Few years ago we spent a nice Saturday checking out some of the sights in Richmond with our visitors. Our first stop was Finn Slough in South Richmong, which is a former 1890s fishing village that was founded by some Finnish settlers.
International Buddhist Society is another nice stop along Steveston Highway and free to visit. The temple grounds are surprisingly large and include several buildings.
Britannia Shipyards started its life as a busy cannery but was later converted to a shipyard following the Hell's Gate landslide in 1912.
Gulf of Georgia Cannery was a massive salmon cannery in the early 1900s. Produce from there was shipped to all of British Imperium and even the Allied troops fighting in the Second World War. Today the building is an excellent national museum and definitely worth a visit!
Steveston fish market takes place on Saturdays and is always worth a visit.
Not really suburban Vancouver but the next day we drove up Fraser Canyon to enjoy its beautiful scenery.
Hell's Gate is the location of massive landslide 1912 that caused the collapse of salmon run on Fraser River before construction of a fish ladder.
A quick project update from Burnaby. First up is the Concord Brentwood project, which is four towers between 45-55 floors in height and all under construction.
This is not Vancouver but Brentwood, one of the four town centers of Burnaby.
Etoile is smaller twin-tower development nearby that is almost completed..
The three towers of Lumina Brentwood were recently completed and people have now moved in.
Gilmore Place is a massive multi-tower development under construction with the tallest tower being 64 floors, becoming the new tallest building in the province.
Metrotown is another beast and here is its skyline from a distance.
It's been some time since my last Vancouver Island photos. While we have visited also other locations on the island, Tofino remains our absolute favorite and back in 2016 we did visit it in November to try to witness the famous storm season.
Following Halloween, many Port Alberni residents bring their pumpkins in Cathedral Grove park for animals and passerbyers to enjoy.
Cathedral Grove is home to some really old trees and the tallest of them measures a respective 80 meters in height!
Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet is a great trail for storm watching. While it was a windy day, the waves were not that huge, yet there were still some nice splashes to see.
Our favorite accommodation in Tofino is the relaxing Middle Beach Lodge.
In recent years there has been some nice restaurants open in Tofino, such as Sobo.
The next day we went hiking nearby Radar Hill. Along this trail there was an abandoned building in middle of the forest.
Back in 2016 the trail was still under-developed and basically ran through a muddy swamp. It was impossible to walk away with dry feet and fortunately the trail has since been re-built with boardwalks and should now be way easier to traverse.
The highlight of the trail is a Canadian Air Force's Canso plane wreck from 1945. It was a severe accident but all 12 passengers made it out of the wreckage alive.
It is incredible how much of the plane remains in one piece. Finding a plane wreck in middle of forest really makes one's imagination run wild. What a cool location!!
After a long hike, we headed next to check out Long Beach where the surf was up.
To end our nice day, we had made dinner reservations at the prestigious Wickannish Inn.
The Pointe restaurant is famous for its food and their tasting menu was superb. We have since then been back few more times and it has always been fantastic!
Our night ended with a walk on the beach under the stars. We had had yet another great long weekend in this beautiful part of the world.
What a weather on the west coast this week! Saturday was still a windy day up on Burnaby Mountain and it was both sunny and snowing on the North Shore Mountains.
On Sunday Steveston was packed with people as everyone wanted to see the cherry blossom.
Temperatures this week are pushing almost summer figures!
Warm weather means of course start to the barbeque season!
Everywhere trees are pushing new leaves. Here are few shots from shores of Fraser River from today.
Your eye/skill is incredible. Thank you for taking us/sharing with us such journeys.
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"The destructive effects of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building" - Jane Jacobs 1961ish
Almost two weeks of sunshine and warm temperatures is coming to an end but man, was it nice this past weekend! Temperatures in many places hit around +25C and so on Saturday we drove down to Aldergrove to check out a nice and quiet park just by the American border.
Aldergrove Regional Park nice park with several walking trails in what was quickly becoming a green oasis.
A huge lonely boulder is the remnant of the last ice age.
Much of the park used to be a gravel pit which has since been decommissioned and is now covered with grass. The top of the ridge offers some really nice views of the snow-capped mountains in the distance.
We have never spent a lot of time in Aldergrove, so it was a nice trip out of the busy city. The next day we got out for another picnic, this time in Coquitlam. Como Lake Park is a small, yet popular park in the middle of a residential area.
The lake itself is small but very pretty. Walk around it is highly recommended!
For those looking for some shade from the sun, the nearby Mundy Park provides nice and cool trails. Our visit there was very brief and we will need to come back again.
Ah, spring is such a beautiful time here on the West Coast and after few days of rain the sun should be back soon again.
Few people visit the small suburban city of Pitt Meadows but it has some hidden gems like a new master-planned communicate on the Fraser River shore.
Our main reason for the trip was to enjoy tasty ice-creams from a small shop in there. Yummy!
Everything about the buildings and their yards is so well-maintained that it almost looks like a movie set. The whole place is very Desperate Housewives-esque.
All buildings look really nice and the consistent style makes for a very appealing community. What a nice place for people to live.
Next to the river there is a small Waterfront Commons Park to enjoy a sunny day.
Golden Ears Bridge and Mount Baker in the distance.
If you have never visited the area, I can highly recommend it. It is definitely a hidden gem and there is even free parking available.
PM certainly has scopes of great little places and is coming together nicely.
__________________
"The destructive effects of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building" - Jane Jacobs 1961ish
If I ever relocated elsewhere along the Pacific Coast, I hope it's up to the Pacific Northwest. So much to see & do in both Washington and British Columbia (and beyond).
Even with the record-breaking temperatures, we yesterday made our way to check out Redwood Park in South Surrey.
The park is only 80 acres in size but has an interesting history with deaf twin brothers that got it started. Today, there are over 50 tree species growing in there with Californian Redwoods being the most spectacular ones, even when they are only 120-years-old. They are said to be the northernmost Redwood trees in the world.
The twins lived all their lives in the cottage they built in the forest. The current building is a replica of the original.
Nobody knows how it got started, but the forest has in the last decade become a home to hundreds of colorful fairy and pixie homes.
While the park itself is fairly unknown to the crowds, it is still popular place for local families and definitely worth a visit from the city!
The weather was unfortunately way too hot to further explore the forest, but I can tell that we will be back at some point!
Love your thread Klaus!
Can you tell me the name of the Skyscraper/Building you took the picture of east Vancouver/Burnaby with Mount Baker in the background on the first page?
Love your thread Klaus!
Can you tell me the name of the Skyscraper/Building you took the picture of east Vancouver/Burnaby with Mount Baker in the background on the first page?
Thank you, Paul. I took many of the early photos from our 45th floor apartment in the One Wall Centre skyscraper (pictured below) in Downtown. It was an amazing home with spectacular views of the city.
Kind of funny that since moving to Burnaby, we have lived at the top of both of the tallest towers seen in the Mount Baker panorama that you were referring.
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