas. Thanks for the recommendation Sig !

After our walk we continued North on I5 and crossed the border back into Canada. We stopped for delicious ribs at The Keg in White Rock before continuing home. A fun day out and with savings of around $250 on what we would have paid for all these goods in Canada (David’s coat alone was $60 cheaper than the identical product at the same store in Canada and 4% less tax !) it very comfortably paid for itself.

Pumpkin Faces

2011-10-17T09:26:00.001-07:00

Can you tell what season it is ? I think Save-On Foods at Park & Tilford had both an oversupply of 12-pk cans of Coke Zero and A&W Root Beer and staff with too much time on their hands !

Happy Thanksgiving !

2011-10-10T09:17:00.001-07:00

A very happy Thanksgiving today to all our Canadian readers. David prepared an outstanding full turkey dinner yesterday with all the trimmings and today we get to have it ‘Boxing Day’ style cold with salad and potatoes.

We hope you all have a great weekend.

Tomorrow we have our contractors arriving to begin the renovations on our basement, so not sure what posts will be appearing on here for the next couple weeks. Hopefully, a ‘done’ post around early November !

Afternoon Tea

2011-10-04T15:17:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we took Sue & Mal out for ‘afternoon tea’. This particular kind of tea is the long-island variety and on Saturdays they are the special at Joeys – double for the price of a single. Thanks Mal for allowing us to ‘steal’ these photos from you for this post.

Our group shortly after we arrived at Joeys on Burrard St. Clockwise, Sue, David, Randy (Stephens cousin), me, Andrea and Stephen. Mal was taking the photograph and Launa was yet to join us. On the table yummy sushi cones – tempura prawns with avocado, spicy mayo and cucumber in a lettuce wrap.

Myself with Andrea and Stephen.

The giant light feature in the Joeys Bentall location on Burrard.

After a shocking 21 ‘tea’s’ between the group (they’re very drinkable!) we headed over to Cactus Club across the road.

David and I in Cactus Club.

Andrea and David with the new drink of choice, Cactus Club special of fruity red sangria.

Stephen, Launa and Randy. Oh dear, is that wine that has appeared on the table ?

Randy & Andrea

Sue with Stephen, Mal & Launa. Looks like Sue is reeling off one of her jokes.

A really fun afternoon and evening had by all, with some of our group having a particularly ‘merry’ time. Sue…..are you beginning to lean ?……

Don’t worry Sue, what happens in Vancouver, stays in Vancouver. We won’t tell a soul……

Osoyoos, September 2011

2011-09-26T16:33:00.001-07:00

We have just returned from a four-night visit to Osoyoos with David’s mum, Sue.

Osoyoos is situated on Lake Osoyoos at the southern end of the Okanagan, Canada’s wine country. Just a few kilometers North of the US border Osoyoos is located within the only designated ‘desert’ region of Canada typified by hot dry summers and mild dry winters. Lake Osoyoos stretches across the border into the US but we stayed within Canada for our trip.

The total driving time from Vancouver to Osoyoos is about 5 hours. We met up with Sues friend Mal and her friends Bridget and Ted for breakfast at Whitespot in Chilliwack on our way. We then proceeded to Hope and onto the Crowsnest Highway which is a scenic but at times slow and winding route through Manning Park and up over the two large mountain ridges of Allison Pass (4,473 ft) and then Sunday Summit (4,280 ft) before a sharp descent to the town of Princeton. It is the climb up and over these two mountain passes that dictates the very different climate in the South Coast area around Vancouver from the dry desert region inland from the mountain passes.

A couple of hours drive after breakfast we reach the first good place to stop and stretch legs, in the village of Keremeos. A village of just 1200 approx population Keremeos is well known within the Province as the place to stop for fresh fruit & vegetables grown in the sun baked valleys nearby. There dozens of fruit & vegetable stands at the side of the highway.

Sue with some of our purchases for the trip, peaches, apples, grapes.

Views around Keremeos

The Crowsnest Highway winds through the river valley then up over the South Okanagan Grasslands Protected Area where we spotted a small forest fire being fought by about four helicopters.

After climbing the final ridge of Richter Pass the road descends into the town of Osoyoos. We find the house we have rented easily, approximately 2kms north of town on a quiet country road alonside the lake.

The house is older and nothing special to speak of, but big enough for our group of 8 and dog friendly. Also, the house is situated on it’s own 10 acres of vineyard and has 500ft of direct lake frontage.

The long gravel driveway to the house set it back a long way from the road and was brilliantly safe for Mojo to just run around freely.

The house was surrounded by their own and neighbouring vineyards.

Now at the end of September it is very close to harvest time, the vines are absolutely loaded with grapes.

‘Our’ vineyard which is leased to nearby winery Desert Hills.

On one end of the house is a huge covered deck, great for alfresco eating & drinking.

Terrific views of the lake and surrounding hills from the deck.

The view straight out from the deck and living room of our rental home.

The warm (by Canadian standards !) lake at the end of the garden was a real treat. A few steps from the garden by the house lead down to a gravel and sand beach with a firepit and lawn chairs.

It is a lovely spot to sit and enjoy the view, read a book or enjoy your morning coffee.

Mojo spent most of the four days either in the lake swimming, or up in the house begging for someone to take him down to the lake so he could do some more swimming. Thanks in particular to Mal who spent a lot of time walking Mojo and throwing his sticks – he loved every minute of it !

Mojo was joined by the crazies in our group who wanted to swim in the lake also. The temperature was late 20’s C and it was cloudy, not a formula for David or I to be persuaded to get in. However, Sue experienced her first swim in a lake ever, together with all the older members of our crowd.

Stephen, Sue, Mal, Bridget and Ted.

The lake was quite shallow for some distance off shore.

The location was really superb, a very pretty lake, quite unspoiled, peaceful and quiet.

Early morning sun over the beach.

More views from the end of the garden over the lake.

View of the house from the lakeside.

David and I on the beach.

Mal and Sue looking down from the garden.

Aside from the climate and the good scenery the other attraction of visiting the Okanagan is that it has over 10,000 acres of vineyards producing 90% of BC’s wine and is the second largest wine producing region in the country after the Niagara Peninsula. The vineyards feed over one hundred wineries locally, each with their own tasting rooms to sample product before deciding if you like what you taste and want to buy it.

Our first full day we drove up to the Naramata Bench just outside Penticton where we had stayed about one year ago at Sigs parents home and where a number of great wineries are concentrated.

Our happy campers enroute. Stephen and Andrea.

Sue and Stephen (Mal, Bridget and Ted were following us in their own car).

First we visited Township 7 winery (on each winery you can click the name to see their website). Then we moved onto La Frenz. David and I at La Frenz.

Andrea, Sue and Stephen at Ruby Blues (formerly Ruby Tuesday).

The Ruby Blues winery has beautiful gardens and views over Okanagan Lake.

The dog friendly owners invited us to walk and enjoy the gardens with Mojo.

Myself with Mojo, who has found the nearest piece of shade he could find.

Mal takes in the view.

This has been the third tasting so far today, time for a sit down ! Bridget, David, Andrea and Sue.

The owners of Ruby Blues are definitely ‘dog people’

After sitting at Ruby Blues our non-drivers decide we need to eat to soak up some of the ‘tasting’. We go on to Hillside Winery before heading over to a table we have booked at Lake Breeze.

We visited Lake Breeze and had lunch here a year ago with Sig & Helen. We were so impressed then we wanted to go back this time. Yet again, the restaurant was a fantastic experience and lovely place to have lunch.

The Lake Breeze winery.

The kitchens serving the small all open-air patio restaurant.

Our group all sat for a terrific lunch.

I had spaghetti with picholine olives, oven-baked tomatoes, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and herbed ricotta cheese while David chose the pan roasted halibut with prawn & ginger bisque, corn, peppers, asparagus and steamed baby potatoes. Yum !

We met up with a group Andrea, David and Stephen knew from BC Childrens who had come up for a couple of days for one of their birthdays.

Views over the Lake Breeze winery, including the impressive owners residence.

Beautiful views over Okanagan Lake from Lake Breeze.

David and Mojo at Lake Breeze.

After Lake Breeze we visited Laughing Stock, made more purchases there and then headed back to the house.

Between us we have a good selection of booty from our first days winery visits. Many of these wines are only available in restaurants or direct from the wineries so it’s good to buy them up here as they’re not always available from BC Liquor stores.

The following day we took in a few of the wineries close to Osoyoos. Sue and I at Burrowing Owl.

The Burrowing Owl estate winery also has a pool, spa, restaurant and guest accommodations.

Andrea looks ready to jump in.

Next we hit an excellent new winery called Church and State before heading to the other side of the valley to Road 13.

For no explained reason the Road 13 winery is built in the style of a medieval castle. It even came with an authentic ‘creaky door’. Where are we, Disney ?

However, the views were great across the valley from the Road 13 site.

We head back towards the house passing some white-bottomed deer.

And enjoy some swimming and nibbles to go with our days booty.

The following day we mostly relaxed around the house. David, Andrea and I walked into Osoyoos town which took us past the Little Brown Church.

Then past the Osoyoos Elks Lodge where they are apparently growing pot. Only in BC……

Then the Holistic Desert Connection Centre where both you and your pooch can enjoy therapeutic touch ear candling and reiki. My favourite !

Equally surreal was the Elvis Jewellery shop in Osoyoos. What exactly it had to do with Elvis aside from the statue outside is unclear.

On our way to the supermarket we pass the downtown beach. Quiet on a grey late September day.

Later that afternoon and following morning we relaxed and enjoyed more of the lake.

Picked fruit from the garden including grapes, crab apples and macintosh apples.

Mojo really didn’t want to go home.

Final views of the lake on our day of departure.

Another beautiful drive home through stunning scenery.

Before hitting the traffic and grey skies of Vancouver as we cross the Port Mann bridge (new one still under construction next to it).

A lovely few days away, thanks to everyone for all their help and input in making it a relaxing and easy trip.

Sue’s coming !

2011-09-14T12:07:00.001-07:00

It’s housework day, getting the house clean & tidy ready for Sue’s arrival this evening. Mojo has been bathed and towel dried. While I am doing the vacuuming apparently Mojo is going to help with the dusting. Now that’s teamwork !

Brandywine Meadows

2011-09-10T08:44:00.001-07:00

My Thursday walk this week took us out to another new alpine location – Brandywine Meadows. Situated between Squamish and Whistler on the opposite side of Highway 99 (Sea to Sky Highway) to Brandywine Falls that we’ve visited on previous occasions. The turn off from Highway 99 is about 1hr30 from home but then there’s another 20 minutes or so covering about 8kms of rough gravel road into the backcountry where the trailhead is located.

The drive up along the Sea to Sky Highway as beautiful as ever with the great weather. We stopped at a couple of viewpoints North of Squamish on the way up to get these views:

We turn off the main Highway 99 and onto the forest service road which will take us up to Brandywine Valley and the trailhead.

We get views of Black Tusk across the valley.

The drive alone is spectacular before we even start our walk !

View of Mt Fee (7,093ft)

Eventually after a long ride on the gravel road we reach the parking lot and Mojo gets a well earned drink in the adjacent creek.

Looks like we’re the first one here today. Infact, as it turns out we’re probably the only ones here today as we didn’t see anyone else for our whole walk and ours was the only car here when we left.

We were reassured to see a sign confirming we were at the right place, there had been no signage since turning off the highway 8kms ago !

This trail is classified as ‘difficult’ on most walking sites and is certainly much more challenging than others that we’ve done recently. There are numerous logs across creeks and muddy areas that act as bridges. You need to be good at balancing, and preferably not have an impatient dog trying to get past you.

The trail is often on tree roots and rocks, climbing over and under fallen trees.

It is also very steep. The trail is only 3kms each way but 500m height gain, the vast majority of which is done in the first kilometre !

A huge fallen old growth tree.

The trail will have once passed this large tree, now it skirts underneath the giant rootball

After a kilometre or so of steeping climbing the trails comes close to the forest edge and the route improves significantly as you get some sunlight in from the opening and it isn’t as steep !

A clearing where a creek cuts through the forest.

More log walkways through muddy sections.

Could use a little trail maintenance here. Karen, Andy volunteering ?

Here a log is used as a bridge over the creek but then takes a steep incline on the opposite bank. The alternative is to the root system on the bank as a ladder to get yourself up and down. I’m glad it was dry today, this wouldn’t have been much fun if it was all slippery and wet.

Mojo finds his first patch of snow.

Soon the trees thin out and, the trail opens up and lots of sun !

Not much further on we’re in beautiful Brandywine Meadows.

Black Tusk (7,608ft) on the left and Mt Garibaldi (8,786ft) on the right.

Lots of small streams flow through the meadows, narrow enough to jump over and great for Mojo to drink and paddle in.

We found the perfect large rock to stop for lunch on.

Panorama view of Brandywine Meadows, once again with the jingle of Mojos bear bell.

After lunch we start heading down to the further end of the meadows.

Warm sunshine, snow and creeks. Mojo thinks he’s in heaven !

Then he knows he is when he finds a large gorgeously clear creek, fed direct from the snow melt, just deep enough to wade in.

Except one small section of this wade-able creek turns out to be just a little deeper, as Mojo discovered.

More views around Brandywine Meadows.

Eventually we have to start making our way back down, although we could quite happily spend all day, or weekend here. We descend the trail, much more quickly than on the way up ! Again, the trail weaves back through the forest and catches up with the creek running through it.

The it’s back to the parking lot where the creek crashes past.

The back down the gravel road and onto Highway 99. Oops, that’ll be the gravel road. Time to find a car wash !

An absolutely beautiful location to walk in. Probably won’t be here too often because the season to actually walk here is narrow between snowfalls and you need a good amount of time for the drive up and back as well as being prepared to take on the gravel road. Completely worth the effort though and I don’t doubt we will be back again one day.

Eagle Bluffs and Black Mountain in Cypress Provincial Park

2011-09-09T11:14:00.001-07:00

For Wednesdays walk this week I chose another new route to Eagle Bluffs via Black Mountain within Cypress Provincial Park. As it is late summer and the weather is good I am choosing higher elevation walks that are not possible during the winter and spring months. This route is about 3hrs of walking plus stops and is close to home which was convenient as I had a showing I needed to be back for at 1pm, so we started out early, walking around 8am.

Views of the city from the lookout on Cypress Bowl Road on the way up the mountain.

Looking West across the water to UBC and Vancouver Island on the horizon.

We continue up and park at the Cypress downhill ski area.

Views of the ski runs cut out through the forest, the chairlifts waiting for the new season to begin in a couple of months.

The lodge with restaurant, guest services etc nestled in the valley bottom.

This location was host to the freestyle, snowboard and halfpipe events at the Winter 2010 Olympics.

We start making our way up the side of Black Mountain. This was a new trail developed in 2004 and is very well maintained, although steep in places. The first km or so is gravel before turning to a natural forest floor trail.

Stopping to get our breath, these views to the West behind us.

Across the valley, one of the Lions just visible in the middle of the photo.

Mojo jumps in the first small lake he finds. Little does he know there are dozens upon dozens of these in Cypress Provincial Park and our route today will pass many of them.

Such as this small lake, you can hardly see the water it’s so still and reflective.

We take a side trail to Yew Lake Lookout, curiously named as you don’t appear to be able to see Yew Lake situated at the bottom of the valley from here. You do however get good views to the ridge on the other side of the valley and across Howe Sound.

The Lions clearly seen from here.

Looking across Howe Sound from Yew Lake Lookout.

Returning to the main trail we immediately reach beautiful Cabin Lake.

Mojo takes a sample and has a paddle.

A short distance and little more uphill later we reach the top of Black Mountain. At 1200m (3970ft) we get good views over Bowen Island towards the Sunshine Coast, the town of Gibsons seen here.

Another view of The Lions from the top of Black Mountain.

Because we were starting our walk early and our encounter with a bear the previous day I decided it was prudent to put Mojo’s bear bell on him for todays walk. There is much evidence to suggest that bear bells do nothing to deter bears, but plenty of evidence to suggest that they make the owners of said bells feel safer ! So, Mojo adorned his bell, hence the occasional jingle in this panorama from the top of Black Mountain.

Once we had taken in the view from the top of Black Mountain we continued along the trail, down the south side to Owen Lake.

Plus many more smaller lakes and ponds followed by Cougar Lake.

Another 20 or 30 minutes hiking and we reach our main destination for todays walk, Eagle Bluffs.

Terrific views to the West towards Bowen Island and the Sunshine Coast beyond.

Hazy into the sun images of downtown and Mt Baker.

Eagle Harbour, with Highway 1 in the foreground.

The Caulfield area of West Vancouver. Here we can see Lighthouse Park which is the large forested tip of the peninsula and Caulfield Shopping Centre just to the right of the bright green sports field which is Rockridge Secondary.

Passage Island.

UBC, part of Spanish Banks beach and Pacific Spirit Regional Park.

The Bowen Island ferry departing Snug Cove.

Village of Horseshoe Bay.

The Boathouse Restaurant in Horseshoe Bay in the centre of the photo.

Sunshine Coast ferry enroute to Gibsons.

Views across Howe Sound.

Bowen Island ferry getting close to Horseshoe Bay.

View of West Vancouver, Eagle Lake in the foreground.

Vancouver Island ferry from Nanaimo approaching Horseshoe Bay.

Panorama from Eagle Bluffs.

For the whole time we had Eagle Bluffs completely to ourselves.

Eventually we had to start making our way back down. We chose a different return route along the opposite side of Black Mountain using the Baden Powell Trail.

Lillies flowering in one of the lakes. The slow start to summer is taking it’s toll as these should be done by now !

Our different route back takes us to the top of one of the chairlifts.

Then back down one of the ski runs, a great way to take in more views and catch a bit more sun on route.

A great walk in the alpine, close to home with excellent views all done in the morning keeping the afternoon free for work. Perfect !

Minnekhada Regional Park

2011-09-07T17:17:00.001-07:00

Tuesday’s walk this week was in another park we hadn’t yet explored, Minnekhada Regional Park in Coquitlam.

We were reminded on our drive in that being September we are well into ‘bear season’ because as we drove along Victoria Drive which leads towards the park a large black bear was stood in the middle of the road. Unfortunately as the car slowed the bear ran off though bushes at the side of the road, so no photo. However, when we got to the parking lot for the park a couple just leaving warned me they had just seen a bear a few minutes ago on one of the trails. I let Mojo off the leash on the walk but ensured he stayed closed by.

Minnekhada Regional Park is a mix of typical West Coast rainforest and mixed deciduous forest, surrounding a nature preserve and wildlife marshes.

The trail starts off flat and easy, through mixed woodland.

It’s not long before we get our first glimpses of Lower Marsh.

Good views North up over Lower Marsh.

Here we look across Lower Marsh towards High Knoll, where we will have lunch on the rocky outcrop later.

Panorama of the view from the south end of Lower Marsh.

Mojo was a little miffed at not being allowed to get in the ‘lake’ – the parks board allow dogs on the trails but due to the sensitive ecosystem in the nature reserve they don’t allow dogs in the water. We get a gratuitous posing photo nonetheless.

A final look at Lower Marsh before the trail veers off into the woodland.

The trail continues for a short distance before a detour off to the right leads to Minnekhada Lodge. Built in 1934 as a hunting lodge by then Lieutenant Governor Eric Hamber it has apparently played host to Queen Elizabeth and was donated to the Vancouver parks board by the Provincial Government in 1984. It is open for free public viewing the first Sunday of every month, otherwise it can now be hired for special functions, business retreats, weddings etc.

Beyond the lodge the trails winds up and down and around on an easy going path.

Soon we reach Addington Lookout, a viewpoint overlooking Addington Marsh situated south of Minnekhada Park boundaries.

These are the views East towards Golden Ears from the Addington Lookout.

We continue along the trail through the park and reach the top of Low Knoll which provides these views over the marsh.

After taking in the view here we continue along the trail towards the highest point of our route at High Knoll. On the way we pass this giant ugly fungi growing on a tree trunk.

After a puff up the steep trail to the top of High Knoll we get lovely views to the South and West over Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows and surrounding countryside. These are the views West over the park towards Coquitlam.

Looking down on Lower Marsh and the trail we had been walking on earlier in the morning.

Views South over the Pitt River, Harris Road seen disappearing off towards the town of Pitt Meadows.

This is where city meets farming country.

Another view towards the Pitt River.

Video of the terrific views from the top of High Knoll in Minnekhada Regional Park

We get a final look before heading back down the trail through the park.

We take a circular route around the park along the North side on the way back, passing this giant fallen old growth tree trunk. Would have made an impressive ‘thump’ when it came down !

Lots of maple trees in this forest.

We reach a bridge over a small marshy area, the bridge made out of a fallen tree.

No real views to speak of here but so much birdsong. This taken at around 12.30pm, it’s probably even louder in the early mornings.

Nearly back at the parking lot we reach a causeway between Upper and Lower Marshes. Views here over Lower Marsh.

Then views over the Upper Marsh.

Final panorama view from the causeway before we head back to the car, after an excellent easy walk and managing not to bump into any bears in the process !

Dog Mountain on Labour Day

2011-09-06T15:26:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Labour Day. I had a showing at 12noon but needed to find a good walk that would be reasonably short but worthy of the great weather. Dog Mountain on Seymour seemed like a good fit.

We started out around 9am, along the cool forest trails. We met a couple of people in the parking lot heading off on other trails but once we set off we didn’t see anybody else until we were on our return walk.

Only about 20 minutes in we reach First Lake.

Perfect for a morning swim.

Meadows near First Lake.

Another 20-30 minutes walking and we’re at the Dog Mountain lookout.

It’s a beautiful sunny morning and we have the whole mountaintop to ourselves. Views here to the South.

The Second Narrows Bridge.

The downtown core with Stanley Park to the right.

Sweeping city views right across Metro Vancouver.

Mountain views to the North

Mojo enjoys the views.

Final city views, Stanley Park and North Vancouver in the foreground. On the horizon, the silhouette of the mountains on Vancouver Island.

We make our way back down the trail, through the meadows to the parking lot.

The forecast is good all week so we will be out most days hopefully and keep the blogposts coming.

Mojo’s Playdate

2011-09-03T17:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had our friend Sig & Helens dog Buddy come to stay for the day and night while they went down to a concert in Seattle. After collecting Buddy we headed over to Buntzen Lake to have a good walk there and wear the two boys out, thus ensuring a peaceful afternoon.

Buddy waiting for us on the approach to the floating bridge.

Mojo soon catches up.

Mojo and Buddy are the best of friends and everywhere Buddy sniffs Mojo will too and vice versa. They are also excellent at sitting in unison when asked.

Good views around the lake.

It isn’t long before Mojo finds easy access to the lake and is in having his first swim.

Initially under the watchful eye of Buddy.

Although Buddy is soon sampling the joys of Buntzen Lake for himself.

More lake views as the trail winds alongside.

In areas the trail climbs up and down the hillside adjacent to the lake and under the hydro lines fed by the generating station at the North end of the lake.

Our first views of North beach, in the sun. The peace and tranquility of this scene will soon be broken by the two ‘rambunctious’ dogs !

Continuing along the trail.

We reach the North beach and have a swimming competition.

Nobody knows who won because nobody knew what the rules were.

But a splendid effort by both contestants nonetheless.

Posing for a photo after their swimming.

We then follow the trail back along the East side of the lake, with these views.

Once back at the official dog beach it’s time for some more swimming and stick fetching.

Before returning to the car and home. Therefore, predictably the rest of the afternoon was predominately……

Buddy then stayed the night, had a walk in Princess Park with us this morning before returning home around lunchtime. He’s a great houseguest and Mojo absolutely loves having him to walk and play with at home so no doubt he’ll be back again soon !

Early morning walk across the Lions Gate Bridge

2011-09-01T13:36:00.001-07:00

On Saturday morning we both awoke early as is usual for our body clocks with Davids work schedule. It was forecast to be another beautiful day so we headed out early to catch the morning sun and do a walk I hadn’t completed before across the Lions Gate Bridge.

Walking at around 6.45am we were a little later than perhaps would have been ideal for the most perfect sunrise colours, nonetheless the views and warmth in the light from the morning sun were lovely.

The sun rising over the mountains, the railyards in the foreground still in shade.

Downtown and the bridge.

Mojo and I while David takes a photo. The early morning walk made much easier with the fresh hot coffee !

A little trivia about the Lions Gate Bridge. It was built in the late 1930’s, opening to traffic in 1938 and officially opened by King Georges VI in 1939. It was paid for by the Guinness Family who owned great swathes of land in West Vancouver and wanted easier access to Downtown. One of the stipulations by the city to allow the bridge was that local trades people and materials must be used as they were in the middle of the Great Depression and the bridge building was seen as a significant stimulus.

Originally built as a two lane (one each direction) highway the bridge was re-configured to accommodate 3 lanes, initially with a central passing lane before the signal system was introduced. In 1986 the Guinness Family paid to have lights installed over the bridge to make it illuminated and an attractive landmark at night. In 2009 these lights were replace by LED versions, reducing energy consumption by 90% and saving the Province approximately $30,000 per year in power and maintenance. Approximately 60,000 to 70,000 cars cross the Lions Gate Bridge each day.

More city and bridge views. It was great to walk across the bridge and see views that you frequently get as a snapshot when driving across, but today to really appreciate them.

Mojo and I in the centre of the bridge. Mojo wasn’t absolutely convinced that this on-leash walk across the bridge was better than an off-leash charge around in a nearby forest but he was happy to take whatever we threw at him !

More views of the bridge.

Views from the bridge of the city, a tug in the inlet and Stanley Park to the right.

As we cross the bridge to the other side we look down on Stanley Park as if from the treetops.

The Lions at the South end of the bridge. Today in their natural state the Lions frequently adorn outerware, such as Canucks jerseys when the hockey playoffs taking place etc.

After crossing the bridge we then switched to the West side of the road and walked up to Prospect Point. We thought we might be the first of the day to visit the outlook but discovered a bird has beaten us to it, sat on the railings taking in the view.

Lions Gate Bridge from Prospect Point.

West Vancouver, Park Royal and the east end of the dog beach.

The rest of West Vancouver.

A yacht passes under the bridge, it looks just likes Jeffs although the BBQ is on the wrong side of the outer deck at the back.

We pass a tree that has originally seeded itself on an old stump. Now, the new new tree has grown it’s own roots and support system while the old stump has rotted away.

We walk back across the bridge and then down the steps towards Park Royal where we have parked the car. As we cross Capilano River there are several residents of the nearby reserve fishing, and these views to the South.

The fishing seems successful, lots of salmon !

Finally a view North up the Capilano River before returning to the car.

An excellent and healthy start to the day, rounded off perfectly with breakfast at Whitespot !

Views from the Hotel Georgia Residential Tower

2011-08-29T10:12:00.001-07:00

I don’t usually write any work related posts as it would either be discussing a particular individual or be very uninteresting, or both.

However, I am currently working with a buyer who is interested in a suite in the new Residences at Hotel Georgia.

Hotel Georgia is a landmark hotel situated in the centre of Downtown, built in 1927 notable famous guests include Elvis Presley, Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip, Nat King Cole, The Beatles and apparently Errol Flynn died while a guest in the hotel although apparently he didn’t actually die in the hotel. Mum, Dad and I include some of the less famous guests from the early 90’s !

The hotel was sold in 2007 to a developer group who have renovated and transformed the building from a 315 room aging shabby Crowne Plaza into an elegant, upscale 155 room Rosewood. The old parking garage at the rear of the hotel has been demolished and in it’s place a 47 storey tower built with commercial on the lower 14 floors and then residential condo suites above. Below the ground level are 8 floors of underground parking.

Just within the last couple of months Hotel Georgia re-opened after it’s multi-million dollar renovation.

This view from across Georgia St shows the old hotel in the foreground with the new residential/commercial tower under construction behind. You can see the large triangular balconies that extend from the uppermost units.

So, my buyer is interested in buying into the Residences at Hotel Georgia and while the tower is nowhere near completion it is possible to arrange with the developers to have access to different floors to get a sense of what the outlook from different units on different floors is like.

We donned our hardhats and took the noisy, rickety construction elevator up the outside of the building to the 17th floor where we gained these views South over the Hotel Georgia rooftop, across the art gallery and Robson Square beyond.

While my buyer doesn’t actually have the $9m budget for a top floor penthouse unit we were afforded the opportunity to take the elevator right up to the top to see the astounding views the lucky purchaser will eventually have.

The views are through the windows which were filthy, so some reflections and marks on the images. I wasn’t brave or stupid enough to venture out onto the balconies at this level since they didn’t yet have their railings !

This view is North-West over the North Shore, the Lions peaking out to the left, Grouse Mountain straight ahead and Seymour on the right.

View North-East with Lower Lonsdale in the centre of the North Shore and Canada Place straight ahead of us on this side of the bay.

The view East over East Vancouver, Burnaby Mountain ahead.

The new Woodwards tower, this development completed in 2010 is iconic of the redevelopment of the Downtown Eastside – Woodwards was a long established chain of department stores and their first branch opened in 1892, before expanding in 1902 to this location at the corner of Georgia St and Abbott St, at the time the hub of Downtown Vancouver. At the peak of the company boom the headquarters for Woodwards was based here and occupied nearly a whole city block while Woodwards department stores could be found throughout Western Canada. However, during the last century the ‘downtown’ of Vancouver gradually shifted West towards it’s current location around Burrard & Georgia.

The decline of the neighbourhood around the Woodwards building was rapid through the 1970’s an 1980’s. Woodwards gradually sold their other Western Canada stores to The Hudson Bay Company hanging onto their original Vancouver location until their eventual bankruptcy in 1993. The buildings remained empty until squatters moved in in 2002. Eventually the site was re-developed keeping some of the original heritage buildings and two new residential towers housing about 500 market value condos and around 200 affordable homes. This development was seen as one of the significant first regeneration projects in the neighbourhood.

The Vancouver Public Library

Rogers Arena, formerly GM Place.

View East across East Vancouver, Burnaby and Metrotown on the skyline.

Here is one of the large triangular balconies facing South we could see from the ground looking up.

The view from the 47th floor looking South, high up over the top of the art gallery and Robson Square.

South-West view over the West End, English Bay and Vancouver Island just visible on the horizon.

West towards Stanley Park.

Finally after having a good look around at the excellent views from the top floor it’s time to take the metal cage elevator back down. It was great to have the walk around and see the views from the top, as privately owned there won’t be many other opportunities in the future to visit the 47th floor of the Residences at Hotel Georgia !

Mojo survived the vets…….and the vet survived Mojo.

2011-08-20T08:59:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Mojo was due his annual immunisation shots. Having been preconditioned to hate the vet from the day we first collected him (long history) last year we changed veterinary practises and arranged for a home visit so the vet came to the house to perform the health check and shots.

Mojo was fine with the home visit so we decided to try him out on the new veterinary practise this time around.

We walked around the neighbourhood for a few minutes to de-energise Mojo and do some tricks in the parking lot to get him into ‘working’ mode.

The result was that he was absolutely great in the vets this week. It was clear this wasn’t his idea of fun but he tolerated it and was completely submissive through the appointment (just like Charlie used to be) rather than aggressive as he used to be with the previous vet. Dr Sidhu our new vet is also excellent with Mojo being friendly but also very confident with him.

After the examination and shots we waited in reception while they prepared our account. This gave Mojo plenty of opportunity to watch the tiny kittens waiting for adoption. Mojo couldn’t quite decide between the black one to chase or tan one. Either way he knew he definitely wanted one of this tiny living toys.

Well done Mojo on being brave and well-behaved for us at the vets, but no we’re not getting you a kitten.