When the days got shorter I decided to try to get out and walk earlier and catch sunrises. As the days grew shorter these sunrises got later so that it was almost 8:00 often when I was starting out. Often these walks took me up to Queen Elizabeth Park. Although I only live about eight blocks from the park I really hadn't spent all that much time in the park so it has been interesting to see the changes through the seasons. Anyway too many walks and not enough time to take you on them all so today I thought I would just look at New Year's Day. I decided to start the day with a walk since for once New Year's Day was starting out with a lovely sunrise.
Here are a few of my favourite images from my walk. It was so beautifully quiet on the first morning of the new year. Just crossing into the park I could see the sun really coming into the sky.
A week earlier the ponds in the park had been icy and partly frozen but today the ducks weren't having any difficulty swimming around.
And of course on top of Queen Elizabeth Park you get a spectacular view of the city.
Looking east I tried to capture the colours of the sunrise-never easy.
At the top of Queen Elizabeth Park is a restaurant, Seasons, and there is an outdoor area to sit which is only accessible through the restaurant and I noticed the interesting affect of the reflections. Don't you love the chandeliers. This week's resolution is to go have lunch or coffee at Seasons and take a photo from the inside! Unfortunately the restaurant isn't open when I do early morning walks or coffee may I note!
I kind of like this shot with the monkey puzzle tree!
There were quite a few low cost housing units adjacent to the park that were mainly taken down by a developer but nothing new has gone up for two years so temporarily we have another park. There were rather ugly buildings but provided low cost housing of which there is not enough in this expensive city.
This time of year I always look for signs of Spring.
On my way home I found a camellia bush in bloom!
Since year 2000 friends and I have a tradition of going for a walk at Spanish Banks on New Year's Day regardless of the weather. We thought that we were quite lucky this year as it wasn't raining nor really cold. Here are a few photos of that walk. This is a favourite little cove of mine
The combination of cloud, trees, mountains, ocean, and people enjoying the day make this a special place
There is a dog beach here and no one enjoys the beach more than dogs! And I enjoy watching their antics!!!
I didn't see anyone playing volleyball!!!
After that we went and had a late lunch! Happy 2014
