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Published: October 3rd 2007
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Before departing Vancouver we were blessed with a gorgeous sunny day so took the opportunity to finally use the voucher Karl got Emma for her birthday ( max out the visa card ) to go on a seaplane overlooking Vancouver. It was such a fantastic experience as it gave us a different perspective of the city . It was also cool to see the mountains close up and some surrounding islands. We left Vancouver that afternoon and headed on the Greyhound overnight to Banff where we were greeted with a chilly awakening- it was 10.30am and only 4 C, a little different to the 24 C we had experienced in Vancouver the day before! How naïve had we been in leaving behind our warm winter/snow gear in Vancouver (we had discussions in the storage facility where the rest of our gear is on what to bring and in trying to pack light left our really warm jackets behind!). The maximum it reached that day was 10 C and even snowed on the mountains. So we spent most of the day wandering around and ducking in and out of shops trying to find a cheap warm jacket for Em and to get
View from the air
On board the Seaplane out of the rain.
Banff was beautiful with the striking mountains in the background. Karl had spent some time in Banff previously so he had encountered the beauty previously. We went to the hot springs which we had been warned were busy and a little over-rated but still it was a nice way to spend an afternoon as the view of surrounding snow capped mountains was pretty spectacular too. We also did an easy hike out of town but the real highlight was hiring a car and driving through the Rockies to the Columbia Icefields. You take the Icefield Parkway, which is a highway that runs through Banff / Jasper National Park and has 25 large Glaciers along with several smaller ones along the way. Once at the Columbia Icefields we joined a guided hike along the Athabasca Glacier, which is apparently one of the largest and most accessible glacier in North America. The hike went for 3-4 hours and with the assistance of clamp-ons we were able to crunch our way along the Glacier.
After leaving Banff we jumped on another Greyhound this time for approximately a day and had a much needed stop off at Winnipeg
Banff
view on our hike overnight which is pretty much in the center of Canada. We didn’t stay long just for a shower and breaky and off on the Greyhound again to travel further east for a day and a half this time and got off at Niagara Falls. The falls were pretty incredible. We were once again blessed with the weather and had a lovely warm and sunny day. We decided to do the ‘Journey Behind the Falls’ instead of the ‘Maid of the Mist’ boat ride. The Journey Behind the Falls is where you get to walk through a tunnel behind the falls and also onto a platform in front of the falls. On the platform you inevitably get drenched by the enormous spray which makes it pretty funny. It was amazing to be so close to something so powerful.
In the afternoon we decided to walk across to the USA side, basically just because we could! We were given the expected third degree and they now take your fingerprints! All the formalities seemed quite funny to us, as we only planned on being over there for a couple of hours. The US side of the falls was believe it or not,
Banff Village
view of the mountains from the village streets far less commercialized than the Canadian side which has a theme park feel on Clifton Hill. It was worthwhile going over to the other side as the scenery was quite different. We were going to wait around for the night to see the light display and they also had a concert and fireworks planned for the night but the rain set in and so we decided we had seen enough.
We then headed to Ottawa (Canada’s Capital) for a few days and Emma took advantage of being in Ottawa to attend the Canadian Public Health Conference. Ottawa itself was a really pretty city, which we hadn’t expected (think we had visions of another Canberra!). It had a really cool village like atmosphere and older buildings. The Byward Markets were close by to the hostel and were full of local produce as well as clothes etc. Lots of funky pubs and restaurants surrounded the area too. We visited Parliament Hill, which has, as you would guess parliament/government buildings, but pretty spectacular gothic style architecturally designed buildings and a great view overlooking the city.
Next stop was Quebec City. We spent two nights in Quebec. It was a strange
Icefield Parkway
on the way to the Columbia Glacier feeling to be in Canada but to be in a city with such a European feeling (Felt like we should be paying for items in another currency). It was really beautiful with cobble stone lined streets and lots of older style buildings it was a very quaint little city. The main language is French and those that speak English fluently are limited. Quebec is full of history and so it was interesting to visit sights that told of the battles that had taken place centuries before. We visited the Battlefields Park, the Notre Dame Basilica, La Citadelle and wandered around the walled city that is Old Quebec City. We even wandered past the wall and out of the ‘tourist zone’ along Rue St Jean (main street) and managed to fumble our way through getting some groceries from the local supermarket.
Montreal is much greater city in size than its northern neighbour Quebec City, it still has a strong French feel though. Montreal originally got its name from the over looking Mountain which was named funny enough Mount Real, a must look we were told and after spending so many days on the bus we thought it would be a
great way to stretch the legs and were rewarded with some great views of the city. Montreal is also a big food hub so we tried a few of the original specialties. It is home of the first bagel shop in Canada and to our surprise still in the same bake house and very original so we just had to grab a dozen for some lunches and the coming bus trip. Also went to Swartz’s which is quite famous for its smoked meat and for $5 gets you a sandwich jam packed with smoked meat which melts in your mouth…yum! Also in the original shop which made it very authentic. As if we had not consumed enough food already we thought we better also try our hand at the heart attack in a box that is known over this way as Poutine- chips drowned in gravy with cheese curd.
We were there over a weekend so had the opportunity to check out the Hockey (ice) game, which was Montreal vs. Ottawa. It was great to finally get to see the action in person, even if the locals did lose! We met up with a fellow traveller from the hostel
On our way back from Athabasca Glacier
The view the whole way was spectacular..hard to keep your eyes on the road! there and went out for a few beers after so a good night out all up. Old Montreal did not have quite the same village feel compared to Old Quebec but it was still nice to have a walk around the streets and absorb the history of the city. Both Quebec and Montreal were great places to visit and well worth the long bus ride over to experience. Next off is our return back over to the west via Toronto.
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Katis
non-member comment
Wow!
Your trip is just getting better!!!