Sarah is writing today's blog because we did so much, if Alan was to write it, it would be 3am before it got posted. He will of course add his cold comments in red.
This morning we got up around 8.30am and started our packing to leave Vancouver. We planned on attending the 10am Anzac Day ceremony and when we left the hotel it was teeming with rain. We thought we'd be the only ones there and were surprised at the 100+ other people who were happy to stand out in the rain. There must be a lot of Australians and New Zealanders in Vancouver.
After the brief service we returned to our room via the cupcake place just around the corner from our accommodation. It doesn't open until 11am but the lady in the shop took pity on us and let us in early. We bought two lemon cupcakes with vanilla icing and some chocolate milk. Just what you want for breakfast.
We returned to our room to eat them and packed up the rest of our gear. When we checked out at 11am, the sun had actually come out and it looked like the cloud was lifting. We still had a few hours to kill before driving to Whistler so we went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It is much bigger than the one we visited the day we arrived in Vancouver. There are also lots of other walks you can do around the site, including a treetop adventure. We had a lovely hour or so there, with the sun out most of the time. The suspension bridge is 137 metres long, 70 metres above the river below and can hold the weight of 1300 people all at once. Back in 2006, a 17 ton tree fell onto the bridge under the weight of heavy snowfall but the bridge survived. This bridge sways quite a bit more than the one at Lynn Canyon. Sarah was very scared. The treetop walk was good. At times you're quite high off the ground. There is also a trout pond and we did see a few swimming around.
We had hoped to get to the top of Grouse Mountain while we were in Vancouver but there had been no visibility. However, with the cloud lifting we were hopeful we might get there but when we drove up to the entrance of the skyride, you could still only see it going half way up. As it is expensive with no guarantee of seeing anything, we decided to give it a miss. However, when I just checked the website a little while ago, it said at 5.30 the visibility was unlimited. Oh well, it just wasn't meant to be.
So we started heading out to Whistler. On the way I said to Alan let's go and visit Cypress Mountain where the moguls, aerials and snowboarding half pipe events had been held at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. It is only about 40 minutes outside of Vancouver and on the way to Whistler. As we started driving up the road, we saw a sign saying the season was over and the area was closed. We were therefore not confident we would be able to get close. On the way up, we stopped at a lookout which looked back over Vancouver.
Then, back in the car we started driving. Alan remarked that we weren't very high up and then about 3 minutes later, we turned a corner and there before us was snow, lots and lots of snow.
We were able to drive all the way up to the main gate and park the car. There were very few people around since the place is officially closed for the season. We then got out and had a frolic in the snow. It's probably around 25 years or so since I last saw snow. Alan of course had the wrong shoes on and after a few minutes needed to return to the car and put on his waterproof boots. He also took the opportunity to put on a beanie as well. Then he could only complain about how cold his face was. I'm pretty sure icicles were forming on my nose.
We came across a couple of skiers who had just come down the mountain. Not sure how they got up there to ski considering no lifts are working.
We had hoped to get to see where the snowboarding half pipe track was but was too far a distance away and we would have had to walk through calf high snow. It was hard enough trying to get through the ankle deep stuff, let alone trekking off through really deep stuff.
We did however get some photos of us taken in front of where they held the moguls and the aerials (albeit with the jumps now removed). We had a great 45 minutes in the snow but then it was time to farewell Cypress and head to Whistler.
On the way we stopped at Shannon Falls which is composed of a series of cliffs rising 335 meters above the road. We stayed here only briefly as all these places want you to pay for parking with a minimum of 1 hour. We were feeling stingy and didn't want to pay the $1, so we hurried to make sure we didn't get a parking fine.
Back on the road we came across another waterfall, Brandywine Falls, but as it was 15 minutes walk from the carpark and it was starting to get late, we decided to give it a miss. We might get back there tomorrow depending on the weather. Plus we didn't want to pay the $1 once again.
When we got into Whistler at about 4.30pm, it was bright and sunny and the place was packed. Today was the last day of the season for Whistler, but Blackcomb (next door) is open until 24 May. People were still getting on the gondola for the last skiing of the day but the majority were in the village. We even saw some of the band Arrested Development who were live on stage. The outdoor concert was just finishing as we arrived. There were so many people around that we could hardly make our way through the crowd.
At about 5.45 we went and had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was really nice and inexpensive. The waitress was annoying so she didn't get a tip. When we came out about an hour later, the place was deserted. Alan and I went for a drive hoping to get a glimpse of the Whistler Sliding Centre but unfortunately it is all closed off and is a construction zone. Not sure if they are pulling it down. We then drove up to the upper village and just like where we are in the main village, the place was deserted. I will be interested to see what it is like tomorrow. Everyone seems to disappear very quickly once the chairlifts close.
I forgot to mention, there are Australians here EVERYWHERE from the girl from the Gold Coast who checked us into our hotel, the hostess at the restaurant to the checkout chick at the grocery store. We also heard plenty of them in the village when we first got here.
Our hotel room is very nice. It's a 2 level place, with our bed upstairs on the mezzanine floor. We have a balcony with a mountain view.
Tomorrow is scheduled for rain again but heres hoping they are wrong.
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