We rented a Condo in Surrey for four nights, starting on October 27th. That was the evening we arrived, after coming across from Nanaimo on the Duke Point Ferry.
On Saturday October 28th we set out exploring. I had to fill the truck with Diesel fuel at that point and got absolutely ripped off at $2.12 per litre. I think I must have just been unlucky and pulled into the most expensive station in the lower mainland, as everywhere else it was slightly less. Someone told me that BC stands for "Bring Cash" and that certainly seemed to be the case.
We started our explorations be heading up to the Industrial area along the Fraser River, not far from the Vancouver Airport. There were a number of interesting locations, but access to them was virtually impossible. At one location we beat our way down through the Blackberry brambles to the edge of the river. I managed to get a little ripped up by the thorns, and Chris brought out a little souvenir that got stuck in his tuque. We never did do any shooting in the area.
Chris suggested that we go and check out IOCO. This stands for Imperial Oil Company and this was a company town affiliated with a refinery. At the time it was built the town was in a remote area at the northeast corner of Burrard Inlet. Now all of the lower mainland cities are built right up beside it. It appears as though the refinery is still operating in some form, but the townsite is abandoned. There is not a lot left.... just an old grocery store, a community hall, a school and a few houses and the grid of the streets. All are locked up, boarded up and fenced. We managed to take a couple of photographs here.
The shot that I took of some leaves on the steps of an old house was somewhat of an adventure. I had to back my truck right up to the fence so that I could stand on the endgate and be high enough to see through my view camera. I had my tripod extended all the way up, and even blocked up a little on some rocks and a log, in order to just see over the fence. The shot worked out OK, but the camera was very unstable and I was concerned about knocking it over. I did the best I could, but under better circumstances I think I could have composed a little more artistically.
After that shot Chris suggested that we head over to the Riverview Hospital site. This is an expansive, sprawling site on a hillside near Coquitlam. It was once the site of the Provincial Mental Hospital. There are a few newer buildings at the north end of the site that are still used for addictions and mental health treatment. But most of the rest of the site is abandoned. The grounds are maintained and a city bus route runs through the middle of the site. But the buildings, and there are well over a dozen of them, are all secured and locked up, with some fenced. Security patrols the site and they seem to be content to let people wander around, as long as they stay out of the buildings and behind the fences.
The site included several treatment facilities, its own power plant, a firehall, maintenance buildings, administrative, recreational and educational buildings, a garden and a cemetery. We explored and photographed here for the rest of the afternoon until the light began to fade.
That evening our friend Rueben dropped by the condo for a visit. Rueben used to live in Red Deer and now lives in Langley. He is the videographer that we worked with to put together the Forgotten Prairie short documentary several years ago. Since I am featured in that film I thought I would include a shameless plug...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb-r8ZLUcGQ
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