Talk about beauty and I will show you one place that you ought to be. A place so serene and magnificent in both its recreational activities and holidaying potential that I had to do something.
But first a little information about what was previously posted on the site…
This website used to be a listing of businesses around some three great destinations which are Port Moody, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam. Apart from that, there were several activities – cultural and community-based activities which were documented on the site for the two years.
…But I’m also interested in aviation, so lets have a look at the area’s airports.
Pitt Meadows Airport :
As you can see, Pitt Meadows airport is awesome. It has 3 active runways. Did you notice the group of hangars on the north side? That’s like a back-door to their hangars and airplanes, and they can use the small runway R26 – L08.
Then notice the bigger group of hangars, which include some very useful aviation related businesses, including an avionics shop, which is always handy. And there is a ramp to the water, so floatplanes can use this airport too. Wow. that’s wonderful.
And I’m also noticing this area in the middle, with more apron space and tie-downs for planes in a field, and they have access to the runway 36-18.
Pitt Meadows is a controlled airspace, so pilots need to be on the radio to their tower, before entering their airspace. Personally, I haven’t landed there.
Boundary Bay Airport :
Further away from the tri-cities, is the Boundary Bay Airport. I’ve been there, flew in to exhibit my plane at an airshow.
Langley Regional Airport :
And here’s the Langley Regional Airport. Definitely a nice choice for a private pilot. It’s on the edge of what would be loosely considered the greater Vancouver area, and when you’re flying in from the east, it’s a nice place to land and avoid the stressful radio work of the main Vancouver tower.
Here are some things you can do, when you visit…
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Traditional Travel Activities
When it came to short travel trips, I believed that the only fun I could get was in the urban setting. I believed that unless you were going on a vacation, the only fun you could get was in the clubs, pubs and other town facilities. Every time I traveled for short trips, either on business or personal matters, I totally ignored ‘extensive’ fun activities. I believed that extensive fun activities were suited for long vacations and hence you could not find me considering visiting the beach when I was on a three-day trip to a certain city.
For the three-day trip, I always looked up whether I had friends in the town I was visiting, with whom we could go out for drinks and if not, I would go club hopping around town. I discarded this notion several years ago when I went for a three-day trip to Port Moody.
A lovely acquaintance
I was attending a three-day business event in Port Moody when I acquainted a lovely lady who lived in the city. The business trip lasted two days and I was supposed to go back on the third day but I found myself staying for the weekend. It is amazing how the smallest of the Tri-Cities contains so much fun activities.
Let me start at the beginning and confess that I was not expecting to deviate from my club hopping routine in this city. It was my first visit in this city and I had no friends in this location either. As such, I had decided to hit the city as usual on my last day; to explore the hot joints and the best clubs before I departed. However, my lovely acquaintance volunteered to treat me to water fun activities on my last day in the city.
The rewarding lesson
I decided to try out the promised water fun, but not because I expected it to be fun, but rather because I was enjoying the company of my new lady friend. Anyway, we met early in the morning and she told me that we were going to explore water activities in Port Moody. It was a bright June morning and anything to do with water would be fun. My friend quickly led me to the Rocky Point Kayak. I had never been kayaking before and I was part terrified and part ashamed.
My friend was very encouraging and I was also relieved to find that the place had instructors. On learning that I had never been kayaking before, my friend suggested that we should start with paddle-boarding. We rented the paddle-boarding equipment and went to the section marked as protected waters. Paddle-boarding was easy to learn and fun to do and within a short time I had managed to grasp the concept and to paddle on my own.
Next, we rented kayaking equipment and joined a group of eight others. The Rocky Point Kayak ensured a 6:1 ratio for every class and hence we got two instructors. The instructors were kayaking pros and we were taught lots of things including basic safety, equipment requirements, and paddling techniques among others.
In addition to valuable kayaking lessons, we enjoyed the picturesque shore, and watched sea lions, blue herons, eagles and even osprey. Although I did not master the art of kayaking that day, I have vowed to go back to this city for another dose of water fun.
The Unexpected Invitation
Family conflicts can last a long time especially when the parties involved are stubborn and unwilling to resolve their differences. After I refused to join medical school, my father, a professional doctor, was infuriated by my decision. To make matters worse, I opted to pursue my life’s passion; music. According to my father, I wasted my excellent academic record on a “hobby instead of a career.” Our conflict was thus set. On his side, my father felt betrayed after I had wasted a good education on a ‘hobby’ instead of a professional career.
On my side, I felt that my father belittled my dream and disrespected my choices. The ensuing conflict caused us to avoid direct communication for five years. I pursued my dream and surprisingly flourished in the alleged ‘hobby’. However, after five years, I started missing my dad and hoped that either of us would initiate a truce.
However, my stubbornness would not allow me to reach out to my father. This is until I received a phone call by my dad saying that he wanted us to meet. I suggested that we should at a neutral ground and my dad suggested that we should meet in Coquitlam.
The captivating city
I had never traveled to Coquitlam before in my life and was following directions recommended to me by a travel agency. I arrived in the city for a two day visit with my father in the afternoon. After booking myself into the Executive Plaza Hotel, I decided to take an evening stroll.
The city borders several nature parks and it oozes a mixed ambiance of urban life and soothing countryside. I must confess that I fell in love with the picturesque city immediately. I was hypnotised by the lower mainland’s rich culture and enchanting lifestyle. After we rendezvoused with my father, he took me out to dinner and suggested that I should take rest so that we could discuss matters the following morning
The sentimental experience
The following morning my father picked me up after breakfast and we drove off. We barely talked in the car except for a few courteous comments. We took the road to Como lake Park and the scenery was breathtaking. When we arrived at the shimmering lake, my father handed me a tracksuit and a pair of sports shoes and announced that we were going for a walk. We followed an easy trail around the lake and started reflecting on our differences. The scenery was simply breathtaking, and the air so fresh and crisp that it was almost intoxicating.
The relaxing atmosphere made me to open my heart and apologise for all the distress I had caused by avoiding a truce with my father. On the other hand, my father confessed his love and affection for me and his regrets regarding the past. Later we sat by the lake and watched ducks and other birds and reminisced about the past in a very familial way. As we admired the blooming trees and flowers and the mountains in the distance, we swore never to let petty differences draw us apart.
Later in the afternoon we went to the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex for a swim and you could not believe that the two of us had not spoken a word in five years. In the evening at the sauna in the leisure complex, I asked my father why he had chosen this city for a meeting and yet he lived about fifty miles away. He winked and rightly confessed that he wanted the sentimental atmosphere in Coquitlam to aid in resolving our differences.
Revisiting My Youthful Days
A wise man said that growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you haven’t committed. Bearing this mentality in my mind, I recently decided that although I couldn’t avoid being ‘penalized’ by age, I would continue recreating my youth in order to enjoy double the fun in life. I started redoing some of the things I did when I was young, some alone and others in groups. With the help of the internet, I have reconvened some of my friends and formed the ‘un-aging gang’.
The un-aging gang aims to revisit all the fun things we did in our youth such as taking road trips. In college, we used to organised annual road trips in the summer, where we traveled around various destinations for a month or two. Sometimes we drove ourselves, other times we took the train and in the rare occasions when we traveled overseas, we took the plane and then rented cars. The un-aging gang decided to recreate the road trip by visiting various cities in Canada. This is how I came to Port Coquitlam.
An unlikely stop
After one month of traversing across Canada, we came to Vancouver in the famous British Columbia on the east coast. One of my friends lived in Port Coquitlam and he insisted that we should allow a one day stopover at the suburban city. None of us had ever visited the city and we were highly skeptical that it would be fun. According to the rules of our game, we only stopped at renowned cities that promised abundant fun. In this light, we were not sure that this location could offer any fun or adventure. That is until we arrived and realized that it was one of the most addictive cities in Canada.
The exhilarating experience
We arrived in Port Coquitlam late in the evening and after booking at a bed and breakfast, we decided to sleep off the travel fatigue and hit the town the following day. The following morning we woke up early, anxious to explore the fun advertised by our friend and to continue on our journey if the town proved un-worthwhile.
Our friend’s promises proved true and he proved himself a worthy guide in our unforgettable experience in the lively ‘PoCo’, as the town is fondly known. Our friend led us to a travel shop where we shopped for hiking equipment and supplies. The whole gang loves hiking and sightseeing and hence we were uplifted by this gesture. Next our friend led us to the Traboulay Poco Trail where we started our hike. The trail is very adventurous and the scenery is exhilarating.
We hiked our way along forested riversides before coming to a wide open prairie. We saw a lot of wildlife as we trekked including deer, coyotes and even some beavers. For those of us who love birds, this was our day. The trail was rich with birds such as hummingbirds, eagles, kingfishers and many types of duck among others. We walked along creeks which were overflowing with fish and we regretted not carrying fishing equipment.
This trail is really popular and there were many people hiking, jogging and cycling while others sat on benches enjoying the spectacular mountain views. In the evening as we enjoyed dinner at the equally enjoyable Cat & Fiddle Pub, we reflected on our day and the un-aging gang vowed to visit the city again.
Total Inexperience
For long I loved eating fish, but I was totally inexperienced when it came to catching some. Actually, before I took a trip to Port Moody, I had never even spent a thought on the issue of catching fish. I had watched people fishing from a distance and remained contented with eating the fish rather than harvesting them. Having been born and raised up in the city, I always believed that I was not to blame for my inexperience in fishing matters.
Additionally, I was raised in a city that did not offer the kind of fishing activities I found in this small city in metro Vancouver. Sometimes I dreamt that I would strike it rich and retire to the famed Caribbean islands where I would buy a boat and spend the rest of my life sailing and fishing. Considering these dreams, it appears that I was always attracted to the business of the sea and fishing although I fought off the urge. Anyway, last year but one I traveled to the city of Port Moody for a one-week visit and I fell in love with fishing.
Involuntary visit
My wife’s parents moved to Port Moody a few years ago so set up a business venture in the city. Unluckily, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer several years ago and my wife likes checking on them. During our summer vacation in 2013, my wife suggested that we should spend some time with her folks so that we could check on them.
As you can expect, I did not look forward to this visit considering that these are my in-laws. Although I am not at loggerheads with my in-laws, every person knows that spending a long time with your in-laws can result in some friction. However, this trip turned out to be a life changer for me.
Fishing lessons
After arriving in Port Moody, I was amazed by the beauty of the city and my doubts about the visit evaporated. As we seeped beer on the porch with my father-in-law after dinner, he asked a question that shocked me. Do you fish, Tim? I stuttered and confessed that I had never held a fishing pole in my life. As he went to bed, he announced that we were going fishing the following day. I woke up early and prepared for a dreadful day. However, my father-in-law is pretty social and we chatted amiably as we drove. We drove past the breathtaking scenery of this city and after passing Sasamat Lake, we came to our destination, Belcarra Regional Park.
The place was a beehive of activity although it was still early. There were people everywhere doing all types of outdoor activities from hiking to fishing and even crabbing. Others were having picnics, and BBQ. Then my lessons started. I was taught how to hook the bait to the fishing line and how to anchor the bait at the bottom of the rig. The place was overflowing with fish and my father-in-law kept pointing out their names to me.
When he started catching the fish, he showed me the different types such as perch, herring, sole, and flounder among others. On my side, it took almost a whole day of learning and trying before I caught my first fish, a flounder. Although it was not a big fish, I held it in my hands like a prized possession. From then on, I was at the regional park fishing almost every other day until I mastered the art.
