We took it very easy in Whistler on Day 1 and treated ourselves to a sleep in! (Mind you we did wake up at 7 am to send Michael midnight birthday wishes for his thirtieth.) The beautiful suite at the Four Seasons was made to order for this leisurely start to the day...there is just so much room and the lounge room and fire work even when the predicted forecast is 27C.

The first assignment of the day was actually a lunch date at the Lilwat and Squamish Cultural Centre. We took off to our 12.15 lunch date and left poor Mindy with all our laundry at The Aspens! Mac was wearing his last clean shirt so we did appreciate the laundry support. I still begrudge paying hotel laundry prices!

The Rocky Mountaineer organised tour to the Cultural Centre in Whistler included a First Nation inspired lunch that featured Cedar Plank Salmon and Bison Sausage teamed up with salads and dressings all served as a buffet.

We were treated to a guided tour by Bill from the Lilwat tribe and enjoyed wandering through the centre learning something of the First Nations people. All the exhibits had a story and were carefully presented to ensure visitor interaction where possible. There were canoes and totem poles, clothing and weapons, long houses and pit homes and even an exhibition on tattoos.

The centre is a huge circular glass and cedar building - with high vaulted ceilings. It features banquet halls and convention centre services and was well worth a visit.

It was good to catch up with the Rocky Mountaineer crowd and hear of their adventures so far in Whistler. The best story was from Aussie Christine who visited the Billabong shop in Whistler and asked the young shop assistant if he had any thongs. Apparently he went white at the prospect of showing the 55 year old the thong collection. Christine suddenly realised that "thongs" were not what she wanted and quickly changed her request to "flip flops" ..... the young man was so relieved! And yes, Christine was wearing her Billabong thongs at the Cultural Centre.

We had planned to visit Alta Lake with Mindy and Ian but by the time we finished at the Cultural Centre it was too late to hire the boats for a lake paddle so we had to postpone. Mac and I used the time to troll through the 262 shore offerings of the cruise .... We are supposed to have booked them by the 6th. I guess we are closer to narrowing down our chioces. Mindy and Ian helped out with chips, chocolate and wine.....but still no final decisions. The pressure of deadlines!

Dinner was sorted with paper, scissors and rock and was a light affair at The Spaghetti Factory and it was Bellini Thursday. A relaxing dinner and a walk up the hill to The Aspens to collect the washing and we were done for the day.


Friday
Temperature: 25
Pedometer: 9 513
Bear Sightings = 0

Total Bear Sightings = 12