Raccoon

Ron Niebrugge Canada, Photos, Travel 4 Comments

A baby raccoon, Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada.

A baby raccoon, Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada.

Found this young guy along with its sibling and parents – they were sure fun to watch!

Took the bus to Whistler yesterday, and have a full day in the cool ski resort town today.

Vancouver Fireworks

Ron Niebrugge Canada, Photos, Travel 4 Comments

Fireworks over Vancouver, Canada.

Fireworks over Vancouver, Canada.

We were excited to learn we were going to be in Vancouver for one of  the nights of Celebration of Light – an international fireworks competition, and something we did not know about when we booked this trip.  We were disappointed to learn that more then 300,000 people crowd the waterfront in a mass sea of people, and to gain a decent vantage point, you have to arrive many hours early and stand your ground and wait.

So we decided our time was better served doing other things, so we rented a boat and followed and photographed a couple cruiseships as they left Vancouver.  Well as luck would have it, at the end of the night when we were all done, the owner of the boat rental company invited us up to the roof of his high-rise apartment building!  This was from the roof top pool area – it was a great show!

See more Vancouver photos.

Whistler Photos

Ron Niebrugge Canada, Photos, Travel 3 Comments

Whitler Village, British Columbia, Canada.

Whistler Village, British Columbia, Canada.

We now have a new section of Whistler photos.  This is also from our whirlwind 3 day trip to Canada this winter.

I have always enjoyed restaurants that had outdoor seating.  It seems like you usually find these in warm destinations – given the winter weather conditions, I was surprised to see outdoor seating at a number of places in Whistler, like the one pictured above .  They were all crowded and popular.

Vancouver and Whitler will host the Winter Olympics next February.  I gotta say, almost all the venues were complete and functioning, and they were all first class.  I can’t think of a place that is better situated to handle such a huge event, I will be surprised if they aren’t a huge success.

Vancouver Photos

Ron Niebrugge Canada, Photos, Travel 5 Comments

Vancouver Photos

Vancouver Photos

Typically we process all the photos from a trip in one big group, but this time we decided to do our Canadian photos in one batch, and then the rest of the trip in a second batch.  Because of this, we now have a new section on our website of Vancouver photos.

Vancouver Olympic Logo

Ron Niebrugge Canada, Photos, Travel 3 Comments

Statue of Vancouver Olympic Logo

Statue of Vancouver Olympic Logo

Inukshuk rock statues like this one found at the Whistler Olympic Park were the inspiration for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic logo.

We had 4 nights in the Vancouver / Whistler area.  With fairly long travel days on either side of those nights, we were only left with 3 full days – so the trip was a whirlwind of activity.  I don’t like to do photography that way over a long period of time, but I do enjoy it over short bursts like this trip was.  Often it seems I’m most productive when I completely immerse myself into photography – even at the expense of sleep, meals, exercise etc.

Whistler Olympic Center

Ron Niebrugge Canada, Photos, Travel 4 Comments

Whistler Olympic Center

Whistler Olympic Park or Olympic Center

My favorite Olympic venue was the new Nordic sports Whistler Olympic Park.   I’m probably biased because I’m such an avid cross-country skier, or maybe it was my favorite because the new facilities were so beautiful, and the remote mountainous setting was perfect for such sporting events. 

These facilities are located in the Callaghan Valley about 15 kilometers from the Whistler Village.  The Callaghan Valley is an undeveloped area full of wonderful large trees and surrounded by numerous snow covered mountain peaks.  Along with cross-country skiing, this area will also host other Nordic events such as biathlon and ski jumping.  Below is the new ski jumping hill.

Jumpiong Hills, Whistler Olympic Center, Canada.
Jumping Hills, Whistler Olympic Park, Canada.

Here are more of our Whistler photos.