During my two week stay in BC, I did stuff and things and so forth, etc. These activities included…

Giving my brother Matt tips as he learned how to ride a motorcycle:

Going to Tuesday night karaoke at J-Lounge with Denise and Dan, who were awesome on stage:

Watching Toy Story 3 and seeing Kevin James, of the movie Grown Ups, in the theatre:

A long sunset walk around part of the seawall and Yaletown with my friend Amanda:

Attending the Canada Cup of Beer with Stash (not in this pic), Dan, and Lyndsay. Got to catch up with Colin and Rick, the organisers, as well. Rick is on the left of the truck:

Eating pho at KPXL twice, the second time being a post-glup dich noodle celebration with many amazing people:

And cycling with my brother Dan to Bowen Island for a bit over a day by the sea, which deserves more than one photo. Arriving at Horseshoe Bay for the ferry, sweaty and tired from far too many hillclimbs:

The ferry ride to Bowen Island:

When we arrived on Bowen, the tide was the lowest I can remember ever seeing:

My brother Matt took the windsurfer out a few times, and had not fallen until I pulled my camera out, assuming he’d fall. It took less than 30 seconds for my prediction to come true:

The three of us decided to get ice cream in Snug Cove, so we had a ‘race’ to get there. Matt took the windsurfer to Sandy Beach while Dan took the canoe and I rowed Jaro, the half-century-old fibreglass rowboat, across Deep Bay and into the cove. I would have beat Dan by a long shot if I hadn’t stopped to wait for him for this photo op, but I still barely beat him. Matt was still out on the water when we walked over to Sandy Beach to find him, and he had to paddle to shore for lack of wind.

There were quite a few deer on the property this time. In fact, at one point I counted seven (!) of them altogether in the front and back yards – three adults and four fawns.

The ferry heading back to Vancouver, with UBC behind it:

Deep Bay:

A good place from which to stare at the ocean:

I found this creepy crawlie, a steatoda borealis, on my bedroom floor in the cabin I stayed in:

One of the fawns that were running around the property on Sunday:

Dan and I spent at least an hour in the forest picking berries to give a friend of mine back in Vancouver. We got a whole bunch of huckleberries, salal berries (which is what he’s picking in this pic), and plums – delicious things you’ll probably never see on a grocery store shelf (the plums in question are not the kind you see in stores).

One of the deer in the backyard as seen from inside our kitchen:

On the ferry ride back to Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, the haze was nearly non-existent so the green trees of the mainland coast actually looked green!

The cycle from Horseshoe Bay back to Vancouver was much easier than the opposite direction the day before. Dan insists it was the evening tailwind, while I believe it was a combination of me not having any luggage on my bike and having a small coffee on the ferry ride. The lighting was amazing as we cycled along the scenic Marine Drive, through Park Royal, and on toward Lion’s Gate Bridge.

Views from Lion’s Gate Bridge:

Dan and I parted ways at Denman and Robson, where for about 3 minutes (Dan timed it roughly) the underside of these clouds lit up like fire:

On the 13th, Dan and I spent some time at Kerrisdale Cameras testing out extension tubes on my camera for macro photography. This is part of my finger:

On the evening of July 13th I caught a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 owned by KLM from Vancouver to Amsterdam en route back to DR Congo.