Tribune Bay (Big Trib and Little Trib)

Tribune Bay, aka Big Trib, is probably one of the most popular beach destinations of Hornby Island. Not only do beach goers love to hang out there all day, but it is also a popular anchoring spot for boats too due to the protection of the elements.

Lots of open beach area when the tide is low offers a great place for many beach type activities; football, bocci, kite flying, skim boarding, shell collecting and more. It is also a great place to find sand dollars (not that you should really ever take the shells from the beach).

Typically family and younger adults can be found on Big Trib. There is also a provincial camp ground next to Big Trib which gets filled up pretty quick!

Little Trib is situated around the corner of Big Trib with a less than noticeable road to get to it. It’s sort of a secret gem and I don’t mind sharing it with people. Little Trib is considered a Nude Beach, but clothing is optional, which is why it is typically more quiet than the other beaches. It is relaxing though and we do prefer lounging there away from the younger crowd of Big Trib. I do not have photos of Little Trib, but it is a beautiful beach. Parking is a bit of a mess and if you don’t get there early you will have to park quite a bit away from it (as with Big Trib too).  Little Trib is also a bit more rocky near the grass line than Big Trib, but once you make it over the little rocks and pebbles the sand is like that of the rest of the island.

With both beaches you do have to watch out for dungeness and spider crabs as they like to hide in the various pockets of crab grass beneath the water.

Whaling Station Bay

To date, Whaling Station Bay is our new choice for beach action on Hornby Island. Located north-east of Helliwell Provincial Park and nestled among various ocean front cottages and when you get there you can see how this particular place got it’s name. The very gentle slope of the land allowed fisherman to haul up whales when they were caught back in the day for their blubber.

These days, it is enjoyed by the residents of Hornby Island as well as visiting families. We enjoyed the really warm temperatures of the mid-afternoon water where you could easily walk out into the water for a long time without it ever going over your head. There are many little beach access points around the perimeter of the bay and even toilets located on the eastern side.

If you ever get a chance to check out Hornby Island during the Summer, Whaling Station Bay is definitely a recommended stop.

Ford’s Cove Marina (area)

Technically the area around Ford’s Cove Marina is not much of a beach. In fact there isn’t sand nearby at all, but it is a great place to go for a late afternoon swim when the tide is high and the sun is hot. The shoreline around Ford’s Cove is made of weather and water beaten sandstone. When the tide is low and the sun is out, these sandstone areas heat up pretty good and when the tide comes back it, it warms up the surrounding water. It’s also a tradition for Robyn’s family to go swimming off the rocks when the tide is right. Quite enjoyable to float around there watching the various boats come in and out of the marina. Occasionally harbour seals poke their head out too. On rare (very rare) occasions transient orcas may be spotted swimming through the channel.

When the tide is ultra-low (sub-tidal) it’s great to go looking for sea critters. We’ve seen starfish, sunstars, bullheads, various crabs, sea cucumbers and more! Just be careful as the lower areas are typically covered with slippery seaweed.

Granted there are other places where one might get into the water for a swim while on Hornby Island, though the ones mentioned above are the easier accessible ones to visitors. They also differ slightly which keeps them interesting.

Have you ever been to Hornby Island? If so, which is your favourite swimming/beach place to go?

This past Sunday Robyn, her mum and myself headed up to Whistler for a little bit of siteseeing. The plan was to head up to the Peak of Whistler and wander back down to the Roundhouse Lodge, jump on the Peak 2 Peak to Blackcomb and head back down to the Village. So we did just that.

One thing I would like to remind people is that the Day Lots in Whistler are now Paid usage and the daily fee is $12 per car. It is also tracked by license plate, so you can’t just pass your ‘ticket’ to someone when you’re leaving either. Yes, we do like the paved lots, but it just makes a Whistler trip that more expensive. For a Siteseeing Gondola Ticket, they sell for $43.95 and for the 3 of us it would have cost a total of $143.85 (includes the parking). The great thing about having an EDGE card is that we had free siteseeing tickets since we reloaded are cards with Winter time before a certain date. Add the price of food on top of that, and it can get a bit expensive.

If you have NEVER gone up to the Peak of Whistler or Blackcomb during the Summer season, I do HIGHLY recommend you do it at least once. The views and scenery are breathtaking and you might get a chance of seeing some unexpectant wildlife too!

On to the photos!

It does feel different going up a chairlift without all your snowgear on. It is easier to move around on the chair and check out the scenery though.

Once you get to the top of the Peak, you are presented with 360 degree view of the near by mountain ranges. Did I mention how clean the air is up at Whistler too?

I believe the High-Note trail might be partially closed, so we decided to stick to the track road that leads back down towards Harmony Bowl.

They still have so much snow up on Whistler for being July. I hope it all sticks around to use as a base for this upcoming Winter season though.

Do you think there is enough snow still? Look at that height of that snow wall! The great thing about so much snow, was that it kept you cool with the cloudless sky. It must of been like 35 Celcius (95F) up there.

We got back to the Roundhouse Lodge for a quick dehydration break, pick up a couple things at the gift shop and then headed off on the Peak 2 Peak across to Blackcomb Mountain. Does anyone else find it a bit odd to try and grow grass up there (as in the photo) where in a couple of months the snows will come again? I’m sure it would look nice with green grass as opposed to dry dirt, but… Oh well.

A couple of tourists on the gondola with us were talking about how there had been some bear sightings on Blackcomb. As we approached Blackcomb they got up to the glass of the gondola with their cameras ready. I too have seen bears from the gondola before, perhaps we’ll get to see them again?

Tourists, Skiers and Snowboarders were loading up into the Mountain Express buses. These buses take people to 7th Heaven for which you can access the Blackcomb Glacier for Spring/Summer ski/riding. That day was the last day for the season too. Robyn and I want to get up to the Glacier one year, perhaps next year will be the year. I haven’t done a t-bar before so I am a bit hestiant to try it out.

The patio at the Rendezvous Lodge was busy with people eating great good and enjoying the great view. We headed back down to the Upper Village via Solar Coaster, I was on the look out for bears though.

Behold, a black bear foraging on the dandylions underneith of feet as we went down the chairlift. I don’t think it was an adult because it wasn’t as large as other black bears I have seen. He (or she) never did look up though, must be used to the human traffic overhead.

Once we got down to the Upper Village, we stopped off at Merlin’s for lunch. The food there (as with most places in Whistler/Blackcomb) was good. The patio had a nice breeze going through it which helped with the sun shinning down on us too.

After lunch we checked out the Farmer’s Market too. Busy with people checking out all the vendors and their wares. Lot’s of great things to see and buy too.

It was another great day trip up to Whistler/Blackcomb and we look forward to doing it again soon later this summer.

Have you been up to Whistler during the Summer? What are your favourite Whistler Summer activities to do? If you haven’t gotten up to Whistler in the Summer, what would you like to do if you could go?

@SpandyAndy said he was going to be groovin to some tunes down in English Bay tonight so we decided to check out the action. Though when we got there he was just chilling with this crew.

Perhaps next time SpandyAndy says he’s going to be down in English Bay, hopefully he’ll be able to dance!

After the wedding we drove up the west coast of Vancouver Island and did some car camping just south of Port Renfrew. Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be writing about the various beaches that are dotted along the coastal road on the way to Port Renfew as well as our camping adventures too.

Typically Robyn and I stay in a place for more than one day, though we decided to blaze across the island and head up to Qualicum Beach. Qualicum is a beautiful (but quiet) town about 40 minutes north of Naniamo, or 10 minutes north of Parksville. What we love about Qualicum is the massive beach front area that the old Island Highway drives alongside, especially when the tide goes out, and it goes WAY out too.

When stopped off at the Visitor Info Centre (a first for me) and we inquired about places to stay along the beach. The friendly staff highlighted a couple places for us and we headed up the road to check them out. First was a property that had small, cute and quiet cottages next to the beach, though they were booked full. The lady who ran it  recommended we headed two doors down to Buena Vista by the Sea and mention we were sent there. So we did just that.

Buena Vista by the Sea

When we pulled up to the little motel the owner came up and introduced herself to us. Claire asked if we were looking for a place to stay the night and we were in luck, she had one room available. She even took us to the suite (called the Hornby Suite of all things) and showed us around before we even paid for the room. Typically it was meant for more than 2 people as it had 2 bedrooms but came equipped with a kitchenette (full-fridge, sink, full-oven, cabinets, cookware, flatware etc), eating table,  master bedroom with a comfy queen-sized bed, two futons (surprisingly both were comfy too) one which is in the second bedroom that overlooks the water, a nice sized 3-piece bathroom and of course an LCD TV on a movable trolley.

Once we were told the price (under $90/night) we quickly said yes and followed Claire back to the office. Once we paid for the room, got the key we unloaded our baggage in the room.

Did I mention they give you fresh ground coffee for the morning? Enough to fill a regular sized coffee maker (not one of those dinky, small hotel ones either) and it was good too! Claire also gave us a small container of fresh milk when we checked in too. You have fresh ground coffee, tea, hot chocolate and even apple cider available in your room.

For those who can’t quite disconnect from the Internet or Office, Buena Vista by the Sea does offer FREE Wireless! Yup, you don’t have to log into some weird hot-spot controller, or pay any extra money to use it either. You just select the Wireless SID, enter the password (which is supplied in the room) and connect. The speed was good too. Since I didn’t have a cellular signal for 2 days prior, I was glad I could log into the Internet and check email as was Robyn.

Did I mention the view you get when you stay at the Buena Vista by the Sea? Yup, the above photo is our little patio with the beautiful view of the ocean (Georgia Straight) with parts of the mainland in the background. It’s a great thing to wake up to in the morning! We also had dinner and breakfast out on the patio. The other suites on the property also have patios or direct access to the backyard and beach.

We highly enjoyed our stay at the Buena Vista by the Sea motel. Claire and her husband were awesome and extremely friendly and helpful during out brief one night stay. We definitely will stay there again and might even might head up to our Hornby destination this August a day early just to stay here again. Hopefully they have room!

*update*

In my rush to get out a blog post I forgot to add some of the photos of the property to share with you! The backyard that backs onto the beach is great for relaxing. Two large decks with loungers, tables with umbrellas, a great looking flower garden and just a really relaxing atmosphere. Add the cool breeze from the water, and the smell of the ocean air and the property is one of the best places we’ve stayed at. There is even a gazebo to hang out in if the weather isn’t the greatest.

The female (above 3 photos) kept flying to the bench this man was sitting on. He was feeding them something, but the female would fly in, sit on the top, hop down to the seat, take some food, hop down onto the ground, munch on them and then take off back to the tree nearby. She did this over and over again so I tried to practice capturing her in flight.

The male red-winged blackbird was near by and attacking this seagull who tried to get in on the action of being fed by the man on the bench.

Other than that, there wasn’t too much happening at the Lagoon this time around. The local Mute Swan Cygnet did not make it this year. One nest has had eggs for over 6 weeks, and then another nest still has 3 or so eggs, though we’re not sure if they were moved from one nest (by the parks people) or if they were truely laid by the swans at that nest. Oh well, we’ll see if anything else happens.

I gotta get more photos of something OTHER than birds though. I hope that my photos (even if they are of birds) doesn’t bore you too much.

What do you like to photography?

We think that the other nest that has about 4 or 5 eggs are bad as they have been in the nest a lot longer than the ones where this new cygnet hatched from.

I swear they are one of THE most adorable creatures to watch. Ducklings are cute, goslings (similar to cygnets) are fairly cute too, but something about the curiosity and colouring of the Mute Swan Cygnets just make them much more cute.

While we were there snapping photos of the little tyke, one of the local Ecological Society Volunteers were there babysitting this particular cygnet. She was mentioning how someone waded across to the nest and threw a large stone into it so the Swans could not sit on their nest anymore. Another report from her mentions that there was an issue of someone pouring OIL (yes, such as the BP disaster down south) over the Mute Swan and her nest at some point too. Though if this is true we did not see any indication around the Lagoon. What the hell is wrong with people? Why would some dumb-schmuck try and be harmful to such harmless creatures?

Anyway, I hope the photos at least get you through your Thursday.

Though before our little excursion into the park we stopped of at one of the local Starbucks for a quick fix and to chat about a forum (new to me) in which Keith is helping out with; Nikon-Digital.ca. Yup, that’s right I am part of a Nikon forum, though they are more than happy to accept people no matter what camera brand you shoot with. It’s a great bunch of people and if you’re looking for some helpful advice to make your photos better, I do recommend checking them out and sharing some of your shots!

Also at Starbucks I bumped into Cole (of Nordica Photography) who was in the process of putting up some photos of a recent e-session (engagement shoot) in Stanley Park. It’s a pretty small world seeing Cole there, as Keith and I bumped into his partner in crime Jakob the previous day.

After we downed out coffees we headed out to the little community garden where we know a couple of hummingbirds hang out to feed.

This male Anna’s Hummingbird made several appearances while feeding on the Honey Suckle next to the tennis courts. There was a Rufous Hummingbird hanging around but he never really came in for a proper feed. The trick to capture them in terms of photography is to make sure you have plenty of light, and use a fast shutter speed. I started off with a 1/2000th shutter speed only to find out it was better to use the 1/4000th speed as recommended by Keith.  The little buggers fly around so fast you gotta be quick! I’ll have to look through my other photos and post them later.

A rare visitor of the Vancouver area is the White-Fronted goose. This guy was alone and hanging out with a few other Canadian Geese near the lagoon’s edge.

We walked into the woods of Stanley Park in search of the Barred Owls that are said to nest throughout it. We think we’ve found one location, though it was in some pretty dense tree canopy and we will have to check it out another day. We’re both really wanting to capture the resident owls with our cameras, but they seem to do a good job hiding from us.

Overall it was a fun day to get out and shoot the local critters around Lost Lagoon and Stanley Park. Though I would like to try and shoot some different subjects, like People. If you’re interested in having your photos taken by me, preferably head-shots etc, so I can work on my photographing people skills, please get in touch with me via here on my blog (the comment section below works) or on Twitter! Preferably on a non-rainy day of course!

The nice thing about walking around Lost Lagoon on a Monday morning is there are WAY less tourists out. If you have ever been to the West End, English Bay, Stanley Park area on a weekend you’ll know how much of a zoo it can be. I guess I like my quiet time around the Lagoon, and have a bit of a dislike for the obnoxious tourists whom don’t regard the various signage around the area. Yes, I hate it when I am on the trail around the Lagoon and people are riding their bikes, not the gentle peddle either, speeding around disrupting the peacefulness.

Anyway, before I get into a large rant about people and their bikes on paths with their disregard for signage.

This is a bit of an odd sight to see before noon, a skunk foraging around the area munching and digging things up. Typically I find that skunks are somewhat nocturnal critters, I’ve never seen one in broad daylight. Only time I’ve seen skunks out have been very early in the morning just as the sun is coming up. Though this little guy did have a bit of a limp going on, I just kept my distance and watched him for a while.

As with all my recent walks around Lost Lagoon, I take notice of the various Mute Swan nest activities. One nest the pair of Mute Swans were nearby but not too far away. They seemed to have at least 4 eggs still which is good. Another nest nearby (the one with the silly Mute Swan I took a video of) was rotating her eggs as I walked by, she has at least 4 eggs as well.

The next pair whom seemed to have abandoned their nest has taken up a new nest not far from their old nest. Though it does seem like these Mute Swans and their eggs hatching successfully is almost like a crap shoot. Let’s hope this year fares better than the previous.

I’ve noticed a bit more crap in the Lagoon this year than previous years, or at least I’ve just noticed more of it. There are a few tires dotting the perimeter of the Lagoon but this one was a bit different. A cute little turtle was basking in the warm sunlight, in fact if you ever walk around the Lagoon during the day you’ll notice dozens of turtles basking in various locations around the Lagoon.

That’s it for now. What are you getting up today on this lovely Monday?

We decided to leave from our heavenly place of the West End at roughly 7:30am, in hopes to get early enough to the Base II parking lot to snag a spot. Last time we went up for spring skiing/riding and parked at Base II we were lucky to find a spot; it quickly fills up. We arrived at Base II a little over 9:30am and the Excalibur Gondola was uploading.

We arrived at the top of the Excelerator Chair, I strapped in and we headed down to Glacier Lodge via Wish Bone so we could hit up Jersey Cream as 7th Heaven was currently closed.

We headed down Jersey Cream a few times. The snow in the sun was great, better than what I was expecting, though the snow in the shade was icy but of course that’s expected.

After the third time going up Jersey Cream, Robyn noticed that 7th Heaven was open. So took off over to 7th Heaven and Robyn was excited as she’s never known it to be open during spring season due to lack of snow. It definitely did not have a lack of snow!

The top of 7th Heaven offers one of the most spectacular views of the near by coastal mountain range. From there you can see the various mountains in the Garibaldi Provincial Park, the infamous Blacktusk as well as Whistler and it’s terrain. Too bad the Whistler side is closed, looks like there is enough snow to keep Symphony and Harmony both open for a little longer. It was also the first day that Whistler was open for the Mountain Bikers too! I’m sure the village was crazy busy.

We hit up Cloud 9, Hugh’s Heaven and Panorama a bunch of times. The snow was great, and riding was smooth and enjoyable. There wasn’t very many people either, which is great as we never had to wait in a chairlift line. We also haven’t seen the lifties so happy either! Wearing shorts and t-shirts, what a great time to be up on the mountain.

The above photos might help explain why my forearms are burnt. In fact they are burnt all the way around too. I guess the sun reflection off the white snow played in that part.

Of course I had to get a photo of Robyn “smelling the status”.

Perhaps a pre-cursor of things to come?

Robyn and I believe this has been our best session this season. We went solid for 4.5 hours and enjoyed every minute of it. Even on the way back down while on the gondola, Robyn saw something cool!

It’s hard to see, but that black round shape on the left side near the little shack is a black bear, fresh out of hibernation and only a few hundred feet away from the Base II gondola station. Thought about going closer, as we saw a bunch of people nearby, but we just wanted to get home.

It was truly a fun and epic day on Blackcomb and it was the perfect way to end our Winter season.

I had Robyn play around with my Canon 7D as I came down Cloud 9. Camera was in AI Servo on highspeed and told her the closer I got for her to just hold down the shutter button and let the camera rip. The above sequence is of the photos she took and I threw them together into a little video clip.

Yesterday as Robyn was getting ready for work (at 5 AM) I was pretty much awake and decided I would go looking for the elusive Coyote that seems to have taken up residence in Stanley Park. He (or she) is also often rumoured to hang out around 3rd Beach in the morning. I love Coyotes, I used to see a group of them on my way to work in Pitt Meadows near the farm fields close to the Fraser River. I have also seen the occasional photo of a Coyote in Stanley Park on Flickr too. After all, there are signs around the area warning of Coyote activity. I’ve also heard of a lady’s dog being snatched off leach by a Coyote and carried off into the forest.

While I started my journey from our place here in the West End (technically because we’re West of Denman we’re considered to actually be in Stanley Park), and when I got to 3rd Beach there was just too much activity to have the Coyote anywhere nearby. People were jogging the Seawall, the Vancouver Parks workers were cleaning up the beach etc. So I continued my trek around the 10 KM stretch of the Seawall hoping to get photos of whatever came near.

Once you get past 3rd Beach (typically in the early morning) the joggers and cyclists seem to disperse, which is nice I like having the whole seawall to myself as I walk around it. I heard a rapid tapping noise in the trees around me. A quick couple of moments and I was able to locate the noise:

A Red Breasted Sapsucker. He was probably not more than 15 feet from me, up in a tree next to the path. If there had been people on the path you would probably not have heard him, nor would he probably be so close either.  Also in the vicinity was an Adult Bald Eagle who was perched in a tree high above looking for, what I would assume was, fish. He also had a crow pester him constantly, granted crows are highly territorial. I was hoping that the Eagle would have either taken flight and flew away, or made the crow his next meal. Neither happened.

A rounded the area near the Lions Gate Bridge where I saw the usual group of Cormorants and a couple of lazy Great Blue Herons. As I was taking photos with my iPhone to tweet them I noticed a fuzzy little critter on the curb looking for a way down, or perhaps contemplating his little fuzzy existance.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Caterpillar. He was just wiggling his way around the edge over looking the ocean below. Perhaps he too loved the scenery and was just chilling out.

I eventually went past the Spray Park near the Aquarium, past the Totem Poles and came up to Brockton Point. It seems they are upgrading the area. The walls of the lighthouse there seem to have new cement over them and construction workers were busy with their saws cutting word. Here is where I saw something new to me; a pair of Pigeon Guilemots.

I haven’t ever seen a pigeon with webbed feet before, so seeing a new variety of bird is pretty cool. The two that were swimming along are both in their breeding plumage. Typically they are a white with black molted spots, but when in breeding plumage, they are brownish black with large white patches on their wings.

Yes it does seem that I am more fascinated with the local wildlife around Stanley Park than the cityscape that surrounds the park. That’s okay right? I know some of you out there do enjoy looking at my bird photos!

As I rounded the 9 o’clock gun, I suggested to Rebecca that she write a blog post on the history of the gun or of Dead Man’s Island. She has already done a post about the 9 o’clock gun back in 2006, which is pretty cool. From where Robyn and I live in the West End, we can always hear the gun go off at 9pm as the sound echoes off the buildings. I need to make plans on photographing the gun going off one evening!

The boats in the surrounding marina (Vancouver Royal Yacht Club) are always fun to look at. I’ve only been on big boats (RCL Cruise Ship, BC Ferries etc) but never on smaller sailing ships or water crafts. Though I have gone kayaking. One day I think I’ll have myself a boat, not some dinky dinghy but something fun that you can take on over night trips.

I kept on walking and into Lost Lagoon. I wanted to check on the status of the Mute Swan nests. I noticed that one nest is abandoned, and there were eggs in it last Keith and I looked. Though I saw no cygnets anywhere. The other nests still have their respective mothers sitting on top so there is still some hope that some of the eggs will hatch.

According to some of the volunteers of the Lost Lagoon Ecological Centre, they are not too keen on having more Mute Swans as the size of the Lagoon can’t really sustain any more of them. Yes I am sure they would like to see the birds survive, but with the water quality and the current bird population they are not too hopeful of a high survival rate. Last year out of all the eggs only 3 were seen with their parents, those 3 did not survive. I would like to see 1 or 2 make it this year though.

I did see some of the cute ducklings though. A small group were following their mother close to the shoreline.

This little guy was running along the water surface trying  to catch the bugs. Eventually he got too far behind the group and had to dash back to his mother. I think ducklings are more cute than goslings are, though cygnets are the cutest.

On another note a few days before yesterday when Robyn and I walked around the Seawall we ran in to an interesting and rare sight.

An Osprey was perched over the water looking for fish. If it wasn’t for a tourist who was looking up with his little point and shoot camera, we would of walked right past underneath him. Osprey are my most favourite bird and I have never seen them in Vancouver or the surrounding areas such as West Vancouver or North Vancouver. I’ve only ever seen them at one of their breeding sites in Pitt Polder (beginning of Pitt Lake are) in Pitt Meadows. He eventually took to the air, but my shutter speed was too slow to successfully capture him in flight, which is a bummer to me as this is the closest I have ever been to my favourite raptor. Perhaps another time. Oh if I only had a bigger lens too!