Friday 13th - Banff

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So today was my drive from Vancouver to Banff, some 860km by car! To say that it was thoroughly enjoyable is an understatement. I left at about 6:30am and arrived in Banff at 4pm local which would have been 3pm Vancouver time. That's pretty good progress and it is a testimony to the quality of the roads considering the majority of it was through mountainous terrain. The Canadians have certainly spent much money and labour in making the Trans-Canada highway viable, along with the rail line that follows it. I was carving my way through the rockies and at no stage was I forced to slow down to under 80kmph, instead of following cliff faces - they just built bridges and tunnels! The time passed pretty quickly as I was in the zone, had the Ipod pumping through the Nissan's excellent speaker system and the ever changing majestic scenery kept me going. I have to say, the 2.5L 4 cylinder Nissan goes pretty good and it was a comfortable ride but the suspension was pretty stable through the corners too. I was much impressed.

I wasn't able to stop to take any photos as there wasn't any turn-offs on this side of the road so there are no photos for memories, only the images that been imprinted on my mind. The scenery got even better as I neared Banff and hopefully I will be able to stop and check it out when I head north to check out Lake Louise tomorrow and then when I head to Jasper on Sunday. The weather that dogged me in Vancouver gave way to a perfect blue sunny day which was a blessing as driving 860km in driving rain probably would not have been as enjoyable.

Entering Banff for the first time will stay in my mind for awhile, the township is smack bang in the middle of beautiful snow capped mountains on all sides. I stopped by the Canada Parks information centre to buy my national park pass and then checked into my hotel which is very centrally located. After all that was sorted, I went for a stroll and took some postcard perfect photos of the town with the mountains looming behind. Definitely worth the trip out here and I am extremely happy that I made the decision to travel out here. Tomorrow will bring even more beautiful scenery as I get out and about.

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