Ever since we laid out our plans for Vancouver, there was one thing I was really looking forward to – that thing was heading over to Whistler for the day.
This was partly because I’d never gotten to visit Whistler before but mostly because the views on the way over were said to be absolutely spectacular. This was something we’d organized with the Shangri La, who put together a day trip to Whistler across some pretty epic Canadian scenery (you also had a day planned for you when you arrived in Whistler – will tell you what ours was later on).
Suffice to say, breakfast disappeared in a delicious blur in our hurry to get over to mini airport down by the harbour area (when you’re at the Shangri La, by the way, you’ve to try the dim sum for breakfast – it’s sooo good).
Alas, our plans were scuppered once we arrived due to heavy rains. After a bit of a delay, we were called up to the check-in desk to be told that our flight would be cancelled due to the weather.
Disappointed, we headed back to the Shangri La, where once they heard what had happened, arranged for us to have a spa day instead (we kinda had this planned for the next day but switched it up to this day instead) and try for Whistler on the following day (the forecast said the rain would have cleared by then).
Sidebar: the spa here is very popular so if you’re interested, get your booking in early (it took a bit of wrangling to be able to switch our plans around).
With that, we spend the rest of the morning, getting absolutely pampered. We’re talking 90-minute massage session, huge private steam rooms all to yourself, champagne… the lot. Suddenly, the fact that we couldn’t head over to Whistler didn’t seem quite as disappointing as it did earlier that morning. 😀
Later that afternoon, after lunch and a little snooze, I figured we might as well head out to a place that was actually quite close by and one that we’d missed out on when we visited Vancouver before – the Capilano Suspension Bridge.
In truth, apart from the main bridge here, I didn’t quite know what to expect here. The rain also hadn’t fully subsided (though it was much lighter than this morning) and it wasn’t till we started walking through the myriad of paths, interweaving between trees 100s of feet above a huge (and rather loud) river.
It’s very impressive scenery here, to say the least (also kinda terrifying once you look down).
Eventually, we made it over to the bridge which was so much bouncier than I thought! I must have clutched the side of the bridge tightly enough to crush a coin as I made my way across. (*The way back was much easier since I knew what to expect by then).
The view of the river as you cross the bridge is also pretty impressive and you know what, the rain just added even more to this.
The weather had turned foggy with all that rain and added a sense of mystery to the trees and to the walkway. Looking back now, I definitely feel like it wouldn’t have looked half as dramatic or felt quite the same if the sun was shining so I absolutely embraced the rain as we made our way through the park.
There are a series of walkways here by the way, how much of it you do is entirely up to you but doing the entire lot if actually quite easy so I’d definitely recommend it.
By the time we left, the hunger pangs in my tummy had started to build and to be honest, the jet lag had started to set in and so with that, we rushed back to Vancouver for dinner and an early night.
We kinda thought about doing this Canadian craft beer tour but with the sleepiness that jet lag brought that evening, I definitely planned on making the most of that calm relaxed feeling I’d had all day while simultaneous resting up for what we hoped would be a busy day in Whistler the following day. 🙂
Catch ya in the next post! (*Spoiler alert 😁 – the weather did get better and we got to go to Whistler.)
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