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Published: September 2nd 2009
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ARB & DWS CANADIAN ADENTURE
For the benefit of family and friends at home and beyond after 4 years of Travel we felt we should share our thoughts and experience plus the odd picture attached to a periodic email report (time & wi-fi permitting).. So for those who have the time & inclination this one will commence with our Canadian Adventure which started on :-.
Saturday 22nd August 09
week 1
ARB
Thanks to our dear friend Mary we left Bentham at 6.20am for the drive to Lancaster station en route to Manchester Airport for our 10 hour flight to Vancouver. We did enquire about an upgrade before our check in but the 4 available seats had just reduced to one.
Luckily I had reserved our seats when the tickets were booked last December, and when we boarded our Thomas Cook Airbus 330 it appeared that the only difference between the premier seats and ours, was that the drinks in the premier seats were free and the baggage allowance was greater which is a sore point with AB. It is also the first time in many years of travel that hand luggage was weighed
at check in, departure was delayed till 12.15
We arrived at Vancouver before 2pm local time having lost 8 hours in the process and were met by Derek a local cyclist ( 2 years my junior) who I had the pleasure of meeting on a CTC (cycling) trip in Greece last May along with Bruce another Vancouver cyclist.
DWS
Hello 22nd Aug. dawned very early after a very poor night’s, anxiety, excitement, remembering things undone which ought to have been done..etc. Too many days to pack was my feeble excuse. Ever-ready Mary arrived on time, as we knew she would. ½ hour at the station left AB plenty of time to drink his eternal cappuccino.
Train from Lancaster was quiet & lots of seats but luggage space @:a premium. Canadian Affair office had just one upgrade seat left; if we had known that AB’s luggage was so overweight we would have it just to get the 30kilo allowance. Our meagre 20 kilo each resulted in AB repacking his hand luggage & still paying for Excess baggage. A lesson to read the small print in future.
PROS, so far, loads of leg room, 2 seats together,
window & aisle.
Not a lot more really, except a v. patient guy on the desk @ Canadian Affair. Good view of Greenland as we flew over; but it should be renamed Whiteland.
CONS, lots… a rip-off on price of drinks, extra for card use, they even charge for head-phones . Food quality v. suspect, tasteless pasta salad & dodgy lamb casserole.
I forgot to pack my flight sox, but would I have worn them anyway?? I left my Sophie Hannah novel in the hold baggage, but had to make do with soduko & the daily wail.
ARB
Travelling west and loosing 8 hours sleep I know from experience can play havoc with the body which takes a few days to adjust. So on my advice before retiring for the night on Saturday we went for a walk, a drink and a meal (at 3am UK and body time).
The plan for today Sunday is that my Greece cycling friend Derek offered to collect us around 2pm for drive around the highlights of Vancouver ( too many for 3 hours) After which we were entertained for supper at the home of Derek and Joan where we
were joined by Bruce and his wife Margot.
So this meant we had to occupy the morning and what better than a trip to the famous Granville Island where a market is held 12 hours a day 7 days a week where there is not much you cannot buy. (see picture below)
ARB
Following our 10 kms walk around Stanley park on Monday we had one full day to cover what Vancouver had to offer, (on reflection it deserved many days more and I now have an equal for Rio, Sydney and Cape Town.).
So following a 1 hour harbour cruise we felt that the famous Aquarium Marine & Science centre deserved our attention. This is one of the most popular destinations in Stanley Park for the young and not so young see www.vanaqua.org
There are in excess of 8,000 living exhibits covering 600 species the most popular being the whales, walrus, seals & otters. The travel books tell us that this is Canada’s most visited site west of the CN Tower in Toronto with over a million visitors a year.
As this was the school holiday period AB had to queue for
20 minutes just to buy our entrance tickets (whilst DWS was busy with camera) So imagine my surprise during our tour of this popular location when I was accosted by a lady with an apology who said excuse me but are you Arthur B from Cowbridge ?
What could I say to that but YES, and have we met before ? NO I have not had the pleasure said the lady with a distinct south Glamorgan accent. It was then a matter of introductions all round with the lady from Cowbridge Liz Williams and her partner. It must be over 3 years since my last travel report appeared in the Glamorgan Gem and over 2 years since I emigrated to Yorkshire from Cowbridge which confirms the more you travel the smaller this World gets
DWS
Following our hectic 3 days and 4 nights in Vancouver it was back to the airport for our 59 minute flight to Calgary during which time we lost an hour in the process. We were later told that having spent 4 days around the idyllic waterfront and fine beaches of Vancouver there was no way that Calgary would compare, which we had
to agree.
This was just one overnight stop at the Holiday Inn before picking up our hire car and heading north and west for Lake Louise via Banff. Once out of the city the roads were so quiet; a far cry from the M6 ! We covered the kms so quickly except for the many photo stops.
Lake Louise shops & Mall were 4 kms from the lake & the famous Chatteau hotel with hundreds of rooms. Pity it looks like a prison! our modest Deer Lodge was so much prettier. Basic bedrooms but fabulous dining & living space. The roof top hot tub had views to die for, mountains, glaciers & forests.
We had a full day driving north with many stops en route. We knew Jasper was too far but ice fields, beautiful lakes , fast flowing rivers were all worth a stop. We turned south again near the Athabasca ice fields; we could see figures tramping thro’ the snow but @ 49 $ per person we felt after Switzerland it would be step too far! Peyto lake was an amazing viewpoint after a brief 20 min walk.
Next day we
left Deer Lodge & visited Moraine Lake, a very popular site. It was a chilly walk along the lake until the sun warmed up. Kids were playing with the tiny ground squirrels which are striped, much smaller than the normal & have a short non-bushy tail. The gondola ride after a buffet lunch was a non-event really. Chair lift fine but nowhere to go when we reached the top, because of bear activity in the area
Only groups of 4 or more are allowed to go where bears have been seen. We had no bear bell to scare them away, but anyone good @ talking worked equally well. ( I would have been ok) but we could not decide which of us would be the sacrificial lamb if the need arose.
We motored on towards Canmore with roads so quiet, even on a Sat. Banff we stopped for groceries for the following week. It must have been over 30c (as are most days) so ice cream etc needed to be stored quickly. Our timeshare apartment at Canmore was spacious & very well equipped, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, large living/dining area.
My ex colleague, Rachel & her
delightful 3 year old daughter Pippa arrived later. They had driven from Medicine Hat, 4 hours away. It was 12 years since she left Morecambe library & the Lancaster area. We spent a lovely 2 days with her & Pippa. Grassi Lakes was a tough walk for a 3 year old but she marched bravely on on her sturdy little boots.
Picnic by the beautiful green lakes was such a joy. Rock climbers use the high cliffs as practice & they were all over the rock face. When the temperature reached too much, Pippa dunked her red hat in several waterfalls & then plonked it on her head with cold water dripping over her little sweaty body! It was sad to wave them goodbye today as they returned to sons & husband @ home.
So on that point we take our leave of you and hope to be back in print in the next 7 to 10 days. On Saturday next we commence the 3 day drive back to Vancouver which took 59 minutes to cover (by air) on 26th August.
Love and best wishes to all from
ARB & DWS
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ARB & DWS
you lucky buggers!