Things I enjoyed in Vancouver

by Stephanie
(Wiltshire)

We were fortunate enough to go to the Vancouver Aquarium when we visited family in British Columbia in 2004.

I love aquariums anyway and this one is terrific. It's 10 years since we were there, so I don't know exactly what's there now but whatever there is it is bound to be interesting.

One of my favourite tanks was one that had these massive sturgeons swimming around in it. I really couldn't get my head around the fact that these fish were SO huge!! I spent ages watching them. The way that something so long could move around so gracefully was stunning. They were magnificent.

The other display that I really, really enjoyed was the one that contained only fish and creatures found on the shores of British Columbia. All of the animals had been caught locally.

I found it so interesting to just stand and watch these beautiful creatures. The fact that they are all swimming about in the ocean and along the coastline is just amazing. They're all there quietly getting on with what they do without spoiling the environment in the way that humans do.

Another interesting place that we went to was the IMAX theatre. We watched a film about condors. It was in a sort of 3D effect and you really felt like you were flying with the birds. There was one part where the camera "flew" off the edge of a cliff. One minute you were above the trees, the next minute there was a huge gorge dropping away below you. It made my stomach turn over.

All in all we enjoyed our trip to Vancouver. There's so much there to see and do. I also enjoyed the closeness of the mountains. It was lovely to be surrounded by all the tall mountain peaks.