Canada

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Vancouver

Wed: After a 14 hour flight 4 movies and a couple of hours sleep Ian and I were keen to take a stretch in LA airport. It took about 40 minutes to get through customs and 20 mins to walk to our next terminal. The wait (2 hours) was pretty painful as the terminal was short and after only a few laps walking we were already getting 'strage' looks from other waiting passengers. The flight to Vancouver was good and I slept for about 2 hours. Took train from airport to central Vancouver. There were lots of hockey fans dressed up for the Canucks playofff game. We walked a few blocks to the Kingston b&b which was Beautiful old English hotel with shared bathrooms.
The pub next door was good stop for a quick drink and then walked to the Samesun backpackers to pay for our Moose tour. Back to b&b for a shower and dinner at pub. I almost fell asleep in my dinner as we had had about 4 hours sleep in 34hours since we had left home. That night we slept 10 hours which was great.

Thurs: Moose tour took us along highway 1 with 17 other people from Holland, Switzerland England, Scotland, Germany and Australia. There was one other older couple on the trip but most were 20-30 year olds. First stop was bridal falls and then on to Shuswap lake. The pine mountainsides and snow capped mountains are very pretty and although we had expected it to be cold it was really quite warm. Shuswap lake is so massive we drove along it's edges for about 3 hours.
The hostel was good but there were no private rooms available so we had to share with three other couples.  I had a game of pool with one of the Englishmen (Dave) before dinner and we all went for a walk along lake afterwards. The salmon run up to shuswap last season was so massive there are still the final layers of carcuses all along the waters edge. The group also built a fire on beach but got ushered out of park at 10pm so I was glad to be heading back to bed.

Fri: After only 5 hours sleep we were up and on the road again. The spectacular lake and mountain views continued. We went kayaking at Revelstoke and saw turtles, hawks and beaver dams on the lake. Mt Begbie made and amazing backdrop to the lake.
A couple more hours on the road until we arrived at Natural bridge. Then onto Emerald lake which was our final stop before Banff. It seems we won't get to see the emerald colours of the lakes as the summer is a bit slow in coming this year and most lakes are still frozen. The Banff HI hostel was up on ridge above Banff with beautiful mountains all around. We were lucky to have booked a private room and enjoyed a few extra hours after drinks and pool. Lucky we didn't stay as the caraoke was about to start.

Sat: morning 8am and we were off to Jasper. First stop was lake Louise, which was still frozen but we were able to walk around lake edge to get a good view back to the Fairmont hotel. The hotel was really interesting and beautiful timber work and fittings.
We then drove onto Mistaya Canyon and saw our first black bear along the roadside. We hiked along one of the trails at the canyon for about 2 kms until we all decided we were going nowhere and it seemed like pretty good bear country. We then walked back to canyon edge and had lunch alongside the river which was beautiful. Next stop was the Columbia glacier and where we caught the oversnow up onto glacier. We then drove another two hours towards Jasper. Along the way we saw a grizzly bear and another black bear with her two cubs playing just below us at the midpoint of the Jasper Highway. Just outside of Jasper we stopped at the Maligne canyon which was exceptionally deep cut into rocks. It was getting late so we drove back into town and bought food and drinks for dinner. We then had to drive half an hour back along the highway til we arrived at Athabasca Falls hostel at 9pm. We all then cooked a shared dinner and sat around the fire for a while. Went to bed at midnight. This rustic hostel has only shared accommodation and so we slept in bunk cabin of 12.

Sun: Woke at 7 and Ian and I walked to falls, just a little cautious of stumbling across bears- but none eventuated. After a short rest stop at the glacier terminal we were on our way. Saw Weeping falls along road but didn't take photos. Stopped at Peyto Lake park and had to trek in to viewing platform. The snow was deep and if you stepped off packed snow you sunk up to your thigh. It was funny as one of the young girls has worn high heels the entire trip and on this day was were high heel boots so she kept sinking all the time. She was determined not to wear hiking boots! We had hoped to stop at Morain lake but it was still closed from snow pack so we arrived back in Banff at 3.30. The Fox Hotel was a great break from the shared accommodation but we went back to the hostel to have dinner and drinks with everyone. The Fox is luxurious with an amazing spa cavern and great bars and breakfasts.

Mon: Woke up at 9.30 Yippee! Got some washing done and had a relaxing breakfast. I even made myself some waffles. Ian and I hiked up to the top of Tunnel Mountain and then hiked out to Hoodoos Lookout. About 4 hours hiking which was fantastic. A wrong turn at one point saw us hiking up a very steep vertical climb for about 5-600 metres. Hot and sweaty by the end, but the view was great. We got up from our resting spot at the top to find a very large deer sitting on the grass about 10 feet behind us. We obviously didn't bother him! When we got back to the hotel we took a long hot spa as the rain began to fall through the opening in the spa cavern roof. It was our last night with most of the Moose crew so we went out for dinner with Mark and Rad and then back to the hostel for Columbian Jazz?band. Not such a good idea. finally back to unit and asleep just after midnight.

Tues: We headed out mountain biking at about 10.30 after I cooked us both waffles for breakfast. Pretty easy cooking waffles when all you have to do is pour the mixture in the waffle maker😊 We rode up hills and down hills over mud, rocks and tree roots for hours. We tried to stop for high tea at the Banff Springs Fairmont hotel but it was booked out, so we took a 3mile ride (UPHILL all the way) to the Gondola base and had lunch at the top of the mountain instead. The ride back down the hill was fun but very steep and challenging as we took the bush track. I only had one stack over the front of the handlebars early in the day, but managed to stay upright on the run so no skin off- just a bruised ego. Ian thought it was very talented as he said it was amazing to see me on one wheel for the second or so before I went over the top. Too much front brake on my first steep hill! My bike at home definitely needs new brakes as I now know what it is like to have brakes that really work. We had a nice, well earned hot spa before dinner and I had an early night. Ian stayed up and watched the Hockey game in the bar as this may be the final game.

Wed: Went for a hike around the lake today before Amanda arrived with Rueben and Fletcher. It was really great to catch up with them. Amanda had driven from Edmonton to Calgary the night before as Adrian was doing some training there. She then drove to Banff to spend the day with us which was so special. The boys are growing up fast and they are so beautiful. We had planned to have lunch together but Ian left us before his lunch arrived to go and watch the State of Origin replay at one of the pubs. Priority was not food! Sorry Amanda.

Thurs: We left Banff and travelled most of the day stopping to revisit Revelstoke stopping in an old growth forrest just outside the town. A lovely boardwalk allowed us to walk amoungst the trees to a creek. the weather was drizzly and our next stop was at the winery for wine tasting. This was a great winery tour with really good insight into the ice wines. We stayed overnight at Samesun Kalowna and walked around the beautiful historical homes located near the lake. The wind was strong and cold but we enjoyed a walk along the lake edge anyway. Ian played ping pong with the other Moose bus riders at the hostel. Kalowna is central to Big White, Silver Star and other major ski fields in the area.

Fri: We had a good night sleep in our private room and got up early for a walk along the lake. The wind had died down but it was still cold. The lake looked much prettier without wind blowing white caps. Back on the bus for more driving on our way back to VAncouver. Unfortunately we couldn't go skydiving as there was too much cloud cover. Just before Hope town we stopped to walk the old rail tunnels through the canyon. It was an amazing feat of these miners to build this rail line! We arrived back into Vancouver about 5pm and met up with Sheri, Nelson, Denise, Peter, Greg, Loz, Leanne and Craig for dinner.

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