Canada Day and a Few Beach Photos

Another Canada Day has come and gone. My visiting cousin and I started the day with a bit of shopping at Oakridge Mall.  We then carried on to Granville Island where the International Jazz Fest is happening.

Granville Island had a host of  festivities organized for families.  They even had it's own parade but these were all over with by the time we arrived.  We hadn't planned to participate in these events because we were on our way to the fireworks display.

While at Granville Island we had a small snack and listened to this wonderful duo of buskers.  I didn't get their name but the man in red had a fine singing voice and the keyboardist was very good too!

We then boarded this little ferry boat to go across the water to English Bay.

The small ferry was quite busy.

Once on the other side we took a nice long stroll.

It was already approaching 10 p.m. when I snapped these photos with my cell phone and so the light was not that good.

We were having fun enjoying the scenery and  ambience but we had to hasten our walk along the beach to get to the fireworks venue on time.  We decided to walk rather than wait for the bus because of how slow the buses can be in the West End.

We walked along the beach past Sunset Beach and turned onto Cardero Street where we walked toward Coal Harbour.Our destination was Harbour Green Park along the waterfront from where we watched the very nice fireworks display.

I took a 5 and a half minute video but don't have time to edit and upload right now.  After the display we took our time walking east along the waterfront (out of view of this graphic image).  Everyone was taking their time talking to friends and enjoying the evening.  We stopped and had gelato and visited with a few women who were also enjoying their evening before heading home.  Later we continued our easterly walk past the  newly built convention center and Canada Place and beyond to the bus that would take us home.   We didn't arrive home until 1:30 a.m. and both of us were completely wiped out. My cousin kept saying how much she enjoyed herself and it was nice to know that she enjoyed her short visit.  We've made tentative plans for some touristy things to do next year.

Thanks for visiting :-)

In closing let me wish all my American readers a very happy and safe Fourth of July!

Birthdays & Fireworks

Hello friends,

I trust those of you in Canada and USA had a wonderful July 1st and July 4th respectively. It is wonderful to celebrate birthdays.  Canada is now 148 years old and USA is 239 years old.

Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know I love fireworks.

On July 1st Canada Day I was able to watch fireworks from my patio. Though I don't have the best view I did manage to see some good bursts of colour and I did not have to deal with trying to make my way along with thousands of other people to get home after the display ended.

A few nights later, I captured a fantastic fireworks display on television. Seattle had a fabulous display of lights and I had a front row seat on my sofa.

 

This year the Honda Celebration of Light will celebrate 25 years of free fireworks in Vancouver.  Here is a little promo for the event that will be held July 25, 29 and August 1st. This is a fireworks competition and this year's competitors are: China, Brazil and Canada.  I don't watch every year but whenever I have, it has been thoroughly enjoyable.

United Kingdom Puts on a Great Show

Here is what the CBC News had to say about the weather on Wednesday, July 29, 2009.

"Wednesday was the hottest day ever recorded in Vancouver, according to CBC meteorologist Claire Martin. At 5 p.m. PT, Environment Canada recorded a record-breaking high of 33.8 C, breaking the previous record of 33.3 C set in 1960. Martin said anyone hoping the heat wave blanketing B.C. will be breaking anytime soon might just have to find some other way to chill out. "It's a very stable weather pattern — and very pronounced. It's not moving anywhere fast," Martin said Wednesday. Temperatures have been soaring across the province all week, hitting the low 40s (in degrees Celsius) in hot spots such as Lytton in the Fraser Canyon, setting records and driving thousands to lakes, pools, and beaches."

Even with the record heat, people turned up in droves for the 3rd night of the annual Celebration of Lights. The competing country was the United Kingdom. I don't think it is accurate to call it a country as it is more than one country but I think you'll know what I mean * smile.

Tonight at last, I did leave the air conditioned comfort of my hotel room for the closer view of the fireworks afforded by walking down to the beach. I found a spot that wasn't overly crowded, but boy was it steaming out there. On the way back, I stopped at the corner convenience store to purchase a few cold beverages and immediately took a cool shower after getting in.

Now that I somewhat cooled I can leave these lovely photos for your viewing pleasure.


Here is a short video taken on my old Canon SD300 camera. It will give you a good idea of the sights, sounds and fireworks. I have several more and when I have a bit more time I will splice them together.

UNITED KINGDOM PUTS ON A GREAT SHOW!

South Africa Wows Vancouver

I posted about the first of 4 nights of the Annual Celebration of Lights here in Vancouver. You can read about it here

On Saturday we had the second of four nights of competition. South Africa was on the roster to show their pyrotechnic skills and it was worth the wait! I never got out to the beach to jostle with the thousands and thousands who did. It started pouring rain in the late afternoon and I wasn't even sure whether the fireworks display would go on. The show did indeed go on though it was slightly delayed.

Look at the spectacular sunset we had during the rain and just before night closed the sky to get ready for amazing fireworks.

I discovered a few nights ago that my old Canon SD300 isn't fast enough to take good night shots, especially with moving subjects. These are a few of the better shots I was able to salvage.

I also made my first little video with clips from the Canon's movie feature. I wanted to upload it last night after the fireworks display but the lightening storms seems to have knocked out my internet service for about 24 hours. I've learned that I need a faster shutter speed )and/or a camcorder if I want to get good night movies. I couldn't get the shots I wanted and it was tiring to hold the compact camera up for extended periods. Nonetheless I enjoyed my first foray into splicing these movie clips together. Hopefully, I'll improve with practise.

Celebration of Lights

July 25, 2009

South African Team shines in their pyrotechnic skills

Celebration of Lights

Every year Vancouver has a competition between 4 countries that compete for the best fireworks display. The celebration began last night at 10:00 p.m. with Canada first up. These are the photos I managed to take with my slow camera.

Unfortunately, the big high rise is standing in the way of a brilliant view but I still managed to enjoy the show. My camera unfortunately did not shoot fast enough to capture the best shots though I tried hard to do so. I was shooting off my hotel balcony.

The competition is on for a week. If I can brave the crowds I may head down to the beach one night but I am not sure I am that brave.

Look how many people came rushing back to town after the show!


Watch this short video and you will get a better idea just how large this crowd was. The video doesn't show as well against the black background but I think you can still get the idea. You can hear the helicopters whirring in the background.