321GO - The Alternative West Coast TR - Day 2

[Chilly80]

Friday 18th May

We woke before the alarm went off which was lucky because it didn't go off. We decided to get a big breakfast in the hotel to get us started for the day. We both got scambled eggs, bacon, sausage ham and potatoes with toast. We got the free shuttle from outside our hotel up to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, the driver commentating on route on what we saw. As we entered a tour group arrived and were getting a talk by a tour guide, it would have been very easy to tag on and listen which I did at first but then we headed into the main part of the attraction. First up we did the Cliff Walk which was quite scary at times as it was walkways suspended on the side of the cliff and at times the floor was see through. We pretty much had it to ourselves at this point as it was still early and most people went to the suspension bridge first.

[Chilly80]

Next up was the suspension bridge, over we went, it wobbled a lot but wasn't scary. It was a really beautiful spot and there were houses that had a wonderful view. Over the other side we did the Edge Walk and the Tree Tops Walk, it was all beautifully done but it was pretty expensive at over $70 for the 2 of us. We went back over the bridge and shared some lunch, a cajun chicken burger and fries while listening to the trio they had playing which was a nice touch.

[Chilly80]

We left and waited for a regular bus to take us further up the mountain to our next stop. We weren't sure how much the bus was and when we got on the driver would only take coins not notes (even though we had the right money) so let us ride for free. We rode all the way to the end of the line and arrived at Grouse Mountain where we grabbed a quick starbucks to warm us up as the temperature had dropped we we'd gone higher up the mountain. We had planned on doing the ziplining but decided that as it was pretty expensive we should save our money. We rode the sky tram to the top of the mountain and I noticed on the back of our tickets a discount coupon for Capilano tickets so we should have done it the other way round. The sky tram was full but once up there you didn't come accross many other people. This was even more expensive at nearly $90 for us both and at first I didn't think it was worth it as at this time of year not much seemed to be open and the film we watched was very cheesey and badly filmed but then we found the 2 grizzly bears and they made it worth it. They were called Coola and Grinder and I could have watched them for ages. They been found seperately as orphaned babies and had just come out of hibernation so were able to watch them close up as they'd not been moved into their larger enclousure yet. At first they were seperate but one seemed to come over when he saw the other bear getting all the attention and posed for photos. We also saw some birds, an owl, a falcon and a bald eagle. The owl was a baby and had not yet been named so names were suggested the favourite being "Dr Who". We rode the sky tram back down again and went to see the wolves. We unfurtuately then had a 30 min wait for the next free shuttle back to our hotel where we again had a great driver who told us lots of info.

[Chilly80]

Back at the hotel I wrote up my notes then got washed up for dinner, we left the hotel after a bit of Storage Wars on TV. We headed to Canada Place and into an Irish bar to eat. I started with a fuzzy mango cocktail and DH got the beer sampler. We noticed that cocktails were quite cheap compared to the UK, were as the beer was a bit pricey. DH got a lamb sandwich with fries and I had the beef dip with ceasar salad and another cocktail this time a blueberry rainbow which tasted like alcoholic vimto and DH tried a local beer. They had a singer/guitar player who played a very electric mix of songs and it was obviously a popular place as it was very busy and had a good atmosphere. We walked back to the hotel and got a green man at every corner meaning we got back very quickly and the lift was even waiting for us in the lobby to whisk us to bed.

[Jools]

You did loads today, and it all looks fantastic. How lovely to see the 2 bears close up

[Sarah84]

Sounds like a lovely day, the scenary is beautiful and those bears

[Guest]

Beautiful views!

[TinkTatoo]

What a great day and you've given me a few ideas for our trip

[Guest]

Spectacular scenery! What a brilliant day! Love the bears
Cocktails look nice too!

[Guest]

Wow fabulous photos. Sounds like a great day. Susie x