Jetskis were deployed today in False Creek near the Athlete’s Village in Vancouver.

Jetskis patrol the Athlete's Village in Vancouver.
Looks fun!
ps. Science World (now named Sochi House for the Russians) is going to turn RED soon. Maybe tonight?
Jetskis were deployed today in False Creek near the Athlete’s Village in Vancouver.

Jetskis patrol the Athlete's Village in Vancouver.
Looks fun!
ps. Science World (now named Sochi House for the Russians) is going to turn RED soon. Maybe tonight?
Last night Team Canada put their mark on half of a building at the Athlete’s Village in Vancouver. The Aussies were the first to stake their claim with a giant green kangaroo banner (OI OI OI) but now the Canucks have responded with a plastering of maple leafs and another building nearer the front is also sporting Union Jacks.

Canadian flags go up over the Athlete's Village in Vancouver.

The sun brilliantly lit the Canadian flags as blue skies broke through.
Today the 2010 Australian Olympic Team made themselves known in Vancouver. A giant banner has been unfurled from the 8th floor of the Athlete’s Village featuring a boxing kangaroo on a green field with yellow stars. This flag was first adopted by the Australian Team in 2000 and has been used as their mascot ever since.
I like their team’s spirit, but be prepared for a quick welcome to Vancouver; I can’t see VANOC allowing this to stay up too long.
UPDATE [Friday, February 5th]:
Apparently it is IOC, not VANOC, that has an issue with the banner because the image is trademarked. Both Surrey’s mayor and Vancouver’s mayor have come out in support of the Australian Team and their right to display the team’s flag and both have offered to find a place for the banner if the Aussies have to take it down.

A giant flag featuring the Australian Olympic Team's mascot has been unfurled over the Athlete's Village.

Detail of the flag hanging from the 8th floor balcony.
The sun broke through this morning over False Creek and the Athlete’s Village in Vancouver later than most days. The result was a foggy sunrise surrounded by a bright blue sky.
In front of the Athlete’s Village you can see one of the RCMP patrols that are now constantly in the barricaded inlet. They are sharing the False Creek patrol time with the Vancouver Police Department and the Coast Guard.
Near the Athlete’s Village in Vancouver this morning, as the workers are trying to put in the finishing touches, the rain was coming in sideways pelting everyone and everything. Finally this afternoon, after a few days of constant downpour, the clouds broke and the sun came through. That always results in some brilliant light; I went out to the False Creek seawall and took this panorama of the Athlete’s Village across the water.
January 7th, 2010 Sunrise over False Creek and the Vancouver 2010 Athlete’s Village this morning was epic. I swear this is how it looked, straight out of the camera.
It was really brilliant.
On the left is the Edgewater Casino and Plaza of Nations, in the center is the Athlete’s Village, and on the right is the Cambie bridge.
Please click through to see the larger 4000 pixel wide version to see the detail. You can also see the final full size file at 20000 pixels wide (90 megapixels).
It was a lovely sunrise over the Athlete’s Village and False Creek in Vancouver this morning. I headed out around 7:20 am and made this photo at 7:48. There was only a few light cloud wisps over Vancouver and Yaletown and the sun came up brilliantly behind Science World. That is an Inukshuk rock sculpture in the foreground; I’m always amazed at the rock balancing that people do along the shoreline.
The Vancouver Athlete’s Village looks to be almost complete and the workers have been finishing the landscaping (and security camera installation) in the past few days. Near the spot along False Creek, there were also workers completing the large screen installation that will allow people to watch some of the Olympic Games from the park in the middle of it all.
The fog was gorgeous this morning. It cast an eerie glow over the Athlete’s Village as it lifted. When I first went out, it was too thick to even see it across False Creek. This image was taken from the seawall next to Cooper’s Park in Yaletown. As I have some time off this winter, I’ll be posting more Olympics photos leading up to the big event.
I’m starting off my new 2010 Vancouver Olympics blog section with this post! I don’t yet have any great images to add but I will fix that in the next few days as I go around to the various Olympics sites in Vancouver to take some preliminary photos. I’m going to cover the 2010 Olympics in a different style than most… I won’t have any pictures of Olympic athletes or gold medal awards or even of the Olympics opening ceremonies (since I unfortunately don’t have a press pass!). I will be making pictures of the crazy, chaotic teeming mass of people that will be on our Vancouver streets and hopefully I will find something unique in the crowds.
The 2010 Vancouver Olympics Athlete’s Village on December 19th as it nears completion:
