Vancouver By Land
Vancouver was basking in beautiful summer weather on our arrival. Perfect for catching up with Ben, Michelle, Chloe and Zach.
than visiting Grouse Mountain?
There are 2 ways to access the mountain top - by climbing the Grouse Grind, a famously steep and gruelling 800m ascent, or by a leisurely 6 minute cable car ride.
I admit it was tempting to do the climb as a challenge, even though I might then have to endure Grinder jokes. However, I still had a sore shin from the El Camino, so we all opted for the cable car.
The three main attractions included in the entry fee are the grizzly bears, the birds of prey display, and the lumberjack show.
There are two bears in the sanctuary, both rescued as cubs. A vet was scheduled to put them down as there was no zoo able to accommodate extra bears at the time and the cubs were not in good condition. The vet campaigned to find a home, and eventually Grouse Mountain agreed to build a sanctuary from scratch. That was 23 years ago, both the bears are doing well, and the same vet is still looking after them. Very heart-warming.
The bird show wasn't actually done by Grouse Mountain but by a raptor rescue organisation. All 4 birds were raised by humans and the show primarily involved training them in their natural behaviours so they could cope in the wild.
Brilliant concept - get tourists to pay to watch the training, thus helping to fund the operation. They don't stop there. Their services also include performances for events, with a speciality being ring delivery for marriage proposals and weddings. Basically, they'll do anything that doesn't harm the birds, puts money in the bank, and/or raises public awareness about these beautiful animals.
The bears were awesome examples of strength.
The birds awesome examples of skill and speed.
Combine the two and you have a lumberjack.
The lumberjack show was so enthralling and the boys such fine specimens that Mary completely forgot to take photos of her own...
We had seen similar shows at the Auckland Easter Show. This was far more entertaining. All the usual stuff was done - chainsaw carving, speed chopping, crosscut saw races, axe throwing - albeit with more style and a funny MC.
Then they added throwing one of the lumberjacks into a well followed by a stick of 'dynamite'! What could top that?
How about a lumberjack climbing a 20m pole, throwing away his climbing gear and safety equipment, doing a handstand, and then falling off while stepping back to 'take a photo'? Half the audience just about fainted...
He had of course secretly attached himself to a wire and basically zip lined to safety. Spectacular stunt!
We all had to have a sit down after that one.
The views were naturally fabulous.
It must be said that the only real difficulty riding around the park was getting confused about the road rules. We were comfortable with keeping right, the issue was that the main perimeter track was one way traffic, and the transition from the dual carriageway into the park to one way around the park wasn't that clear to us. Thankfully Canadians as a whole are very polite to confused tourists.
Once we turned to go the correct way, it was sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride and the views.
One detail we particularly enjoyed was a bronze statue on the rocks, very reminiscent of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. However, this is Canada, so their statue was labelled Girl In Wetsuit...
All in all, Vancouver was doing pretty well on the Scenic Scenery Stakes on land. Would its rich maritime history maintain the same high standards?
We shall see...
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