Category Archives: Travel

Sunbeams Over Sandown Bay

The stormy skies over the Island were very active in the Sandown Bay area.  In the course of a couple of minutes, you could see the valleys on the opposite side of the bay have clouds wisp across them and then suddenly vanish from view entirely.  They could be back a few minutes later and then gone again.  The wind was blowing things through very rapidly.  For a few moments, there were some great beams of light punching through the clouds and illuminating the water beneath.  I was lucky to be able to get a few shots off before the clouds rolled through again and cut of the sun altogether.

Whistler

I have put together some posts of things we saw during our Whistler trip but not much of the town itself.  It is a nice place to hang out.  Like a lot of these winter sports resort towns, the center is predominantly restaurants/bars or places to buy clothing/sport gear.  However, it isn’t a bad place despite that.  The streets are laid out so nothing is too straight which means you feel like you are wandering around an old place, even if it is all relatively recently built.

There are water features and bridges, open spaces, sculptures and other forms of art.  No shortage of people, too, even in the shoulder season when we were there.  We found so great places to eat and some less inspiring ones.  We actually went to a chain place one evening and it proved to be better than some of the supposedly nicer spots.  Our favorite by far, though, was a bakery that had every conceivable thing you could want.  They even had a cheese sandwich for toasting that looked like it would feed a family of four.  We tried many of their treats but that one was left untouched, despite me giving it some serious consideration.

Unnamed Waterfall

I took a wrong turning as we went over Stevens Pass and, instead of going where I had intended, we took a back road which was probably once the main road across the mountains.  It twisted through the woods, never getting too far from the current highway, but being far more enclosed and far narrower.  Fortunately, not much traffic was coming the other way, so it was easy enough to navigate.  We crossed a small bridge which was over some falls.  I can’t be sure but, judging by the map, the water seemed to be called Martin Creek so maybe the falls are of the same name?

Green Lake

Just outside the center of Whistler is Green Lake.  We took a trip out there because I was interested in seeing the floatplane base there.  It was also a cool place to have a stroll.  There is a golf course alongside the lake which was designed by Jack Nicklaus.  Alongside the course are some large houses which I suspect are not too cheap.  The lake itself had a nice beach area where the river was running in to it.  A bunch of people had come here with their dogs and the dogs seemed happy getting in the water.

The color of the water was a bit odd and so the name is not hard to understand.  I actually thought it looked more cloudy than green but I doubt anyone cares to much about the distinction.  I thought there might be a difference in color where the river was flowing into the lake but I couldn’t see it.  Maybe an aerial view would show a difference where the water was flowing in but I wasn’t flying that day.

Waves on Cowes Seafront

We drove along the seafront from Cowes to Gurnard.  The tide was high and the storm was bringing a swell in from the west.  Consequently, there was a lot of water along the road with sections under a few inches.  Some caution as we drove and we could get through.  Meanwhile, the waves were bashing in to the wall and splashing high in the air.  With the wind being so strong, it was tricky to hold steady for a shot and I was also a bit vulnerable to getting a lot of spray in the face.  However, I managed to get some shots and some video while minimizing how damp I got and how much salt water got near the camera.

As a kid, I always loved being down on the seafront when the weather was stormy.  It is way more fun to watch the waves crash in than to see a calm sea.  This proved to be a perfect day for me to visit as the following day things had calmed right down.

Storm Brian Means Time to Windsurf

My trip to the Island was in the middle of Storm Brian.  It was lashing some parts of the country and the western end of the Island was apparently getting some serious wind but the east side was enjoying a bit of shelter.  That didn’t mean there wasn’t still some strong wind and a decent amount of wave action.  What better time for someone to go windsurfing?  Actually, several people were windsurfing.  One of them was close to where I was standing on the shore and, as he went out, he was running against the waves but with the wind behind him.  I was hoping for some big jumps off the waves but, while there were jumps, they were not too big.  He was certainly braver than I would have been though!

Lost Lake PassivHaus

On one of our hikes while in Whistler, we came across the Lost Lake PassivHaus.  This building was the home of the Austrian Olympic Team during the Winter Games.  After the games were over, it was converted for new uses.  The interesting thing about the house is that it is designed to have minimal requirements for energy with no heating and cooling.  It is aimed at using 90% less energy than a normal building courtesy of building techniques and materials.  It sits at the entry to some trails so a lot of people get to see it.  I am curious as to how many people stop to read its details.

Red Funnel’s Finest

If you want to get to the mainland from the Cowes area, Red Funnel are your main option.  They have two services to Southampton.  The car ferry operates from East Cowes while a fast catamaran provides a passenger only service from West Cowes.  Both types of ferry came by while I was on the seafront.  The car ferry headed out while the cat waited outside the harbor.  I guess the strong winds meant they were looking for a bit more space.  Once the ferry was gone, the cat came in to the harbor.

This Needs a Few More Bits

Erickson’s facility at Medford was the home for this Skycrane while I was there.  A team were working on it and, I imagine, they were getting it ready for the coming fire season.  At this point, though, it was still in need of a few parts.  It looked a bit lacking but I suspect the process of adding the remaining elements to get it back into an airworthy condition was not going to take that long.  Hopefully by now she is back in the air and working hard.

Vancouver Police RIB

The floatplanes may have been my main focus when I was at Brockton Point in Stanley Park but they certainly weren’t the only activity in the harbor.  Plenty of boat traffic was on the move.  The Vancouver Police were also on patrol.  They had a RIB that they were zipping about on.  I watched them head out towards Lion’s Gate Bridge without getting a shot but, when they returned, I figured they deserved my attention.  A speeding RIB is a cool way to travel and this one looked like it had enough power for plenty of speed!