Fireworks

23 July to 30 July
wed - Celebration of Light begins kicked off by Italy. This is the world championship fireworks competition. Got down to English Bay just about 10pm so had touble getting near the beach - never seen so many people in one place. The firewok show is amazing. There are many boats in the bay getting a prime view. Can't say I have seen a display so impressive.

Everyone is cheering in between each traunch.
Leaving the event, there is a mass of people walking down the streets. Apparently there were 300,000 people watching from downtown.

Sat - went to the Brits2Vancouver potluck party

New House

Sat/Sun 22nd/23rd July.
Bought a house.
It's a 3 bed townhouse in North Vancouver - Lower Lonsdale, with a rooftop deck view of downtown/mountains. Got a garage and big workshop too.
We don't move in until 7th October.

Tour de Gastown

Wed 19 July
Tour de Gastown 19th July. Road race won in a previous year by Lance Armstrong. 60 laps of a 1.5 min course (yes, 90 seconds per lap!).

Freeeeedoooom!

Doug's final week of freedom. We've looked at quite a few houses this week. We've found a really nice 3 bed 3 bathroom townhouse in the Lynn Valley. Doug's not sure because it's next door to a church (!) and it's a 15 minute bus ride from Lower Lonsdale which is very central. We're going to the Open House tomorrow to have another look.
This week we went to see Cirque de Soleil: Valekrai which was ace, almost as good as Quidam and I say almost only because with CDS there's no time like the first.
Went to the Granville Island Stage and watched 'Tuesday's with Morrie', which was excellent too if not a little sad.
Did a bit more biking, tried the same trails again and managed to ride a bit more of them this time.
Drove to Squamish as we've seen loads of real big but cheap houses in the papers so wanted to know what we were missing out on. Decided we still want to stay on the North Shore.

We also went for drives south of Downtown to see if that area was worth considering for house buying. It was a cloudy day so driving round Commercial Drive and Cambie was like being in Longsight as you couldn't see the mountains. Decided we still want to stay on the North Shore!

Went to visit a couple of lakes: Alouette and Buntzen. Very beautiful, makes the Lake District seem like Blackpool... ok maybe not that bad but the lakes here are completely unspoiled; no buildings, no power cables, no ferry trips across, no roads around the perimeter, no gift shop, no l'puds walking round in a shellsuit saying "ay ay alright our kid, lend us a tennair", no people..well
not many in the week at least. The people that did turn up were canoeing, fishing, swimming or having a barby. Doug, any chance of a canoe for my birthday?

Glossary:
Open House: When a house is for sale they have an Open House usually on a Saturday or Sunday from 2pm to 4pm when the house is open to the general public for viewing.














Squamish with the Stawamus Chief in the background










Alouette Lake




















Buntzen Lake

Real North Shore Riding

Went back to Mount Fromme today to reattempt some of those hardcore trails. Did Pipeline which is a blue, which indicates to me it's for intermediate riders. Oh dear.









This trail is harder than any at Coed-y-Brenin and worse than the black at Glentress (and it's only a blue :0). It starts off with a rooty steepish descent with small rooty drop offs and wide skinnies but after that it's a sucessesion of 3/4 foot drops on technical corners around trees with narrower, higher skinnies. Doug says think top drops at Hamsterley on a cross country bike. The thing is these are not optional add-ons, they are part of the trail - some of the skinnies are over 4 foot up as they cross a riverbed or ravine.
Went to Hagars after for a pint to calm the nerves.

Realtor Tour

Had a tour with the realtors today. We've selected some houses to view so that's being arranged for Friday, we'll keep you posted.

The Grind

I did the Grouse Grind today, Doug got the cable car up because he's still got a swollen ankle. People were limbering up at the bottom of the trail so I was wondering what I was letting myself in for. I knew it was a 1.8 mile vertical hike with a 2800ft ascent,an 8 foot billboard full of disclaimers at the beginning, warnings of cougar and black bear but come on.. how bad can it be.
Any way it was hard.


Although I was quite pleased with my time of 1hr 16 mins. They say it takes between 1 and 1.5hrs.








At the top there is a bear enclosure which holds two bears, Koola and Grinder. They were orphaned cubs when they were taken in. Koola's mother was hit by a truck. Orphaned cubs are often shot when found in the wild because they can't fend for themselves and are often cannibalised by adult male bears. Koola is the largest of the two, 700lb, wouldn't like to bump into him on a dark trail.

Drivin'

Drive around the North Shore, Upper Lonsdale, Forest Hills, Lynn Valley, to check out the areas, then over to to Burnaby to see where Doug will be working - The Telus building is quite big and it looks as though it has great views over the North if your are lucky enough to work on that side of the building. Lots of malls and office buildings here.

Drive over to Coquitlam then Port Moody and stop at Rocky Point Park overlooking the end of the Burrard Inlet. Great views. Sample 'PaJos' legendery Fish n Chips. Fish is good, chips need to be fatter though. Don't bother going up to Port Coquitlam as this seems far enough out of town at 30 mins drive straight.
Most of the newer houses we have seen so far are nice, it just depends where you want to live and how much money you have got. Port Moody is spoilt a bit by the oil refineries on either side of the shore. Plus I think we've made our minds up where we want to live - on the North Shore :D

BBQ

Take the bus to West Van for Frank and Sue's BBQ. House is amazing. That reminds me, we need to buy a lottery ticket... Meet some expats now living in the area we are looking to buy. Arrange a tour of the area for Wednesday. Doug attempts BBQ beef and chicken kebabs....still alive so must have done alright.
Stop at Lonsdale Quay for a pint on the way home and get talking to a crazy drunk Canadian comedian....he starts asking about Manchester as his grandparents were from Yorkshire.

Canada Day!

Head up to the Queens Cross at 8am to watch the footie. A fair few families watching the match over breakfast.
Walk back into Lower Lonsdale and watch the North Shore Parade.
Buy some flags and join in.







Have lunch at Lonsdale Quay - Doug has Butter Chicken and Chilli Chicken Curry - very nice. Karen has a fresh salad and a Chicken BLT. Listen and watch the bands amongst the crowds.






Take the Seabus over to Downtown and head to Canada Place for the big celebration. Everybody is wishing each other 'Happy Canada Day!' walking around with flags and Maple Leafs painted on their faces


















Spot a tank driving up the street!