Spring in the Air

Snow on the Mountains

Sat Mar 19th 

West Lion after recent snowfall

There are definite signs that Spring is around the corner.  Shrubs are producing buds and temperatures have returned to seasonal normal.  The westerlies are bringing rain to the lower coast shores which at higher level produces some of the best snow of the season in Whistler and other resorts.  The Blackcomb season has now been extended to May 23rd.  Whistler Mountain still closes April 18th as they start preparing bike trails for the summer season.

We have yet to hear when our shipping container arrives in Vancouver, but have started to think about the move from our rental to the house we have bought in Grandview Road.  With the pressures of the legalese out of the way and money safely in our solicitor's account, we now can't wait to get the move done and have a base of our own.

We pay a return visit to the house on Sunday to check out various ideas and show Nick and Lizzie around, all 'three of them' are over on the Coast for the weekend!

What an interesting end to the '6 Nations'. Expected wins for Ireland and France and an amazing win for Italy, in probably the best game of the weekend - unless you are a Welsh supporter (sorry Max!).  It was a deserved win for France, who are playing good rugby, England could not quite deliver the goods against a rampant France.  

With the writing on the wall for France v England we decided to head to one of the local micro-breweries in Gibsons for lunch and skip the second half.  Tapworks  makes good beer and does good food.  We sat outside in the sun!

After lunch we headed off to Smuggler Cove Provincial Park for an afternoon wander.  The Cove is a collection of small islands and inlets, and "the area has some notable history as the Cove was used to transport Chinese workers into the United States in the late-1800s. Then, during the period of prohibition, smugglers would hide from authorities in the cove as they transported alcohol south into the United States".

A series of freshwater lagoons dammed by beavers, is crossed by boardwalks through to the trail that circles some of the rocky outcrops and gin clear inlets.  At low tide it's possible to cross to some of the smaller outcrops and watch the Bufflehead Ducks and seals.  The 4k walk takes about 1.5 hours at a leisurely pace, taking in the beautiful scenery.  Images below.

Jack was in his element and mostly in the water!  It needs a canoe or small boat to explore it properly.  It's the sort of place you could spend hours paddling around.




The snow on West Lion and North Shore mountains has added to the snow depth accumulated so far this season.  Compare the picture above to March 10th.  

Ten days ago and more snow since










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