Friday 22nd September - day 4 - our 33rd wedding anniversary - Vancouver, Grouse mountain and Bowen Island.
Chris persuaded us that we should mark the occasion of our 33rd wedding anniversary not by a lie in but with a dawn run up to the top of Grouse Mountain - the famous 'Grouse Grind'.
Grouse mountain lies just north of Vancouver and the route covers 2.9km whilst climbing 853 metres.
Although it was early in the morning (7.30) when we arrived, the car park was full of other Vancouverites out and about, starting their day with a 90 minute cardio workout on the mountain. We set off up the steep wooded mountain side - a relentless series of stone steps, rocks and tree roots. The route was marked into 40 sections, so we could mark our progress as we ascended. It was really hard - our thighs burned, our lungs were bursting and sweat poured - and still we kept being overtaken by the locals as they panted their way past ear buds in place with tinny motivational music escaping from them. Chris, meanwhile, sprinted on ahead like a mountain goat, and returned later to re- run the last section with us. We did it in 1 hour 10 minutes, the average being 1.5 hours and the record being 25 minutes!
We could see glimpses of the view over Vancouver through the trees but at the top, the panoramic vistas over Howe Sound and its shipping were amazing! At the top there was a cafe offering all manner of delicious rewards but we had a deadline to get Chris in to work for a 9.30 meeting. We descended in the gondola and joined the queue of traffic crawling back into central Vancouver over Lions gate Bridge, as Chris conducted the conference over his phone.
With Chris safely delivered back at WIIVV, we turned and drove back north and east through West Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay to catch the ferry to Bowen Island.
With an hour to wait for the ferry we stationed ourselves in a very charming little blue painted coffee hut on the harbour called 'The Lookout', where we sat in a sunny window bay watching the sea and mountains and lingering over a latte and a strawberry rhubarb muffin.
The crossing to Bowen Island was smooth, sunny and very scenic. We arrived after 30 minutes and walked off the ferry and up the road into the wooded glades and forests of tall trees of the Crippen Park and around Killarney Lake, full of water lilies and bird life. This took about four peaceful hours and we finished with a brisk up hill stomp to the Artisanal Square for afternoon tea and pistachio cake and home made chocolate cookies. Delicious and quirky. Intriguingly we sat outside admiring simultaneously the view over the sea the view through the adjacent hairdressers window where a bride-to-be was undergoing a pre-wedding makeover.
We then retraced our steps back down through the village shops and cafes of Snug Cove, for a smooth crossing back to the mainland and a drive home in Kitsilano.
It turned out to be perfect timing. Chris arrived on his bike at exactly the same time as us after his meeting with Lululemon, jus round the corner.
We shared afternoon tea on the sofa and started planning our next few days.
Chris headed off home to pack, whilst we did the same with arrangements to meet later.
We met at 9pm for an amazing film show - 'Uninterrupted' - an artistic interpretation illustrating the life cycle of the salmon. It was projected onto the undersurface of the Cambie bridge. There must have been several hundred people gathered for this spectacle, sitting on blankets on the ground, surrounded rather surreally by the furniture of a children's adventure playground.
Chris played a trump card for the second year in a row by arriving at the event with a huge bag of cashew nuts and a bottle of organic locally made Prosecco to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Perfect!
The film show was beautiful and awe inspiring, rather like lying under a giant aquarium with the beautiful colours of blue waters, red salmon, green water weeds and orange eggs all floating amongst sparkling water and colourful pebbles. Sounds weird, but it was absolutely lovely.
It seemed odd to stand up again afterwards and wander up into Yaletown for dinner. The buzz of city life was warm and welcoming here and we had a quick supper at Tacofino before separating for chris to finish packing and us to wander back through the city and over the bridge back home.
We met again late evening back at The Loft, bags packed and taxi booked ready for our 5.15am taxi tomorrow morning.