Experiences in Canada, Pt 3

In Whistler, 10 July

We stayed overnight at the Nita Lodge hotel, built on the shores of Lake Nita, a little outside the village of Whistler itself. The rooms were beautiful, lined with local wood and stone, and the restaurant had a deck overlooking the lake, with fantastic views of the mountains behind.

The Rocky Mountaineer staff dropped our bags off at the hotel, so we were free to join a walking tour of the Olympic village. One thing that surprised me was how warm it was at this altitude (2,142 feet) : one of the restaurants had cool water misting the air above its customers sitting outdoors, and suntan lotion was a must. Well, that lasted the first day and some of our second day there, after which it clouded over and became much cooler, but no worse than at home.

Most of the centre is like any other town, full of shops and eateries, but with the distinction of being totally traffic free. Cars and coaches must be left in car-parks off the village’s bypass, leaving the village centre completely free for pedestrians and cyclists. Cyclists are only allowed to ride on the trails, and are obliged to walk their mounts through the village, dismounting at the barriers surrounding the centre: being Canadian, on the whole, this rule was pretty strictly observed.

The village of Whistler sits at the foot of the mountain of the same name, and of Blackcombe Mountain. Whistler was used for the skiing events, and in summer the pistes are used by mountain bikers. We sat in one of the outdoor restaurants for a time, watching the bikers hurtle down the mountain – they only rode down, taking advantage of the gondola to get the top of the runs.

There are access roads to various stages of the downhill runs, put there by the Olympics organisers to allow them to recover skiers should they have the misfortune to crash: this comes in handy for the mountain bikers, and we saw the ambulance in use a couple of times while we were there.

At one point, a bear and her cub were spotted on the fringes of the runs, so everyone had to stop until she’d wandered away. I think the cyclist in the photo above was the first one to spot her in the trees, and was looking at her as he passed.

That night we had a very nice meal at the hotel, together with a very expensive bottle of wine: drinking in Canada is not quite as expensive as in major European cities, but it’s a lot dearer than at home.

 

In Whistler, 11 July

After a good night’s sleep, we had a bit of a wander around the village, looking at some of the sights, including the Olympic and Paralympic symbols. Of course, I had to support with "my people" so I had my picture taken beside the latter: not sure I agree with the concept of the broken rings - I don't think I like the connotations of that.

Then we queued for the gondola to the top of Whistler Mountain. With fantastic views of the Olympic village on the way up, and of the mountain ranges at the top (alt. 7,494 feet), it’s a trip well worth taking.

As can be seen from the photos above, the day was a rather gloomy one, but that didn’t really spoil the trip: the mountains looked moody and magnificent – very hard to capture in a photo.

As well as the views, there are a restaurant and a gift shop, of course! The food there was typical Canadian: Burger, Steak or battered fish sandwiches. You’d think, being an outdoorsy sort of country, the food would be healthier, but it is typical North American – except that you can get fried fish in your bun in addition to the usual stuff. Anyhoo, I really liked the Inukshuk statue at the top of the mountain.

This particular one, called Ilanaaq, was the symbol of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Not all inuksuit (which is the plural of “inukshuk”) are human shaped – in fact, these are in the minority, and form a subset of inuksuit called “inunnguat” (the singular of which is “inunnguaq”). They are cairns made by Canadian Inuit and other First Nation people as a landmark: anyway, you can look it up for yourself in Wikipedia. It’s quite interesting.

Once we’d finished taking in the views at the top of Whistler Mountain, we took another gondola across to Blackcombe Mountain (marketed as the “Peak-to-Peak”), and then the chairlift back down to Whistler Village. We had packed our camera away, being scared that we might drop it, and so missed the opportunity to photograph a group of black bears lazily feeding on the grass just a couple of dozen feet below us, and less than half a mile from the village. One was lolling on his side, munching at the grass beside his head – the very image of laziness!

 

Return to Vancouver, 11 July

The return trip was the reverse of our ride up, but, keeping the same seats, we’d get the views on the other side.

We were all to have another night and day in Vancouver before Phyllis took her flight up to Powell River to meet up with her cousin. Our day sightseeing in Vancouver will be the start of the next instalment!