The Secrets Of Vancouver BC, Canada

Wreck Beach

photo credit: sarahfelicity

Vancouver’s famous Wreck Beach is going through some challenges.

Thanks to Craigslist, public displays (more intimate than below) are now becoming more common on wreck beach.

According to an article in the Straight:

“Judy Williams thinks public sex could ultimately ruin the beach. For 27 years, she’s been at the helm of the Wreck Beach Preservation Society, defending Canada’s first clothing-optional beach against a “never-ending and ceaseless onslaught” of attacks. After as many as 80 years as a tacit clothing-optional zone, and drawing as many as 12,000 users in a day, Wreck has no legal protection and no real representative government.

If the cruisers take over, she fears, the heat will come down on everyone. With 2010 on the horizon, she’s afraid that the same folks who brought us Project Civil City will crack down on Vancouver’s “green-light” district—where just about everything goes, but not quite”

Wreck Beach is one of the largest clothing-optional beaches in the world, located next to the University of British Columbia campus. The near location to the campus guarantees a few hotties each weekend…

James Loewen photo

Don’t Miss:

Wreck Beach Bare Buns Run, soon! The event this year is August 17th, 2008. Low tide on the sand flats will allow us to begin this year’s Run/Walk at 12:00 noon! Registration will open at 9:30 am.

Register online HERE. Registering early means you’ll get a T-Shirt or tank top reserved for you!

They’re expecting hundreds this year, so don’t miss out! The cost of  registration helps cover your T-shirts and the gas to bring the run suppliles to the beach; the rest is a donation to the Wreck Beach Preservation Society – helping keep Wreck Beach beautiful, for all, for ever.

Happy sun tanning…

Vancouver’s New Justice System

Whistler Is Now 8 Hours Away

photo credit: Adrian Lee

Please Come Visit Vancouver…

photo credit: frielp

Vancouver has seen a decline of six per cent in American tourists this year compared to last. You can see it on the roads with the absence of American license plates.

Stretched over the course of the year, that number is significant, said Walt Judas of Tourism Vancouver.

“We’re talking between 150,000 to 200,000 overnight visitors from the U.S., which is a substantial number,” he said.

Usual numbers are 8.7 million tourists a year and $3.7 billion in visitor spending. A drop of 6% equals 220 million dollars.

Victoria isn’t taking things lying down.. with a huge ferry price increase on the way (as much as 18 per cent on August 1st),  Tourism Victoria is partnering with BC Ferries to offer a one-time promotion for August travel — book two nights accommodation in Greater Victoria and Tourism Victoria will pay your way there.

Maybe dropping the ridiculously high gas and sales taxes for August might help?

Bringing prices in line would make a big difference. After the uproar when the Canadian dollar hit parity with the US, I’ve yet to see prices come down. The indifference shown by the retail industry when it comes to fair pricing is going to cost them dearly in the long run.

Tourism is one of the largest industries here… time to treat it as a business facing challenges.

A Hell Of A Party For The Angels

photo credit: Stuart R Brown

The Hells Angels, the largest outlaw motorcycle gang in the Canada, celebrate their 25th anniversary in BC. Helping to promote the event, the RCMP posted a press release to let everyone in on the time and place.

To celebrate the anniversary, they’re throwing a party in Langley. Bikers from as far away as Sherbrooke, Quebec are dropping by it. Good food, music and a throng of police. Visitors are each greeted by the province’s Integrated Gang Task Force.

It should be a great event with the three chapters – White Rock, Vancouver and Nanaimo – all pitching in. They seem to make a pretty good living off of the drug trade, prostitution, fraud and extortion, so party favors, entertainment and lawyer fees shouldn’t be much of an issue.

There are more Hells Angels per capita in Canada than anywhere else. They even a have a pretty good website – showing that technology hasn’t passed them by. With six chapter sites under construction, they seem to be growing their business despite high gas prices and the slowdown in the economy.

Seems they also make good neighbors:

Kim Paar, who lives nearby, said “I’m sure you don’t hear that very often but this is probably the safest place in Langley to live,” she said.

Another resident, Lisa Pick, agreed.

“We’ve never had any problems with them. I feel so safe living here.”

HELLS ANGELS IN B.C.:

The RCMP estimate that there are 111 members of the gang in the BC, including full-patch members, hangarounds and prospects.

Mayor Young Gets Off Easy

photo credit: Icky Pic

Port Coquitlam Mayor Young was given 12-month conditional sentence and also sentenced to 18-months probation for 2007 assault.

Young must stay inside his residence between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. with an exception that allows him to attend Monday evening city council meetings when he will be allowed to stay out until 10:30 p.m.

After he and Ms. Preston broke up, Ms. Preston filed a complaint against him, resulting in a court order preventing him from approaching her.

On April 4, 2007, Mr. Young left his office at city hall around 11 p.m., and went to Ms. Preston’s house with two pieces of rope in his pockets. He entered and attacked Ms. Preston’s boyfriend, Glen Shaw. Police who arrived at the scene said they had to physically separate the two men, and said they smelled alcohol on Mr. Young’s breath.

For some strange reason there are no restrictions preventing someone with a criminal record or serving a conditional sentence from running for mayor in Port Coquitlam.

I’d suggest they move the council meetings till Tuesday.

Where The Hell Is Pemberton?

photo credit: peter.macdonald

The biggest concert in years should have been close to Vancouver… but if you can find your way to Pemberton somewhere north of Whistler, you’ll be in BC’s hot spot this weekend.

Once you get over your lost luggage, long hikes and general transportation confusion (did the folk festival organizers help out here?), it’s the concert of the year.

Concert promoters Live Nation Canada suffered from first year pains – but booking Nine Inch Nails, the Tragically Hip, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Coldplay will make it memorable.

Why Jay-Z was invited is unclear… not too many hip hop fans there, or wanted.

The 40,000 fans arrived in potato land where the concert aims to become mostly sustainable in the years ahead – if it’s a success. The plan is to have all produce and meat is coming from Pemberton farmers. By the sounds of it, the pot industry should also find new opportunities.

Three-day passes are $259.50, single-day tickets are $149.50 plus service charges at pembertonfestival.com

if you can find a way to get there.

Coquitlam – What you need to know

photo credit: black_wave

Now that we’ve been in Port Moody / Coquitlam for two months now, we’ve really started to discover a lot of the areas hidden attractions.

The best part of Coquitlam is north of the mall (you can’t miss it) – everything north of the Lougheed Highway.

Here’s our list of the top 5 things to know about living in Coquitlam:

1) Finding a rental in Coquitlam isn’t easy – but there are lots. Web searches yield poor results and crappy sites. Drive the area and talk to a realtor… failing that Craigs list works well.

2) The great restaurants are a bit hidden – don’t miss Rosa’s Cucina Italiana. It’s is a small, family-owned and operated Italian restaurant in downtown Port Moody. The mom and pop-type eatery is popular for its homemade pastas and large portions and as such draws a regular crowd. Arrive early or later (open from 4-10PM – no reservations often mean there are lines at the door once the place fills up.
Address: 2301 Clarke St. Port Moody

3) Nature is everywhere. Bike paths hiking, lakes and the list goes on. There is a road at the back of Coquitlam that takes you on a nature drive that is second to none… go north on Coast Meridan Road – you’ll end up in Pinecone Lake / Burke Mountain Park (motorbike is even better).

4) It snows on the Westwood Plateau / Heritage Mountain… and the best homes are just above the snowline. The sacrifice for the view is well worth it.

5) The Coquitlam schools and Port Moody ones are overloaded.. we had to go to three to find a spot for our 13-year old. Happy, but no bus for us.

Last thing.. no Coquitlam hotels to speak of… make sure to rent a car when traveling to Vancouver.

Rogers Tennis Tournament Can’t Move Rotting Carcasses

photo credit: iGrrl

There are at least three hanging carcasses of dead blue herons in the trees above the Rogers tennis tournament… and despite complaints about the smell and worries the dead bird might fall on a passersby, the Vancouver Parks Board won’t move them.

This, they say, is due to concerns that removing it could endanger the entire colony of protected birds.

One of the dead heron is dangling in a tree above a path between tennis courts at Stanley Park. Monday brought a pungent odor, which drew even more attention to it.

It’s not clear just how long the heron has been there, but the city’s parks board says the young bird likely fell out of the tree and died – not uncommon for the large colony, which has lost about 40 fledglings this year.

Because the great blue heron is a protected species in B.C., they even extend that protection to dead ones I guess.