Monday, January 17, 2005

Today we awoke to the pouring rain. Chelsea, Steve, and I ate breakfast at a bakery in a marketplace down the street from the hotel. We then acquired an all-day bus pass (good for buses, ferries, and sky trains) at 7-eleven and headed downtown to the seabus (ferry) to head to North Vancouver. In North Vancouver we took a bus to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. The brochure says:

“It was over 110 years ago that George Grant Mackay discovered the spot where Capilano Suspension Bridge now stands. Impressed by the beauty of the land, he built a cabin for himself and his wife. Then with the help of local natives and a team of horses, he pulled taut the first cedar plank and hemp rope bridge 450 feet across and 230 feet above Capilano River.

Mackay’s friends began their journey to the bridge by crossing Burrard Inlet aboard the S.S. Senator. A long trek up the rough trail is now Capilano Road to their being dubbed, Capilano Tramps. The encumbrances of their dress did little to deter the spirited adventurers who steadily visited the bridge. It was such a popular attraction that a second, and more secure, wire bridge was built in 1903. Another wire bridge, with both cable ends firmly encased in concrete, was built in 1914.

Visitors from all over the world were now flocking to the Bridge. In 1911, the Tea House (now the Trading Post) was built on the edge of Capilano Canyon. Later during the 1930’s, bridge owner Mac MacEachran initiated the tradition of inviting local natives to place their totem poles on the grounds. The totems you see here today are maintained in the exact condition in which they were received over 60 years ago. This is unlike many of the poles you may see elsewhere, which have been allowed to deteriorate with the passage of time.”

The canyon and suspension bridge were all apart of a park that was like a nature version of an amusement park. Some other cool things there were trails, the tallest tree in North America, and tree houses with suspension bridges between each tree house.

In the evening Chelsea, Steve, and I hit up the internet café across the street from the hotel, however almost all the computers were in Korean which made it very hard to understand. Afterwards, the three of us went down Robson St. and ate at a great restaurant.

At 9:30pm the three of us headed downstairs to head to the Bon Voyage party at this club called Caprice. We just happened to meet up with this guy Brennan from San Diego. The club was pretty cool, nothing out of the ordinary. It pretty much went like, Frank from New Jersey, Ben from Ohio State, Jen from I don’t remember, Ashley, Amanda… the point being that we met so many people but it becomes hard to remember the information afterwards.

Tomorrow I am waking up at 6am and finally heading off to the ship.