We are lucky people. Not only do we have this opportunity to come and live in Vancouver but we have loads of lovely family & great friends that we want to share stuff with.
A couple of weeks ago we had to buy a new camera when our previous one stopped functioning.
We bought a Canon Powershot SD980 IS with 24mm wideangle and 12.1mp. It also records HD movie so beware, there's going to be more of that too !
The day after we bought the camera was nice and sunny so we took the opportunity to take some snaps while we were out walking Mojo to see how the new camera performed.
Views along Lynn Creek The trail under East Keith Road And the Highway 1 bridge Mojo stomping through the fallen leaves Lots of golden leaves A rare glimpse of blue sky (we've seen it we think once since this walk on the 1st November !) The camera captures the vivid colours of the autumn leaves well Views of the river Mojo fetching a stick A fallen tree branch in the river Looking down the river from the bridge Nice wide trails, but enough other dog walkers to keep Mojo happy After three weeks of rain it's nice to see some colourful pictures ! Looking through the trees down to the river. The camera manages the mix of sun and shade better than our old camera. Finally a close up of the river through the trees. So we have established that the camera does a good job. We just need some nice weather to enable us to get out and snap some more.
This week we completed the second in the series of training classes for Mojo. This level was 'Beginners' and the term has finished until after Christmas when we commence 'Advanced Beginners'.
The photo here shows Mojos class, although the photo doesn't have David in it as they took the pictures in the penultimate week which was when he had surgery on his shoulder and couldn't come to the class.
Ok, this isn't something we have ever come close to getting involved in previously but Alecia, a work colleague and friend of Davids was having a baby and as we live more centrally and have a bigger house than some of her other friends we were to be the hosts.
Essentially it turns into a small party with a few rules such as it should only go on for 4hrs, you have to have sandwiches, cake and a so on. You also have to decorate the house and have a 'diaper cake' - thankfully the new mother gets to keep this not the host !
Anyway, it was a good chance for Alecia to get out with her newborn, Maya and catch up with her friends.
A week or two after the shower we then had just Alecia over with Maya for the afternoon. It was her first trip out somewhere with Maya on her own (she had come to the Shower with her mother-in-law and been out places with Dallas before but not on her own).
All went well and we both got some cuddles in. David, Maya and Alecia Mojo was a little over boisterous to begin with, particularly when Maya cried, but by the end of the afternoon he was pretty relaxed and seemed happy enough to have her around.
Last week I decided to try a new circular walk which joins both Lynn Creek and Seymour River Canyons.
I had to run a couple of errands on Lonsdale before setting out, the view here back up Lonsdale Avenue. It was a beautiful, crisp fall day. Zoomed in on the new wind turbine and observation tower on Grouse Mountain. When I photographed it from Dog Mountain only the tower was constructed, now you can see the blades and observation pod are in place. Reading online they say the tower should be working from December 2009. I picked up Mojo and headed over to Lynn Canyon Park, the starting point of our walk. The view here up on Braemar of more autumnal colours. Once at Lynn Canyon Mojo was brave enough for the bridge.....just. He wasn't planning to stop and enjoy the view though. Actually, I didn't either as a large tour party arrived at the same time which was noisy and very bouncy on the bridge. The official route of the Two Canyon Loop takes you straight up into the forest towards the Seymour Conservation area. However, I decided to take the more scenic route alongside Lynn Creek to 30' pool. Down beside Lynn Creek, the sun is still quite low even at around 10am as it was at this point. This is 30' pool. It looks quite calm and in the summer probably inviting but a very strong under current flows beneath the surface. Now the downside to taking the initially scenic route alongside the river is that you have to regain the height you lost doing it. Views across the canopy from the top of the stairs. Once at the top of the stairs we walk along into the Seymour Conservation area parking lot where there are a myriad of trails leading off into the parkland. We were headed for the Homestead trail The Homestead trail was very easy walking, although pretty steep in places as it descends into the Seymour River Canyon It was a good opportunity to practise some recall for Mojo which he has been working on for his class.
The morning sunlights streamed through the trees We reached the base of the canyon and turned right to follow the trail alongside the Seymour River.
Until the 1930's there had been a small village situated on the banks of the river. In the 1920's the area was designated a protected watershed and this eventually brought about the demise of the village.
This arch is one of a few remaining architectural details from one of the homesites. Apparently there are also some chimneys, gates and foundations from other ranches and businesses. Here are a few old photos taken of some of the homes in this location from the 1920's and 30's Further along the river we reach a spawning channel built on the West side of the river. There weren't any fish visiable today as it is out of season but the channel is used to breed coho salmon, rainbow and cutthroat trout and char. View of the Seymour River, it is quite a bit bigger than Lynn Creek. Old tunnel cut through the rock created to carry a pipeline, now disused. Looking back up the Seymour River. A brief panorama view of the river and the remaining one of the Twin Bridges.
At this point our camera finally decided to stop working properly (it had been playing up for some months previously) and I found I could no longer zoom or use the wide angle as the lens was stuck in a certain position. Therefore the remaining photos on this post are simply what I could do with the camera malfunctioning !
This view downstream towards the bridge. We reach the bridge and will cross it. It's pretty uninspiring and a quick search on the internet I can't find when the other bridge was either dismantled, or collapsed or indeed why they needed two in the first place ? Looking upstream from the bridge The two pillars at either end of the now removed bridge are visiable We then walk someway downstream on the East bank of the river before joining the Baden Powell Trail and crossing back over the river on a narrow bridge built above a pipeline. At this point the Seymour River is very narrow and the water rushes through the canyon with explosive force A short piece of movie of the water to give an idea of the force with which is passes through the canyon. Unfortunately the video is sideways and I was a long way from the bridge before I realised so I couldn't go back and refilm it.
Unfortunately I knew at somepoint I was going to have to payback for the steep descent on the Homestead Trail. We now reached another very steep staircase built into the canyonside which then gave way to a long stretch of steep switchbacks. Once over the top of the canyon side we crossed back into Lynn Canyon Park and down close to the Lynn Creek where the trail became much more manageable again and in places was on a boardwalk where the ground was too boggy to walk upon We found a nice quiet stretch of beach along the river. Mojo stopped for a drink, paddle and a pose. A brief panorama of the beach area, canyon and river
Looking up Lynn Creek Further along the trail we reach Twin Falls. Unfortunately as the camera was not working correctly the images are pretty poor, although the falls were quite impressive as it's a very wet time of year Finally a view back up the canyon from the bridge over Twin Falls. We then continued upstream until we reached the suspension bridge once again, crossed the river and back to the car. It was an excellent walk and one that we will certainly do again at different times of the year.
Zoomed in on the new wind turbine and observation tower on Grouse Mountain. When I photographed it from Dog Mountain only the tower was constructed, now you can see the blades and observation pod are in place. Reading online they say the tower should be working from December 2009.
