On Sunday we went for a walk around Burnaby Lake Regional Park, the focal point there obviously being Burnaby Lake which is a glacial lake formed about 12,000 years ago. Apparently there are over 70 species of bird in the park so people interested in that kind of thing go there prepared with their binoculars - we only noticed mallard ducks and geese to be honest as it's not really our thing (maybe in 40 more years?)! On our way into the park we crossed a train line moments before the barriers came down, out of curiosity we decided to hang around a little bit to see the train go by. The train turned out to be a big dirty industrial one that was unbelievably long, it took a long time to pass us and was easily over 100 carriages long (we lost count). 

At the Piper Spit entrance to the park there is an opportunity to walk along a platform and see the whole lake, this would turn out to be the only view of the lake we got once we left that point. There are several different trails you can go on, all offering a unique insight into the park. We did no research and plumped for the first one we came across called Cottonwood trail, it turned out to be a massive trek and the most boring one available, oops. We literally walked along a shaded path for 6km (I think) not seeing a single thing except trees the whole way and not seeing a single sign of wildlife. It was good for the exercise and fresh air though and at least it gives us more reason to go back. We read the information board at another entrance to the park afterwards and the other trails sound far more interesting with views of the lake, beaver habitat's, viewing towers etc. We didn't complete Cottonwood trail and left once we knew Sperling SkyTrain station wasn't too far away (we had been walking for ages and didn't even seem 50% through). The only other people who seem to like going on the same trail that we did were the joggers, probably because it is a lot more sheltered and cooler than the others. Next time we also need to remember to take a drink with us as it was definitely thirsty work despite being in the shade. We did our grocery shopping on the way home and that was it for the rest of the day, we both felt a bit worn out afterwards. 

Today we avoided the downtown area as the new Canada Line was opening up and big numbers of people were expected to flock to the SkyTrain stations for a free ride on it's historical first day. The Canada line is 19km long and connects downtown Vancouver to Central Richmond and Vancouver Airport. Watching the news certainly proved we made the right decision, 80,000 people were expected to have rode it by the end of the day - I don't think it will harm us to wait a week or so before we check it out! After a mundane morning job searching and doing household stuff we decided to go to the cinema in the afternoon and watch District 9. It was the first time we've been to the cinema since we've been here though unsurprisingly it is much the same as back in the UK : overpriced tickets ($12), idiots talking throughout the film, people leaving there phones on etc - all the kinds of things that make a trip to the cinema special...hmmm maybe not! The only real difference here is that you get free refills on your drinks and popcorn (which were also a lot cheaper). How anyone could do that I'll never know though, we shared a drink and some popcorn and we didn't even get halfway through them as they were huge. The film was really good and afterwards we headed to Crystal Mall (heavily oriented to the Chinese, Japanese & Korean community) as Lou had heard of a good tea shop being there. Unfortunately by the time we go there it was closed so we'll have to go back another time to check it out.

Below are some photos from our walk on Sunday.