2009 Finally decide to take a year out in Canada, so lets see what happens.

Part 2 - Grouse Mountain So after dipping our toes in the cool waters of Wreak Beach, we decided our next adventure should be snow shoeing on Grouse Mountain. I got to see more of Vancouver as we took the SeaBus (ferry) from Downtown Vancouver to North Vancouver (awesome! even spied a seal swimming in the sea on the way there), then another bus to Grouse Mountain. The houses in North Vancouver were gorgeous and huge! So are the ones in Downtown. What I love about the houses here is that 3 floors seem to be the norm. Anyho. We took a gondola to the snowy peaks of Grouse Mountain, which swung wide when we passed the pillars on the way (it was like being on a rollercoaster ride with only the glass casing of the gondola and hand holds dangling from the ceiling to stop you from falling... it was AWESOME! At the top, we went on the snow train which gave us a quick look from different sides of the mountain, then geared up for snow shoeing. The shoes look like tennis rackets on your feet with metal spikes on the soles if your toes. It took a little getting used to as the spikes were the diameter of your palm and that was what stood between you and tumbling into the snow, but once you did it give you time to enjoy the scenery and start snow fights with unsuspecting 4 and 11 year olds and their parents. It was so funny. They told us the best place for beginners to start is near the sign saying Snow shoeing Park. So we went there to the entrance and found in order to get to the snow shoeing park we had to first go down a very steep hill. Whilst the kids when belting down the hill, I was still at the top practicing self talk in a bid to at least get me to put a foot onto the slope. In the end my very fabulous bro-in-law came back up the hill and guided me down. It was freakin scary I tell you!!! But once we were down the hill and I had a moment to regain my composure it was all fun and games! The views were phenomenal, the snow was absolutely beautiful, the frozen lakes where outstanding. i tell you it was one of the most miraculous things I've seen in a long time and plan to go up there again. Who knows, today snow shoeing tomorrow skiing... alright a bit of a leap for me but the possibilities are there. What did I learn? 1) if you are in the midst of a snow fight and you fall over and can't get up because your hands keep sinking into the snow, relatives will help you up only when they have finished pelleting you with snowballs. 2) When you scream in a place covered in snow it WILL cause a avalanche, big or small - learnt that when my niece discovered her voice echoed and she decided it was funny to scream especially when aunty was walking under a tree covered high with snow. It was only after we noticed the snow falling around us that we finally figured out why people were rushing past our noisy selves! 3) Snow shoeing rocks!!! I sincerely recommend it peeps.