We decided to go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge & Grouse Mountain today. We had seen a tour that took in both but we also knew we could do it by ourselves. We checked with our concierge who advised us to walk up to the Hyatt and get on the free shuttle to Capilano Bridge. From there we could catch a public bus to Grouse Mountain. We made it to the Hyatt in time to get on the 9.05am bus. We were at Capilano before 9.30am. There weren't a lot of people there so it was very peaceful. Tonight was the opening of the Canyon of Lights so there were lots of lights & Christmas decorations around. Even at that time of day it was dark/overcast enough to see the lights.
The suspension bridge is 137m long and is 70m above the Capilano River. It wasn't too wobbly when we crossed as there were only a couple of other people on the bridge.
At the other end was the Treetops Aventure which was a series of 7 small suspension bridges & boardwalks around trees 30m from the forest floor. The trees are primarily Douglas fir trees & it smelt beautiful in the rainforest. We also did the Nature Walk which was boardwalks around the forest floor & the Cliffwalk which was thin boardwalks in the side of the granite cliffs. We were fully kitted out in our cold weather gear & we got quite warm walking around but it was pretty cold up on the Cliffwalk.
The suspension bridge is covered in twinkling fairy lights which looked so pretty. There were lots of other lights in trees, reindeers & Christmas trees throughout the forest. Some of the tall fir trees also had Christmas lights on them. So pretty.
The buses to Grouse Mountain come every 15mins & it only cost $2.75 each to get up there. It took about 10mins on the bus as it was just straight up the hill. At the bottom of the mountain we bought tickets & got on the Skyride which is a gondola that goes 1 mile up to the top of the mountain. The brochures & Internet show fabulous views of fir trees & mountains going up but we had almost zero visibility. We saw the occasional treetop through the fog. We got off the gondola & stepped onto snow! It was cold up there - 3 degrees. There were 2 ski lifts open & people were skiing & snowboarding. We walked around a bit & the fog lifted a little & we had blue sky in places momentarily. There were lots of huge wood carvings up there. Some were American Indian influenced & some were sporting ones. Someone had built a snowman complete with hat & scarf. There was an ice skating pond in front of Santa's Workshop. It didn't have a railing around it so we didn't skate! We also saw Prancer. She was there in an enclosure near Santa's workshop. I thought reindeers were bigger than that but her keeper said she was average size.
We had lunch in the bistro before getting the Skyride back down. It started promisingly but we were quickly back to zero visibility.
We went back into the Capilano Bridge park for the opening of the Canyon of Lights. We had heard one of the staff this morning saying there would be bands & activities on & would start about 5pm. It was almost dark by 4.30pm & there was a trio singing & playing carols. They were giving away free hot chocolate (we had the one spiked with Baileys) & gingerbread men. Once it was completely dark the lights looked even brighter and more sparkly. It looked lovely. We waited around for the official proceedings but there wasn't anything. I thought that was a bit strange because some people were invited guests. We left about 5.15pm to get the free shuttle back downtown & I asked the man on the way out if there was going to be an official opening or speeches. He said no, just the hot chocolate & glass blowing demo etc.
We came back to the hotel & then went out to find somewhere for dinner. We found a noodle place a couple of blocks away. When we came out it was raining. Tonight's news says it will rain tomorrow & then the Arctic weather is coming in. There may be snow on Sunday or Monday!
I read something that said Canadian $2 coins are called toonies & $1 are called loonies. We saw a shop called the loonie & toonie shop which I assume is a $1 & $2 shop.
Vancouver is a very dog friendly city. We have seen so many around the streets & even going into hotels. We have one across the corridor from us. Very cool.