Coal Harbour

I took this shot outside of the Vancouver Convention Centre last Saturday, June 11th after gorging myself with food from Eat Vancouver - a 3 day food & beverage convention. TBEX (Travel Blogger Exchange) was happening simultaneously. Hundreds of travel bloggers stormed the city but most (based on my travel blog snooping) rarely ventured beyond Coal Harbour, which is a shame, but at the same time... the view's nothing to scoff at.

Full moon rising on June 15, 2011

Overlooking Robson Street last night as the full moon rose after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup.

Brewery Creek Beer Festival - US

My first trip to the Armoury aka: the Beatty Street Drill Hall was a week ago Friday for the Brewery Creek Beer Festival - US as a part of the Vancouver Craft Beer Week. Imagine 20 or so American breweries serving craft beer in a giant drill hall... that was my Friday:

The orange blossom ale was intriguing...

The Kentucky bourbon barrel ale was delicious...

Re-up BBQ was there - they make amazing pulled pork sandwiches

I opted for a smokey made with craft beer... best decision of the night!

Belgian Beer Showcase at Biercraft for VCBW

Vancouver Craft Beer Week is happening right now. I was fortunate enough to atttend the Belgian Beer Showcase at the Biercraft Bistro down the road from where I live. With over 40 Belgian beers available and unlimited opportunity to drink it (okay, I lasted from about 8-11pm)... if you love your Belgian beer, it was an event not to be missed!

 

Killer Whales in Burrard Inlet

Where's the best place go whale watching in Vancouver?

Ruffles the patriarch orca of J-pod in the San Juan Islands, 2003.

Apparently Stanley Park!

A pod of orcas have been swimming around downtown Vancouver today, past Stanley Park, under the Lion's Gate bridge, and all the way over to Port Moody at the eastern-most end of Burrard Inlet.

What are they doing here?

Good question.

Just like that grey whale that swam into False Creek practically a year ago today, it could mean that industrial Burrard Inlet's ecosystem is actually improving *or* perhaps it means that the food sources where they'd normally be hunting are diminishing. I'm actually thinking the former... and I'm also thinking, I'm no expert, it could be anything, really.

I used to work for a Steveston-based whale watch company for a summer back in 2003. There are 3 pods of residential orcas that are here from May until about October/November, but they typically stay within the Gulf Islands/San Juan Islands region, rarely venturing north of the mouth of the Fraser River. Seeing orcas even remotely close to downtown Vancouver is practically unheard of.

But these are apparently transients - not residential J-pod, K-pod, or L-pod. These orcas don't have regular travelling patterns or a seasonal home base. They go wherever they go. And unlike the residential orcas that feed off salmon, transients hunt seals. Having done a walk around the Stanley Park seawall the other week, I can vouch that Burrard Inlet sustains a very healthy population of harbour seals!

What does it mean?

I don't know... but I hope it's a sign of good things to come.

The Waldorf Hotel

The This is East Van book launch happened last Thursday at the Waldorf. We were going to check it out, but didn't feel like paying cover for an event we'd only stay at for 20 minutes... so we did a 180 and went straight to the Biltmore (where we were supposed to be, anyway) instead. Fortunately for us, the Thao and Mirah show was phenomenal. Openers Alex Guy and Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside were equally incredible. All in all, one of the better shows.

Read the review of the show on Guttersnipe.

Granville & Helmcken

I figure if I can't commit to writing an eloquent blog post once a week, surely I can at least feature a recently-taken photo.

The above photo was taken on Granville Street in March. I was on my way to cover the Cocktail Kitchen event at the Refinery - one of those moments where, yes, I had a camera in hand. I guess it's not so rare these days.