Hello there. I'm just home from a trip to Canada and America and what an experience it was! When we arrived in Canada, we hopped on a little tour bus and travelled all around Vancouver taking in the sights and sounds. We ended up in the beautiful Stanley Park and saw some of the original Totem poles designed and carved by First Nations people. We drove to the Prospect Point which gives you a view of the whole of Vancouver.
The next day we got a sea-bus to North Van for breakfast and hiked up the Lynn Valley Canyon and across its suspension bridge.. scary but exhilarating. Views were amazing and theres a lagoon in the centre if you're brave enough...
We went back to Stanley Park to explore some more and to visit the Aquarium there. We saw butterflies, dolphins, walking penguins, smiling beluga whales and blooms of jellyfish.. oh and on the way home I held a red tailed boa constrictor on the side of Robson Street...
A day trip to Whistler followed. Whistler is a resort town in the mountains, it is used for skiing in the winter and extreme mountain biking the rest of the time. During the Olympics in 2010, it hosted most of the alpine mountain based events..kinda cool. We got a cable car up to Whistler mountain and a peak to peak gondola to Blackcomb mountain. Views are out of this world, we also stopped at some amazing waterfalls: Brandywine Falls and Nairn falls, the kind of views that stay with you forever.
We then crossed the border to Seattle for three days. There was so much to do here. We shopped, ate at the Cheesecake Factory (why can't we have these at home?) and tried Elephant&Castles' famous chicken wings as well as visiting the list of places we wanted to see.
We ate waffles with maple syrup for breakfast and wandered around Pike Market, witnessed the famous fish toss and meandered through stalls of flowers, fish, fruit, veg, lavender farms and souvenirs. Then we mono-railed to the the Seattle Space Needle and looked out at the whole of Seattle.. and wandered into the famous EMP museum (for free..!) The Fantasy gallery is so interesting with props and costumes from fantasy films, pop star costumes and a sound room where you can create your own jam. We had a go but luckily the room is soundproof!
For the last day in Seattle, we fit in the Pacific Space Centre and the butterfly village which was at the top of my to see list ever since I first heard about it. Butterflies fly around you and they land on you as they fly. They are so fast it's virtually impossible to get a picture of them and some land on the ground so you have to mind where you walk. We also saw mole rats, cockroaches and bees and thing that would make your stomach turn.. but thats kind of interesting too.
Back across the border to Vancouver and to the Lookout we go! A 360 view of Vancouver, a must do. Then finished off the day with some souvenir shopping and a barbecue in Surrey (our first time on the sky-train.)
We had a look round the art museum and then did the 4D Canada Flyover experience , this was amazing its only new but if you ever get the chance to do it highly recommend it, you get shown a film on Canadian heritage and how new cultures and different traditions are embraced and accepted.. then you have a 4D flying experience, you get strapped in and you feel like you're flying through Canada, you can even smell the maple trees and occasionally are 'splashed' when passing a waterfall.. one of the best virtual traveling experiences ever.
Of all the oceans and all the seas, you were the kindest one to me...
Another place, another experience.. another country crossed off the list...
Bye bye Canada, you were really great!
