James Shearer

There is a lot going on in Vancouver during the summer and I’ve been in the thick of it. When a festival comes to town, or an event is taking place - I’m not too far away - snapping photos for Trail Canada and joining in on the fun.

Recently there have been a few major festivals centered around English Bay and the West End. This is great for me because I live right there!

Fireworks are on at the moment. For 4 days there are 25 minute shows by Canada, Sweden and China as they compete in the world’s largest fireworks competition. This is all part of the HSBC Celebration of Light.
Photos of Fireworks in English Bay

Pride week in Vancouver just came to a close with the Vancouver Pride Parade. For 2 hours hundreds of performers, floats and entertainers made their way down Denman Street and along Beach Avenue.
Photos of Vancouver Pride Parade

The Sea Vancouver festival was also on a few weeks ago. Lots of tall ships from all over the world came to Vancouver. Events took place in English Bay and all along False Creek.
Photos coming soon!

At 3.30pm, Thursday the 16th of June 2005, Vanessa and I were married beneath a birch tree in Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Our special day was made even more special by the efforts put in by our friends and family to make it to Vancouver for our wedding.

There will soon be some photos and various other things on our wedding website so keep an eye out. In the meantime, we would both like to thank our friends and family who came and the many people who contributed to making our wedding day what it was - a truly wonderful experience for everyone.

Personally, I couldn’t have asked for a better day or a better outcome - being married to Vanessa, the woman I love
Thanks honey for being you.

James.

It seems strange being in Canada but not seeing much of the snow. Vancouver’s mild, Pacific coast climate keeps the city warm even during the winter months. From time to time snow does hit the streets and chaos is unleashed.

At the moment, Vancouver is enjoying spring weather with bears coming out of hibernation and spring flowers appearing. The sun shines all day high in the blue sky but across the country in Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, other Canadians are experiencing a big freeze, feet deep in snow.

Here are some photos of Vancouver in the snow taken during January 2005.

Vancouver in the snow photos

Enjoy the weather, whatever it is, where ever you are!

I’ve created and published a new photogallery on Trail Canada.

The photos of English Bay and English Bay Beach are taken from around the area i live. Many are taken from my apartment and balcony.

Click here for photos of English Bay, Vancouver

These photos were taken from my apartment:
Looking over the Boathouse Restaurant, over English Bay Beach towards Stanley Park
Moon light over English Bay
Sunset over English Bay
Ships in English Bay and snow-capped mountains

This is where I live, Imperial Tower:
Imperial Tower and the Inukshuk
Imperial Tower, towering over the beach (the tallest building)

A great place to live! No wonder Vancouver is the most desirable place to live in the world. I second that.

Vanessa, Mark and I just spent the best part of last night at the new casino in Yaletown, downtown Vancouver.

The Edgewater Casino has everything you expect from a casino but this one is different. Its location is spectacular. Located in the Plaza of Nations the casino is enclosed in a giant glass and metal structure overlooking False Creek.

The $5 minimum bet on the outside of roulette and $1 on the inside prooved to be a big attraction for the 3 of us.

Living in Vancouver definately has its benefits. Vanessa and I are able to visit many of the visitor attractions featured on Trail Canada ourselves.

The visitor attractions guide for Vancouver on Trail Canada is new and growing fairly rapidly.

Visit: Trail Canada guide to Vancouver’s visitor attractions

When you’re in town, hopefully this will help you have a great visit to this wonderful city.

I’ve just finished the photo gallery for Trail Canada of Vancouver’s Westend. This is in fact my neighbourhood.

I hope you enjoy my photographs:
Photos of Westend Vancouver

J.

Ok, so it has been ages since I put anything on here. I guess now is a good time since there have been a few developments.

Right now, I’m sitting in my apartment gazing out the floor to ceiling windows over looking a huge sandy beach and the Pacific Ocean. I have to say that of all the places I’ve lived, this is definately one with an amazing view and possibly an unbeatable lifestyle.

I moved here, to Vancouver, a few months ago and although winter is here and I am in Canada after all, there is no snow. Not a hint of it. Yesterday, the sun was shining, it was 12 degrees, beautiful blue skies yet 35 minutes from here I was able to trudge through metre deep snow on Grouse Mountain.

Trail Canada is going from strength to strength. In case you didn’t know, Trail Canada is my network of Canadian travel websites which are the most popular independent guides to Canada. The latest version of Trail Canada came out a few days ago and I will be adding to the Vancouver section very regularly.

So far, there are plenty of photos at http://www.trailcanada.com/photos/vancouver.asp but check back regularly for more.

If anyone else I know is in my neck of the woods (i’ve bumped into a few people I know so far) then give me a shout.

Take care and see you on the Trail,

James

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