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Published: October 18th 2007
Hi everyone! Sorry, it's been a while coming for this blog, but we have had some issues with internet access, we have had acess, but it's been so slow, it's almost impossible to upload the photos and videos. Anyway, here it is:
There are 48 photos on this one and 10 (very short) videos. You will probably have to click over to the next page to view all the photos.
On the 14th of October we started our holiday. We picked up the rental car (which we have named 'Fanta'). It's really nice; a 4 door automatic Pontiac, with enough room for us and our luggage (and so far has driven 650km for CA$40!).
First stop was Banff, we both really liked Banff, it has the look and feel of Arrowtown or Hanmer Springs but a bit larger (with much taller mountians, and wildlife roaming around the town, eating peoples trees!) The hostel was nice, it was a log cabin style, with a small room but lots of common area space. They have a restaurant on site with really nice food at a really affordable price. We ended up having two dinners there and two breakfasts. We
spent the afternoon at the Gondola, with it's fantastic views of the surrounding landscape and finished the day with a soak at the hot pools...well I say pools, but really I mean 'pool' (I think we are rather spoilt by Hanmer in NZ)
The next day we decidied to go to the Ice Fields. It was a two hour drive, going past Lake Louise (where we would be staying a a few days time) but was so worth it. It was the last day that the company was operating for the season, plus the weather was amazing. We drove to the ice fields centre and from there boarded a bus to get to the bottom of the Athabasca Glacier. We got off the bus and onto an ice exporer (see photos) The ice explorer is the same type of vehicle the US use in Antarctica to get over the rough terrain. You can see in the photos the amazing angles it can travel on. Once on the Glacier, we could get out and walk around. But I didn';t last long, as the wind chill factor was unbearable! (once again, see the photos). We went back down to the road
and drove back to Banff.
We then decidied to find the supermarket to buy some groceries...well, what an experience that was! It took us about 4 times as long to figure out what product was what, most of the packaging here has two sides, one in English and the other in French and of course all the brands and products are different to NZ, some things I wouldn't even have a clue what to use them for! But they do have a huge amount of vegetarian goods.
The following day we drove to Lake Louise via the Vemillion Lakes and Lake Minewanka. It's a very small town, similar to Lake Tekapo, but the town is about 10km from the Lake itself. The weather wasn't fantastic today; overcast with some rain, but we went for a walk to the other end of the lake anyway (which took about 45 minutes each way). We then treated ourselves to a well deserved hot chocolate in the Chalet, overlooking the view. There were a group of ladies from harbourlights there (the winning chorus) so I had a quick chat to them and then we went back to the hostel via the shops.
On the side of the road we came across an animal. I was determined that it was a Caribou, Jahan was determined that it was an Elk. So we took a photo and showed the lady at the Hostel. She informed us that it was infact both! An Elk is also named a Caribou. The hostel was nice again, we had a larger room here with our own ensuite. It's similar to the Banff one with a cafe onsite and a really cosy feel to it.
We only had one night in Lake Louise, as there really isn't much to do there, so the following day, we were off to Jasper. On the way we encountered quite a bit of snow fall-which was really exciting! I spent the entire winter in Chch waiting for snow, and finally I got to see some (See video). Jasper was not at all what we expected. The town has a much older feel to it. It's set out longways as if it should be looking out onto a lake, but isn't. The hostel here is not as nice as the others, it has everything we need, a room, shared bathroom, lounge and kitchen
but is much older in style to the others. It's set in the bush about 4km form Jasper, we are so glad we have a car. The hostel actually made a mistake with our booking, they had us down for arriving two days later, but could get us in for our first night. So we made a decision to head to Edmonton a day early and have two nights there instead. We spent the day driving to Maligne Canyon, Medicine Lake and Maligne Lake. All of which were really neat places. We had a fantastic afternoon here, the canyon was fascinating. We could see how the river had carved out the rock over hundreds of years. Medicine Lake was just a quick photo stop, but it's an interetsing alke, as it has an inlet, but no visible Outlet. It runs underground for many kilometers and pops out in many places including at the Canyon. Maligne Lake was beautiful. We were told we may see some wildlife there, including wolves and black bears, but all we saw was a duck and onme squirrel. The lake is stunning, but it was really cold with some snow on the ground in a few
places. I'd imagine it would be a great spot to be in Summer.
We drove back to Jasper, searching for wildlife all the way. Finally at the last turn before we got back onto the main highway, we came across a female Caribou. We decided to drive back thoguh town and came across a pack of about 20 of them! They were also roaming freely throughout the town, walking down the streets and sidewals, eating people plants and bushes. Many of the houses here are already ready for Halloween, they have all decorated their windows and front lawns, and the supermarkets are selling huge bgs of Candy and Giant pumkins.
Well thats all for the Rocky Mountians for now. We are travelling to Edomoton today, an d I'm sure I will be spending plenty of time at the world's largest shopping mall tomorrow!!
Until then... Bye 😊
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Deenie
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Cool!!!!
....In so many ways!! The photos are awesome. Scenery looks amazing...I am jealous!!!