The following has been contributed to the Park Series by Raul of hummingbird604.com
I had been wanting to go for a hike to Buntzen Lake for a long while, but for one reason or another, I hadn’t gotten a chance, so one of my recent Sunday evenings JT and I decided to go for a short hike and we settled on (finally!) the Buntzen Lake area. I noticed that Rebecca had recently visited Belcarra Regional Park and I wanted to contribute to her Park Series with a post about Buntzen Lake.
Photo credit:
phobus on Flickr
How to Get There You could drive all the way to Anmore/Belcarra but the sustainable mode of transportation would be taking Skytrain or the 160 Express to Coquitlam Centre Station and from there the community shuttle C26.
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Metrics Buntzen Lake is a BC Hydro reservoir, located about 30 km from Vancouver, with an overall area of 182 hectares and a length of 4.8 km. HISTORY From the BC Hydro site:
Formerly known as Lake Beautiful, the lake is named after the first general manager of B.C. Electric Co., Johannes Buntzen. In 1903 the Buntzen hydroelectric project was put in service by the Vancouver Power Company to provide the first hydroelectric power to Vancouver. Previously, the city had to depend on a 1,500-kilowatt (kW) steam plant for its power supply. The project involved raising the level of the dam on Coquitlam Lake and excavating a 3.6 km tunnel to carry water from Coquitlam Lake to Buntzen Lake. The tunnel runs under Eagle Mountain, reaching a maximum depth of 1.2 km below the surface, and empties into the north end of Buntzen Lake.
Water from Buntzen Lake is used to feed the Burrard Generating Station. While one of the generating plants (Buntzen 2) is still in operation, and monitored from a facility in Burnaby, Buntzen 1 (built in 1903 and shut down in 1951) is no longer functioning.
Notes Buntzen Lake has a variety of amenities and thus it is a popular site for beach-goers and hikers alike. Trails are clearly marked, and there is a short (Energy) trail that has a number of cute little displays that allow hikers to learn more about the area (similar to an interpretive display). There’s also a hollow tree but not as big as the one in Stanley Park.
Dr Raul Pacheco is a local blogger, teacher, researcher and consultant on water governance, environmental policy and urban sustainability.
Tim Hortons, Canada’s favourite coffee and donut pit stop, is rolling into New York with many locations opening up today. This means that at this time tomorrow (even though I don’t take sugar in my coffee) I could be getting a double double from their new Broadway, Madison Square Garden, Penn Station or Times Square locations. Two locations are also planned for Brooklyn.
I’m flying out to New York today and although it won’t be a long trip, I’m looking forward to seeing this amazing city once again. I was last there six years ago for a quick weekend stay while I was living in Boston — and I swear one of these days I’ll spend more than 48 hours in the city.
Tim Hortons chain has already been in the US for several year and has headquarters in Dublin, Ohio. I’m unsure how Americans will take to our TimHo coffee especially after seeing how many Vancouverites (according to a poll I ran on my site a while back) prefer specialty roasts from cafes.
During my time in Boston I became a fan of two things (coffee-wise): Dunkin Donuts, and Peet’s. Peet’s in Cambridge was a regular pit stop for me when I was taking the shuttle to work and I visited my first Peet’s in Berkeley about seven years ago. Double D or D Squared was like my ‘Tim Hortons away from home’. The location in the Harvard red line station was also a morning pit stop (in case I missed my shuttle). My mother is still a fan of their roasts so I usually pick up a pack from Target when making an afternoon shopping trip south of the border as well.
It’s kind of neat to think that I could be ordering the same thing tomorrow morning as I did today – although if anyone has some suggestions on where I can get breakfast tomorrow (preferably some place with the word “diner” in the title) that would be great.
Several months ago I was able to profile Mojave for one of my weekly E!Online articles and since that time they have been crazy-busy recording an album and touring around to promote Crow’s Funeral.
Mojave‘s music is podsafe (meaning you can play them on a podcast) and if you’re in to blip (the music file sharing service that works with Twitter) you’ll notice their tunes on there as well.
They’ve been using Twitter, a blog, Flickr, and various social media tools to market the album so you can experience them practically anywhere (there’s no excuse not to).
Mojave will be in Kelowna today, Saturday July 11th, and in Vancouver July 26th at the Railway Club. In August they will take off across Canada for a round-trip tour to Ontario and back to BC. I highly encourage you to check them out online and in person.
Vancouver’s largest waterfight is happening this Saturday at 1:00pm over at Lumberman’s Arch in Stanley Park. As previously mentioned in my “Ways to Cool Down” blog post last month, it should prove to be an epic event during one of the hottest days of the summer.
Who wants to have a waterfight this summer? raise your hands, and pull your trigger finger, cause we’re going to get Soaked, totally saturated! and no one is going to stop, till this town runs dry! For the past three years on a hot and sunny summer saturday, Vancouver residents have gathered in Stanley park to have a massive waterfight. If you want to join in the fun, this group is for you.
Visit the Facebook page for rules, information, and the code of conduct. Remember to dress for the occasion (fully expect to get wet) and be respectful and courteous to those who obviously don’t look like they’re a part of the action. Also, as it states on the Facebook page, this is for a good time and a laugh so keep things playful and fun.
For our final meal of our Girls Getaway last week, Keira and I were treated to dinner at The Landing West Coast Grill over at the Pacific Shores Resort & Spa. One of the best things about Parksville, aside from the endless beaches and glorious sunsets, is the resorts. I remembered spotting Pacific Shores from the water during our kayaking adventure and it was just as lovely up close on dry land.
At The Landing we were greeted by friendly staff as walked past their wine cellar and 6,000 gallon aquarium and were then seated by the window so we could overlook Craig Bay. The menu featured numerous Ocean Wise selections and also highlighted gluten-free items.
For starters, we each chose a wood-oven roasted bread appetizer (even though we were also given complimentary olive loaf, and corn bread). We chose the Warm Oregano & Cheese Whole Wheat Flat Bread and the Spicy Fire Cracker Flat Bread with Warm Goat Cheese & Tomato Dip .
My main course, the Cedar Plank Halibut, was a featured item that was served with lemon herbs & butter, wild rice and seasonal vegetables.
From our window view, we could see a wedding party doing a run-through out on the lawn. The resort hosts many special events and at the Landing you can select from special dining options such as their Dinner & Dance experience.
The dessert menu was presented to us in a way that was dazzling, yet I believe Keira also mentioned, kind of cruel. Each dessert item was brought out on a tray so we could get a full preview (we only meant cruel because we wanted to devour each and every offering, but our full bellies wouldn’t allow that to be an option). We selected the crème brûlée (which had hints of raspberry) and the chocolate mousse (with orange).
It was the perfect way to end our stay in the Oceanside region on Vancouver Island and I look forward to exploring even more when I return — which I hope will be some time very soon.
The past week has featured a series of posts about our Girls Island Getaway adventures. My photos are available on Flickr and you can also read Keira’s posts over on her site.
