This is just one of the beautiful views you'll take in if you ever find yourself at the Capilano Suspension Bridge park. You'll want to check out that nice website, and see the incredible aerial view atop of the 450 foot- long bridge. Since marrying a Canadian eight years ago, something I've always wanted to see in his home area is the Capilano Bridge. Lucky me, a year or two before, they install two more attractions to the park: the incredible Cliff Walk (what?!) and Treetop Adventure. When my mom and step-dad came up to Washington this summer, she was gung-ho to go to this bridge, which she'd seen in a book some years before.
I, of course, was game! It was, after all, on my 28 Before 29 list...
As we led up to the day we spent here in North Vancouver, I wondered how this would work. My mom has always been afraid of heights, and this was her idea. I have never been afraid of heights, but I'm no adrenaline junkie, either.
This bridge is huge. It's over 450 feet across, and probably about five feet wide. There are hundreds of people crossing it at once, and it wobbles a lot. The entire time you're on it, it's swaying, rocking, and otherwise moving. I don't know that my pictures can fully give it justice (seriously, check out the site already) but it is just incredible. The first time I went over, I couldn't even look down. I had to completely focus on just getting across. My legs felt like they were going to give out, and looking down was proving to be a little too much for me...and I'm not afraid of heights!
There were many people who were there who were, I think, trying to get over their fear of heights, because some were grey, moaning or yelling out with each wobble, and going slow enough that a turtle could have beat them across--assuming it didn't lop off the side! My mom, on the other hand--loved it. Go figure.
There is enough to do, see, and learn to spend an entire day in the park. It's quite an expensive tourist location, so if you shell out the money, you want to plan on being there for at least 4-5 hours. I don't even know which was my favorite thing--the cliff walk or the bridge. Both were pretty incredible. The cliff walk was highly monitored, they'd only let a few people on at one time. A massive anchor has been drilled into the side of the mountain, and you're walking in an arc shape 250 feet above the ground, on glass. It was such a fun experience!
Don't think too much about what you're seeing. If you're anything like me, this just gives heart palpitations seeing how little the kids are, and how big of a drop is straight underneath!
Here is a side view of the massive anchor that is drilled into the cliff. If you're interested in the engineering feat, watch this video to see how it was done.
Over this week off, we explored so many different spots and had quite a few adventures. Although I don't have the photographic evidence, I can now cross off "eat fish n'chips" (I hate fish) and "ride a ferry". We took a large ferry (you know, the kind where you and a hundred other people drive their cars onto it...) to Victoria for the weekend. Stefan, the kids, and I ate at Pajo's and I actually liked the fish n'chips. The poutine didn't hurt, either! I'm not buying any canned tuna anytime soon, but I overcame my fear of smelly and gag-inducing fish and I liked it!
Have you ever been to a location where your jaw dropped and you couldn't fathom the workings of it? Where was it?
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