Tourist In My Own Hometown

One of the treats of attending the Travel Bloggers conference in Vancouver last weekend was a free pass to visit some of the best tourist attractions in town.  Of course, having grown up here, I've been to almost none of them.  I only have a week to use the pass as my mum & I are off to Germany on Saturday, so I got off the procrastination bus and made my way over to the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Cliffwalk today to see what it was all about.

It's the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world and the oldest tourist attraction in Vancouver - in 1889 a guy named Mackay slung a rope bridge across the chasm so they could fish on the other side and people have been coming ever since.   The rope has long been upgraded to forearm-thick steel cables that span 450' from bank to bank and 230' above the turbulent Capilano River, but the base remains just simple wooden planks which gyrate without any kind of sustained rhythm.  I found myself reduced to an undignified penguin waddle in order to keep my balance on the rollicking bridge.  It's like an amusement park's interpretation of walking the deck of an old ocean liner during a rough sea voyage.   It's not scary enough to petrify, but crazy enough to make you laugh yet still look forward to getting to the other side!

And over on the other side,  there's a great walk through the coastal rainforest, an interpretation center, fish feeding ponds, ranger-led tours, and more.  There's even a section of the walk that's raised up into the trees (yup, more suspension bridges) for a 'squirrel eye's view'.  That's kinda cool. 

And back over on the main side, I tried out the new Cliffwalk, a narrow walkway cantilevered out over the abyss, skirting along a steep granite wall for 700 feet.  The school kids ahead of me thought it was pretty darned neat but the Indian couple right in front of me didn't; only the mister went on, with the missus peering down at us from above: "Raji, I see you!", "Raji, be careful!", "Raji, take a picture!".  It didn't take me long to pass Raji...

There was the the requisite souvenir & fudge shop, albeit set in a 1900's-era "Trading Post", a little history center, some interesting totem poles, the usual refreshment stands, and period-costumed entertainers and staff. 

Ya gotta give the Suspension Bridge owners some slack.  Most tourists eat up all this schlocky commerical biz, and it really is beautifully presented.  People love to spend money, so give them what they want.  And the company's done a wonderful job presenting our native flora in a pretty respectful manner; and where necessary, have nicely landscaped the rest.  The normal admission is a bit pricey, so thank you Tourism Board for my free pass and I'll see if I can't hit another tourist hot spot before I leave!