Scotch Broom in the Comox Valley
The Comox Valley on Vancouver Island is popular with retirees and now that I’ve driven through it, I finally get it. It truly is pretty. Driving north from Nanaimo, you pass small communities, older houses, farms, and rolling hills with low mountains to the west. To the east is the Salish Sea.
This time of year, the sides of the roads were covered with Scotch Broom in full bloom. It makes for beautiful vistas, for sure, but you feel a bit guilty about enjoying the view. Scotch Broom is an invasive species introduced to Vancouver Island in the 1850s. It’s caused a lot of havoc, is highly flammable (not great in our wildfire-prone province) and is toxic to livestock.
But here’s a photo of it anyways.
Miracle Beach
What I love about my country/province/city is how easy it is to be a tourist where I live. And that there is always something new to discover. For me last weekend, it was Miracle Beach, located in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island.
Opening up the cottage or going camping on the May long weekend is a Canadian tradition. One of the perks about camping so early in the season in British Columbia, even if we have to gamble on the weather, is we are usually able to have a campfire, one of the best parts about camping in Canada’s wilderness.
This year a province-wide campfire ban implemented in early May (the earliest ever in BC) scuttled our hopes for s’mores around the fire. Then, a week of cooler, damper weather meant the ban was lifted Friday at noon. Excellent timing, weather gods!
Miracle Beach Provincial Park is located on the eastern shores of Vancouver Island. Its wide, sandy beach (at low tide) faces the Salish Sea. Across the water lie the Coast Mountains, which run all the way from the Yukon border down the Alaska Panhandle and the coast of British Columbia to the 49th parallel.
I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this park, but, hey, it’s a big country. I was thrilled to spend time here and am already thinking ahead to next year’s May long weekend.
Prairie Spring
I haven’t posted about the Vancouver blossoms this spring. It seemed a bit cruel, given the long, hard winter that much of Canada has endured this year.
I also haven’t written about how disappointed I’ve been about our lack of snow — the first time in 43 years that Vancouver hasn’t registered any snow accumulation. (We had some flurries, enough to get me excited, but nothing stuck to the ground.) I really, really enjoy the limited snow we get as it helps to break up the monotony of the winter rains. But it seemed selfish to complain about our too-mild winter when so many people are wondering if theirs will ever end.
And so, when I flew to Edmonton last weekend for some family time, I hardly expected to see snow. But that’s a prairie spring for you. This photo was taken from the plane as we descended into Edmonton International Airport.
After spending a weekend bundled up against the wind and slipping and sliding along icy sidewalks or on icy roads while a passenger in my brother’s car, it’s funny how quickly you adjust. I was full on in winter mode and forgot all about what spring felt like.
Which meant that on my return to Vancouver on Sunday evening, I emerged from the Canada Line at Yaletown Station and was shocked to be surrounded by people wearing shorts and T-shirts.
That’s Canada for you. Diversity of all sorts, including the weather.
Merry Christmas!
Shipyards Christmas Market, North Vancouver
Through My Lens: Shipyards Christmas Market
There’s a new Christmas market in town and I, for one, am beyond happy about it. Located at the Shipyards District in North Vancouver, it’s already two years old and this year’s market is even bigger and better than last year’s. In fact, it’s become so popular, they’ve put on extra sailings of the SeaBus to get you there.
And, bonus: that view of downtown Vancouver.
Vancouver Goldeneyes Home Opener
Vancouver gets behind its professional sports teams in a pretty big way. And now there’s a new team in town to cheer on. That would be the PWHL’s Vancouver Goldeneyes.
I was one of 14,958 lucky fans sitting in the Pacific Coliseum last night who got to watch the season home opener and the first game in franchise history. The atmosphere was electric.
The Goldeneyes are the first Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) team to be an anchor tenant in their arena. Which means they are the only PWHL team that gets to play on ice branded with their team logo. It may seem like a small thing, but if you listen to the media interviews the players gave after the game, you realize, for them, it is huge.
These photos aren’t the greatest as I was shooting with a four-year old iPhone that’s pretty bad with distances. Even so, it was fun documenting a series of franchise “firsts” and I’m so glad I was there.
First sell-out game
First warm-up
First ceremonial puck drop
First national anthem
First game puck drop
First penalty
First win
Through My Lens: September Flowers
It’s raining today. And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but after a long, hot summer, it’s a relief to have some cooler temperatures again.
The flowers planted along English Bay are looking rather autumnal as well.
Through My Lens: Ruckle Park Sunrise
I was hoping for a weekend of sunrises like this one at Ruckle Park on Salt Spring Island. Alas, our planned weekend of camping by the sea had to be cancelled when one of our party came down with Covid. Five years on, it’s still safety first.
And I, for one, am OK with that.
Through My Lens: Ships and Foliage at Sunset
I’ve been a bit neglectful about posting lately. Because summer. (Who wants to be sitting at their computer when you can be outdoors?)
This is a favourite photo of mine; I took it as I walked along the seawall one warm August evening some years ago.
The Erickson
A year ago today, I started a series of posts on Vancouver buildings designed by Arthur Erickson. I have one last photo to post, and that’s this building, named, appropriately enough, The Erickson.
This condo was built on the former Expo Lands, on the north side of False Creek. It was finished in 2010, a year after Erickson died, and is one of the last projects he was involved with.
I remember when it went up. My walks along the seawall involved a detour to get around the construction, but now, the building looks like it’s been there forever.
There and Back Again 