Tuesday, March 23, 2010

ZipTrek, I Love You!!

I just HAVE to tell you about our last trip into Vancouver over Spring Break.  The kids and I drove in one more time so we could do the Zip Line over Robson Square.  ZipTrek, who operates a large array of zip lines up at Whistler, had set up two parallel lines over Robson Square.  The starting tower was about seven stories high as you can see from the picture on the left, and the ending tower was about three stories high.  

The picture of the building shows you how steep the zip  lines actually were.  I totally forgot to get a picture of Robson Square below, but then, I wasn't particularly interested in looking down when I was standing on the scaffolding LOL!  You can see a bit of it in the picture behind my son.  Here is a video of what the actual ride looks like so you can enjoy a "ride" too :D   Just scroll down to the video clip and hang on for the ride.


 During the Olympics the line ups were anywhere from 6 to 8 hours long but we only had to wait three hours the day we went .  It may seem like an insane amount of time to stand in line, but it was totally worth it - really!!!  We met SO many wonderful people in line that the time flew by.  One lady was celebrating her 50th wedding anniversary and must have been in her late 60's to early 70's, two ladies were celebrating their 55th birthdays and topped things off by celebrating with champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries after they finished zip lining, and there was a mom there with two kids close in age to mine so the kids played with each other and never once complained about having to wait in line - score!!

My little guy did the fateful error of looking down when he was all hooked up and ready to go and started to cry and say he didn't want to do it. Thankfully there was an amazing lady working his side of the zip line who distracted him by asking him questions and who actually unhooked her safety line and walked with him down the four stairs and got him to step off and go.  He want from tears to a huge smile just 10 feet down the zip line.  To say it was fun is an understatement!!!  Oh my word!! I want to go and do it up at Whistler now!!  What an amazing memory and best of all it was totally free!

We carried on to more free venues including the Vancouver Art Gallery (I've lived here for years and have never gone there before) and the BC Pavilion.  The BC Pavilion had a 4D movie that had me ducking in my seat when a girl threw a snowball because it looked like it was coming right at me (thankfully I wasn't the only one who ducked LOL!), some wonderful touch screens we played with, moving salmon images on a floor that would scatter when you stepped by them, some funky wood art and much more.  We wrapped things up by visiting the Northern Pavilion where they had a stuffed Arctic fox, Reindeer, Muskox (I think that is what it was) and polar bear.  Needless to say, I don't ever want to run into a polar bear in real life because they are huge!! 

Hope I didn't bore you with our adventures.  We had so much fun I just had to share our day with you :D  Back to posting cards from here on in, I promise!


4 comments:

Silke Ledlow said...

Marisa - I saw a news clip on the *Today* Show about the zip line and how people had to wait forever...anyway, you all are brave for doing it...LOL!!! I would have start crying too...he.he...just kidding :)!!!

Your photos in the gallery are awesome too...so fun!!! Glad you all had a wonderful time in Vancouver!!! Did I mention I love this city!!! We visited about 10 yrs ago and we are still talking about it...hopefully one day we can show our girls this awesome city too!!! Hugs ~S~

Vickie Z said...

OMG... scared of heights but, have heard this is a thrill if you get over the height!! Also, the flowers were great for the Curtain Call - wonderful colors and a wonderful way to combine them.

Pam Speidel said...

Always love hearing about your adventures Marisa! I'm one of those who can live vicariously through my friends. You wouldn't catch me doing a Zip Line! I would be the one crying up there! or die from fright! LOL Smiles, Pam

TannyP said...

OMG! What fun!!! I love when the people running those sorts of things really make the extra effort for the sake of the kids!