08.02.2008

nature day

Yesterday (we had previously decided) was Nature Day, so Sarah and I went for an expedition up Grouse Mountain.

(Monday was saying goodbye to the gang, moving from the amada to Sarah's, feeling a bit blue, reading Tennessee Williams, and having Sarah's wonderful home-cooked crab pasta. Tuesday was hanging out with Sarah, talking, having coffee, seeing some of the neighbourhood, talking, discovery of creamy earl grey tea [will perhaps rival my addiction to madagascan vanilla tea] creation and consumption of another amazing home-cooked meal and the weather channel.)

We set out at 10am, reasonably early for a day off, and caught the bus downtown. Nice coffee had to be purchased and then we made our way to the Seabus and went across the water to North Vancouver. Then I did a little bit of present shopping at the Lonsdale Market, and then we caught the bus up to Grouse Mountain. When we got out of the bus at the bottom of the mountain park proper, which only took about twenty minutes, there was already a lot of snow around and it was snowing, quite big flakes, which was very pretty. As we got the gondola up the mountain it continued to snow and when we got to the top there was not much visibility, but what we could see looked great.

It is possible to ski, snowboard, snowshoe and ice-skate at Grouse Mountain, although the few ice-skaters were having a hard time with the perpetual falling snow. So Sarah and I hired some snowshoes, as per the plan, not really being equipped for anything else. I'd never used snowshoes before, they are sort of a metal web which you attach to your shoes to make it easier to walk over snow without falling into it. Although as we quickly discovered, having a bit of trouble at first finding the snowshoe/walking tracks, it is still very possible to fall quite a way into a snowdrift, even with snowshoes on! Going down steeper slopes can also be challenging. We were clumsy and ungainly and this was not helped by how much we were laughing. But once we found the tracks it was much better and so we set off up the mountain.

It was really fun, we only saw a couple of people and so for the most part had the trees and the snow and all the wonderous shapes and patterns to ourselves. It was very beautiful and quiet, and there was so much space in all that whiteness.

So we went up for quite a while and then down and then through a wooded part around what may have been a lake, and all this time it kept snowing and then at some stage as we were on our way back it got much colder, although we were fine because we had lots of warm layers. When we finally got back it was about four o'clock and so we needed a hot chocolate and a little sit down before embarking on the trip home.

It was lucky we did, because the trip home turned out to be a bit of a marathon. You see, even though it does snow at least twice during most winters in Vancouver, and sometimes more, it seems that the city is not really prepared for a lot of snow or a lot of below-zero temperatures. It's a bit like how Melbourne homes are often not really suitable for a cold winter. There's a bit of denial going on, a bit of budgeting. So, when we got off the gondola and were waiting for the bus, the two bus drivers who were there came over to the waiting group and said that on the way up the mountain there had not been a lot of traction and their wheels had skidded and slid and they did not feel happy about taking a load of passengers back down that road until it had been ploughed and salted. They had called the snow plough in, but until then we would have to wait.

In fact it wasn't such a long wait, perhaps half an hour, (I was only just starting to ruminate on the fact that I had to catch my plane home the next day...) and then everyone piled into one bus, which was going to take a slightly alternative route, and the bus driver made as many people as possible go to the back of the bus, which was slightly alarming, but he was great and we slowly and safely made our way down through the darkness, the snow and the slush. When we got down lower there was complete traffic chaos, so what with that and with having to walk a bit because of the alternate route, we finally made it back home about two hours later than planned.

A bath and some take-away food and some CSI Miami quickly restored our warmth and level of comfort, although not a great deal more was achieved. I found it rather difficult to rise from the couch.

This morning there will be cups of tea, packing, a quick dash downtown with Sarah, a sad goodbye, some ruminations on the wonderful time I have had, possibly some tears, a trip to the airport and then I shall enter the no-man's-land that is international travel. Wish me luck.