This is the Cablecar to Grouse Mountain.
Xploring Canada & Beyond
Yes, been there! I visited a friend who lived in North Vancouver, and she took me up Grouse Mountain. It was early summer, I think - no snow, anyway - and it had been raining for several days prior. While admiring the view, I walked on some sloping ground, slipped on wet soil, and fell. I had a soft landing, but my clothes were covered in mud. I remember the mud more than I do the visit to the mountain, so it's good to see pics!
These two Bears walk around loose inside an very Big Enclosure.
Great if you have a Zoom lens.
You can stick it through the Fence Wire.
The Bears are orphans.
This was up on top of Grouse.
It does not matter what time of year it is, there are Pumpkins up here all the time.
Sammy finds it easy to camouflage himself among the Orange Coloured Pumpkins.
I had to look hard to find Sammy in the pumpkin pic! Are pumpkins grown in Ozz? If they are, I guess they'd be ripe at the wrong time of year for Halloween. Do you celebrate Halloween in Ozz? The 31st of October was a "non-event" when I lived in the UK, where Guy Fawke's, or Bonfire Night, is celebrated on the 5th of November.
Jes June,
We do celebrate Halloween here in Ozz.
But it is only a novelty to some families.
Those Pumpkins are up there at Grouse all year around not just September.
On the subject of interesting things to be found at the top of hills, one of my favorites has to be the Exotic Cactus Garden at the highest point of the "perched village" of Eze in the south of France. Eze (not to be confused with Eze-sur-mer at the beach below) is a short ride on the number 82 bus from Nice. The little village sits way up on top of a hill, with stupendous views. The Cactus Garden is full not only of cacti and succulents but also statuary made, I believe, by the garden's owner. Well worth a visit!
I really like the way the raw Wood stays new looking and fresh.
Here in Ozz Timber goes dark grey after a very short time.
Sammy now lives in Vancouver permanently.
I left him there with friends because of the stringent Australian Animal re-entry/quarantine Laws.
On returning to Australia I decided to adopt a similar Pet. (Kangaroo)
Because the new Roo was much darker than Sammy, I decided to name Him Sambo because of his colour.
Sambo will probably make his first trip to Canada in mid to late 2014.
Mid 2014 if we decide to Hike.
Late 2014 if Skiing is on the menu.
But it looks like Italy may be on the Menu soon. ^_^
Great pictures from that Cacti garden.
Who dressed up the statues? They look an interesting bunch!
I have more pics of stuff on top of mountains, this time at Stresa, on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy. A big cable car carries tourists, hikers, and lycra-clad cyclists with their mountain bikes up to the peak, with a stop half way for the Botanical Garden. It was late in the year, and I thought there were no flowers in the garden at all, but then I spotted some gentians. There were lots of lizards, though. From the mountain there's a fantastic view of the lake and the Borromean islands, two of which have beautiful gardens on them.
The dressed up Roos are on the Highway between Stanthorpe and Applethorpe.
The Farmer who owns the Property has a fun sense of humour.
I will look for other Pictures I have taken from there.
He picks themes to match current affairs here in Queensland.
Love the Lizard picture.
When you were in Barcelona, did you go up the Montjuic cable car to the fortress at the top of the hill? I have pics of the cable car, but none of the fortress. I do remember that the fortress had a restaurant in it. It's always good to have food at the top of a mountain.
We were nearly arrested at Barcelona.
Our train from Denmark arrived at Barcelona Central at midnight so it was too late to look for a Hotel.
We just went to sleep on a platform bench inside the station.
We were woken with a machine gun poked into the ribs.
We could not speak Spanish and they did not speet English.
Outcome was we were escorted out of the Railway Station and were left to wonder the streets till the morning.
And no, we did not even see that Cablecar.
We did see a real Bull Fight though.
A tad gory.
Oh my! The Spanish police used have a reputation for being trigger-happy. You're lucky they only herded you out of the railway station. I heard a story about a deaf tourist being shot at when he failed to "halt' on command. I think they're a bit more careful nowadays.
I have one more mountain-top for you. This one's in Italy, and you may wish to put it on your menu. It's reached by funicular from the town of Como (on Lake Como). In Brunate village at the top is a wonderful restaurant, the Bellavista. Their website is www.bellavistabrunate.com
In addition to a spectacular view, there are friendly felines.
Definitely another to go on the menu.
Thanks for the link and photographs.
Yes the Italians love those feral Moggies.
This was taken in the heart of Rome.
This strange Pyramid lives in that hole in the ground where the Cats live.
It was built entirely of Marble.
The cat sanctuary behind the Pyramid is still there, and the cats keep the adjacent Cemetary (where many famous poets and artists are buried) rodent-free. However, I hear that the even larger cat sanctuary in the city square named Largo Argentina is being shut down because the cats are interfering with the work of archeologists. Poor kitties! The archeologists should provide litter boxes if they don't want cat poo in their excavations.
This was the Farmers Display in October-25-2010.
It was during the FIFA World Cup (round ball). Hosted by South Africa.
Can you remember those awful plastic trumpets that drowned out all the commentators ?
Yes, I remember the noise, but I can't recall what the trumpets were called. Zarzewellies or something?
They were called Vuvuzela the Noisey Trumpet of the World Cup.
Back on top of Grouse.
This is some of the Tree Top Walks.
This reminds me of where the Ewoks lived in StarWars.
I wonder if this is where Lucas got his brain waves ?
Very Ewok-ish! I'd love to walk on that suspended walkway - but what happens if the person in front decides they need to go back? There doesn't seem to be room for 2 people to pass.
You are right June,
No room at all to pass.
Just as well it is not so long.
But it sure is saggy.
That's the sort of walkway that would give my vertigo-prone DH nightmares!
I spent a couple of hours yesterday going through my old photo albums from the 70's and 80's, looking for usable pics of Vancouver and The Rockies to scan, but - oh dear! - the colours have all faded, and my photography back then was even worse than it is now. With the digi cam, I can check the "review" screen to see how the pic turned out, and re-take the shot if the subject is too small, out of focus, over-exposed, etc., but back when I was using film I just had to trust to luck. I have a lot of really, really bad photos! At least I've gotten the vacation albums dusted-off, labelled, and shelved in roughly chronological order. My next task is delving into the "family, home, & garden" albums, which I'm not looking forward to as they contain too many dead friends and relatives. The frightening thing is that I'll be looking at people who I thought of as terribly old when I photographed them, but I'm their age now. Even more frightening, I can't remember who some of them are!
Please post more BC pics to take my mind off ageing.
The main suspension Bridge up here is called 'Çapilano'.
It truly has some mind boggling statistics.
This was taken June 2011.
The signage says it all.
Does the bridge have to be renewed from time to time? What is it made of?
It is supported by two huge cables.
Then the wooden decking is slung under the cables.
It is strong enough to support 100 African Elephants.
And it is wide enough for 3 people to pass,
Picture from Capilano.
I don't know if you have ever stood next to a Boing 747 ?
Can you imagine 2 of them wingtip to wingtip ?
What excellent information displays! By the way, the two people in your preceding pic look as if they have just seen an elephant aproaching.
When you had your slip in the mud at Grouse.
Did you get as far as this Suspension Bridge ?
Or were you still at the bottom where the Grizzly Bears and Wolves reside ?
Here is another View of the Capilano Suspension Bridge.
Picture was taken from above the Bridge.
I don't remember much about Grouse Mountain, Kell, except for my embarassing fall into the mud. My memories of several long-ago visits to Vancouver have become jumbled. I know I crossed the Capilano Canyon on a suspension bridge on one visit, but I don't recall how I reached it, and I don't know if the bridge was the same then as it is now. I don't think the walkways up in the trees existed at that time, and I didn't see any bears or wolves. I guess I need to go back and experience it all again!
Did you visit any gardens while you were in Vancouver? I do remember seeing a couple of excellent, park-sized gardens, one was a Botanical Garden, the other I think had a conservatory or observatory in its name. Any Vancouverites reading this - please supply garden information!
We went to a very Beautiful Japanese Garden.
But I will just finish these last few Grouse Pictures.
I know every one of these Totem poles have meanings.
But there were so many I forget all the details.
What do you think of this Ice hugger ?
The bear looks like he's sizing-up the photographer for dinner.
I really was sureprised how thin the wire fence was.
So maybe you are right.