After an early night and a brekkie downstairs, we headed off to the Vancouver Lookout (tower) to take in the sights. Advice: get there early. We arrived at 9:00am and there were only half a dozen people around. By the time we left at 10:00am, it was getting a little squeezey for views.
We walked around the tower and read all the interesting signs. It was well worthwhile. I didn’t realise there was such a big stadium here (everything is still big) and I learnt that the very expensive houses we saw on the way in are in one of the most expensive areas of Vancouver. So not your average Canadian cottage after all.
Capilano:
The name ‘Capilano’ is from the Squamish nations name kia’palano. In 1889 a suspension bridge made of hemp ropes (which were swum across the river by a team of horses) and cedar planks spanned the canyon. In 1903, the hemp ropes were replaced by wire cables, and 120 years later Mark and Michelle walked across it! If you go to Vancouver, you have to do this. There was the suspension bridge, a treetop walk, a cliff edge walk and a forest floor walk as well. We started off gently with the cliff edge and then headed over to the suspension. Now, I may not be able to look over the balcony at home, but after sitting on the Grand Canyon Skywalk floor, a little suspension bridge is nothing (ok, I hung on for grim life but I did it!). Like with the Sequioa forests, no photo will do this justice. The majesty of the place is lost on the iPhone.
The suspension bridge sways and rocks, particularly when there are more people on one side than the other. The mid-point is above a fast running creek filled by a lovely waterfall that you can see on the cliff walk. It is so, so, so high! The treetops walk is just beautiful, and slightly more stable, but not by much. On the way up, I asked the ranger about the size of woodpeckers. It would have been at least five minutes before I could get away from him. Nice guy and all that, but I think he may have partaken of too may gummies, and he ended up searching for the answer to my question on google! We later saw evidence of woodpecker activity though and we even saw a squirrel!
It’s hard to say much more about this place, it was all in the feel of it. The air was fresh and clean and… well, bountiful for lack of a better word, even though that sounds weird in itself.
Grouse Mountain:
We left there and caught a bus up to Grouse mountain. Had a little difficulty with the tap and pay system on the bus, and I think the driver felt sorry for us (or frustrated with us) as he let one of us on without paying. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which one of us that was. So it was a cheap trip, made cheaper. Then it was onto the gondola for the trip up the mountain. An 8 minute ride up, over the tree tops, watching Vancouver spread itself out below. What a view!
As we were ascending, it was getting colder and colder and colder and then all of a sudden… SNOW! There was snow! I was almost beside myself. I couldn’t wait to run over and poke it, but was not dressed to really do anything else in it! The pathway had been carved out and there was a wall of solid snow/ice on either side. I tried to stick my finger through the wall, but it was too cold and too hard to get very far. But, it was all magically beautiful. I found a lower section so that I could jump on top, and ended up with wet feet and having a little slide because sneakers are obviously not made for snow. And it was so cold. The pockets in my Brisbane coat' were sewn up and I had no gloves, so my hands were icy. But it was snow - so it was all ok. We wandered around a little - they have a bear sanctuary there but we didn’t get to see the bears. We couldn’t really find it and hadn’t left enough time as we had originally thought it was much further along than where we were headed. Next time (and I’m sure there’ll be a next time). We took in some fabulous views and I walked around huffing my breath out so that I could see it (small things).
Our next stop was the Observatory Restaurant. We had a window seat, it was warm, and they made great cocktails. The food was outstanding. I guess you can’t really go wrong with Canadian salmon, and Mark’s scallops were perfectly cooked. Then I had the beef and he had the fish and we both had desserts and we both had excellent wine… and well, you can see where the night ended up. It was a lovely dinner, and the view over Vancouver was outstanding. Another must see/do.
Sunset wasn’t until 9:30pm (!) and so we stayed for that and then caught the gondola back down. If I thought it was cold before, I learnt how cold a Canadian spring night could be on the way down. I cannot fathom winter here. The lights of Vancouver made for a spectacular sight. We ordered an Uber (Mark ordered an Uber) but it seems we ordered a package delivery and not a person pickup - but the Uber driver agreed to deliver our human package to the hotel for a small tip. He was a nice guy and told us all about Whistler and Jasper for our next visit.
We didn’t get to bed until after midnight. Party animals that we are.
Take a look at all the green and white photos here.
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