It's blackberry season. I found a huge patch by the highway when I was coming back from an epic bikeride to Deep Cove on the North shore. Anna and I went back to the brambles a few days later to pick berries.



We picked berries for about an hour, and put them in a big basket on the back of Anna's bike.
Then it got dark.
So we rode home. ...I have since made berry sorbet, berry crumble x2, berries and museli x2, berry smoothie x3. berryberryberry.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to see some big old fireworks as part of this "Festival of Light" thing. Yes, another light-related festival. I know I know. But anyway, Anna and I went down to the waterfront with Zoe who had just arrived in from Wellington, Bart, and his girlfriend whose name I don't recall. We are all New Zealanders! It was one big New Zealand party.
Here we are walking towards our vantage point.

Fireworks! Woah!
Fireworks! Woosh!
Post-fireworks, the streets were a mess of people, a sea of people everywhere, swarming along in a big swarm. You can't really tell from these photos, but I think they are nice anyway.

Illuminatus. Or Illuminaries. Or something.
So the night after we did the "Grouse Grind" (I hate the name so much, it always need inverted commas) we went to this big ol' festival of lights thing, where there was a lantern parade and people dressed up silly and fireworks and all that jazz. It was at one of the manifold parks right near my house that I didn't even know about. So this kind of thing isn't really my bag, but I'm making an effort to do participatory Vancouver things to be a good Canada citizen and all.
Everyone had little lantern bags around to mark their spots. Of course, we didn't because we don't have that much community spirit. We walked around for a while looking at stuff and trying to stalk these hot boys, but then it got dark and we lost them.
In a lame attempt to join in with the lantern thing, I fashioned a piece of paper and a bike light into this makeshift lantern. It was pretty crap. Also, I was having a bad bad hair day. Forgive me.
As one does in times of boredom, we soon turned the camera on ourselves. The bikelight cast a nice glow, but this also got old in about five seconds.
Being the genius photographer that I am, though, I realised there were good times to be had utilising the double-flash function on the camera (not that I even know the name of aforementioned function) and the flashing of the bikelight. Witness the magic! Ooh, double face!
More double face!

Waah-woah. Starting to get a little crazy.
Ditto.
I convinced Anna that if she put the light in her mouth it would make her face all glowy from the inside and be an awesome photo. It didn't work really, but funny that I got her to put the light in her mouth.
Ok so I totally put it in my mouth as well. I also put it on my head. ? Witness me dreaming about the light and then a little light thought-bubble levitates above my head. Amazing!


Yeah! Take that, y'all! The glowing finger. ET phone home!

xoxo everyone!

"Grouse Grind"
We walked up grouse mountain on the weekend - I am still suffering. It is up up up for a couple of hours, the equivalent of 3000 stairs or so they say... "nature's stairmaster" or so they say... ("they" are a bunch of dorky Canada fitness fanatics who run up and down the mountain every weekend trying to beat their time while wearing ipods and dorky gym clothes). Anyway Anna and I were far more stylish, and walked back down rather than taking the gondola like most of the lazy bonezes around.
We had to take the seabus over there. Actually, we could have driven but I refused to. Plus, we got to use 3 different kinds of public transport, all for $2.25. Sweeeet.

All around there were these heinous wood carvings of various things - I was excited by their uglyness at first so insisted we took photos of all of them. The novelty wore off pretty fast, let me tell you.

This is about half way up, not that you can tell. There was no view until we got to the top.
When we did get to the top, it was all misty and shit. But beautiful. It was cold and lovely. Brr.
GIANT FEET! While we were at the top, we got to have a FREE! chairlift ride down a bit and then back up again. People ski on the mountain during winter and I guess in the summer they have nothing to do with the chairlifts except entertain tourists. I was excited about it being free so I forced us to go on it. It was so so freezing. So freezing.

Also, it wasn't this exciting. But it was kinda cool. After the chairlift ride we had hot chocolate and then walked back down, which was hard on my poor legs ow ow ow.