Sunday, November 27, 2011

Wednesday: Eagles and Olympic Cauldron!

I didn't think I'd be able to walk much after all the ups and downs at Lynn Canyon yesterday but morning came (actually it was still night!) and I was back at it!


Here is the Inukshuk at English Bay. Look at what someone put on it!



Making my way to the Burrard Street Bridge and Vanier Park where the eagles' nest is. I have to go up a couple of flights of stairs and then walk across to the end of the bridge, then backtrack to the nest. If I could fly it would take 5 seconds but to walk it's about half an hour.



This little dog was having a ball as he jumped from rock to rock:





See the tall tree across the water on the right hand side? That's where the nest is.




Apparently this dog is wasted:



And the eagles are in the nesting tree! The long hike was worth it!



Just to prove I'm not obsessed with eagles and only eagles:



A wet and dirty dog is a happy dog!


Here is the eagles' nest. I would say it's about 4 feet deep and 6 feet across.


This totem pole is between Vanier Park where the eagles live and Granville Island, where I'd like to live:


This sign sums up about 75% of where I was over the week!


The other side of the Burrard Street Bridge while approaching Granville Island:


This Great Blue Heron flew over and landed on a boat!


On my way back to the nest I spotted something swimming alongside the pathway...a seal! I was so happy to see it! I had seen one there a couple of years ago and later found out the fishermen feed it, as well as the eagles.


The downside of seeing the seal? I missed one of the eagles getting chased back to the nest tree! But that's okay, more fun was to come. Here is one eagle in the tree after being escorted back by a couple of crows:


And now it's being escorted to another area of the park:


One eagle watches with a look of amusement while the other jumps awkwardly from one branch to another:


Overhead shot:


You know it's coming...The eagle has landed!


And away we go!


Weeeeeeee!!


After that we went to a few other parts of the city. This is a clock that operates on steam:


The Olympic Cauldron!!! It is smaller than I expected but I was so happy to see it. I loved the Vancouver Olympics!


What it looks like up close:


A different view of Stanley Park:


Sunday, November 13, 2011

Tuesday: Beautiful Lynn Canyon

And yet another early wake up call gave me some beautiful views of the pink sky at sunrise. Click on any picture to enlarge:


I went for my daily walk along the sea wall:






Remember the dead tree the eagle was using earlier in the week?


The final result of the tree's remains will be shown in an upcoming blog entry. How's that for drama?



I bought a day pass since we were going to use public transit quite a bit today. We took a bus to the sea bus and then another bus to Lynn Canyon. Here are some pictures of Lynn Canyon. It's very quiet in there, I only saw a couple of birds and heard a raven somewhere but never saw it.












I love the suspension bridge:


Back on the sea bus towards Vancouver and following a float plane:


After that, a delicious dinner at Chronic Tacos in Kits. I ordered 3 tacos and thought they weren't filling enough.



I was SO full after we ate. Then I crashed a few hours later because of my early morning wake up and vigourous hike. I never thought I'd see the day where I went to bed at 9 because I was waking up at 4!