6th November - Calgary, AB

Today we headed off to the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary where the 1988 Winter Olympics were held. There were specifically two things that we wanted to do. One was catch the zip line (or flying fox) from the 90m ski jump and the other was to participate in a bobsleigh ride down the track with a professional driver. Much to our disappointment both these things were closed…. Bugger!! Never mind, there was plenty of stuff to see and do at the park. First up, as there was nobody working at the ticket stand we helped ourselves in and started looking through all of the memorabilia. We got to try out some of the equipment donated by athletes and used in the Olympics such as the luge and skeleton and participate in a simulated downhill skiing run. Aheemm, it is safe to say I shall not be giving up my day job anytime soon (oh that’s right I don’t have one…hehe). We finally got nabbed by a lovely volunteer who insisted we watch a DVD of the games and the facility and told us about the park. Quite interesting. After the video we headed back to have our photo taken on the podium with our flag, posy and a torch from the 88 Olympics. The torch isn’t a replica either so we were very careful with it! Dan demonstrated how a bronze v’s gold medal winner feels on the podium!
We also got to see the bobsleigh that was used in the filming of the Movie “Cool Runnings” which was based on the Jamaican Olympic Bobsleigh Team from the 88 Olympics and part of the movie was also filmed at the park.
The park is also home to an enormous amount of memorabilia and a listing of every winner from every event from the winter Olympics. We had to seek out one Steven Bradbury and have a good giggle. Also in the museum of the memorabilia was a game that you could practice scoring in hockey. Dan was pretty good sneaking a few past the goalie! I on the other hand struggled to even hit the puck. We then headed up to the 90m ski jump slope which was awesome as well as the view of the Rockies and Calgary city. It was so high and amazing to think that the athletes left on a such a thin run. We will never see it quite in the same light again on TV. The 88 Olympics also hosted the infamous “Eddie the Eagle”. The Olympic jumper with no coach, no high jump experience and not much form. But in typical fashion, because he was so crap, became everyone’s favourite. His helmet with a crudely written eagle (that he himself put on there) adorned the museum.
We gave it a shot trying our form for jumping. I’m sure Eddie could do a better job than either of us! Bruce would of said it was special. We then went to the luge and bobsleigh tracks. Both were being prepared for the World Cup to be held shortly. The track was smooth and slippery (we found out after trying to stand on it). But we still walked the length down part of it, still disappointed about the fact we missed out on a go. Oh well!! Whilst the ski season here is a short way off opening, there was still snow on the ground and Dan took a seat in this ice sculpture. We wandered over to the indoor track that the athletes come to prepare for the most important part of the luge and bobsleigh, the take off. When you see the money invested in the facilities for the athletes it really makes you realize how hard a Aussie athlete must have to work to make it here. Go Bradbury we say!




Dan checked out the equipment was all in working order.
We bid adieu to the Olympic Park late in the day and went to find some food having missed lunch. We stopped at the casino near where the Calgary Stampede is held. It stunk of smoke and we had to leave after about two minutes. It was quite bizarre because the non smokers were stuck in a little glass area with hardly any machines whilst the smokers had the lot. Bizarre in Canada because just about everything else is non smoking. We headed out for out last meal in Calgary at Earls – very nice.