A VISIT TO HIGH KNOLL PARK IN SURREY MAY 21, 2020

This park is located on the eastern boundary of the City of Surrey on Colebrook Rd and 195 Ave.

It has two parts on both sides of the road - the upper part is the original - a mixed forest with trails extending a distance - crossing a hydro right of way and then re-entering a more dense forest with a number of stunning old stumps - one is estimated to have had a tree that would have been about 200 years old.

The area also contains a bike park.

I then returned back to the parking lot and went to explore the northern part of the park which is an old farm site that was donated to the City of Surrey.

This part of the Park consists of the wetlands of the  Nicomekl River - I ventured down to the bridge over the river - it isn't far from it headwaters so it isn't a big river.

After that I returned to the parking and went to explore the Cairn explaining the recent addition to the park.

Further exploration led me to find what looks like and old orchard or flower garden. Rhododendrons and other flowers were in bloom.

Then it was home to relax and dinner which was Turkey Sheppard's pie, new potatoes and carrots.

One of my intents with this blog was to use it for my cruises - with my cruises cancelled until this time next year and with the realization that as I age the number of long distance train trips to the east coast or New Orleans for cruising are coming to an end plus the travel fund is nearly exhausted I am going to change the emphasis of this blog.

Since moving to the Newton area of Surrey two years ago I have spent a fair amount of time exploring many of the more than 200 parks in the City.

Unlike the parks in Vancouver which - with the exception of Stanley Park and Pacific Spirit - are more developed many of those here in Surrey are preserved as natural areas with streams, forests etc still intact.

I have been visiting a lot of them during our current stay close to home message and posting pictures etc on my Facebook page.

While I will continue to do that I will be posting a more detailed write up of the actual visit to the park and some photos explaining the various features of the park.

So look for this write ups soon.

As always - Cheers and happy trails to you until we meet again.

Stay safe everyone.

2 years in Surrey

It will be two years tomorrow that I started the move from Vancouver to Surrey. Where has the time gone.
When I made the move it was partially to be nearer to the inner circle and partially to help with my anxiety and depression issues.
In light of the challenges the world is facing now it has turned out to be a good move. While we have some constraints of our activities you can still go down to the lobby and talk to other residents and staff which helps my depression. We keep our distance and are reminded by staff etc if we do get too close together.
Do I miss Vancouver - yes and no - I missed the easy access to the seawall, False Creek and Stanley Park and the relatively close access to the North Shore mountains.
I don't miss the concrete jungle and always on the go mentality of the downtown crowd.
As for Surrey - it has really grown up the last decade or so - yes it has it's social issues as any city of over 500,000 people will have - it has an extensive parks system and many of them are in a more natural setting - like streams running through them, like first growth trees, like nature trails, a couple of gardens - Bear Creek and Fleetwood to name a couple.
It has it beaches at Crescent Beach and White Rock next door.
It has easy shopping here in Newton, roads with left turn lanes and green arrows and a much improved transit system. Most common areas in Surrey have some bus service.
It is a very demographic diverse area and the people for the most part are friendly and right now seem to be abiding by the social or physical distance measures implemented by various layers of government.
The flowers are starting to bloom - the last two pictures are the scene from my balcony taken earlier today.
Part 2 coming up.