Conquering Canada

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Seattle and Vancouver are separated by a journey of around 4 hours. Negotiating the border between the USA and Canada was trouble-free and we were soon staring at the looming skyline of downtown Vancouver. Our Greyhound disgorged its passengers at the central bus terminal just outside downtown and so we once more slipped on our weighty packs and set-off for an easier route into town and our hotel.

We caught the sky rail train into town which wormed its way to one end of Vancouver. The main downtown area is perched on a peninsular and surrounded by water on all sides. Like all cities in this part of the world a grid system was in place making getting around and navigation quite easy. We eventually found our hotel and wasted no time in discovering the delights this fine city had in store. Vancouver is often voted as one of the top cities to live in the world, and we were keen to understand the reasons why.

We discovered what a delightfully beautiful place Vancouver was very quickly. The downtown area feels like it is almost completely covered in large blocks of flats and glassy skyscrapers, reflecting the surrounding still waters and large mountains. It is as if each building is clamouring to achieve a perfect view, which would not be difficult in any part of this area. The view would be spectacular and unlike most urban sprawls in many other cities. Tall, snow-caked mountains slide into a beautifully calm harbour area which is busy with yachts, rowers, kayakers and sea planes taking off and landing.

We explored the city in the best (and cheapest) way - on foot. We began by walking around the harbour side of the peninsular, through the marinas to Stanley Park. An excellent stroll which took us past Canada Place and many fabulous yachts that always seem to spawn conversations which begin with "well, if I won the lottery I'd buy that one...". Stanley Park itself is an enormous patch of green that takes up the entire tip of the peninsular. It is a 10km walk from one end to the other, half of which we attempted on this day. The park was an old military area that now acts as recreational space and showcase for incredibly small dogs. We discovered that lots of people in Vancouver who walk their dogs here own some of the most peculiar tiny k9's and dress them up quite extraordinarily.

The walk continues on the coast and heralds some glorious vistas from the mountain backdrop of North Vancouver across the water to the Lions Gate Bridge which stretches across the water from the tip of Stanley Park and leads to north and West Vancouver. The park also contains various totem poles which are wonderfully carved and painted. Totem poles are a traditional art that was practiced by Canada's indigenous peoples, long before the Europeans landed. The whole park is a wonderful fusion of green open space and thick wooded patches that provide a tranquil escape to the throbbing downtown district. It's just a shame they built a road right through the middle of it!

Next we discovered an area that seems an essential part of most western cities - Chinatown. Vancouver’s Chinatown lacked the frenetic pace of some of the previous ones we have experienced, perhaps because of its size. However what it did have were some very agreeable Chinese gardens containing still ponds, ornaments and a traditional bridge which looked as if it was floating on the water. All of these beautiful structures are reflected in the still ponds which make it all very peaceful.

Chinatown then led us into Gastown, the old heart of the city. It was discovered by an old pirate called 'Gassy' Jack (I'm not making this stuff up, honestly) who settled and opened up bars that attracted passing merchants. Today Gastown is a cobblestone street with ornate, trendy shop fronts and cafes. The road is lined with wonderful lamps which omit an ethereal glow. Mid-way up the street is an old gas powered clock that is built on top of a steam vent, an outlet of Vancouver's heating distribution system. The clock was a way of harnessing the steam power and is an enjoyable thing to watch as it puffs its way around the clock face and 'parps' every 15 minutes. Rounding off our Vancouver exploration was another stroll around the opposite coast of the peninsular near Granville Island which heralds wide and impressive sea and sky vistas.

We then headed to the capital of British Columbia, which is located on Vancouver Island. The city is called Victoria and is accessible by an exceptionally pleasing ferry that affords beautiful scenery as it weaves in and out of various islands. We had lovely clear skies for our journey to Victoria which allowed us wonderful views of crystal clear water and snow capped mountains. It was an icy day but we braved the biting cold elements to watch our ferry slice through the still water and approach Swartz Bay.

We made our way from Swartz Bay to Victoria and soon discovered what a delightful place it was. The city is much smaller than Vancouver, which is considered the 'Big Smoke', but is very quaint. The centrepiece of the city and our main reason for being there is the Parliament Building which looks as if it has been plucked from a fairy tale. It was built early in the 20th century and is a wonderfully intricate grey stone building. The building transforms at night with lights placed across each axis to create something that you might find in Disneyland. Our favourite thing was to sit in a chocolate shop called Rogers gulping the delicious hot chocolates across the harbour at dusk as the lights gradually burst into life, transforming the building. The inside is just as decadent and feels like a stately British home. Pictures of the Queen and Prince Phil and various military plaques adorn the long halls and large chambers within.

Also in Victoria we discovered the delightful harbour area and walked from here around to Beacon Hill Park which is a lovely patch of greenery that leads into the endlessness of the Pacific Ocean. It was a very quaint and quiet place overall, that provided us with a great contrast to the hustle of Vancouver. After a couple of days we caught the ferry back, staying warm and scrutinizing a Sudoku book we had invested in. In Vancouver, the start of our final road trip awaited us.

We found our way back into Vancouver from the ferry terminal at Tsawassen (try that one when you've had a few!) and got our car from the rental agency. We left Vancouver, driving over the Lions Gate Bridge and towards North Vancouver. We wanted to explore a couple of areas here before hitting the road properly. Our first destination was an area in North Vancouver called the Lynn Canyon. North Vancouver itself is a mostly residential area perched between mountains and water that faces the main peninsular Vancouver central is located on. Exploring Lynn Canyon took us over a particularly springy suspension bridge which allowed great views of the canyon below. The water looked very crisp and clear and was surrounded by crashing, foaming waterfalls and thick green foliage. We wandered for a while in areas of treacherous thick snow which had frozen solid.

After Lynn Canyon we made one final stop before continuing up the legendary route 99 - the Sea to Sky Highway. The view from Grouse Mountain, a popular ski resort for Vancouverites, is well documented. Warnings are plastered all over the road, informing drivers that snow tyres or chains are compulsory beyond this point. We had neither. The road was clear though and wound up the mountain to a view point that was spectacular. The shape of Vancouver Island was visible as well as the soaring skyscrapers and blocks of flats. Above the city hung a haze of brown smog which made it all look quite dingy. It
all looked rather tiny from up here.

Setting off again we began to enjoy the magnificence of the Sea to Sky Highway. It is a beautiful road that follows the sea inlet and is home to a pleasing assortment of mountains, hills, waterfalls and large still bodies of water. It's a belittling experience to drive though, with the mountains becoming larger and larger as the road works its way further inland. We made one stop on this drive to Shannon Park Falls - one of the largest in Canada at 396 metres. All in all it is a rather excellent cascade of water thundering down the side of a sheer rock face.

We began to look for a place to stay when we reached Squamish but found nothing suitable apart from overpriced rubbish. We ploughed on, not sure really what to expect, towards Whistler. Whistler looked positively divine but was unfortunately well beyond our budget. We were beginning to wonder if a night in our car was on the cards and were rather perturbed that the standard of motels were not a scratch on the ones in the US, both in terms of their quality, value and quantity. We ended up in the minute town of Pemberton, which looked vaguely inviting. Due to our desperation we ended up paying over the odds for a grotty hotel that was far from comfortable, above a pub and right next to a railway line. All in all, not a great choice. However the drive here had been wonderful and very dizzying. The mountains surrounding us were enormous and were caked in a thick layer of snow and the frozen lakes were also plentiful.

Glad to see the back of Pemberton and its rubbish hotel, we took to the road again to drink in some more amazing scenery. More mountains and frozen lakes awaited us on the empty road towards the Canadian Rockies. The frozen lakes were especially fun and one even had a clamour of people doing some ice fishing on it. The snow was getting thicker and thicker as we moved more inland - in some cases it was waist height piled up on the side of the road. The Canadians are used to such weather though, thankfully, and the roads are ploughed and gritted regularly. We were hoping and praying that we weren't caught in a snow storm as we had been ignoring the many signs on the route telling us we need snow chains at this time of year.

We came to the end of the magnificent route 99 and found our way onto the Trans-Canadian Highway, which took us through delightful sounding towns such as Salmon Arm. Determined not to repeat the debacle in Pemberton in searching for hotels, we tried to ensure we found somewhere a little more populated. After a long driving day we spent the night in a town called Revelstoke, which offered much more in the way of accommodation options. The town acts as a base for the surrounding National Parks which we were to drive through the next day. The town was quite expensive due to the popularity of Mount Revelstoke with skiers but we found something that was a little cosier than the previous night so we were a little happier.

We drove on the next day on the same highway through the gloomy, threatening clouds to enter Glacier National Park - home to 23 metres of snow per year and over 400 glaciers! We investigated with the local Canada Parks office about this parks accessibility and were not surprised to find out many of the lazy (driving) tracks were under about 4 metres of snow. We sped through the park, still enjoying the wonderful winter wonderland that cruised by before leaving British Columbia and entering Alberta. We were now in one of the top drawer locations and in amongst the Canadian Rockies at Banff National Park. Our first stop here was a short hop to see Lake Louise which is a popular sight that encompasses large mountains a flowing glacier and a frozen lake. For our evening rest we made our way to Banff village, which is an incredibly pretty place.

Banff was named after a couple of Scottish chaps that helped finance the Trans-Canadian railroad. They both founded the village and recognised the areas outstanding natural beauty. The park was named after the town they were from in Scotland. The town has a wonderful lodge feel and is surrounded by mountains that look as if a packet of flour has been dumped on their peaks. The town comprises of some wonderful cafes and shops which are ornately designed and feel almost as if it were plucked from medieval Europe. The Fairmont hotel looked like something out of a fairy tale and was, sadly, out of our budget. However we did find a rather nice Best Western that we negotiated hard to secure a very good rate for on the basis of 2 nights stay. The room was much better than our previous two nights. It had high wooden ceilings, posh toiletries, comfortable beds and (hurrah) a coffee percolator.

On our first day in Banff we took the cable car to the top of Sulphur Mountain which is a perilously steep journey up the side of the mountain. The cable car docks at a terminal that includes a restaurant and observation deck that looks very much like something out of On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

A wooden walkway snakes from here across the rim of the mountain to a weather station at the very peak. The views from across this wooden walkway are quite unbelievable and we gasped in awe as we slid across the thick snow covering the wooden path. Every direction we were treated to wonderful vistas and felt as if we really were in the heart of the Canadian Rockies.

Snowy mountains, enormous valleys and gigantic lakes were sprawled around us in all directions all covered in white powder. The steeper gradients were naked of any snow betraying their sheer verticality (if that's even a word). In the middle of it all was the tiny spec of Banff, seemingly oblivious to its insignificance amongst this enormous natural rocky wonder. We spent some time here admiring the view, ignoring the probable frost-bite that was claiming our extremities. The temperature here was well well well below freezing so we rewarded ourselves with an over-priced hot drink to savour the view from the warmth of the observation deck. We had a quick look around for Number 1, but he was obviously tucked away somewhere obscure.

The huge lake we saw from Mount Sulphur was Lake Minnewanka, which sounds far too similar to 'mini wanker' for it to be a mistake. We made our way here next, through the town of Banff and about 10km out the other side. Our time at this lake culminated in quite a fun and fascinating experience. The whole lake was frozen solid and was a stupendous sight to behold. It looked like an enormous disc of white with large singular mountains forming around the sides. We spent much time firstly gingerly edging out looking quite ridiculous I'm sure. However, this soon turned into a lot of slipping, sliding and skidding around like lunatics. We both perfected a kind of freestyle dancing on ice and even found time to play football with a lump of ice that shot across the surface.

Near the rockier parts of the lake sheets of ice were suspended as if a crashing wave had hit the rock and then just froze pointing vertically, it was amazing stuff. After we had extracted all the fun that can be had from falling on our backsides repeatedly we left to head back into Banff to devour hot drinks and enormous butterscotch cookies. Mmmm!

We left the town of Banff and embarked on a famous drive along the Icefields Parkway, an incredible road that traverses the centre of the Canadian Rockies. Still snow-chainless we embarked on the slippery road on a crisp, blue and altogether glorious day. The road is home to some fabulous scenery and weaves up and down mountains to give distinguished views of frozen waterfalls, lakes, mountains, forests and glaciers. Each stop we made (and there were many) included wading in waist-deep snow which was quite tiring after a while. The absolute highlight of the drive however was the Alabaster Glacier.

The glacier comes into view from the road and I'm quite sure that when it does it causes many near accidents. The huge ice flow snakes down between two mountains and looked marvellous as the sun glistened off its icy shell. We stopped for a closer look (braving the -15 degree temperature) and walked about 2km or so over ice, through thick snow and rocky terrain to reach the glacier toe (its tip). Much of the lower part was covered in snow, but some of the bare ice was visible which glowed an ethereal blue. This is because of the sediment contained in the water that has frozen. The glacier was huge but markers showed quite how much it had retreated over the past few decades and the large scoring on sides of the surrounding mountains showed the immense power of the ice to scrape and shape the rocks as it fell back. Other smaller glaciers clung to crevasses high up the surrounding mountains which at some point all fed this main glacier.

As we left, the drive continued to inspire until we reached our evening stop in the charming town of Jasper. Jasper was a smaller, quieter version of Banff in which wild Elk gather on the roadside which was good fun to watch.

From Jasper and the middle of the Canadian Rockies we began our final journey back towards Vancouver, driving parallel to the mountain range before turning towards our final night stay in Kamloops. Our final journey required a very long drive back to Vancouver and en-route we stopped at Whistler as it was actually light enough to enjoy this time.

Whistler is a famous ski resort town and centres around the slopes of Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains. The ski trails are easily visible from the village, which is a very quaint place full of restaurant, coffee shops and hotels. There is a busy buzz in the air as people traipse around in bright (sometimes quite stupid looking) ski gear and clomp around in big ski boots. From Whistler we found ourselves back on the Sea to Sky Highway - negotiating the road works en-route. The Winter Olympics are being held here in the coming months and all the roads and infrastructure is being upgraded to cope with all the increased traffic.

Feeling peckish on reaching Vancouver and with still some time to kill before flying home we found ourselves in North Vancouver enjoying the views across the water whilst chomping on some freshly-made sushi. Something a little healthier than the McDonald's diet we'd been attempting to wean ourselves off.

The city skyline from here appeared as a hazy high-rise collective as we took in our finals views and savoured the wonderful setting, the busy market on the waterfront and the final drive to Vancouver airport. It was a time of mixed emotion - happiness to see our families after a very long trip, but sadness that it was all over so quickly. That first nervous night in a dingy hotel room in Delhi are still so fresh in our memories.

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Photos

Parliament Building
Victoria, Vancouver Island.

Pacific Ocean View
From West Coast of Vancouver Island

Suspension Bridge
Over Lynn Canyon, North Vancouver.

View from atop Mount Sulphur
Canadian Rockies.

Slippery Boardwalk
Suplhur Mountain, Canadian Rockies.