Vancouver!

Made it to Vancouver - took a while at the Border as I arrived in Canada by Bus and there were only two of us who needed our passports stamped [Americans don't need passports to get into Canada] and it took them about an hour so I think the rest of the bus thought we were a bit dodgy or something! All is going well, its a very compact city so it doesn't seem to take long to get around at all. Hostel is quite nice and in a good location.

On Sunday I went to Canada Place, which is quite nice. Bit of a copy of the Sydney Opera House perhaps?! Then went a walk to see some of the sights - the BC Place Stadium which has an inflatable roof, and the Library which is very grand. Looked around Gastown and went to Granville Island which has a market on every day - it was pretty good but very busy.

Yesterday was a public holiday for Labour Day but it didn't seem to affect much. Went down to Stanley Park - big urban park in Vancouver, it was pretty good. Then I went out to the Capilano Suspension Bridge - apparently the world's longest and highest suspension bridge. They had also made a treetop walk and had a few things to do but it was quite expensive - wouldn't recommend it! Went out to Grouse Mountian later in the afternoon but the heavens opened once I got the cablecar to the top which kind of spoilt the view. They had a Grizzly Bear enclosure so it was good to see them and a lumberjack show etc.

Today I had planned to go to Victoria on Vancouver Island but it was raining again in the morning so I decided against it - got very sunny this afternoon again so I'm sure it would have been fine! I'll maybe go tomorrow. Instead I went out to Queen Elizabeth park which was really nice. I had been hoping to get into Bloedel Conservatory as they have parrots etc inside the conservatory but it was closed because of a strike so that was abit of a disappointment. Then I headed to the Science Museum to watch a film at the "Omnimax" Cinema (Just like an IMAX but with a curved screen) which was really good. The film was the Human Body (with that Robert Winston guy) and the screen was apparently 5 stories high so you really felt like you were at the centre of the action!

Head down to Seattle on Thursday so tomorrow is my last full day here. Been uploading my photos so they are on flickr.

Grizzly Bear at Grouse Mountain

Capilano Suspension Bridge - Don't look down!