Saturday 15 March 2014

Road Trip #4: Beauty and the Barbed Wire Fence

Although I taught out in Richmond for thirteen or so years and frequently drove or cycled by the airport on my commute, I never took the detour to Iona Beach Regional Park, northwest of YVR. I'd heard that the marshlands and birdlife out there were stunning and that the jetty projecting into the Strait of Georgia from the mouth of the Fraser was a lovely 4km walk (one way!) ... but it wasn't until I read "Tribute to Iona Island," a poem by my friend and colleague John Webb that I really wanted to visit the place.

It still took me another few years, a dog with boundless energy, and a loaner car from my parents to get there, but yesterday morning Freddie and I did it! Come along with us on this photo recap ... but before you do that, have a read of John's stunning poem, which first appeared in the journal Queen's Quarterly and can be found HERE. There are close connections between the poem and some of the photos.






 
The Jetty 
(off-leash to the left, on-leash to the right)


At Sea



Freddie loved this place.
(I think he covered at least 10km, running ahead and back.)





 Wind shelter on the jetty (not needed today).



The top of the city skyline is just visible above the trees.


Thick Tidal Mud
(description pilfered from John's poem)






Spot the control tower in the distance.






Marsh Hawk (maybe)



Slow Ascent












Almost There



The End of the Jetty



These red-winged birds were very frisky this morning!



Spot the airplane ...



Closer View of the Control Tower



Closer View of the Frisky Bird



Cotton Candy Sky





Anyone been to the original Iona Island, off the west coast of Scotland?

Pas moi! (But I'd like to ...)


5 comments:

  1. I've been to Iona and it is stunning but your Iona looks really beautiful as well.
    Iona in Scotland is a place of spiritual retreat and so in some ways is your Iona. Interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Let's go, reverend cousin! How far is the journey from your place?

      Delete
  2. Wonderful photos. I especially like the sky in the wind shelter photo and the colors in the graffiti/wall photo. I love your posts, keep writing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Mark! Re. the skies in this post, at first I'd been kicking myself for not arriving much earlier in the day (sunrise light and all that), but the late morning sky really was quite beautiful.

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

What say you?