Today was a rest day and a chance to go out and do something with Connor's host family. The plan had been to head out to the Othello Tunnels - a national park type reserve and to go fishing and see the giant sturgeon at the hatcheries. However, with 28mm of rain forecast for the day there was a quick change of plans.
Instead we met the Winklers, and Jan, Michelle, Connor, Josh, Jake and Trey and drove into Surrey. Here we parked the cars for the day and after navigating the ticket machine (which was quite easy) we boarded the Sky Train and headed into Vancouver.
When we arrived it was a short walk to the Telus World of Science a 3 storey building built for the 1986 World Expo; now its a great hands on world of science exploration. Jan hadn't been there in over 20 years. Like everyone else the Canadians don't seem the visit the tourist attractions in their own area unless they have someone from out of town to show them to.
We had a short briefing from a local guide while Michelle arranged for our group entrance. Once we got inside it was hard to know where to begin with so many hands on interactive exhibits. The kids headed straight for the sustainability area first. They had a lot of fun seeing how much electricity they could generate on the running wheel. Another great way to improve player fitness and hockey stride!!!
After leaving all of our jackets in a locker we made our way into a section with a lot of logic and math puzzles. Needless to say some of the puzzles were much easier than others. A little bit of help often went a long way!!
Next the kids and adults scattered in all directions to explore the many amazing sites and activities on offer. There was so much to choose from. One section contained bugs and animals and skeletons of all shapes and sizes. Below is a comparison of the skeleton of a household cat and a sabre tooth tiger. There was also a skeleton of a T-Rex. The one on display was found locally and is the second most complete skeleton of a T-Rex ever found.
When we could finally drag the kids away from the World of Science we walked across to McDonalds for a quick lunch before jumping back on the Skytrain. When we got back to Surrey, the beautiful weather of vancouver was gone, it was still raining. Jan took us to see the Surrey Arena/Recreation Centre. We could only dream of such a facility. Twin rinks, gym, pool etc. One day??????
Of course from the kids point of view no trip to Surrey is complete without visiting The Source (hockey shop). It was a quick and cheap visit. One goalie mini-stick which Connor had to so push ups for. It was time to quickly head back to Aldergrove if we were to make it to tonights' hockey game.
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