Neverwinter :: Even angels loose their wings, eventually...

Flying from Houston to Vancouver is not my idea of fun! Internal US flights scare the shit out of me! Taking off and landing aren't the problem, staying in the air is! Doomed internal flights always seem to make the news!

Vancouver was a refreshing change from the humidity of Texas. Even though it rained for the entire week I was there! I felt at home! A BIG thanks to Gail and Gord for lending me their floor while I was there!!!

Finally got the chance to see a REAL Hockey game! Vancouver Canucks V's Colorado Avalanche. Top of the table (Colorado) against Vancouver (Bottom) was always going to be a violent confrontation and I wasn't disappointed! Colorado scored in the first period which left the Canucks fans somewhat deflated, unlike the giant Orca whale that floated around the stadium during periods, dropping gift vouchers! Funniest thing I've ever seen! Still 1-0 in the second period and then in the third period, all hell broke loose! Violence everywhere! They were dropping their gloves at every opportunity! The mass punch up towards the end of the game had the crowd on their feet, including me! As the Canucks went down 2-1, Mark Messier went nuts and laid into anybody in a Colorado shirt! Not surprisingly, he was sent to the penalty box for double roughing! And what a roughing it was! :) I'm still a Penguins fan though! :)

Vancouver is an outstanding city, especially if viewed from the top of Grouse Mountain! Took a nice cable car up to the top, with my ears popping every 100 feet! Eight minutes up a mountain and your standing up to your ankles in snow! Of course, I had to go and fall over didn't I!!!

Not far from there is something called Capilano suspension bridge! Bridge my arse (You can take that statement however! Sarcasm doesn't always travel well....)! Two pieces of cable and some wooden slats above a nice long drop! Thinking I would be OK, I strolled across. Having vertigo as I do, sticking to the middle. I was fine until a large contingent of Japanese tourists came belting across! I thought they would all be in Nagano! Wrong!!!! This bridge, flimsy as hell, swayed in all directions! Of course, the Japanese loved this and poor old me is left swinging in the breeze, trying to remain upright! Couldn't hang onto the side because there wasn't much of one and that would have meant being perilously close to the edge, which is the last place I wanted to be! They finally let up and I made it to the other side! Only after 10 minutes did it dawn on me I had to get back! I set off across for the second time, with the Japanese hot on my heels! Rainfall had prevented a concerted effort to make a run for it, so I had to endure being tossed all over the place as I crossed the centre, with 6 'little' people jumping up and down at the other end! I survived! Just!
The only drawback to going to Canada is coming home! 15 hours from Vancouver to London Via Chicago is not nice! The jet lag is a killer! Apart from anything else, Vancouver is far too nice a place to leave!

View of Vancouver from the cable car! Sadly, the Pylon decided to get in the way at the wrong moment!

View of some stunning Canadian Trees!