Tag: Edmonton

H: High Level Bridge Streetcars

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In Edmonton, Alberta they have made a tourist attraction from the former Canadian Pacific Railway tracks. (CPR). It is only a short ride, four stops in all and travels across the high level bridge and through the only tunnel built on the Canadian Pacific. We boarded at Whyte Avenue, Old Strathcona and took the return journey to Jasper Plaza.

The High Level Bridge Streetcars are all run by volunteers. During our ride the Driver and Conductor were full of information. They are part of a team that restores all of the historic Streetcars as well as run the attraction. On the day we were riding they were training a new driver so it was interesting to hear him talk about everything involved in his training to drive these historic Streetcars.

There are nine operational Streetcars in the fleet as well as 17 others in various stages of restoration. We were surprised to discover that one of the Streetcars came from Melbourne, Australia and another from Osaka, Japan. (Where our daughter-in-law is from). Unfortunately for us, we weren’t travelling on the day the museum opened as I’m sure it would have been fascinating.

E: (West) Edmonton Mall

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For more than the first two decades of my adult life Edmonton Mall (officially known as West Edmonton Mall) was the largest indoor mall in the world. And I always wanted to visit it. Last year was my time. I planned my trip to Edmonton staying close to WEM to maximise my visits. I was very glad I did. It was amazing. When we arrived we were mesmorised. It was unlike any shopping centre in Australia. Everywhere we went was something new and exciting.

Many of the stores were very unique. Or had some different in them we hadn’t seen before. Bubba Gump was our favourite. We spent time both in the gift shop and wandering around the restaurant. We were fascinated by all the movie takes and how cleverly they were put together. Our son loved the cheeky T-shirt we bought him. In the Lindt Chocolate store, more than half of the flavours, we had never tasted before.

On entry the first thing we saw was the Sea Life Experience. This included seals and a relica of the Santa Maria. We spent time investigating this area and watched the seals antics. Galaxyland powered by Hasbro was our next stop. It is the world’s largest indoor amusement park. I loved seeing the games I played as a child, came to life as amusement rides. Such creativity.

Next on our tour was the shooting gallery. This blew me away. It was filled with guns of all sorts. Many of which are banned in Australia. So I had never seen them before. In hindsight I wish I had taken my first shot here, but at the time I was so overwhelmed.

The Ice Palace-indoor ice skating even had a senior skate option. We did consider giving it a go however we ran out of time.

West Edmonton Mall is also the home of the worlds largest indoor wave pool. Again, sadly we had no time to enjoy it. We were fascinated by the number of activities in this one area.

We had a great time in the Dragon’s Tale. A Blacklight Mini Golf Experience. It was a first for us and totally took minigolf to a new level.

While we wandered around the shops, we heard of a young couple who went to West Edmonton Mall for their honeymoon. They stayed the week in the Fantasyland Hotel attached the mall. And everyday enjoyed one or more of the special activities found there. I thought this was a fantastic idea.

I would have loved to have ridden around the mall on these. I saw a group of 20-30 year olds doing so and it looked like so much fun. But I thought there may have been a weight limit.