Tag: Beaches

For three days and two nights, I was invited to visit my good friend’s family as they spent the last remaining weeks of summer in Parksville on Vancouver Island. I was beyond excited because not only had I not seen my friend in forever (well at least, it felt like that to me) but I had never been to Parksville! I left on a week day, meaning no ride to Horseshoe Bay for me! I took the 257 Horseshoe Bay express bus to the ferry terminal and jumped on the next boat to Nanaimo. It was about an hour and […]

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Surrey BC is a community in the Greater Vancouver Regional District that is a rapidly growing city. It’s profile in the news is the home to some nasty gang violence. I think therefore those like me with less knowledge of Surrey will be wonderfully surprised by Crescent Beach, which is in South Surrey on the way to White Rock, BC. What fools you about Crescent Beach is that once you are there and have parked the car, the vibe is of an isolated beach town … the type where the population is about 40 in the off season and peaks […]

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Kits Beach, which is located in Vancouver, on the south side of English Bay, across from the West End neighbourhood can be full of surprises. Yesterday morning at around 11 AM, I took a stroll to pick up a coffee from the Starbucks at Cornwall and Arbutus and then walked across the street, headed to the water and this was my view. Walking about 10 metres down the path I discovered that Volleyball BC was having a tournament. There was seating in the bleachers and I have never seen beach volleyball up close so I sat to enjoy my coffee. […]

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I had to check, but the change over from summer to autumn is September 22, 2016 at 10:21 A.M. EDT. Today I rode around Stanley Park. I did this same ride back in August. (See Stanley Park to Kits Beach.) However this time there was a sense of urgency. Who knew when I’d next have my schedule and the weather cooperate in this way? There was no mistaking that crisp taste of Fall in the air. Despite worrying about potentially not being able to enjoy the ride like this for months, Autumn was somehow inviting me to slow it down […]

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Just because it’s September, don’t give up on Kits Beach in Vancouver. I took the photos below two nights ago. Yes, it’s cooler but the views are to die for. Plus all the restaurants on Yew Street are open for business. Including the gelato shop! When the sun goes down, make sure to have a sweater!

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A gorgeous late Friday afternoon in August in Vancouver provided me with enough time to take a 23 km ride around Stanley Park and False Creek in order to land me at Kits Beach. The route I take has very little actual road riding. I find dodging other bikes and pedestrians challenge enough without fun cars! I noted the time as 4:07 PM at West Georgia and Bute Streets, downtown, where I unlocked my bike and headed north on Bute. Bute Street ends just past Hastings Street. The traffic trying to get to the Lion’s Gate Bridge was insane, even […]

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Gun Lake is a deep and gorgeous, mountain-ringed, water-filled former volcano, nestled between the sharp peaks of BC’s coastal mountains and the rolling hills of the South Chilcotin. View of Gun Lake from Sugar Loaf Mountain The 10 km long lake is roughly 240 km north of Vancouver via the steep and winding Hurley River Forest Service Road. It can also be accessed by Highway 99 (the Duffey Lake Road) to Lillooet and Road 40 to Gold Bridge. This way is longer, adding about two hours to your journey, but is much gentler to your vehicle. Because it’s barely four […]

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In Parksville there’s Rathtrevor Beach which, at low tide, goes out for miles giving you the sense that you could walk to the small Mistaken Island during that low tide period. Ocean Trails Resort, where we stayed for five nights, is accessed via Resort Drive, which has a collection of resorts ranging from the fancier Tigh-na-mara to more modest priced ones. From what I gather Ocean Trails is in the mid range. It does not provide rental units right on the beach, so I’m assuming the price tags on those (e.g. Madrona Beach Resort) are higher. However, there’s this great […]

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This is possibly one of the easiest and most scenic bike rides in Vancouver. It was a hot summer day when my daughter and I set out on the 5.7 km (each way) bicycle ride from Kits Beach. We wanted to try the relatively new (18 months old) bike path along Point Grey Road and see how it connects to Jericho, Locarno and Spanish Banks beaches. This was the view from where we started. As you ride west, following the markings for bikes, you then follow a short stretch of Point Grey Road, which then turns back to where Cornwall […]

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This past weekend saw my kid brother fly in from Edmonton with his girlfriend in an attempt to wine and dine Vancouver into her heart in a bid to persuade her to move ‘out west’. Arriving Thursday evening, I met them at the Yaletown Roundhouse Canada Line stop at 7:55pm, and immediately ventured (bags in tow) a block further into Yaletown for an 8:00 PM reservation at Minami , one of Vancouver’s more innovative Japanese restaurants. An extended fine dining experience ensued until the one hour time change served notice and it was time to retire, our bellies full and […]

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