Queensborough Sauntering

Made a conscious effort to get together with friends this weekend to take advantage of a spectacular un-winter like day here in the Vancouver area. We wanted to get outside and enjoy the sunshine after a number of foggy and gray days. It's something we should really do more often but we all get "busy" doing day to day stuff, don't we?

Met Clive and Tanya and their grand daughter Sophie in the Queensborough area of New Westminster. Our destination point was the most eastern tip of Lulu Island which has become a booming residential area named Port Royal. Since the turn of the century the area was home to light industry; from warehousing and manufacturing, to ship building and trucking warehouses. With many of these businesses moving away or just closing altogether, the area has been re-made into a mix of houses, condos, and high rise towers.

Click on any picture to make the picture full size in the picture gallery....

Remnants of industry are still apparent, highlighted by the active spur rail line that cuts through the area wending it's way between side streets, and new community parks, under the new residential overpass, then splitting high rise towers to head off on a rail bridge over the Fraser River.      

The area also has a wonderful perimeter path that runs for 2.5 K around the tip of Lulu Island and provides a great walking/bicycling pathway for the locals. The path provides great views of New Westminster, the Fraser River, and best of all, has 9 geocaches along it's length. This was a good intro to geocaching location for young Sophie and Clive and Tanya as well. Young Sophie can enjoy the treasure hunt and Grandma and Grampa can enjoy the views.

This was a good place to spend an easy afternoon enjoying the neighbourhood and catching up on adult talk while we watched the busy river traffic traversing the liquid highway.

Sophie was enjoying herself finding the treasure hidden along the path and Tanya was enjoying it as well. We even had a kitty cat come over to see what all the fuss was about!

One of the things the developers have done well is to provide lots of green space for the residents; this includes wide open grass areas, community gardens, and a well organized playground

 Here are the train tracks cutting through the area; notice how they run right past the condos in the back ground.

I think Tanya enjoyed the treasure hunt as well, or maybe she was giving me her smile that said "you better not be taking a picture of me"! I can never figure out what women are really trying to say.....  :)

Clive, Tanya, and young Sophie took their leave later in the day....they must have been feeling off as we couldn't talk them into driving over to the nearby mall to visit the Lindt Chocolate store! See the pictures below for the smorgasbord of chocolate that awaited us!!

OK folks, you really have to click on the pictures here to see the chocolate bars full size so you can imagine all the creamy, gooey chocolate that is under that thin, easily ripped packaging.

 
 Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, peppermint chocolate, chocolate with hazel nuts, chocolate truffles..........you could OD from the sights alone!

I thought this was a really neat picture of these cute little guys all sitting perfect on the shelf just waiting to be adopted. Then when I loaded the picture on my computer and looked at it full sized, I realized they were all looking at me...... staring at me....just waiting for me to turn my back before they come alive and attack!
Well, I got the first kick in....I bought some of their cousins and I'm chewing on one of their heads right now as I write this blog! I'm torn between saying "take that you scary little teddy bear" and "mmmmmm......chocolate......"

These pictures and more from today are available on my Flickr photo web site here

Geocaching in Queensborough

Anytime you are in the Queensborough area two things will constantly be in your view - bridges, and the Fraser River. Queensborough is a neighbourhood located on the eastern tip of Lulu Island. Lulu Island itself is surrounded by the north and south arm of the Fraser River.

Bowser98 (brother Al), and MrTJ, (brother Ken), and I picked the Queensborough area to geocache in as we would be having a late start to the day and the density of caches in the area allowed us to maximize our finds. As well, a geocacher by the name of mcwilli had done a series of caches highlighting the history of the Queensborough area; always a plus when you can learn some local history while you have fun!

We worked our way through the series, strolling along dikes and nipping into small neighbourhood parks while we picked up caches and picked up some knowledge of the region. Evidently we missed out on doing one of the caches in the series, don't know how we missed one little cache...oh well, next time!

Interspersed in the day's finds were other caches that constantly brought us along the Fraser River or left us with a view of a bridge or an on ramp or an off ramp....after all, it is an island and one of the Lower Mainland's main routes south uses Lulu Island as a jumping point over the Fraser River.

One cache brought us alongside a revamped marina where they had dry docked a boat at the parking lot entrance as a piece of art - it was neat to see the old working boat put on display and it did add a touch of character to the area.

At the far eastern tip of the island is an old industrial area which has been wiped clean, and a housing development with a mix of condos, townhouses, and attached houses now offer new homes to eager buyers. They have done a wonderful landscaping job in the area - from creating a seawall walkway around the point of the island, to designing nice looking homes that suit the area. Greenery has been added and as it grows in offers the senses of privacy that close living quarters usually don't provide.

We spent the afternoon caching in the area, mindful of the time as we were going to attend a geocaching event titled "Watching The Sun Go Down, Again" which was to take place at the top of Burnaby Mountain close to SFU (Simon Fraser University). What could be better, a warm August night, sitting in lawn chairs talking to fellow geocachers about life in general, and of course, picking up hints on those caches that you just can't find. So what happens in the middle of August on that one night we want to meet? It rains of course!
But that didn't stop 30 or 40 fellow geocachers from coming out to chat and see old friends and make new friends as well. The geocaching community is constantly growing, and many of the faces I see now I haven't seen before...I almost feel like the old man in the crowd!  :)

I had along Keelong The Panda Bear TB but didn't dare bring him out of the car for fear of getting him soaked - so we settled for leaving the Panda Bear and the lawn chairs in the Jeep. Instead we took our hats and coats and stood in the rain having a grand time....a good way to cap off a day of geocaching!

Oh, and we did see the sun appear, just as it set for the night.....  

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