Celebration of Light

July 2010

The Celebration of Light is a fireworks extravaganza competition that runs in late July in Vancouver.

4 countries competed over 4 nights (Wed/Sat for 2 weeks) with displays choreographed to music. This year it was USA, Mexico, Spain and China.

http://www.celebration-of-light.com/event-information/

Now I have to say its hard to compete with the likes of the Olympic Fireworks and new years Eve Fireworks over the Harbour Bridge in Sydney. You will agree they are pretty “awesome” (Canadian speak here).

However there were plenty of new style fireworks and the OOH and AAH factor was there very night.

English Bay, Kitsalano beach and the Burrard and Granville Bridges were packed with crowds and the usual rowdy drunks that accompany such festivities. Plenty of folks camped out for hours with picnic supplies to get the best vantage points.

We wandered to a great viewing spot just a 5 minute walk from the apartment, under the Burrard Street bridge. Easy. In keeping with world sporting events, the winner was...you guessed it...Spain (Elsa will be pleased).

Woody did not have his canon camera and tripod on hand as it was too crowded but his happy snap Lumix did a respectable job of recording the event.

Whistler Mountain and Squamish Village

On Sunday we decided to try the drive to Whistler mountain. Every Australian we have met here has said we must go there, and I have been dying to go since we arrived in Vancouver.

After driving through Stanley Park and over the magnificent 1930's Lion's Gate bridge (http://www.cherrybouton.com/lgbridge.html)

it was very easy to get onto highway 99 and follow the coast around to Howe inlet and through the mountains.The Horseshoe bay Ferry terminal is on the way-where the car and passenger ferries travel accross to Vancouver Island.

We aimed to get to Squamish village, about half way and see how we were going. It is about a 2 hour trip from Vancouver to Whistler.

On the way we stopped at Porteau Cove on the Howe inlet. It is a Marine park with an artificial reef and several shipwrecks for divers. The old jetty, no longer in use, was very impressive. There were plenty of large bleached trees washed up on the pebble beach- great photographic material for Woody.

Situated on the most southerly fjord in North America, the park features waterfront campsites with a view over Howe Sound to the mountains beyond. There are even some purpose built log cabins- a legacy from the Olympics-that you can rent.

"Porteau" (porte d’eau) means "Water’s Gate." This name dates from 1908 when John F. Deeks began mining the extensive sand and gravel deposits here to supply Vancouver. A small community of employees lived here until the beginning of the Depression, enjoying good housing, a schoolhouse, tennis courts, and daily ferry service from the Union Steamship Company.

Howe inlet is a calm and striking body of water with mountains on both sides and as we went further along it the mountain landscape was utterly breathtaking. Over on the other side of the inlet -the “Sunshine Coast” - the mountains were rugged and still covered with plenty of snow.

Squamish is a small town, catering for tourists and a small logging and fishing community. It think it is named after an Indian tribe. We had our picnic lunch on the peaceful and picturesque jetty among the yachts and motor boats.As we enjoyed our picnic feast a large haul of local crabs was being winched up from one of the fishing boats onto a large Chevrolet Ute.

A great cafe-the Zephyr-seemed to be the centre of the action in the town on a quiet Sunday afternoon.It provided freshly baked organic cakes and great organic tea and every table was full. Next time we will stop there for lunch. Highly recommended.

Although it was late in the afternoon we decided to continue on and go to Whistler. The views of the mountains became even more spectacular and the drive was surprisingly straightforward. I believe the government spent money upgrading the highway before the Winter Olympics in April.We drove through Whistler Creek and the Whistler Olympic Village and straight on to Whistler Village itself.

Although it is summer there is plenty of activity on the mountain. The ski lift and gondola are operating so you can go to the top of Whistler mountain and take one of the many hiking paths. As it was late we decided to leave that for another trip.

In winter there is a “peak to peak” gondola that is pretty hair raising between Whistler and Black Comb peaks. I hope I will have enough nerve to do this-unfortunately my experience with heights does not have the greatest track record. But we made it up on the gondola up to the peak of Mont Blanc in France, so I will have to give it a try in Winter.

There is serious action for bike riders up here in the summer and the lower ski tracks have converted to some awesome bike routes. The village was very busy with visitors and Canadians on vacation.

The village itself has a great atmosphere- reminded us of Chamonix in France. A vast array of shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs. Lots of Lodge and Hotel accommodation too. There is everything you could possibly need here for outdoor activities in summer or winter.

I am hoping to convince Woody to spend a white Christmas up here-I think in Winter it will be magical. I have never skied and always wanted to try. I know I will spend most of the time falling over, but I think it would be great to try. I am also keen to try cross country skiing.

We left very late to drive back to Vancouver, but it was well worth spending the time at Whistler. There was a full moon and the mountains looked dramatic and surreal-perfect cinematography for a movie.

Can't wait for the next trip to Whistler when we will plan to catch the ski lift and hike on one of the trails

Gold Creek & Lake Alouette

We wanted to see some of the mountain and lake terrain that you see in all the advertising, the real countryside of Canada.

About an hour and 20 minutes out of Vancouver is Lake Alouette, one of the larger mountain lakes close to the city.

(http://www.google.ca/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=lake%20alouette%20bc&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1024&bih=609)

Unfortunately the drive en route was through some fairly busy suburban/city areas with plenty of road construction going on and the day was hot.

It was with relief that we finally sighted green and forest and once we entered the Golden Ears Provincial Park

(http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/explore/vancouver/parks/goldears.htm) it was just gorgeous.

Currently it's Candadian vacation season, so anywhere popular is bound to be a bit busy.

The main day area of the Lake was just that- swarming with family picnickers and campers enjoying the great outdoors. We found a small piece of timber jetty on the lake to sit and munch our rolls and then decided to drive further along the road to find some nature that was more tranquil.

Gold Creek was another ten minutes or so away and that's where the lake got interesting and really beautiful. Driving over a timber bridge we sighted a fast running creek with lots of rocks and could hear the nearby falls.

The creek has plenty of pools of still water for swimming-emerald green in colour and the banks of stone overhanging with rain forest trees. Truly stunning.

The creek base is river stones and winds around through the forest then opens out to the main lake, used for boating and camping. The water was crystal clear and Woody ventured in-as he always does-in his bonds undies. Chilly but not too cold.

It is impossible for Woody to see a body of water and not jump in for a swim-its against his nature (he's a human fish!). I rolled my jeans up and waded to my knees-what a woos.

Our first mountain adventure…

A few weekends ago we hired a car and got back into the swing of driving on the wrong side of the road (the right of course). We were upgraded to a very posh Lexus and the driving was relatively easy (for Woody) to get to Mt Seymour, about 25 minutes out of Downtown Vancouver.

On the way from Downtown we drove through East Hastings Street, and that was a real culture shock. Where we are living is pretty up-market, clean and safe. This area has blocks and blocks of unfortunate homeless people and addicts out on the street who, I am told, are neglected by the state and city and have no where else to go. They line the street with items for sale, trolleys full of bottles for refunds, and bags with their possessions. It’s pretty tragic and was a shock to see.

Mt Seymour is 1100m above sea level. It was 22 degrees and sunny when we left Downtown Vancouver. We crossed a very high bridge at Highway 99 to get to North Vancouver and then to Mt Seymour.

At 400m above sea level it was getting pretty misty and atmospheric. At 600m we thought maybe we should turn back as we were not going to see a thing-certainly not any views. At 1000m we found ourselves surrounded by mist so thick you could only see a room's length in front of you-and we realized we had reached a big car park at the ski lifts.

There were about 8 or so people and quite a few cars, so we decided to do a short walk to First Lake- about 2km. Most of the walking tracks all seemed to commence at this point. We had packed our winter ski jackets and had walking shoes on, but not hiking shoes.

We spoke to a fellow who was dressed for the terrain (his name was Keith) and he had cameras and stuff too. He suggested the walk to the lower lake was best as another walker had said that snow had prevented him getting though another track without snow spikes for his shoes

Snow…what a novelty for us…I got quite excited at the prospect.

Keith was walking the same way so we started out together. However we did not want o intrude on his day so as he stopped to take photos we kept on wandering. At first we were in alpine level rain forest- it was beautiful and eerily quiet with the mist. A tiny grey squirrel popped up on a branch –they are native to the area and many have been chased off by the bigger invader, the black squirrel.

Then we hit the snow and it was awesome. Big swathes covered a lot of the ground up to 1m thick. We were contemplating turning back, but Keith joined us and offered to guide us through…and thank goodness he did. It was impossible to find the track markers and in many parts the ice fell through to big holes or water. You had to dig the toe of your shoe into each step on the snow so as not to slip.
But it was beautiful to walk through the forest on the snow and our hiking shoes were ok to manage the slippery ground.

The lake with the mist and surrounding fir trees was spectacular-Woody was cursing bringing the happy snap camera instead of his Canon. But we enjoyed it all the same.

As we walked further we did lose the track a bit and the path kept going up and up…and after 1 hour I was wondering where we were…thankfully there was some sign posting and we found the post to direct us back to the point at which we had started- the walk was about 1 hour and 45 minutes and we had been expecting a 40 minute stroll!!.
We were most thankful to Keith for being our guide-I don’t think we would have been brave enough to wing it on our own in such unfamiliar territory.

Keith said it was good to see the terrain through someone else's eyes, someone who had not seen snow.
He was a hobby photographer and we swapped web site addresses. His shots were quite lovely and he mentioned in his notes that he ran in to “a very nice Australian couple” (I assume he meant us).

Granville Island Markets

We have been going to Granville Island Markets a lot to buy fresh produce and survey the mouth watering bakeries and gourmet foods. And also to sit and enjoy the passing parade of people-both local and visitors- and a variety of street performers.
Located between the two main bridges of Granville and Burrard Street, the view across the Creek and up to English Bay is lovely.

The markets are a short ferry trip from our apartment across False Creek and are busy every day, but especially on the weekend. Crowds sit out in the sun eating their food, drinking coffee, and listening to the variety of buskers and street performers who entertain on a rotation each day. There is a fresh produce market hall, all under cover, where you can buy organic meat, fruit and vegetables, fresh French bread, a vast selction of cakes and treats, burgers, gourmet delicacies from British Columbia, salmon and seafood, hand made jewellery, artwork, photography…

Around the Public Market are many sheds and buildings that house artists studios and gallery spaces, gifts and clothing. There is a theatre there and there are a couple of micro breweries. There is also a ship building yard, a marina, a dock for working fishing boats, and restaurants, bars and cafes. There is always something different to see and do and it is just a great place to shop, eat, wander and relax.
The local fishing coop has an outlet for fresh fish and chips down by the fishing boat harbour. We haven’t tried it yet but there are often cues around the building. The food is supplied in bamboo baskets and there are plenty of lovely spots to perch and take in the views.

Gardens and Flowers in Vancouver:
With “summer” in full swing in Vancouver city the parks and gardens are filled with bright colour and green trees. There has been a lot of effort put into making many green spaces amongst the hi-rise and city buildings. The flowers are amazing with bright purple Lobillia and pink, purple, red and yellow Begonias everywhere.
People also take pride in their small apartment street frontages, with many people planting their own flower gardens even in the pavements and street round-a-bouts.
It would be nice to see more of this in Sydney’s city areas.

Deep Cove, Vancouver

Summer is trying its best to get established-but the locals are complaining that it isn't here yet.
Last weekend the sun shone all day Saturday and it was a beautiful Vancouver day. We finally ventured further than the city. On the advice of a colleague from Perth (there are 4 Perthites at DD), we went to Deep Cove- about 1 hour by bus out of Vancouver city.

Public transport being as efficient as it is, we were able to navigate to our destination by transit bus to Waterfront Station,then on the Seabus across the harbour to Lonsdale Quay (15 mins) in North Vancouver.
Then one bus to Phibbs exchange and boarded straight away on to another bus for Deep Cove. All this on our 1 day travel pass for $9 each.

On the way we were wondering where Woody's colleague was sending us- deep into the northern suburbs of Vancouver. Then we arrived at Deep Cove -a huge expanse of fir and cypress tree forest right up to the mountains surrounding a peaceful inlet-breathtaking.
The cove is part of the Indian Arm inlet and a perfectly protected place to Kayak. Still water and dramatic hills and mountain views.
Deep Cove town centre is one street- a little village really. Quaint and peaceful, not too many tourists.
The "Honey Donut" was the recommended place for lunch-big fat deep fried and honey soaked donuts are what they are famous for-YUM. But to make up for that they make very healthy sandwiches with potato bread and fresh and generous fillings.
Panorama Park is right at the waterfront and this is where they hire kayaks.
We decided to leave that venture for another trip, and to take the Baden Powell trail up to a large viewing rock, about 2km into the forest.
It is not dissimilar to Palm Beach in Sydney and the forest was very rain forest like with filtered light and towering trees. really beutiful. However most of the trail was UP, so we certainly got our exercise.

Reaching the large viewing rock high above Indian Arm was our reward for the hefty trek-breathtaking views right back to the city and up to the mountains.
Many photos later we decided to go back down to the Cove- the trail is actually a rugged 41km hike and we were not intending on killing ourselves in one day...or any other day for that matter.

Back at Panorama Park a most amusing sight-kids tobogganing down a steep hill on large square blocks of ice. They were having a ball. Reminded us of Gerard & Chris's 3 kids, with the Canadian accents and screams and giggles.

It was a lovely way to spend the day out and about in the nature and we decided to return for a kayaking outing next weekend.

Our apartment has a gym, 25m indoor swimming pool and heated spa. After months of hard work packing and moving and neglecting our fitness, we have started back into a routine of exercise making good use of these facilities. The spa is great for tried muscles after a workout. To date we have had the pool and spa to ourselves in the evening.

Woody is home at a civilised 6.30/7pm so we have time for this and then a walk/bike ride along the seawall to English Bay to watch the sunset. Daylight savings and late sunsets mean we don't get dark before 9-9.30pm.

Seals quite often join us as we walky and there is plenty of boating, kayaking, cycling, blading, jogging activity along the walk. Vancouver has many stunning outdoor sculptures positioned in and around the parks and seawall edge. There is one sculpture by a Chinese artist that is a long,large, undulating ribbon of steel-it seems to float above the ground and catches all the light-really striking. In fact the public artwork here is the most impressive we have seen outside of Goodwood Park in Chichester, UK.

There are plenty of interesting eating spots along the harbour-one I am keen to try is the Pirate Pub. It has lots of fishing stuff decorating the ceiling and a cosy atmosphere. Most people sit outside with their big bowls of mussels, fish and chips and pizza-albeit with rugs provided by the restaurant wrapped aound their legs. This is only 5 minutes away from our apartment and I am really keen to try the mussels-maybe this Friday!!

Woody's contribution

Woody has been flat out at work and has not had time to respond to his friends and colleagues emails.

This is his contribution...

Vancouver;

Land of the Looney, Beaver, Moose , Grisly Bear, raccoons, bagels, cheesy flavored everythings and the Inukshuk! The people here are so nice and say “your welcome” soooo much you feel scared. What do they want? What are they on? It is the land of the free dope smoking, mmmmm.

Even the bus drivers are extremely helpful. They welcome you on the bus and wish you a good day getting off!, every day! Hey am I paying too much?

Then there are the ferry boats that take you across and up and down the river. I get one each day as its part of my ride to work. Now these boats are kind of funny.

Imagine a 6 year old boy with his toy boat in the bath. Now slightly enlarge that. Bit more. That’s it. Yes a cork with a motor. The driver sits up in the middle looking out a hole in the top like a half submarine. He has to look out the window in the top because he is filling the entire space. I pay 2 looney (2 $CAD) to cross the harbour ; which is about what you would pay for the boat at the 1 dollar shop. Still the “captain” of the toy boat tells stories , “the saying , look a gift horse in the mouth, this came from the old days; when if you were given a horse it would be very rude to start pulling back its lips and checking if the teeth where any good”. Very useful information should I be given a horse.

The harbor has seals in it at the moment which look like really cute puppy dogs. The followed us on the sea walk the other day. There was also a whale in the harbour just before we arrived. Now picture me in the toy boat and now picture the largest mammal in the world coming up to say hi!

The mountains surround the back of the city and have snow on the top which is very cool to see from your bedroom window if you’re from Australia. The weather around these mountains is constantly changing so the skies, mist and clouds and sunsets are just incredible. Weather is wet, sunny, warm, cold, chilly, this morning.

Everyone is out on the seawall walk at the end of the day catching the sun which looks like 3.pm to me when its about 9.30 pm.

Long days are really good. I can come home from work, go to the gym, have a swim and spa – all of which comes with the apartment, and walk up and watch the mid afternoon sun!

People are playing cement hockey on the basketball courts, weird hippy people are playing various instruments at various levels of skills, one very crappy hip hop rap singer who is shit! Wish someone would lop him like a fir tree.

Stanley park is a great big island park which we have ridden around- about 11 Km and walked though a bit on the weekends is fantastic. That’s where we have seen beaver and raccoons. It’s only about a 20 min ride from home. I have not seen a Moose there …only a goose. You can only ride around the park in one direction, which is very funny watching the summer tourist try to ride against the flow. This is the one time when the shiney pearly white smile of the Vancouverite, on his or her power ride, rollerblade, or run around the park becomes a nasty snarl. Very funny to see. Yes we did try to ride the wrong way.

We are hoping to get out and see the surrounding environment over the coming weeks. It looks fantastic to see and explore.

Digital Domain.

I sit in a dark room with two monitors two computers a set of draws, nearby a kitchen and toilet , also nearby are nice offices with sunlight and a great view that have producers and co-coordinators in them. Around me are many geeks……yes all the film effects houses look the same.

Actually work has also been very friendly and the work has been great to date. I have no complaints and have been made very welcome.

I have mainly been doing concept frames for THOR to date. Sup here seems very good.TRON looks very good. I think it will be very well received.

The company here is 88 staff going to 155 ish. LA crew is 600 + and key staff are up and down between the studios so that keeps it all in the mix well. They have some incredible films on the books starting soon, which is also very good to see in the current film industry climate.

PS: bonus giver away, write to me and I will send a beaver postcard!

Woody

First 2 weeks in Vancouver

This weekend has been bright and sunny 18- 22 degrees- Vancouverites think its hot.

English Bay was packed with locals and tourists enjoying the sun. On Saturday we rode our bikes along the seawall to Stanley park and then all around the 11km seawall ride back to English Bay.

So green and beautiful. Bikes jostle with bladers and tourists who don't see there is a path for them and a path for bikes. They stand in the middle of the bike path taking photos as cyclists swerve around them.

We had a relaxing lunch on the 'patio' of the Boathouse restaurant at English Bay - great fish and chips and local BC wine. Our view was accross the Bay to the Mountains in the North West- they still have snow on the peaks.

Today we took the 5 minute ferry ride accross to Granville Island markets. There is a main public market with fresh produce and cafes, then a big expanse of renovated sheds with arts and crafts studios, groovy paper shops, clothing, more restaurants and cafes. Found an authentic french boulangerie with great baguettes, pastries and daily baked breads.....mmmm.

Daylight savings means it is light until at least 9pm, so plenty of time to enjoy the weekend and take things at a slower pace than we have over the last 6 months.

The Vancouver Blog commences

I have started this blog as a kind of journal for our stay in Vancouver, Canada. It's a way of reminding us of what we have seen and done and to share the experiences with our friends and family.

I have some catching up to do today to bring this up to date (today being Wednesday 9 June).

Vancouver is a beautiful city, albeit a wet one so far. The bright sunny days do exist but have only had 3 or so in 14 days. However the drizzly days are not bad for venturing out anyway.

And everyone does get out-very big here on exercise and outdoors adventuring.

The first 2 weeks were spent in very nice, contemporary, serviced accommodation Downtown provided by Digital Domain. I spent the time apartment hunting while Woody got right into work at DD.

DD is located in Kitsalano south of Downtown, but its only a 10 minute bus/bike and walk from door to door-easy.

Navigating around Vancouver is simple-the mountains are North! And what spectacular mountains they are. On a clear day they look awesome and the caps are still showing snow.

We have been pretty tired after the previous months of packing, moving and travelling, so we are waiting until we feel energetic enought to tackle a mountain visit.

Last Saturday we moved into our furnished apartment in Downtown Vancouver. This will be home for the next 6 months.

It is a new building right on the waterfront -Opposite the Granville island markets.

It is 61m2, so small for us, but stylish and a lovely location. It is right on George Wainborn Park, a lovely lansdcaped park popular with the cities dog lovers, personal trainers and exercisers.

We are located near the seawall - this goes right around the city and up to Stanley Park- hectares of natural parkland with massive trees. We just bought two bikes to cycle to work and around the seawall. Vancouver is extremely bike friendly and mostly flat.

English Bay is just up the way from our apartment -the views out to the mountains and the ocean skies are pretty spectacular. The local ferries run every 5 minutes between our park and the other side. Its a good alternative to taking the traffic bridges.

Woody has been working on some cool concepts for Thor. Under pressure being the "new kid on the block", but they are pleased with his work so far and very appreciative of the extra work he has put in. That is a rewarding change for him.

Observations about the city so far-

• Canadians are extremely friendly
• public transit system is superior and buses are electric
• very envrionmentally concious-puts Sydney to shame really
• bus drivers so so helpful and friendly
• parks and gardens everywhere, even in the commercial centres
• glad we bought our really warm winter jackets and boots
• have seen raccoons,beavers,squirrels, canadian geese so far-can't wait to see a grizzly bear