8th Week in Canada

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Adam's Blog:

We continued our stay at Invermere...with a trip to Panorama Mountain a ski village and Grey Wolf golf resort...The drive up the valley was very scenic as the snow melt had the river running fast ready for raft adventurers. We had a lunch stop with the locals and a chat with a girl from Melbourne at the pro shop out for a year - apparently there are 3000+ young aussies in Canada mainly Whistler/Rockies so we aren't too much of a novelty. The talk of bears returned as with Spring - they have come out of their dens from hibernation looking for food or showing their cubs the ropes and getting the limited food that is around. This footage shows it well:
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I booked 9 holes for the next day at the acclaimed course - '2nd best public in Canada, Top 10 in Canada and the best Par 3' - 'Cliffhanger hole' - similar to one at Joondalup in Perth. (Unfortunately the next day the snow returned and golf was cancelled). On the topic of golf - In Calgary a golfer recently had a world record 25 for his back nine in the Alberta Open to score a round of 61...he won the tournament after it was snowed out during round 3. After lunch we went for a drive up a log road along the river, getting some great shots of deer in the water - but no bears.....

We finished our last 2 days in Invermere - cleaning, packing, saying goodbye to shops - a last swim in the Rec Centre pool....after two full weeks we had become attached to the place but certainly ready to move on. It would be interesting to see this place in 10 years.

Little Quirk: Whilst Oliver became the place to find a dumpster for the rubbish.....Invermere became the place to find free Wi-Fi to check emails and internet.....many a early morning I would rise - drive the car in search of an unsecure wifi sometimes for 10-15 mins....yes we could have used an internet cafe - but some of the coffee we have had has been at best very ordinary.

On Saturday we rose early, jumped in the Escape and left town for the drive over the mountains. We came across a check gate for entry to a national park.....as we weren't camping or staying overnight, I advised the attendant we were heading on through to Banff, she asked for how long? Thinking something was up I said 2 days(not our actual 2 weeks)......'Ok then - that will be $40'......I guess the look on my face would have been priceless and with kids in the car mustered out a 'Frig a dig' - They hit a family up for $20 a day going into the national park, that would have cost us some $300......only later did we find out you can get an annual pass for $130. Thankfully local advice and use of their annual pass has helped us out.....but beware - if you are staying in Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper - add that to the bill + GST + HST + PST + TIPS....you get my drift.

We pushed on through rocky cuttings and cliff-side roads through the Rockies range....unlike the Great Dividing Range, primarily one mountain range - the Rockies is multiples - 2 hours all up. We were in bear country and on full alert - when Al saw one just off the road - again no photo as no where to stop. We also saw elk and the odd one or two hundred RV's....

We arrived at midday in Canmore just as it started snowing and a lovely 1 deg, our coldest on the trip so far. Quite unusual for Canada to be in a snow storm coming into June, as the spring flowers had already come out. We met John & Letha who were very welcoming at their home and got the lowdown and yes there have been bear and elk sightings in the local neighbourhood so chances are high. In fact the photo in the local paper this morning showed a grizzly walking along a path and some comments:

"The adult grizzly bear, meanwhile, wandered through Banff later that morning. It was first spotted along Tunnel Mountain Drive and then was seen crossing under the Banff Avenue Bow River bridge at about 9 a.m. And from there, he next showed up in the meadow just behind Warner Stables and he was seen chasing some elk around and getting them stirred up."

Reading on in the article we became aware of another ominous warning around town:

"Also, on Saturday, Parks staff removed the carcass of a mule deer killed during the night by a cougar on the grass in front of the Margaret Greenham Theatre at The Banff Centre. Michel said the cougar had not consumed much of the carcass or attempted to bury it, leading him to conclude the cougar may have abandoned the carcass after being startled."

So no late night strolls through the parks for us...

It continued to snow the next day leaving a frosting on the mountains all around us.....we have held off taking too many pics as the cloud level is quite low, but to say the Rockies is stunning is an understatement that photos won't do justice anyway. Canmore and Banff are your typical mountain towns both around 10,000 permanent population - Banff the more known, touristy and developed...I headed to the Tourist Info Centre as there are many things to do, to get the lowdown. We thought we may even have a night out - without kids, so I enquired at the desk about Child Minding....she didn't quite get my accent and started getting me brochures on Coal Mining in the area.....when I corrected the misunderstanding I got a puzzled look and the manager was called out.....'What do you mean by Child Mining sir?' -- aagh....ok try baby sitting. Bingo!

We walked the town for orientation when Kit yelled 'Look Dad!!'.......thinking a bear, an elk or maybe a cougar...I scanned the area quickly - protective instincts kicking in......'What son?'.....he pointed over through the bushes and with excitement yelled....'Trampoline!'....

Looking forward to our next two weeks...

Adam

And for those music lovers out there with a nostalgic view here's the All-Time Canada Top 25 Charts:

25. Alannah Myles - Black Velvet
24. Nickelback - Hero
23. Diana Krall - If I Had You
22. Neil Young - Heart of Gold
21. Bachman-Turner Overdrive - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
20. Nelly Furtado - I'm like a Bird
19. Daniel Powter - Bad Day
18. Loverboy - Everybody's Working for the Weekend
17. Jann Arden - Insensitive
16. Crash Test Dummies - Mmm,mmm,mmm
15. Tal Bachman - She's so High
14. Martha & the Muffins - Echo Beach
13. Cowboy Junies - Sweet Jane
12. Corey Hart - I wear my Sunglasses at Night
11. Chantal Kreviazuk - Feels Like Home
10. Barenaked Ladies - One Week
9. KD Lang - Hallelujah
8. Alanis Morisette - Ironic
7. Avril Lavigne - I'm With You
6. Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi
5. Michael Buble - Home
4. Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On
3. Shania Twain - From This Moment On
2. Sarah McLachlan - Angels
1. Bryan Adams - Summer of 69


Take up disputes with the Grizzly.....

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Photos

Running Water
Zoom in to find 2 deer in the water.