Travelogue: Vancouver (Days 34-36)

Danforth Dad

7 days ago

2 min read

Despite having several days in Vancouver, we didn't pack a lot into our time there.

Partially this was because we'd taken the kids to Vancouver a few years ago and already done several of the tourist hotspots; Science World, Grouse Mountain, the Aquarium.

But our low-key approach was also because it was Thanksgiving, and we were lucky enough to have a godmother and a family friend in Vancouver to help make our holiday away from home feel a bit more home-ish.

Having said that, we did have a few interesting experiences:

Terra Nova Park, with its towering play structure (above) and views out towards the ocean
Ambleside Beach, with its seaside skate park
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, with its...well, suspension bridge. (But I was surprised by how much more there is to this park than just its namesake bridge...it was a fantastic and Halloween-themed walk in the forest)
Rainbow Park, a lovely playground featuring equipment by Earthscape right in the heart of the city
Flyover Canada, an immersive movie that promises to take your breath away

I recommend all of the above with the possible exception of Flyover Canada, which did a better job at taking our money away than our breath. Although it was quite spectacular and certainly immersive (the seats move, your legs dangle beneath you, and you're sprayed with mist when the visuals call for it) it was only 30 minutes long, and gave viewers zero context for what they were seeing - not even a caption to tell you which part of Canada you were looking at.

I don't regret going, as it fit perfectly with our trip, and the kids were genuinely excited to see places on the big screen that we had visited in real life. But I wouldn't encourage visitors to Canada to go if they expected to learn anything about the country other than it's big and can get misty sometimes.

And now we turn our heads towards home! We've got just over two weeks to make our way back east to Toronto.

And while you're here...if you believe in the power of play (and if you're here you probably do) please consider donating to our cross-Canada road trip by clicking here. It would mean a lot!