A Different Perspective

I decided to finally bring a digital camera along for the ride in the zippered pocket of my spray skirt this morning. Following are scenes from English Bay and False Creek. As the weather was due to cloud over (never did actually), I was up early to get a 9.30 paddle in. We're due for a heatwave this coming weekend with temps over 30 for many days to come. This means more early morning paddles. The heat and hot July sun are just no good for anyone these days!






A little Harbour Seal swam past me towards Stanley Park.







We'd appear to have more Great Blue Herons here in Vancouver than anywhere else in the world. Click on the photo to enlarge it. It was really a beautiful take-off!



Another great Cormorant encounter, sitting on the rocks of English Bay.



This is about the CLOSEST I've ever come to a Double-Breasted Cormorant. This was a young bird sitting on the dock underneath the Burrard Bridge. As I slowly approached him in my kayak, he seemed to be hopping around from one spot on the dock to another. Could have been slightly injured and waiting for a family member to come and rescue him.



At this point, I was headed towards the kayak rental place and came face to face with another seal. This is usually the way I come across them, as they're looking right at me with their large, curious eyes!



And yet another Double-Breasted Cormorant getting its lunch out of the sea!

Giro di Burnaby

Local Burnaby cycler Gina Grain takes the prize and trophy, proudly wearing the Giro di Burnaby winner's jersey.




The races were held last night, on Hastings Street in North Burnaby. Quite close to where we stayed last year in April while looking around Vancouver. Here's photos of the set up, womens' and men's races and all in between. Yes, that's me in a gorgeous red Ferrari Spider (click on the photo to enlarge, if you don't believe me)! Just an added bonus of being a trusty volunteer! This was the first bike Criterion race of its kind in Burnaby, and the organizer is already looking forward to the Giro di Burnaby 2007.



Weekend's just getting better. Had a nice paddle out at sea today in Jericho Beach area and we're now going to entertain our friends CZarina and Maarten, with Ad's excellent BBQ talent! Tomorrow, a hike in the vicinity with a rented car for the day, followed by an aperitivo at friends in Kits Point, who have just returned from good times in Italia.

Happy weekend,

Ariane C

July 9

Although I didn't participate in the Jericho Beach Kayak Marathon this year, I was there for the start of the race. 9.30 sharp and the foghorn was off! The race had two components: a leisurely one hour paddle, and a more strenuous longer distance.



I left shortly after the start with the intention of meeting up with Ad on Commercial Drive to watch the soccer final, but I heard reports back by phone that the street and all pubs were so full, it was over capacity with hardly any standing room on the street! Ad found his way to Zesty's Restaurant to watch, as Stella's Belgian bar and tapas restaurant was full, where his Dutch friends were seated from very early on to watch. Too bad they couldn't save him a seat, it was that crowded!

It was great when Italy won (we were rooting for them!) - being in "Little Italy" there on the Drive, Ad only had to call me on his cell phone to hear the cheers and screams of the Italian fans. All hell broke loose after the game, and people in Roman costume were out on the streets, walking with a replica World Cup trophy, as well as musicians, tons of flags (from both France and Italy actually) and screaming, honking cars. The whole Drive was blocked off eventually. Our friends Albrecht and Lisa were French fans, so a bit less cheerful. They did find a large French group of fans and Albrecht, with his French soccer shirt, flag and bagette on the flagtop, was the centrepiece of discussion post-game, according to Ad!

As I enjoyed the second half of the game from our comfy couch, I headed out afterwards and did a paddle towards the late afternoon. Blissful. I headed from Jericho Beach to Wreck Beach and hit a point in the sea where no land was on either side of me. Really felt like being out in the open sea, what a rush that was!

I will be going to Commercial Drive a bit after the fact (this evening, for a Graphic Designer's meet up); will inspect the leftover scene!

A couple of shots of last night's sunset, as taken from our balcony. As the weather has gone cooler and grayer, this too is a relief after many days of heat in Vancouver. Though that DOES count as summer right?

Happy Birthday, Canada

Ah, the holiday weekend. Saturday morning, I headed out for a morning kayak paddle around Point Grey and Kits seashore, spotting a Bald Eagle land above me on the Kitsilano Yacht Club's pier! Stayed there a few moments to admire it, and the Heron down below the docks, waiting patiently for a morning meal. Ad was off to Commercial Drive to watch an 8 AM start on the England vs. Portugal soccer game with a friend. The afternoon was spent biking over to Yaletown to watch some of the International Jazz Festival taking place in David Lam Park as well as the Roundhouse Community Centre nearby. We got ourselves over to Main and Broadway intending to catch a Main Street bus to Nat Bailey Stadium to watch the Vancouver Canadians vs. Eugene Emeralds baseball game, but wound up sharing a cab with two ladies over to the Park, as the busses were delayed to the point of our not wanting to risk missing out on the game (we had one complimentary ticket and needed to purchase a second one in time for the 7.05 start). As Nat Bailey has fireworks every July 1, and this was its busiest day of the year, we wanted to arrive in time to enjoy a good old-fashioned ball game. The fireworks started out very mellow and later built up to the standard high-in-the-sky numbers. We were almost wondering if the 'big ones' would come out, but sure enough, all was not lost towards the end of the show!! We bussed back, this time catching our two busses in good time.

Sunday…First off, we rented a car-cooperative auto and headed to the Buntzen Lake area for a hike. With the heat on, everyone had crowded the parking lot by 11 in the morning and we quickly made an alternative plan to head to Belcarra Regional Park, right at Bedwell Bay and the Indian Arm area. We noticed cops giving out tickets at the waterfront. What for? Crabs that were caught and not released due to their size. There's a huge crabbing community here, and licences and size are everything. One licence will permit two traps set out to sea. There were several crab people out on the dock with plastic templates in order to measure the crab's length between its claws. About 50% were tossed back to the water, with a flock of geese waiting in the wings for any crumbs of people food to drop into the water. Here's a photo of one person's 'catch'. Obviously, it had to be thrown back out, as the sealife is dutily protected on these shores.



Once out of the busy picnic/bbq/fishing pier area, we opted for a hike along the Jug Island Beach Trail, heading higher and higher up the mountainside until we hit the ridge, opening up to gorgeous views down below.



Lots of recreational boating in the summer heat! A bigger bonus: the gorgeous and colourful birds we spotted up there while on a lunch break. As I've become somewhat of a bird fan, I picked them out of my bird-watching book: a few Western Tanagers and Pileated Woodpeckers! Now I'm on a mission: to one day spot a Mountain Bluebird, a piece of sky come to life.

We had iced coffee back down in Port Moody, picked up some produce at the same outdoor shopping centre, and headed back home to rest and unwind, before heading out for some gorgeous Greek food at the Ouzeri on West Broadway. Living here over one year and not having had one Greek meal out in our Greek neighborhood was almost a sin. Now there's about four other Greek places we're going to try in the future.

Today was another very warm day. Ad and I chose to hang out for this Canada Day around the house, doing various things that needed doing, and tonight Ad's planking a large salmon fillet for dinner on the BBQ!

What we have here is a photo taken last week on our evening stroll along the Seawall, at (very) high tide! Happy Canada Day, and 4th of July to our friends and family down South!