Tag Archives: Canada

Walking Through the Treetops

Aside from the suspension bridge at Capilano, there is a treetop walk. This is on the opposite side of the bridge and is an interesting attraction. They have built a number of walkways that run through the treetops. These are old growth trees that are really substantial. Without cutting in to the trees, they have mounted platforms around the trunks and strung walkways between them. You get to walk along these walkways from tree to tree.

You are up in the higher parts off the tree so you have a different perspective to that which you would normally get walking along the ground. Indeed, you can get so used to being up there that you forget you are off the ground. Every once in a while, it is a good idea to look down to see just how far you are from the base of some of the trees.

There are so many people up there with you that it is easy to become a bit fixated on keeping going. The walkways are one way so you are all moving along in the same direction. You can start following the person in front and lose perspective on where you are. However, at each tree there is space to step aside and let people pass. Then you can take a moment to look around and embrace your surroundings. I highly recommend you do this if you visit. Look up and look down and see exactly where you are – up with the squirrels in the treetops.

Dash 7s Still Exist!

Leave a Reply

Coming across something old school is fun. Go back through the Canadian aircraft history and you come to the Dash 7. This four engine turboprop could achieve some pretty dramatic steep approaches and departures. It was the first aircraft to operate in to London City using a 7.5 degree approach angle. The Dash 8 family was the replacement for the Dash 7 and led to the Q400. I flew on a Dash 7 in 1994 in a US Air Express flight between DC and Philly.

You don’t seem them around anymore but, I came across a couple of them in Toronto. They were parked up at Billy Bishop Airport around the back of the terminal. You can see who has been using one of them based on what is written on the side. I assume these two are stored awaiting their next tasking but maybe they are more active than I realize. I hope they still get good usage.

Cliffwalk – A Feat of Engineering

Leave a Reply

One more post from our visit to Capilano. The deep valley that the river runs through and that the bridge crosses has some steep, rocky sides. These have provided another opportunity for the owners to add some interest. They have mounted a walkway along the cliff face. I don’t know what inspired this but if you have seen the walkway at the Grand Canyon or the glass boxes on the Sears Tower (watcha talking about Willis) then you see a similar them.

These paths run on structure built in to the cliff face. They are shaped so, while you have normal width handrails, the foot section is narrower so you have a more obvious view downwards. You have no doubt how high up you are. Meanwhile, you get to see the mounting points that have been driven into the cliff face to support all of this.

One section of the path is a semi-circle that is suspended by cables mounted on the cliff face. It is a dramatic part of the structure and everyone is fascinated by it when they get there. Don’t anticipate moving through this section too quickly because it does tend to back up a bit. A little later I walked above this section and found a spot where you can look directly down on the curve and it takes on a whole new perspective. I think it is quite beautiful. Winding your way along the face of the cliffs on these walkways is very cool and is definitely not to be overlooked if you visit.

Capilano Suspension Bridge

Leave a Reply

The arrival of some family members in Vancouver as part of a vacation gave us a reason to make a day trip up to the city. It is a pretty easy run to get there so we were pleased to head up. Since the visitors were on vacation, they were keen to explore different things so we decided to head across the Lions Gate Bridge and visit the suspension bridge at Capilano. This was not something I had been aware of before we planned this.

The bridge has apparently been there for many years. It is suspended across a deep valley with a river running through the bottom. It is a very popular attraction and, while we headed there in the morning, we were certainly not alone. The people that own the bridge have expanded the facilities to include a number of other attractions and these will get their own posts in the coming days. However, this is just about the bridge. As it covers quite a distance, the bridge has quite a drop between the ends and the middle. This makes each end of it quite steep. Combine that with the number of people crossing, the desire everyone has to look around/get some pictures, and the amount it moves around which unsettles the first-time user and it takes a while to get across. It is interesting to see that the return journey is a bit quicker!

Being on the bridge gives you one perspective. Looking down into the valley below is a different point of view. At various other times, you get a chance to check the bridge out from a distance (when you see how long it is and how many people are on it at any one time) when it also seems rather dwarfed by the surroundings. You even get to walk underneath it at one point and then it has a very different feel. If you are spending any time in Vancouver, I do suggest you head to North Vancouver and check the bridge and its associated attractions out.

Can You Find Yourself in North Vancouver?

Leave a Reply

Standing on the shore in Vancouver on a sunny Sunday afternoon provided a great view of North Vancouver. Plenty of boats were making their way across the bay including some large ones which proved a little problematic for this task. I figured I could use the long lens, shoot a large sequence and create a panorama when I got home. It turned out that Photoshop and Lightroom both struggled compiling this panorama so I ended up positioning everything manually. However, it all worked out pretty well. Here is the result. Feel free to navigate around to see what you can find.

Helijet S-76s

Leave a Reply

Our trip to Vancouver was not one for me to spend time photographing aviation. However, I did manage to sneak some shots in while I was there. Watching the floatplane operations was a lot of fun but it meant I didn’t get to go to the heliport further along the shoreline. This was fine by me but I did still see some of the Helijet S-76s as they departed and arrived since they came across the harbor albeit at a distance. I grabbed a few images for now. I guess I have multiple reasons for making a return trip to Vancouver before too long. I know Nancy won’t object to returning! Better not mention the helicopters just yet though.

Stanley Park Totem Poles

Leave a Reply

The native heritage is strong in the Pacific Northwest. Stanley Park has an area at Brockton Point that displays a variety of totem poles. I am not sure of the age of these poles but they are kept in good condition and look great. I understand many are replicas as the originals have been sent for preservation but others are more recent additions to the park. Getting pictures of them is slightly tricky. Something tall and thin does not necessarily make for a dynamic picture. Instead, I focused on some of the details of the poles rather than the whole thing although getting a view of how many of them there were did seem to make sense.

Aside from the poles, there are portals to the park that welcome the visitors. These caught my eye quite a bit but seemed to get less attention from the other visitors. I guess the totem poles are iconic and so are likely to get the most interest. Supposedly this area is the most visited tourist attraction in British Columbia. I certainly have no reason to doubt that given how many people were there while we were.

Grand Caravan Go Around – Thank-you

Leave a Reply

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?

Grand Caravan is Not the Smoothest!

Leave a Reply

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.

Canadian Hornet Cockpit Displays

Leave a Reply

Previously I may have mentioned my recent efforts to go through images I took a long time ago. The evening show at Chino had a number of performers and one of them was the Canadian Hornet demo. When I go through my images, part of my process is to render all of them at 100% and then view the full size image on one screen and the zoomed in version on the other. This allows me to see whether the shot is sharp and also whether there is anything glaringly wrong with it like bits cut off or someone’s head in the way.

I was going through the shots of the Hornet which flew after the sun had gone below the horizon, I noticed that, as it flew over the top of a loop, I had a view into the cockpit. Normally, this would be dark as the brightness of the day overpowered the shade of the cockpit. However, since it was pretty dark, the glow of the multifunction displays on the panel is clearly visible. We aren’t going to be able to see the details of the displays themselves but they are very conspicuous which is not the norm.