Category Archives: Travel

Grand Caravan Go Around – Thank-you

We spent a day in Stanley Park in Vancouver. This was not a day for photographing aircraft but there are so many operating in the area that it is hard to avoid. As we were walking along the shore, a Grand Caravan made an approach. I didn’t have the camera to hand so just watched it. Having made a dive at the final approach, it floated long (in the air, not on the water) and the pilot elected to go around. This gave me an opportunity to get the camera out.

Meanwhile, I could hear it coming around. It seemed rather loud for the approach path it had taken previously. Indeed, this time they took a path right across the bottom of the park. I got out from under a tree just in time to get some shots of it turning on to final. A far better angle than its first approach. Maybe the pilot deliberately went around because he knew what I wanted?

Lion’s Gate

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Stanley Park may be a great place to explore but it is also bisected by a major road. It cuts up through the park before getting on to a bridge to head across to North Vancouver. This is called Lions Gate. We stopped to check out the bridge as we were making our way around the park. There is a viewing area just west of the bridge which we took a look at. There were several viewing levels down the side of the hill. It was amazing how many people never bothered to go down the steps from the top level to check out the different views.

We also wandered back along the road to the bridge that passes over the main highway. Not only was there a view along the bridge but there were also some little sculptures of lions. These seemed to mirror the larger ones down near the entrance to the suspension bridge but I kind of liked the little versions. I met a couple of photographers at this location. I had some thoughts about experimenting with a shot here but that will be another post.

Alpaca Farming

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San Juan Island is home to some varied creatures. I swear that, as we drove down one road, we went past a camel. We also saw an alpaca farm. There was a shop that sold all sorts of alpaca related stuff. Plenty of yarn (which was pretty pricey) and various alpaca gifts were available. I wasn’t too keen on any of this, though. Outside, you could take a walk around and see the animals themselves.

There were many fields with the alpacas in them. They were well spread out and didn’t seem terribly bothered by the presence of the visitors (of which there were plenty considering how quiet things were generally). They came in a variety of colors. Food seemed to be their primary concern but occasionally they would look around to see what we were doing. Mostly, though, they were more bothered about each other than us.

Grand Caravan is Not the Smoothest!

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It might seem a bit absurd but, when watching all of the floatplane activity down in the harbor in Vancouver, you can get a bit used to the Otters and Beavers and hope for something a little different. One operator was using a Cessna Grand Caravan on floats and this got my interest. I saw it coming in on the approach and watched it all through the touchdown and slowing down to taxi speed.

The transition off the step and onto the floats did not seem to be a very smooth process. As the speed decayed, the aircraft pitched up and then oscillated between level and very nose high. The tail seemed to get very close to the water and there was plenty of spray. I have no idea whether this is the normal transition or whether this one got a bit out of sorts due to the conditions but it did no look like it would have been very comfortable inside. All was well, though. They flew out again a little while later with no issues.

Orcas Close But Still Elusive

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We have had some good opportunities recently to see orcas up close. That didn’t stop us looking for them while we were on San Juan Island. The west side of the island has regular whale activity of a few species. When we showed up at the good spots, we met people telling us what had been passing by earlier. We even just missed a humpback (or gray depending on who you talked to) that had come into Friday Harbor. We did get a bit luckier when we got to San Juan State Park.

A bunch of orcas were off the coast a bit north of the area we visited. They seemed to be hanging around in one area so may have been feeding. There are two distinct groups of orcas in the area. The resident group feed on salmon while the transient group like mammals such as seals. This was the resident group apparently. Eventually they headed north away from us but, in the mean time, another part of the group came into view from the south. They transited north although sadly a bit far out for a good view.

Where Have the Twin Otters Gone?

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A few years ago we spent some time in Victoria on Vancouver Island. Victoria has a lot of floatplane activity and, at the time, an airline called West Coast Air was operating with a large fleet of Twin Otters. Since that time, West Coast was taken over by Harbour Air. Harbour Air is the dominant operator at Vancouver. However, while we were there, we saw only one Twin Otter. A check online seems to suggest that they have focused more on the Otters and Beavers and reduced the Twin Otter fleet. I assume they are not so economical for the type of operations they undertake but, if anyone has any more information about what happened, pleas let me know.

Otters and Beavers

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A trip to the northwest may involve seeing plenty of wildlife but the Otters and Beavers that I was most excited about were slightly different. These came from the stable of deHavilland Canada. More importantly, they were on floats. The Pacific Northwest is a great place for watching floatplanes. They are heavily used for transportation between many locations on the water. I saw a few while we were on San Juan Island or on the ferries between the islands but not a large number and not when I was in a position to get good shots. However, once we got to Vancouver, things ramped up a bit.

If you have not been to Vancouver, the harbour (it is a Canadian harbor so I think I am spelling it correctly) has a very busy floatplane base. Flights go to surrounding areas and the gulf islands on a regular basis. The planes are a combination of turbine powered Otters and Beavers with either piston engines or turbine conversions. Harbour Air is the dominant operator but others do show up occasionally. The area along the waterfront has undergone a big redevelopment with a convention center and it has great walkways along the water that provide an excellent view of the operations. Planes seem to be coming and going all the time. The may come in across Stanley Park and land in front of you or swing around the harbor and land towards you depending on the wind. As they water taxi in someone else will be heading out and departing towards North Vancouver before turning around the park and heading out over Lions Gate.

We were there at the end of the day so the evening light was very nice on the aircraft. The large number of high rise buildings on the shore does mean that shadows can encroach before the sun has gone down but this is a small issue. Later in the visit we were over in Stanley Park and I got to see some aircraft taking off since they came closer to our position. The damp air certainly makes for some nice streaming vortices off the props when they are at takeoff power.

Rialto Beach

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If you mention going to the beach, most people will initially visualize a sandy stretch with the sun in the sky and the waves lapping the shore. While that is certainly nice, I also love a rugged beach on a rough weather day. We took a diversion during one of our day trips and headed for Rialto Beach. There was rain in the air and the wind was certainly blowing but this enhanced the atmosphere of the beach. Just offshore, large rocky outcroppings rose from the water. Their tops were almost obscured by low cloud and the waves were crashing up against them.

The shoreline was covered with debris that had washed ashore. Logs were stacked up at the high water mark where the waves had pushed them as far as they could go. The bark was stripped leaving the core wood polished and exposed. The stones that made up the beach were ridged based on how high the tide and the waves would push them. Everything looked dramatic in the damp and windy conditions. The attraction of the place was obviously high because plenty of people were there. Whether walking their dogs along the beach, taking a walk along the water’s edge or just standing up near the logs and staring out to sea, they were there in numbers.

The Smaller Ferry

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Our vacation included a few ferry rides. Washington State Ferries come in various sizes depending on the route you are taking but they are all a fairly decent size. However, we passed this guy on one of our legs. This is what I would call personal ferry service. I imagine that, with so many islands and less traffic to most of them, this is the best way to deal with transportation needs. I don’t know whether there is a schedule or if it is on demand but I love the idea. I imagine the onboard catering is pretty limited though.

Dogs Driving Cars

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Okay, I will freely admit that this is not going to be the most informative post. We were walking through Port Townsend and a car came by. Nothing unusual in that. However, out of the sunroof was a dog wearing goggles, presumably to protect the eyes from dust and debris while on the road. This is not the sort of thing I normally see so I thought I would share.