Having lived 4.5 years in Vancouver we have been to almost every part of the metropolitan area. However there are still some small pockets that remain and one of those is the small Westham Island in the Fraser River delta in Delta, BC.
Like the name suggests, it's an island connected to the mainland only with a small bridge. A scene in the X-Files was shot on this bridge.
About half of the island is farmland and the other half is a protected migratory bird sanctuary named after George C. Reifel. It's a swampy area perfect for waterfowls to rest on their long migration between South America and Alaska.
I was slightly surprised that there is a $5 admission fee to visit the area. There is even a gift shop!
Inside many birds are very accustomed to people that often feed them with seeds that one can buy.
On a nice summer day the area makes for a nice quiet walk.
There are booths to observe birds without disturbing them. We only saw few common bird species, but there are over 250 in the area.
The bird tower offers a view from above.
Deltaport container port in the background.
Huge marshland covers most of the coast of Strait of Georgia.
Small ducklings are always cute!
On the way back we did stop at Emma Lea Farms (also on the island) for some fresh strawberries.
Hey, I can see my home from here!
It was a nice visit and I was surprised how huge the island actually is. It makes for a nice day trip for families looking to feed some birds and there were lots of families wityh kids. Just look out for some over-protective Canada Geese.
Lougheed is one of Burnaby's four town centers. Also this area will soon see tall towers go up as the plan calls for twenty new towers of up to 70 floors in height!!
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Surrey is the second biggest city in Metro Vancouver with over 500 000 people and growing fast. Actually so fast that the city will overtake Vancouver in the next decade. For a city of its size, Surrey doesn't yet have an amazing skyline, but it is building up all the time.
The crane on the left is for 3 Civic Plaza which will be the tallest in the city with 48 floors and 163 meters (double the current height) once completed. That's in the epicenter of Surrey Central, right next to the city hall (not visible).
All photos taken some 10-15 kilometers away from Burnaby's Metrotown.
Lougheed is one of Burnaby's four town centers. Also this area will soon see tall towers go up as the plan calls for twenty new towers of up to 70 floors in height!!
I highly (lol) doubt that the towers will reach 70 storeys. They will probably scale it back to 50 at most, since building that tall costs more money. Even without them Lougheed has a more interesting skyline than Surrey.
I highly (lol) doubt that the towers will reach 70 storeys. They will probably scale it back to 50 at most, since building that tall costs more money. Even without them Lougheed has a more interesting skyline than Surrey.
It is a bit of a myth that building taller costs more money. It certainly does with Vancouver's typically small floorplates, but its not absolutely true. Depending on floor plate size, structural design, parking design, foundations and a couple of other variables, construction cost vs height/floors is a variable.
Here are some photos of Canada Day fireworks all around Metro Vancouver. I didn't even leave home, as these are all from our apartment.
First up is New Westminster.
Next is Burnaby where a free concert took place in Central Park. Unfortunately the fireworks themselves were small, but I snatched one nice photo with Vancouver skyline in the background.
Vancouver had two synced fireworks taking place in Coal Harbour and West Vancouver. Both were visible from our place even though we are 15 kilometers away.
You can see how both fireworks have similar colors as they are in sync.
End of July means that the Celebration of Light fireworks festival is back again! Here are few photos of Netherland's nice show this past Saturday. All photos are taken from our 46th floor penthouse, some 14 kilometers away.
Notice Lighthouse Park's small lighthouse in the middle. The huge mountain in the background is Bowen Island.
Grande finale was colorful.
Finally a bonus photo with Vancouver skyline. The tower under construction on the foreground is called Modello and it is topped out, but shame about it at least partly blocking our view of BC Place (the pink building).
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