All posts by Paul Cipywnyk

Camping at Nairn Falls Provincial Park

I had a one-day break in my schedule, so I took advantage of the last quiet week before summer holidays kick in for a night of camping up the Sea to Sky.

camping nairn falls
There something about the Pemberton area that often results in dramatic skies


Got the tarp up in preparation for a forecast of rain. Had a few claps of thunder in the evening, and a bit of drizzle. The rain kicked in more heavily early this morning, so I just rolled everything up and stuffed it into a heavy duty garbage bag to dry at home.


Raindrops keep falling on my tarp. . .

Duddingston Loch, Edinburgh

Rambling around Duddingston Loch in Edinburgh last month. Lovely walk, old stone walls, Dr. Neil’s Garden, Duddingston Kirk, and some geese, swans, and pheasants.

At one point when we were unsure as to how to get to one of the places we wanted to see, a friendly woman noticed our apparent confusion, opened a gate, and led us there. Wonderful!


Old stone walls that went on for kilometers

duddington lock edinburgh church garden birds


Remnants of a horse-drawn railway dating to 1831


When I saw this chain on the church wall I joked that it was for sinners. Turns out I wasn’t off the mark. . .

Rusty Treasures Found While Organizing Utility Room

A few rusty treasures unearthed while cleaning and organizing our utility room today.

rusty railway spike door stop

On the left, a massive old door stop, gleaned from the site of a former farm on Byrne Creek just a few minutes walk from our place. (All part of a municipal park for decades now. . .)

On the right, a spike from the late, lamented, electric Interurban tram line that ran near our place and all the way out to Chilliwack before it was sadly decommissioned with the rise of cars and highways.

What a loss!

I hear that the teeny Powerhouse Creek that runs a few dozen meters out our back gate and into Byrne Creek was thus named for having a steam-powered electrical generator for the Interurban back in the day. The wee creek taps an underground aquifer that runs to this day. . .