North Beach Trail

 

Further north into Golden Ears Provincial Park, an hour east of Vancouver, was Gold Creek. Its pristine waters flowed into Alouette Lake and beside the creek was a short one kilometre trail leading to an elongated expanse of fresh water.

A taste of Uganda’s India

Indian food in East Africa had a distinctly different flavour from dishes anywhere in India. After Asians once settled in a new continent, cooking took on a mixture of spices from India with a touch of Africa.

English Bay Beach

English Bay Beach, one of Vancouver’s city beaches close to Stanley Park, faced the Burrard Inlet towards Vancouver Island. Over the gritty sand, logs stretched like beached whales. Having never seen logs on any other beach in the world, I wasn’t sure if the giants escaped from holdings along the Fraser River or were deliberately brought to the site. But in a city with more rainy days than sunshine, it might be useful to sit on a log rather than damp sand.

South Indian Sunset

Living in rainy Vancouver, I don’t often have an opportunity to witness a sunset. In Puducherry however, I stayed in a homestay with a rooftop and quaint shady nook where sunsets embellished the sky daily.

Calgary’s Bow River

I was hoping to see the river frozen over but winter was just beginning this trip. Pieces of ice floated down stream as I made my way along one of the many walkways along the Bow River.

Long Beach, Washington State

Photo: Whale skeleton, Long Beach. Photo courtesy: From Texas with Love – wikimedia.org

A friend suggested we drive south over the boarder into the States for a late summer trip before it was time to head back to work. I jumped at the opportunity thinking we’d fit in some beach time and a swim in the surf. We left sweltering thirty degree Vancouver and skipped through Seattle to Long Beach.

A Vancouver treasure

There’s a building I’ve always admired in downtown Vancouver but I’d never been inside.

Vancouver’s hidden treasure

During my daughter’s short visit, she wanted to visit UBC’s rose garden. The university sits on a snout that overlooks the Salish Sea, and while it was too early in the season to find the garden at its best, the view was spectacular.

Westham Island’s George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary

South the Vancouver lies a bird sanctuary with the Fraser River on one side and the Salish Sea on the other. In the distance lies the Strait of Georgia and the Gulf Islands where the salty sea air washes over the exposed landscape. This is a bird watcher’s haven and although I’m not one of them, it’s still a pleasure to visit the island and come into contact with thousands of birds.