This blog entry tells the story, but be warned - it was an epic holiday so there is a LOT to talk about.
The planning first started back in September 2018 when we went to a Flight Centre organised holiday event where we were dazzled into booking flights with Air New Zealand, simply because they were cheap. We should have known - heading to Canada (and returning) via Auckland adds about four hours flying time to the trip plus whatever waiting around time is required and the trip is long enough already.
New Zealand
However, we decided to break things up a little by stopping off in Auckland for a couple of days on the way over and that was a great success.We love NZ - it is one of the very best countries in the world and we've always enjoyed our time there. It's beautiful and friendly and interesting.
We'd booked a Sebel Hotel on the waterfront and that was pretty nice. It allowed us to get out on the waterfront walks and enjoy the waterfront restaurants and bars and it was a great start to our holiday.
The pictures below are from that waterfront area and showcase it nicely.
In the one below you can see the famous Sky Tower. I wanted to do the walk around the outside of the tower, but they were asking $150 to do that and I didn't think it worth the money.
New to us is the concept of the "Gastropub". Neither of us wanted to contract gastro so we didn't indulge here, but it seemed interesting.
The Auckland version of Tower Bridge
On our second day we found a guided walk around the city conducted by volunteers who are simply proud of their city. It was about three hours of walking around and looking at things, but it was a great idea.
Lord Freyburg - so famous they erected a statue to him, but unknown to us. I'd suggest that you read up on this man - he was a real action man hero, fighting in two world wars, always leading from the front and ending up representing NZ to the world.
A true hero.
NZ was the first country in the world to give women the vote and many of the equal rights they have today.
Either a great and forward thinking country or where the rot started :)
The university clock tower
We detoured through the botanical gardens and found this weird tree - it is blocking access to paths and occupying a lot of space but the arborists don't want to cut down or trim a healthy tree so here it is.
Back in the city and we're standing on top of the first station in Auckland's new underground train system. The line of glass topped cones you can see are skylights into the underground and are meant to represent the many volcanoes around the city.
We took a bus out to Mission Beach later that day, just to get out of the city and see something else, and we found a gorgeous beachside community that felt so peaceful.
We had a couple of Ben & Jerry's ice creams sitting opposite the beach and they were simply the best we have tasted.
Before we left we booked ourselves on a yacht cruise around the harbour. Due to light wind conditions most of the trip was done under engine power, but we got the sails up and we whistled around under sail for a while.
Magic!
The bridge ahead in the photo is where the bungee jumpers jump and we watched a couple of them screaming their way down.
We flew out of Auckland late at night (well 8pm) on our way to Canada with fond memories of NZ and we will be back!
Canada - Vancouver
Canada - new territory for us and we were SO excited.
My old mate Peter Scott (Scottie) picked us up from the airport and took us to our hotel. While Karen showered and changed Scottie and I went to a local bar and got so smashed that I can't remember the last part of the evening. Apparently it involved tequila.
I blame the dehydration from sitting on the plane for 13 hours.
Still, it was great to catch up with him.
After a two day recovery period we hired a car and headed off to Whistler for a couple of nights.
What a gorgeous place it is. Built, largely, for the 2010 Winter Olympics it is a beaut place to stay and breathe the mountain air, but before we got there we also stopped off at Squamish.
Again - the pictures tell the story.
Driving on the right hand side of the road isn't hard, but after a few decades of driving on the left you get some hard wired reactions to things and it never quite felt right. Still, that Sea to Sky highway is a beauty with some stunning views.
At Squamish we took the Sea to Sky gondola up to the top of the nearest mountain.
The views there, and on the way up and down, were magnificent, and the sights from the "Panorama Walk" were just gorgeous. Interesting the way the cloud just hung over the water.
Again - the cloud over the water. It makes for an interesting photo.
Once at the top we found a suspension bridge across a valley that was pretty cool to walk over.
Like I said - the views were magnificent and to be on eye level with the clouds was neat.
And yes, there was a bar :)
Pretty soon after Squamish (the whole drive is less than two hours long) we arrived in Whistler.
The pic below is of the view from our hotel room.
You don't get warning notices like this in Australia!
The Whistler village has a large number of gift shop places, but that is to be expected.
The 2010 Olympics are also remembered all over the place.
And bears - they seem to focus a lot on bears.
We decided to take a scenic flight out over the icefields and headed down to the airport.
Which turned out to be a lake!
So yes, the scenic flight was conducted in a seaplane - always an exciting thing to be in.
Yep - I got the front seat :)
One of these mountains is called "The Black Tusk" but I can't remember which one.
Neat name though :)
Crevasses opening up in a glacier.
Coming back to Whistler
We also booked ourselves a wildlife tour with just the two of us with the guide in a Land Rover Discovery.
I quite like Discoverys you know!
We trundled off into the bush looking for wildlife, and particularly bears, but the scenery was all pretty cool and we stopped off at a couple of scenic spots like the waterfall below.
This is our guide and the transport.
And after seeing a couple of coyotes and deer we eventually came across a bear! Yay!
The bear, a black bear, was tagged, but it is a wild one.
No trip to Whistler would be complete without taking the gondola up to the top of Whistler Mountain.
So that is exactly what we did.
The pictures tells the story.
Yes - there was a bar there and we did indulge.
Sitting there surrounded by snow capped mountains with nothing but mountains visible as far as you can see was just magical.
The umbrella bar with the umbrella folded.
This is the podium they used to award the medals.
Yep - Karen got the gold.
I couldn't resist this :)
And there was snow all around - quite deep in most places.
There is a further gondola ride called the Peak to Peak and this is a 4.4 klm ride across from the peak of Whistler Mountain to the peak of Blackcomb Mountain. This is a must do thing and if you can get the gondola with the glass floor (we did on the way back) then it is pretty exciting.
All too soon our time in Whistler cam to an end and we had to head off back to Vancouver. It was a great place to visit though.
We stopped off on our way back and lunched next to this gorgeous river.
Back in Vancouver we dropped off the car at the hire place and ended up in the Steamship Brewpub. I have to say that I really like Canadian pubs although their super strong beer demands a lot of respect, and the Canadians themselves who are just so friendly.
We had a day to kill before boarding the cruise boat so we caught a bus and went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.
To be honest, this was something of a disappointment. A tourist attraction built around a suspension bridge that has some historical interest, but nothing much more. Plus there were hordes of tourists arriving on by bus with large numbers of them displaying, well let's call it "cultural incompatibilities" that really got up our nose.
The park had other things besides the suspension bridge and here are some pics showing what they were.
Story poles (as opposed to totem poles) carved by the local indigenous people. Some quite interesting designs too.
Then there was the cliff walk - this is a walkway built into the cliff side of the gorge and it was, to us, a more interesting thing than the bridge which you can see in the first picture.
After walking along the cliff walk we found that there had been a lull in the bus arrivals so we were able to walk across the suspension bridge relatively easily.
Hard to see in this picture, but we spent a couple of minutes watching a juvenile bald eagle trying to hunt a duck that just kept diving down whenever the eagle appeared. It was amusing.
Once across the bridge we headed to the tree tops walk - a loop of walkways strung through the trees.
After we returned over the suspension bridge, along with half the population of the Indian sub-continent, we caught a bus back to the city.
This bus was a restored early trolley bus and it was a pretty cool trip.
And so we went back to the hotel to collect our bags and headed off to the cruiseship terminal to get on board our cruise along the Inside Passage.
The Cruise
Ah yes - who could consider going to the west coast of Canada and not think of taking a cruise up the Inside Passage to Alaska? Well not us, and not the thousands and thousands of other tourists heading up that way. It truly was a bit of a cattle drive and at almost every port of call (Icy Point Strait being the only exception) there were two, three, four or even five other cruise ships there at the same time.
Still, it is the only way to get to see that part of the world and it is well worth seeing.
We left Vancouver at about 8pm, but as it is summer there and they have 20+ hours of daylight it still allowed us to see what we passed.
Most of any shipping docks are less than gripping visions, but we passed these pyramids of sulphur. Interesting sight and much brighter yellow than my iPhone captured.
We were able to get a room (a "Stateroom" no less) on the starboard side with a window above the bedhead for this trip and this allowed us to watch the coastline as we travelled on through. All a very dramatic coastline as well.
Here is Karen enjoying a glass of wine as we cruise on by.
The ship also had some great deck areas to view the passing world. We loved it, at least until it got a bit too chilly!
Sunset - it was about 10:30pm I just love these long days.
We spent a lot of time just looking at the coastline as it drifted past. All those mountains!
It just blew us away.
Our room steward had a bit of fun with towel animals most days.
Ketchican
Our first stop was in Ketchican where we wandered the town for a while and bought Karen a jacket.
An interesting introduction to Alaska.
Yep - dope is legal here.
Nope - we didn't go in.
An interesting name, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.
This was an interesting piece of art work along the shore. It depicts the various groups of people who have made Ketchican their home from indigenous people through the the miners and fishermen and explorers.
The salmon capital of the world!
A busy place when the cruise ships are in town.
We wandered around the town and found some beautiful things like this azalea. Springtime in Alaska is cool.
Much of the town has been built on piles like these. The house on the right was the local brothel and they still try to entice men into the place.
Wildlife seems to be very close to people here and we spotted a few bald eagles just hanging around the town.
Beautiful birds.
The local fire brigade kept one of the earlier fire engines on display
We went on a wildlife spotting tour that saw us boarding a small boat and heading out, and the first ten things we saw were bald eagles!
Here's a picture of two of them in the same tree.
Weather in Alaska is typically overcast, but it is always beautiful.
We were dressed to expect a change in the weather (and yes, we did hit a few squally showers) and Karen looked gorgeous in it.
Yep - a bald eagle, but it had been perched on the rock and I fluked a shot of it just taking off.
We saw a few blacktail deer, seals and sandhill cranes, but no whales or bear.
Back on the boat and we repaired to the bar for a refreshing drinkie.
And in our room we found that the attendant had been a bit creative with a towel :)
Icy Strait Point
Our next stop was at Icy Strait Point.
This is an indigenous peoples' village and everything there is done and owned by them.
It provided a much more realistic introduction to life in Alaska and our guide on the ATV tour was local, knowledgeable and entertaining.
That said, there wasn't a huge amount to see or do apart from the wilderness experience, but that was pretty good in its own right.
Our ATV - lots of fun these things and they provide a very direct connection to the road!
There's not a lot I can add to the pictures - the information our guide gave us on things like spruce tip food and beer is not readily photographed, but it was an entertaining day.
And then we left - this is the view from our room.
Juneau - 4th June
The capital of Alaska, this place is cut off and only accessible by air or sea.
It was also so non-photogenic that I didn't bother taking any pictures.
We did however grab a tour bus ride out to the Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls - the photos don't do it justice.
A great place to visit.
Later that day we took a cable car ride up the hill to take in the views. It was a typically overcast day, but dry, so it doesn't look too bright, but the wilderness experience so close to town was worth the exercise.
When we got back to the boat we indulged in a little drink, although I had a large one. They serve Fosters in HUGE cans!
And the room attendant had been playing with the towels again!
Too cold to be outside, but the views from the bar were spectacular anyway.
It's a hard life sometimes.
Skagway - 5th June
Skagway looked more like a movie set than anything. Stuffed with boat people and everywhere a tourist trap. The town is literally just as you'd expect to see on a movie with most of the locals in period costume.
We had an unfortunate incident with a restaurant. We just wanted a coffee, but they wouldn't serve us, pointing quite firmly in the direction of a coffee shop around the corner.
I was quite obvious that they just wanted to make as much money as possible and serving meals did that.
We can understand, but it didn't leave us with a pleasant feeling.
However, we got out of town on a scenic train ride on the White Pass & Yukon Railway. Lovely trip and recommended. The engine was an old steam unit and the carriages were restored period things.
The pictures below will give the flavour:
The heating (not required by us) would have come via an old combustion stove in the corner.
Crossing a bridge was an interesting affair - they look so rickety!
A rickety bridge AND a tunnel!
We climbed all the way to the top and you can see we were at cloud level.
We crossed into Canada and then back again.
Hubbard glacier - 6 June
This was just bloody magic!
The main ship could not get really close to the glacier so they provided (at extortionate cost) a small boat to do just that. We jumped at the chance and, after rugging up, we motored out to look at the glacier close up for about three hours.
The main ship could not get really close to the glacier so they provided (at extortionate cost) a small boat to do just that. We jumped at the chance and, after rugging up, we motored out to look at the glacier close up for about three hours.
We saw huge chunks of
ice fall off to create icebergs (white thunder)
And we saw sea otters, seals,
sea lions and birds. The people left on the ship saw a grizzly walking the shore, but we missed it.
My apologies, but this one will be just FULL of pictures!
A chunk of glacier ice - this went into our drinks to cool them!
Spot the seals
Seward - 7th June
The boat dropped us off in town and we left our cases at the railway station - there wasn't any sort of ticket to claim them back nor any security, but that seems to be the go in Alaska. Trust is just given. We booked ourselves in for a tour as we had all day in the town before the train left in the evening.
We went for a walk around the town after grabbing a coffee at a weird little group of businesses (cycle hire, salmon purchase and the cafe) and headed off to the Two Lakes park which required us to walk through the town.
There were quite a few small streams like the one below, all feeding into these two small lakes.
This is one of the lakes - more like a pond really.
## I know I have more pics - find them! ##
Walking out of the park we found ourselves looking at the mountains on the other side of the fjord that is home to Seward.
It's a really nice little town.
This is the RV Park - right on the shores of the fjord and just a short walk to town.
Breathtaking views to wake up to!
And just up from the RV Park is the cruise ship terminal.
## More pics of the tour etc ##
A trip into the Kenai Fjords NP was great as was seeing the Exit Glacier and the local wildlife museum
Once we had seen enough of the museum we headed off to the pub.
One thing about cruising is that you put a lot of weight on - Jeez I look fat!
We left Seward that evening for an extremely scenic train journey to Anchorage and our stay in the Ramada hotel.
The train was slow but it gave us lots of Time to appreciate the beauty of the scenery.
Anchorage - 8 June
Took a wildlife tour and ended up getting a longer tour as the guide was enjoying himself. Went to a wildlife care park where we saw brown and black bears, moose, elk, Sitka black tailed deer, caribou, lynx, bison and musk ox.
Visited a wood carver (incredible sculpture artist) on the way back and just loved his work.
Then it was washing and chores.
Wack in Anchorage we wandered the streets looking for breakfast.
I have to say that it is a most unprepossessing city that looks more like a Soviet city from the 1950s than anything else.
There's still some fun to be had on the streets though :)
9 June
Anchorage to Calgary
We got a shuttle to
the airport and got on our plane after a full American security process. That was a little scary, but interesting.
The plane took us first to Seattle - where we had an airport meal that was OK I suppose, but the sight of the local mountain as we flew in was good.
On the way we called into a place that was the home of a wood carver and he turns out some amazing pieces.
We reached Canmore and found our home for the next few days. It was a two bed apartment so we were sharing bathroom and kitchen facilities, but that was cool. We were all getting on excellently.
It was a big enough day so we headed back to hotel but Karen and I just fancied a bit more of a walk so we headed off for a walk around Quarry Lake. That was OK, but the interesting bit was coming across signs warning about a Nuisance Bear - and then it began to sleet so we headed home.
Dinner at the Sage restaurant. Steelhead trout and lamb and it was yummy.
Dinner was cod and chips - yummy 😀
Calgary - this was a much nicer experience and even the taxi ride (in a Lincoln Town Car) was was cool.
The Sandman hotel wasn’t cool though as it was undergoing a fair bit of internal redevelopment and only half the lifts worked.
10 June
Did a bit of Calgary exploration seeing the Princes Island Park and indulging in a couple of tasty beers.
Walked 5 or 6 Klm’s to pick up the hire car (a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited/Sahara) with which I am quite pleased. mind you, the rental people wanted to fob us off with a Jeep Patriot which was just too small for four people and four suitcases - they folded when I told them to forget it and we'd go somewhere else. :)
Driving back to the hotel was a little weird with Canadian road rules and it being rush hour. At one point we turned onto a quiet road and waited, indicating to turn right into a side road when we realised that we were on a rail line and we had an angry train up our rear! Embarrassing.
Driving back to the hotel was a little weird with Canadian road rules and it being rush hour. At one point we turned onto a quiet road and waited, indicating to turn right into a side road when we realised that we were on a rail line and we had an angry train up our rear! Embarrassing.
Steve and Elaine arrived at 8.30 and we caught up before bed time, but we were all knackered to meeting them for breakfast.
11 June
Set off to the mountains in the Jeep and visited Banff, the spiral railway and then arrived at Emerald Lake. Bloody beautiful.
The roads were in excellent condition and easy to drive - take a look at the pics below.
Banff is a town famous for its skiing links, but it is a really nice little place - too damned touristy for me though.
The spiral railway is one that spirals up mostly inside a mountain and just popping out at a couple of points to run on the side of the mountain. It is a spectacular piece of engineering.
The roads were in excellent condition and easy to drive - take a look at the pics below.
Then we started to get into the mountains (Calgary is on the prairie) and we started seeing snow.
On our way to Banff I pretty much insisted on calling into a nearby lake, just to check it out because of the name.
We got there to find that some roads were closed because of a bear, but we never got to see the beast.
It's a great name eh?
Elaine had organised a meeting with some old friends of hers and Steve's and we caught up in a cafe in town before heading up to a hotel that overlooked the town.
The hotel was built with a Scottish castle theme. but it was the outside deck that was the best thing. We loved it.
Banff is a town famous for its skiing links, but it is a really nice little place - too damned touristy for me though.
The spiral railway is one that spirals up mostly inside a mountain and just popping out at a couple of points to run on the side of the mountain. It is a spectacular piece of engineering.
On the way we called into a place that was the home of a wood carver and he turns out some amazing pieces.
On the way to Emerald Lake we kept passing by some spectacular mountain scenery - gorgeous
And then we reached Emerald Lake and what a gorgeous place it is.
The lodge, and all the apartments are like something from a Hansel & Gretel story. Just perfect.
Dinner at the lodge was elk for Karen and wild boar for me and both were delicious.
12 June
We went for a walk up to Hamilton Falls first thing after breakfast. Steep, but wild country and beautiful. Elaine is suffering from a damaged ankle and walking very far is beyond her.
A little later in the day Karen and I went for a walk around Emerald Lake and this is a pic that Steve took with his long lens.
Off to Cougar Mountain Lodge after our walk. We were expecting it to be close to Jasper, but it turned out to be over 100 klms the other side. Bugger - a miscalculation on my part.
Still, although it was a long drive there via Jasper we saw 4 black bears including a cub as well as deer along the roadsides so that was cool.
Dinner was taken in the pub in town and it was pretty bloody good.
13 June
Went to Retreat Falls, Overlander Falls and then Jasper for coffee and then beers.
We reached Jasper and did some wandering around and shopping as well as consuming a coffee. The it was back to Valemount and we saw a magnificent stag on the way. We were too slow to get a picture though.
The rivers were in full spring spate and flowing fast, but there were still some crazy kayakers who just had to get out there on the water. This was Retreat Falls. I apologise for the sheer number of photos, but these places just beg to be recorded.
This is Elaine, Karen and me on the walkway down to the falls.
Elaine looking excited :)
Beautiful eh?
You can get some idea of the sheer power of all that water from this shot - and salmon climb this high, and higher, to spawn!
Yes, it was still frosty in shady areas!
We set off again and were amazed (again) by the scenery.
Yep - we came across a bear, but (s)he just wandered off to get some peace.
This is the floral symbol of the National Park - don't ask me what it is.
Silly picture time at the entrance to the National Park - you can see the floral emblem across the road in the second picture.
We never actually got to see a mountain goat though.
This is a view of Mt Robson as we drove into the park.
This was our second waterfall, although it is more of a series of big rapids, Surrender Falls.
Awe inspiring to be near to it.
Dinner at Caribou Lodge - yum. This was a bit more upmarket than the pub, but the food justified it.
14 June
Today we left Elaine and Steve to go for a trail ride around the bush. It seems like it was a great day out for them and they really enjoyed the ride - it took them through some dramatic country. We drove to Little Lost Lake and went for a walk. It was a decent walk up the mountain just to get to the lake, but true to its name, it was only a little one so we decided to go for a walk around it.
It was while we were walking around the lake on some scrabbly tracks that we came across a black bear and retreated. It was walking away from us so had probably heard us coming, but we didn't want to push our luck so we went back, and no, I didn't bother trying to get a photo of it!
We picked up Steve & Elaine and headed off to a heliport to grab a scenic flight - lovely :)
It was while we were walking around the lake on some scrabbly tracks that we came across a black bear and retreated. It was walking away from us so had probably heard us coming, but we didn't want to push our luck so we went back, and no, I didn't bother trying to get a photo of it!
We picked up Steve & Elaine and headed off to a heliport to grab a scenic flight - lovely :)
This was our transport
It was a gorgeous clear day and the views were like a chocolate box.
Dinner at Tete Jeune (pronounced by the locals as Tee John) which is a lovely spot next to the Fraser River
Elaine loved this place (with good reason) and she loved the chairs by the river.
She also loved soaking her painful ankle in the icy cold waters of the Fraser River.
Am I thinking of pushing Karen in?
Steve got a little arty with some shots, but they were beautiful.
The river in full flow - majestic stuff
15 June
Drove to Kinbasket Lake for a look around, but it was virtually dry. The spring thaw hasn't yet really happened for this place, but it was worth a look
We stopped off at a small bridge to check out the gorge.
A walk across the bridge was mandatory
There was this memorial at one end of the bridge.
When we got to the lake we found that the snow melt had not, yet, started and the lake was close to dry,
We took a walk down to the lake's edge and then a longer walk to the actual water.
Our conveyance :)
It is a JL model Wrangler, brand new to us (and look how dusty we got it) and we were very happy with it apart from the standard bloody awful Jeep steering.
Bloody awful that is for higher speed freeway driving, but perfect for off road stuff where the slow and inaccurate recirculating ball mechanism is a benefit.
Bloody awful that is for higher speed freeway driving, but perfect for off road stuff where the slow and inaccurate recirculating ball mechanism is a benefit.
On the way back we drove to Swift Creek and took a walk along the creek to a viewpoint. Magic.
The next morning Karen and I decided to take a walk up along a river to see what we could see.
It was pretty easy for a while and then went almost vertical, but the views were great.
You can see the town of Valemount in the distance.
Yep - time to cool off those feet in that freezing river :)
And on the way back we spotted deer crossing the railway line.
The next morning Karen and I decided to take a walk up along a river to see what we could see.
It was pretty easy for a while and then went almost vertical, but the views were great.
You can see the town of Valemount in the distance.
And on the way back we spotted deer crossing the railway line.
Dinner in the Moose Pub - again. Love that place, the staff are so friendly and welcoming and the food was great.
16 June
Leaving Valemount we drove to Canmore, as we needed to head back towards Calgary to drop off Steve & Elaine for their flights back.
It was the same scenic drive we had done before, but it just didn't get old - the mountains are addictive viewing - and on the way we stopped off at the Glacier Skywalk and took a trip up onto the Glacier itself.
It was the same scenic drive we had done before, but it just didn't get old - the mountains are addictive viewing - and on the way we stopped off at the Glacier Skywalk and took a trip up onto the Glacier itself.
The skywalk is a glass bottomed walk out over the edge of a cliff. Interesting, but not super stuff.
Steve took this pic of us - as you can see, it was full of tourists and I'm not fond of that sort of overcrowding.
Interesting to see the depth of snow still lying on the mountains around us.
Happy campers eh?
Looking down from the skywalk we spotted some mountain sheep.
The glacier trip was pretty good though and we enjoyed it immensely.
They use specially constructed coaches to take you up there and they were interesting.
As you'd expect, it was pretty cold up there, but we were dressed for the job.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!
This is the glacier coming down towards you.
Another small glacier making its way to join the main one.
And the glacier melts in the sun and the water runs off. We all had a drink of this delicious water.
I wouldn't fancy having to change a tyre on this thing!
17 June
Canmore was not an exciting place, but we needed to do some laundry and a day of not doing much was in order after the exertions of the days before.
We took a walk towards town after we completed the laundry and ended up in a place called Blake bar for a beer, but ended up staying there most of the afternoon and just got pissed.
Steak and salad was our dinner for the night and I think we all just nodded off early.
18 June
Canmore wasn't too fascinating, so we headed out to Lake Louise for a bit of sightseeing and canoeing on the lake.
They charge an arm and a leg for the canoes, but it was a wonderful thing to do.
This picture shows the far end of the lake and the glacier that feeds it - it's a stunning sight.
They charge an arm and a leg for the canoes, but it was a wonderful thing to do.
This picture shows the far end of the lake and the glacier that feeds it - it's a stunning sight.
Steve pictured us as we returned and you can see who was doing all the work can't you?
They have built a magnificent hotel at one end of the lake - we weren't staying there because it was just too damned expensive. We had checked it out before we left Australia and they were charging over $1,000 a night for an ordinary room facing the mountains - the lake view rooms were even more!
We grabbed a coffee and a cake in the hotel and relaxed for a while, but soon enough it was time to head back out and into Banff.
Karen and I stopped shopping for souvenirs fairly quickly and headed out to walk the bank of the Bow River which was a beautiful and scenic thing - then we walked into a bar for a Gin & Tonic. We were quite surprised to find that the tonic water there still contains quinine.
We caught back up with Steve & Elaine again and headed off "home" to Canmore.
19 June
Today we headed back into Banff and took the gondola to take us up to a local high point.
This is the town of Banff
We took a walk along the boardwalk to the old weather station and that was quite a surprise - it was very small and had to provide shelter for three or four people in a very cold place at times.
Interesting though - the pic below is looking back to the tourist centre at the top of the gondola.
It was a big enough day so we headed back to hotel but Karen and I just fancied a bit more of a walk so we headed off for a walk around Quarry Lake. That was OK, but the interesting bit was coming across signs warning about a Nuisance Bear - and then it began to sleet so we headed home.
Dinner at the Sage restaurant. Steelhead trout and lamb and it was yummy.
20 June
Dropped S&E off at Calgary airport then drove to Cranbrook via some decidedly boring flat lands. I suppose that's what you get in the prairie states!
Then we started to see things changing as we approached the Rockies and eventually we saw some some stunning scenery along the Crows Nest Pass.
And then we reached Kelowna which is a working town with some interesting locals - you can see the floating logs near the town in this pic.
Dinner was in a great place called the Heid Out - friendly locals who were quite happy to share some of their (legal here) marijuana. We didn't bother, but it was nice to be accepted.
Then we started to see things changing as we approached the Rockies and eventually we saw some some stunning scenery along the Crows Nest Pass.
We'd booked a nice hotel in Cranbrook and thoroughly enjoyed the evening there.
21 June
The drive from Cranbrook to Kelowna started in rain but once we got across a high point it dried and became magnificent. Just wow!
The pictures following give you some idea of what it looked like.
The pictures following give you some idea of what it looked like.
On the way we had coffee in Salmo which was a nice little town although unremarkable, but then we had ice cream in Beaverdell. The only game in town was a small general store which served the most delicious locally made ice cream which we ate sitting on a bench outside the store just watching the people passing by.
I have to say that country Canadians are pretty similar to country New Zealanders - and that's great!
I have to say that country Canadians are pretty similar to country New Zealanders - and that's great!
And then we reached Kelowna which is a working town with some interesting locals - you can see the floating logs near the town in this pic.
Dinner was in a great place called the Heid Out - friendly locals who were quite happy to share some of their (legal here) marijuana. We didn't bother, but it was nice to be accepted.
The town has a beautiful lake front with Ogopogo (look it up) on display, but there were quite a large number of homeless people gathered in one spot and it gave a generally aggressive feel to the town.
23 June
Rainy morning but it cleared and the drive to Harrison Hot Springs was dramatic indeed. Some high mountains to be crossed.
There were long uphill and then downhill sections - one was marked as 8% for 4 Klms followed by one of 6% for 10 klms . All downhill! There were others of some klms but that was the longest. Superb gearbox and cruise control in the Jeep.
There were long uphill and then downhill sections - one was marked as 8% for 4 Klms followed by one of 6% for 10 klms . All downhill! There were others of some klms but that was the longest. Superb gearbox and cruise control in the Jeep.
The Harrison Hot Springs Hotel is old but classy enough and the hot springs were great. We spent time just relaxing there apart from trips to the bar to refill on the cocktails
Dinner was cod and chips - yummy 😀
24 June
We got a late checkout at the hotel so the morning was slow and lazy and we spent time in the hot pools.
The drive to the airport was also relaxed but the traffic near Vancouver was horrendous. Easy car return and then the loooooong drag home.
And that is that - I got a bit tired of writing towards the end - sorry - but you'll get the gist of it/ We had a ball!
