Go west, then go west some more. - rickandsuejohnson

Journey's end

rickandsuejohnson — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

We left our B&B and parked up in town to do our final bits and pieces there before heading off to see the cave where the hot sulphur springs emerge from the rocks into a bubbling pool . The complex there is being renovated so we couldn't actually see the baths that triggered tourism for the CPR railway and were the start of the National Parks at the turn of the last century.

Banff Falls

There are board walk paths for you to view the Bow River and a marshland area but we decided to give them a miss and go straight to Bow Falls, which are just below the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel. The area was quite busy so we only stopped for a short while before heading up Mount Norquay, a short 10 minute drive to view the town from above.

Changing terrain in the smoke from BC

Off on Highway 1 again towards Calgary. From the map there didn't appear to be any service or picnic areas so I suggested we turn off the motorway for a short while to a lake area just south of Cranmore, Lac des Arcs. Cranmore looked a lovely place with large Chalet type Condos at the base of the mountain. We guessed it wouldn't be as pricey as Banff but wouldn't be far, about 20 minutes drive, as a base to visit the town and the ski areas there.

Unfortunately Tom Tom (GPS) hadn't taken on board instructions to go via the Lakes and we found ourselves heading nearer to Calgary. We tried a couple of turn offs, which according to signs on the motorway, should have led us to a picnic area but either we misinterpreted the sign or the areas were some distance away as we couldn't find them. We eventually found a lay-by very near to the city and cobbled together a picnic from the boot. There was an interpretive sign telling about the birth of the cheese industry in the area. It was founded by an immigrant who had moved twice from one part of Canada further west to another. He had tried his hand at arable farming but, due to crop failure, had then decided on livestock. Calgary was already established in milk production, so he approached neighbours to form a co-operative for cheese production and his operation then grew from strength to strength.

Only a further 15 minutes and we were at Cozy Nest B&B. It was only 2 pm but we were lucky and Verna was at home and welcomed us in with a cup of tea. It was very hazy out and Verna confirmed that it was due to the smoke from the forest fires, so we decided not to go into Calgary for a view from the tower there. Instead we drove to a nearby shopping Mall to post a parcel, find a cash dispenser and locate a garage for refuelling and washing the car before returning it to Hertz before our flight tomorrow.

In the evening, on Verna's recommendation we headed for Mitillin's, run by a Lebanese, serving mainly Italian with middle eastern flavours. We reckon it was our best meal yet. Back at Verna's we invited her to join us in polishing off a bottle of red wine, which we had bought in Victoria and hadn't had a chance to drink. Just as we were sitting down, her other regular guest, Andrew from Quebec, arrived and the four of us spent a pleasant hour chatting about everything and anything – a lovely conclusion to our holiday.

Adventures with wildlife and a steep climb

rickandsuejohnson — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Going Up

So here's the deal..............we pop over to Lake Louise to go up in the gondola for some marvellous views, go back to Lake Louise and have a picnic en-route then have a nice walk along the lake. We should be coming back late afternoon, so we'll take the old parkway road which is apparently more scenic and we may see some moose or elk in the meadows there. OK – but of course it didn't quite pan out like that Wild animals have the irritating habit, I have discovered, of hiding until they are sure that you are totally unprepared then popping out, winking at you and then disappearing, leaving you with a shot of their rear end – if you're lucky. Except, that is the little charmers that are ground squirrels and chipmunks, who pose with style to shame Kate Moss but with less attitude.

Mummy Grizzly, cub nearby

Our day was bright and sunny and relatively clear. So off we went. Our gondola was not so much a traditional cabin, more of a bench attached to some poles hanging off a bit of wire. (All run by Aussies it seemed – perhaps it is a job requirement?) This of course was much better for photo opportunities should they occur down below – and occur they did. A grizzly bear mum and her cub were enjoying the late morning sunshine snacking on some buffalo berry bushes about ¼ of the way up the run almost immediately underneath the chair. Fortunately someone going the other way told us and this time we were prepared! We got some good shots between us.

Eagle (?) over mountain

At the top we wandered down to the wildlife initiation centre where there was a very good exhibition about Canadian wildlife; it was shocking to discover that most bear deaths are not natural in Banff NP; most are caused by the rail as bears discover that scavenging along the railway line is quite lucrative and either ignore or try to argue with the train. A few are killed by cars, though these are likely to be smaller, younger bears. The message was a simple one – if you want to be able to continue to see bears or any other wildlife, they must retain a fear of contact with man. So don't try to feed them or get close to them.

Hoary Marmot at top

On the way back to the gondola we took some shots of a lovely pair of yellow bellied marmots doing their thing while we stood unobtrusively watching them. By the time we got down, Mrs Grizzly and cub had gone, but we got some more good shots of the same marmots prancing around the lawns in front of the main buildings. From the bottom, it was obvious where all the ski runs are in the winter, but as they run through grizzly territory, it is probably as well that the bears sleep during the winter.

Lake Louise

On the way to Lake Louise itself, we stopped for a picnic lunch to fortify ourselves for the afternoon excursion. I knew Sue really fell for the guide book talk of Lake Agnes being beautiful, unspoiled and less visited than Lake Louise (this would not be difficult as I am sure that I read 10,000 visitors a day is not unheard of), but I thought that a 3½ km hike with a 400m elevation gain sounded rather heavy going, so rather hoped she would cool on the idea. I pointed out that 3.5Km was about 2 miles; a fast walk on level ground would take 1hr; climbing would probably take twice as long. Not a bit of it and off we went, there were several times on the climb when we both felt like calling it a day but plodded on, taking rests to get our puff back before plodding on again.

Lake Agnes

Some parts were particularly demanding but OK taken sensibly. I don't think 10,000 people were going up the trail but there were quite a number. At last after 1¾ hours we got to the top. The lake was indeed lovely, the view spectacular, the drink of pink lemonade at the teashop tasted of (slightly warm) nectar (it is remote and only solar powered). The sense of achievement, priceless. After a recovery period, we started our treck down, stopping at mirror lake which frankly looked more like a muddy puddle to me. We finally got down quite exhausted in about an hour. After a warming down walk back to the car, we returned to Banff along the old parkway in the hope of seeing some wildlife. No chance!! We passed 'Moose Meadows' with no sign of the eponymous animal and while the road was certainly more interesting than the highway, we didn't spot any spectacular viewpoints.

Back in Banff, we decided to walk(!!) the couple of blocks to the high street and find a restaurant for dinner. While we were waiting for our first course to arrive, there was a lot of commotion in the street outside. Looking to see what it was, with crazy tourists running toward some attraction with camera shutters blazing, there was a young elk looking thoroughly startled by the attention.

Elk in the high street (to left of centre just above man with blue top

We didn't have any cameras other than my phone and I took a quick snap from my table heeding the advice that morning but was astounded to see people running towards the poor beast who very wisely hightailed it out of the vicinity. According to the guidebook seeing elk in the high street is not that uncommon and people are killed each year by getting so close the animal feels cornered and threatened, dealing with it in the only way it knows how.

I was prepared by the guidebooks to hate Banff as a tourist trap, but rather like Queenstown in New Zealand, I think it has more to it than meets the tourist eye. True most of the activity is centred on an extremely commercial high street but it does its job with a modicum of charm and manages not to look seedy; despite the activity it is clean and tidy. Our B&B was only 2 blocks from the high street but in a quiet residential neighbourhood; that's clever.

A lake with an unfortunate name and two with very good ones

rickandsuejohnson — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Motel Rooms, Saskatchewen River Crossing resort, Mountains behind

After our supper of Buffalo Burger and Salad at 'The Crossing Pub' we popped into the on-site shop to check whether we would be able to buy milk for breakfast. Rick wants me to mention that he cooked the burgers to perfection on an indoor barbecue – a novel way of doing things there, you cook your own food.

Mistaya Canyon

Predictably, as we discovered when doing the research for the night's stopover, this is literally the only place to stay on the Parkway en route between Jasper and Lake Louise so the prices for everything reflect this. The accommodation here was the most expensive for our holiday and the most basic. Nevertheless we both slept like logs.

Up at 7.30 am and whilst Rick was showering I popped down to the shop, bought the milk and got the coolbag from the car ready for our alfresco breakfast. I obviously wasn't as rested as I thought as I sat for 15 minutes outside someone else's cabin thinking I had locked myself out, only to discover my error when Rick poked his head round the door two cabins up to see where I had got to – Better not be the one to drive this morning then!!

Sculpted rock at Mistaya Canyon

Our first stop was a Mistaya Canyon, another place where a river, this time the one fed by Peyto Lake, sculpts its way through the rock. At 9.30 am in the morning there was only one other car parked and the sun was trying to burn its way through a veil of mist draped over the surrounding mountains as we made our way down to the valley floor. Four young people were perched on the edge of the canyon as we approached, despite the numerous warning signs to keep to the paths. As we were about to make our way back, a Park Warden suddenly appeared. He had been surveying trees in the area and commented on the stupidity of the young people. They get 3-4 deaths here every year from people slipping in and he says you can go up and warn them but they just ignore the advice.

Mistaya Canyon - impossibly small gap for river seen between planks

He thinks a time will come when the government close trails like this as, believe it or not, people themselves or their relatives try and sue the Park following an accident, even if it is they who have ignored the warnings! He showed us an example of a tree infected with pine beetle and chatted about the natural cycle of the forest. I asked him if he knew anywhere in the area where we might see Moose. He recommended trying Waterfowl Lakes, where there is a large area of marshland that they graze early in the morning or at sunset. We hoped, it being rather gloomy, that the Moose might be fooled by the actual time of day – no such luck.

Not so peaceful river flowing from Wildfowl lake

The first stop off took us through woodland to a bridge crossing a swift flowing river; the second led to the marshy area – predictably a favourite spot for mossies! Took several photos of wild flowers while we were there.

Glacier toe, Lake Peyto

On to Bow Summit and Peyto Lake. The car park was just under a kilometre to the lake with two access trails – well one was a paved road up to the disabled car park. By accident we took this route. On the way down, via the scenic route, we realised that the paved route up hadn't been a bad option – it was much less steep. The lake was a beautiful blue, fed from the Peyto Glacier.

Lake Moraine

On past Bow Lake to Lake Louise. As we needed to be at Banff between 4.00 pm and 5.00 pm to check in to our B&B, we decided to check out nearby Morraine Lake in the hope that the haze would would clear for a day around Lake Louise itself tomorrow with a ride on the Gondola there. The Morraine Lake road is 14 kms from Lake Louise with a steady climb all the way there. What a beautiful place and once we left the area immediately beside the car park and made our way along the shore line footpath there were very few other people. Yet more glaciers feeding the lake with glacier flour and turning the water a deep blue.

Time being short to make the 5.00 pm deadline to our B&B we took Highway 1 to Banff, checked in and, upon our hostess's recommendation went to Bumpers Grill. It being Banff most of the menu was rather expensive and rather more in quantity than we wanted so we both went for a middle of the road, 'Canadian Stew'. Only our Canadian family will be able to tell us whether or not it was authentic! Beef in a spicy sauce with carrots, peas and potatoes – very tasty.

Bear behind in the bushes

Our hostess had also recommended a drive on the Lake Minnewanka loop for a chance of spotting wildlife at dusk. We set off and not too far down the road two cars were parked up. Could it be something? Well yes it was. Our first and only sighting of a Grizzly Bear on the opposite side of the road in the undergrowth about 50 yards from the road!!! Unfortunately a car arrived on the bear's side of the road. The driver jumped out, swiftly followed by two children and obscured Rick's line for a photo. As the children were excited and making a lot of noise the bear understandably took off. Rick was only able to snap his rear end as he disappeared. As the bear clambered over a fallen tree to escape, you got an idea of this size – far bigger than the Black Bear we had seen a few days previously. We were so lucky to see it.

Lake Johnson

Lake Minnewanka was another impressive sight. We took a quick walk by the shore, motored back to see if Mr Grizzly had returned and then completed the loop, stopping at Two Jacks Lake. As we drove down to park, Rick spotted two Big Horn Sheep and, on the lake a Common Loon dipping for its supper. Last stop Lake Johnson, for obvious reasons and then back to Squirrel's Nest B&B to catch up on blogging.

Mountains high, falls, frozen rivers and the gene pool

rickandsuejohnson — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Athabasca Falls

An early rise to get ourselves showered breakfasted and packed prior to a quick call to Tom to wish him a happy birthday, then a call to Zoe to complete our brief chat on Friday. After saying goodbye to our hostess, Debbie, we were on the road again, this time to our first port of call at Athabasca Falls. We chose not to use the new Icefields Parkway but the old one which is a bit more windy and more picturesque as well as more switchback, speed limited and more peaceful. We stopped at Lake Leach, beautifully clear and still and very peaceful. Small fry were swimming in huge numbers in the shallows. The last 8 km were on a quite poor surface but took us directly to Athabasca Falls. (Engage superlative vocabulary mode – will not engage, already exhausted).

Sunwapta Falls

Once again the huge power of the water as it tumbled over ledges and rocks, carving a channel through rock that doesn't want to give way, allowing only the narrowest of passages and pouring foaming into the basin beneath was absolutely breathtaking. Neither words nor photos can do it justice, thank goodness for Sue's movie facility which at least manages to make a credible effort.

Sunwapta falls

Back on the road and off to Sunwapta Falls just off the main Icefields Parkway; I did not find this part of the much trumpeted parkway delivered as much as we had experienced on our alternative route. The falls are again spectacular; we were able to follow the course of the falls for some way down with the inevitable climb back up again! We found a lovely picnic table here at the top of the falls and had our lunch with the falls roaring in the background.

Off again down the Icefields Parkway and the scenery started to become dramatic again, making you realise what an insignificant item you are in the huge landscape. As we neared the Columbia Icefields Centre, it became really spectacular.

On the Athabasca Glacier

Our trip onto the Athabasca glacier was mind numbing – quite literally as there was an icy wind created by the cold air rushing down from the icefields above to the valley below. There is a bus that takes you about a mile to a transfer station where the huge six wheeled icecoaches wait to take you down a steep gradient to the surface of the glacier. They then trundle along the glacier for about a mile before unloading you on to the surface itself.

The tour bus, Athabasca glacier

15 minutes of gingerly walking on the icy surface seeing at first hand just how grubby ice can be when it has picked up bits of rock, tasted the pure water of the melting ice in the little rivulets running off the surface and taking photographs in an attempt to retain the scene left me feeling both elated and exhausted.

The guide gave us a fascinating commentary both on the way up and on the way back, so much so that I can remember very little of the detail.

Ice tour bus, Athabasca Glacier

Apparently, the ice is 300 feet thick at the point at which we stopped and there is something like 30 feet of snow each winter. The ice roadway on which the coaches travel has to be recreated each year by snow blowers, bulldozers and so on and has to be renewed twice a day. At the lower end of the approach to the glacier, there are 2 streams; one clear, the other cloudy but both from the Athabasca. The clear stream is the product of snow melt from the previous winter and the cloudy is ice melt from the glacier carrying 'rock flour' – fine particle rock debris. The glacier is of course retreating like all others where there is less snowfall than snowmelt and there are little markers to show where it was at at particular time. It has retreated 1.5 km in the last 150 years, which means 10 metres a year by my calculations.

Ice road back to the transfer station

After getting back to the car we took a trip to the car park about ½ mile from the foot of the glacier and walked to the foot. It was a steep climb but worth the effort. Apparently every year, there are people killed by walking on the glacier; the foot is a particularly unstable area and people fall through crevasses and ice bridges, either being severely injured or killed, either immediately by the fall or later by hypothermia. At the foot there are rivers of melt water and people trying to get onto to the foot can find the instability will cause then to loose footing and slip into the water. They are unlikely to survive the effect of hypothermia. All this is spelled out in notices at the foot with clearly marked boundaries. This didn't stop a lot of people chancing their luck!

Crevasses being braved by brainless people at the foot of the glacier

If I were the park authorities, I would make it clear that NO rescue attempt would be made if people chose to ignore the warnings; such genes are frankly better out of the pool! The message was rammed home by a note that in the last 3 attempts to rescue people the individual had died. Needless to say, we didn't attempt it!

Back in the car again, we enjoyed the spectacular drive to Saskatchewan River Crossing and our motel room for the night. We had intended to visit another falls on the way but missed the turning – oh well – there's always next time!!!!

Slight frustration at the motel – wifi only available at reception and at $7 for 40 minutes!! We declined the offer.

Maligne ('Maleen') Lake & more wildlife but no bears

rickandsuejohnson — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Maligne Canyon

A more relaxed start to our day from Cedar Gate B&B in Jasper's Connaught Drive, which is a short drive away from Highway 93 and the Junction for the Maligne Lake Road. Rick had booked our tickets for the lake trip on-line on Saturday evening and the only available slot was the 5 pm sailing so we took our time covering the 43 kms. As we joined the highway leading out of town Rick spotted a lone Coyote or possibly a wolf trotting along just below the tree line bordering the road and he was the one driving! I was busy getting my camera out of my backpack so was a bit miffed to have missed it.

Maligne Canyon

Our first stop was at Maligne Canyon. The Maligne river has carved its way tortuously through the layers of rock here. The river is fast and very narrow only a few feet across and has sculpted strange and beautiful curves in the rock walls. At its deepest the canyon walls are 30 metres to the river bed with several spectacular waterfalls tumbling down. The footpath winds its way down the gorge. Great going down but harder work going back up!

Bighorn Sheep by Medicine Lake

Back in the car and past Medicine Lake, which apparently is peppered with lakebed sink holes. The guide book says that there is no natural outlet to the lake and that it fills and drains through the holes, which form part of a huge underground complex of springs and channels. Sometimes it can be completely empty. Not so today. A few miles from the lake there had been a large flashing sign warning of animals by the roadside and half way along the shore road we spotted cars slowing. A small flock of Big Horn sheep were wandering slowly across the road.

Far end of Lake Maligne

The maximum speed limit on Maligne Road is 60km (because of the animals) so it took a good further half hour to reach the Maligne Lake car park. We made our way to the ticket office to see if we needed to pick up tickets. We were checked in and offered an earlier sailing at 4 pm so we quickly ate our picnic and were joined by a Grey Jay (yes, you've guessed it, we've bought a small laminated pamphlet – 'Rocky Mountain Wildlife') who was flitting about in the pines above us impatient to get down and search for crumbs.

Spirit Island Lake Maligne

As 4 pm approached we assembled on the quayside and off we went for our 1.5 hour trip down the lake to view the box canyon at its other end. Our guide gave us lots of interesting info on the lake and surrounding mountains with the occasional amusing anecdote thrown in. Plenty of opportunity to snap away as the boat slowed and gently turned full circle a couple of times. Just as well as we had three Korean gentleman immediately in front of us armed with cameras who insisted on bobbing up and down and leaning out of the windows every few seconds during the first half hour.

We passed three mountains with glaciers – another breathtaking sight.

Once back on dry land a couple of Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels were waiting under the first set of benches busily nibbling something tasty. Another photo opportunity and one I said to Rick the boys would love (Freddie and Alfie too, of course).

I insisted on driving again in case Rick had the chance of more wildlife photos. Only the sheep though, not far from where we had seen them a couple of hours earlier.

Back to the flat for a cup of tea before buying our evening meal at the supermarket – very conveniently five minutes walk away and quite large. It certainly has been a very convenient place to stay and it is beautifully kitted out.

On a clear day you can see for miles and miles............

rickandsuejohnson — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Summer Solstice B&B

A lovely day again with the sun shining and temperatures rising rapidly after a cool start. Giriish had prepared us a full cooked breakfast and we sat down with our co-residents, a young couple from Barcelona who were having their honeymoon before the wedding! They had been to Jasper the previous day and seen elk, wolf and bear in the morning! The thing they said to us that they had had difficulty in getting their heads around was the scale of everything here – from mountains and rivers to roads, vehicles and trains. Something we echoed.

Mount Robson & Visitor Centre

Well set up for the rigours ahead, we made for Mount Robson info centre. A few kilometres before we got there, we pulled into a rest area because we had just had our first, unmistakeable view of the white-tipped giant. The rest area was not too busy and we were able to enjoy the views without disruption. On to the official information centre; it was predictably commercialised and packed with coaches, Rvs, cars and people. Despite this we managed to get some magical views of Mount Robson itself and some of the less lofty, craggy peaks around it. We also got instructions as to how to get to Overlander Falls, on the Frazer River, a few kilometres further on.

Overlander Falls

This involved a 10 minute walk to the falls from the car park and what seemed like a vertical ascent back up the path. The falls were another spectacular sight; the energy being generated by the force of the water is quite thrilling. It was mesmerising to see the thundering waters pouring over the rocks and ledges to emerge downstream apparently tamed, betrayed only by vicious eddies and swirls.

Squirrel

We found a place to have our picnic lunch and the rustle of the crisp bag was enough to allow us our wildlife encounter of the day as an inquisitive squirrel came down to peer at us and check out if we had anything that might be of interest. After finding we were miserable Britons who wouldn't share anything he disappeared back up a tree.

We hit Alberta and were immediately faced with a toll booth; we hadn't appreciated that travelling through the National Park on a highway was sufficient to generate a need for a permit to be issued for each day of our stay. Five days cost us just under $100; when you think that it is used to maintain the park itself, it is not too bad but it was a surprise. Imagine a toll booth at Tebay on the M6 for travelling through the Lake District! Now being in the Mountains officially, we are on Mountain time and have had to put our watches forward an hour.

Another thing that happened as we reached Alberta was that we received a signal for the 'phone again and it immediately started to receive the messages people had sent yesterday – well better late than never!

Trolley from the top

We made for Whistler Mountain; so named, apparently for the Hoary Marmot whose claim to fame is sleeping for 8 months of the year and spending the remaining 4 feeding, resting, sunbathing and whistling!

We caught one of the trolleys up to the top station, noticing a 10°C drop in temperature with the height being almost 1 mile up. We chose not to make the 1.5 kilometre hike to the summit itself but pottered around just above the station. The views here were stupendous and truly mind boggling.

Mount Robson from The Whistlers

Mount Robson, which must be about 50 miles away, could be seen very clearly; we were very lucky, the guide told us that this was the first day in a couple of weeks that the mountain was free of cloud and we overheard one guy say that he has visited many times and this was the first time he has been able to see Mount Robson. It makes up for the poor luck at Grouse Mountain. The vast majority of the lift personnel were Australian – perhaps it is a job requirement. The equipment itself was installed in 1964 by a German firm and the cars being used were the originals. The laconic Aussie guide's assurance that they had an excellent maintenance team left one wondering....

View from The Whistlers

We looked around and under stones, searched out sunbathing stations but couldn't find any of the eponymous marmots, so we had to come back down disappointed.

Once back at the car, we set TomTom for our B&B but once in town, she seemed to get lost, requiring a U-turn, which didn't seem right. As we reached the town limits, we rang the place and found that TomTom had been right and the U-turn was necessary to get across a central divide. We are in the basement self-contained flat for a girl who is an event organiser and her husband who is a photographer – and yes, they do do weddings too. Fronc eat your heart out!

We have internet again, so have booked our trip on Lake Maligne and on the Columbia Iceway tomorrow and the next day. Tomorrow morning we plan to spend some time downloading some photos and inserting some in the text again so we are back up to date.

Wireless free and twitching

rickandsuejohnson — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Shouldn't I have a glove for this?

It wasn't until I tried to send a text message to make arrangements for birthday phone calls for Rick at bedtime that we realised there was no mobile signal. So after an interesting chat with our hostess Abi at breakfast we motored to the highway and used the internet facility at the Shell gas station. Received and sent a couple of emails in case anyone was worried and then headed off for Cranberry Marsh. The previous evening I had read that it was a good place for spotting birds and or Moose. The interpretive board said we might even see Beaver. Would our luck with wildlife spotting continue? Sorry to say - no. We headed north down the road to the information centre to pick up any leaflets that might give us directions to Rearguard Falls where I had read you had a chance of seeing Salmon leaping the falls from mid August.

Chinook Salmon, Swift Creek

While we were there we decided to use the picnic tables (it was 1.50 pm by then) which were right by Spring Creek. People were congregating on the bridge and peering into the water and an interpretive board told the story of migrating salmon. We joined the crowd and peered but saw nothing and started to walk back up the hill when Rick spotted a hand made sign saying 'Salmon Spawning Now'. Was it worth a walk back and further up the bank? Well yes it was. We say several huge fish about 2 feet in length on the river bed. Rick saw a female laying eggs and she was shortly joined by another female and then a darker coloured male. What a sight. We must have stayed there for over an hour.

Rearguard Falls

Hopped back in the car for the drive to Rearguard Falls just north of Tete Jaune Cache on highway 16 towards Jasper. It was a short 15 minute walk down to the falls and just as we caught our first glimpse of them lo and behold a salmon jumped out of the water. We made our way down to the viewing platform where several people were lined up with serious camera equipment waiting for that moment of the leap. Despite staying there for a good half hour with cameras poised and seeing about 5 jump we weren't able to capture the moment. I don't think the guys with the huge lenses did either so I guess it was asking a bit much to expect to get a shot ourselves. We did however capture some white water rafters. I wouldn't have the bottle these days and it really didn't look as though there was anything attaching them to the dingy should they tip out – but there I always have been a bit of a scaredy cat!

Mount Terry Fox

On our route back to Valemount we stopped to view Mount Terry Fox named very shortly after his death in 1981. A couple of miles later and Tom Tom directed us off the main road to Summer Solstice our next B & B. What an amazing spot. We were greeted by the owners Lenerya and Giriish Bromley with their new baby daughter, six days old. They started the B & B just over a year ago having completely refitted the original building. It is a log cabin beautifully finished inside with modern furnishings and a huge front deck with panoramic views of the mountains.

We thought a lot about Papa today, especially when watching the Salmon!

We finished the day with a super meal at Cariboo Lodge, watching the sun sink over the mountains - what a day!

To go or not to go; that was the question....

rickandsuejohnson — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Huge rolling hills with exposed flanks outside Kamloops

Another wonderful breakfast courtesy of Kathy, with local fresh apple juice, a plate of fresh fruit and then a wonderful croissant filled with herbie scrambled egg. This set us up well for the day again. Today we were off to Wells Gray Provincial Park and our route took us back to Kamloops by a different way. The lush tropicality of the Okenagan gave way after passing Mount Tuktakamin to a more austere landscape with huge hills and scrubland. We travelled for some distance on highway 97 along the South Thompson River. The landscape here is impossible to accurately reflect in photos, it is so vast that it is like being in a Brobdingnagian landscape.

Just outside Kamloops we passed a stationary goods train; it must have been the best part of a mile long and had three locos, one at each end and one in the middle!

The black dot by the water half way up and about 2/3rds to right is a bear

Shortly after leaving Kamloops on highway 5 we had our first wildlife encounter with 3 huge birds with broad wings circling about 50 feet from the car. I'm tempted to say they were eagles but I couldn't be sure; needless to say I couldn't take any meaningful photo with the lens I had on in the time before they disappeared. We changed drivers again at Barriere where we stopped for provisions for lunch. Some time later, as we were driving along the North Thompson river near Little Fort, I spotted a large black animal that at first I thought was a cat on the other side of the river. It was a black bear, roaming free and wild and very happy in his environment. Sue just managed to capture the magical moment; being in a stream of traffic I couldn't stop.

Muddy North Frazer on the far side, Clearwater nearside

Shortly afterwards we stopped for lunch at the North Thompson River RV campground and picnic site, about 1½ Km off the road. It is just just downstream from the confluence of the Clearwater and Thompson Rivers and you could see the muddy Thompson on the far side had not yet integrated with the clear, Clearwater on the nearside. Lovely sturdy, clean tables and benches and unsmelly pit loos back up the track for relief afterwards.

Refuelled, we started out for Wells Gray Park, turning off the highway at Clearwater. We wanted to see three falls here and decided to go to the furthest one first and work our way down. The park is a true wilderness park and apparently relatively unvisited; when we were there there were quite a few people visiting but it could not be said to be busy, certainly no crowds. From highway 5 it is 36Km to the park's actual entrance with nothing other than the occasional homestead or farm and then another 12Km to the Helmcklen Falls, the furthest we wanted to visit.

Tree down, Wells Gray Provincial Park

As we drove towards the Main entrance, the sky became very black and while it started to rain, the wind got up and with tall trees either side of the road, we were conscious of the advice at Cathedral Grove. About 8Km short of our objective we had to stop, a tree had just blown down across the road, 2 cars in front of us turned around and were gone. We stayed with another couple of cars to clear the road of debris while a 4x4 from the other side pulled the tree off the road. While I was clearing the road, several more branches were blown down and another tree looked threatening so we turned tail too while the cars in front decided to brave it. We went back to the relative safety of the camp entrance and parked up while we thought about it.

Helmcklen Falls, Wells Gray

After about 10 minutes, the wind started to drop and the rain eased considerably. We decided that as we had come this far, we would carry on, so quivering like a couple of jellies, we gingerly drove back to find another tree had blown down just before the other but that a track had been made around it. The next 6 Km to the Helmcklen Falls were nerve wracking – a total of about 8 trees (I didn't count carefully) had been blown down across the road. Competent unfazed Canadians had just either moved them enough to get past or made a path around them. The falls were worth the effort; we have given a lot of superlatives on this trip, so I shall use a Morris favourite – they were fantastic! A fall of 141m into the gorge below thunderously reverberating in the amphitheatre the water had created and pillowing up a huge mist cloud.

Dawson Falls, Wells Gray

We didn't foreshorten our stay but we were keen to get back to more security, so we didn't hang about for long and drove back along the trail across a perilously rickety single track bridge to the next set of falls at Dawson Falls. Here, the river tumbles across a 100m wide ledge of rock with a relatively modest fall but with great force and huge sound, again creating a mist over the falls. Again, we didn't spend too long and a newly downed tree along the path to the falls created a sense of some urgency, although the weather that had caused it had now abated.

Back in the car, we drove out of the park towards the highway and 10km short of this, stopped to see the Spahats Falls. Another stunning, mind boggling view.

Spahats Falls, Wells Gray

The river falls from about 2/3rd up a vertical cliff face 61m into the bottom of a narrow gorge. Photographs just can't do the scene justice and the mind can't absorb the scale. The mountains here are created by volcanic activity, each eruption providing a different strata. Glaciers carved out the start of the valley and the rivers have done the rest. Ain't nature wonderful?

We got to our B&B in good time but were disappointed that this is the first place without wifi, so will not be able to do our blog tonight, although I have managed to pinch an illicit bit of bandwidth. We found a super place for dinner – a Chinese restaurant that offered a buffet for all you can eat at C$13.49! And very good it was too.

A fruit picker's paradise

rickandsuejohnson — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Approaching our target

A relatively relaxed start to the day with a breakfast at 8.30 am with our hosts. It really was a home from home experience – except that Pat McQueen's breakfast far outshone anything I could ever provide. Off to Chapters on our way out of Kamloops to see if we could buy the latest issue of Canadian Homes and Cottages but it hasn't reached BC yet, they only had the last issue on the shelves!

The temperature gradually crept up as we neared Okenagen lake passing through the town of Merrit with its own Holywood style path of stars (Johnny Cash, The Dixie Chicks etc). The highway twisted and turned and climbed and fell until eventually we caught sight of Okenagen Lake in the distance. As we reached the town of Peachland the first lake side town on Highway 97 it was 31 degrees.

Picnic spot

We parked up just before Penticton for lunch in the picnic area beside the lake before motoring on to the first Winery Rick had chosen – Red Rooster. I had volunteered to be driver from then on in whilst Rick did the sampling. My experience was limited to put it crudely 'sniffing' the wine, which in actual effect gave a good impression of what Rick was tasting! Red Rooster seemed to be a middle of the road place. Neat, ordered and not pretentious and we both particularly liked the Reisling. Bought a bottle to sample at the weekend when we have our two night self catering unit.

Mission Hills Winery

Back through Penticton and the vineyards and fruit orchards to Mission Hill Family Estate Winery just north of a town called Westbank, not far from Peachland. Think of the Ritz and Hotels and you will get the impression of this place. It cost twice as much to taste the wines and although all were at least 15C$ more expensive per bottle than Red Rooster they really weren't that much to write home about. As Rick said spend less on the grounds and the shop and charge less per bottle!! Crossing over to the east side of the lake we made our way to Gray Monk Estate Winery.

Gray Monk Winery

They were the only one to offer free tasting and a glass of non alcoholic juice to me. They had a range of very unusual wines and we succumbed to buying a bottle of their 'Port' wine plus bubble wrap packaging to transport back for Christmas! Now what shall I throw out of my case to accommodate it?

We arrived at Richmond House, our B&B in Vernon at around 6.45 pm and asked if the hostess knew of a good restaurant for pasta not too far away. With a little difficulty due to the road having changed a bit since Tom Tom was last updated we found Tita's a small, family run restaurant in Vernon tucked away just by a level crossing. We both chose the house special, pasta shells with lamb following a salad with home made bread and olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Rick had an Okanagen light ale and I had a peach cider. Rick treated me to a Lemoncello with my coffee to make up for missing the tasting. Feeling quite mellow now!

A story of two parts

rickandsuejohnson — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

View from our bedroom

As the rain stopped and the clouds lifted last night, the view was quite breathtaking. We were one of two couples who were eating dinner last night, which was a shame; the chef, Neil, who did everything, cooked us a superb beetroot soup followed by a huge and delicious steak with a cumin seasoning, all made from locally sourced produce and the vegetables from their own garden. We agreed that it was the best meal out we have had, marred only by the uncertainty of what it would cost as no prices were mentioned. It was pricey but not extortionate. The accommodation was quite palatial with the aforementioned views but strangely no tea or coffee making facilities. In the morning, we were treated to a breakfast of what Pat called 'frittata' but we would recognise as 'Omelette Paysanne', with fruit and then toast. It certainly set us up for the day.

Understated horsebox and caravan unit

In Pemberton itself, we managed to get Zoe's birthday present off to her and get some provisions before filling up with fuel for our long drive ahead.

4 hours of driving through some of the most stunning scenery with beautiful lakes, peaks with snow clinging to the tops, rivers chattering and gurgling as they swirled down the mountainside. In places the road seemed perched rather precariously on the side of the mountain and I was surprised that Sue elected to take the wheel but she explained that she wanted me to take some pictures!

Lower Lake Joffre

At Pat's recommendation we stopped at Joffre Lake, where a 10 minute walk took us to the lower lake. Fed by the melt waters of the glacier above, it was a particularly serene spot, troubled only by insects. We had put on insect repellent, so were relatively untroubled but the fish in the lake seemed to enjoy the insect feast – good for them. The lake is not listed in the guide books we have so was a particularly good bit of local knowledge.

At one point we were held up as a girder was being placed in a replacement bridge. We went over the temporary bridge with some trepidation but it was fine. We stopped at 2 for a bite of lunch in a layby before swapping drivers. We were probably passed by a car every few minutes but it made us aware of quite how remote the location was.

River by route 99

We had two particularly long sections with very little on them apart from the occasional homestead. The first was through the mountains after the first ½ hour of the drive until about ½ an hour after lunch, the second was for about 80 km before Cache Creek, where there were no petrol stations or cafés. It was as well that we refuelled before we left Pemberton. The second long stretch started at Lilloet and proved less interesting, with mountains giving way to an arid, hilly scrubland. It was interesting to note that, from Cache Creek we were back on Transcanada Highway 1, where we started out two days ago at mile zero! We reached the beginning of the end as we reached Kamloops Lake and pulled into a rest area where we could get a fabulous view of the lake itself.

Kamloops Lake

We pulled into MacQueens Manor just after 5pm and were given a warm welcome by Pat MacQueen. A lovely room with all the amenities we could want.

Journey from sea to sky

rickandsuejohnson — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Leaving the Island

Breakfast on board the Queen of Oak Bay at 8.30 am. Great views of the island as we steamed out of Nanaimo on our way back to the mainland. The smoke haze had cleared but as we took Highway 99 out of Horseshoe Bay towards Squamish it started to rain.

Shannon Falls

Brandywine Falls

Stopped off at Shannon Falls Provincial Park just past Britannia Beach to view the 335 metre waterfall just a short walk from the car park and then on through Squamish stopping again at Brandywine Falls just before Whistler. As we parked up we spotted picnic tables and decided that it would be a good spot to stop for lunch once we had the seen the falls. The rain had stopped and we headed out for a 15 minute walk to the viewing platform accessed across a railway track. Views of the waterfall feeding in to Daisy Lake a mile or two away. Useful tip - both stop offs have loo facilities and even the Pit toilets at Brandywine falls had a hand sanitiser unit and they weren't smelly!

squirrel with bedding

A tiny squirrel was gathering moss just a few yards from the table – we guessed he was changing the bedding in his little den. We weren't sure whether he was a juvenile or a ground squirrel, if they exist as he never left the ground. Well that was our fix of nature for a while as our next stop was Whistler.

Biking in Whistler

Nice to have seen it and get a flavour of what it's like but predictably commercialised with the main focus currently seeming to be on Mountain Biking.

As we left for Pemberton it started to rain again. It got steadily worse but by the time we arrived at Pemberton Valley Vineyard it was just a light drizzle and as the clouds drifted away we caught sight of the most beautiful mountains, their peaks dusted with patches of snow.

View from our bedroom

Our room was on the first floor with amazing panoramic views of mountains all around us. We have booked dinner here, which in hindsight was a good decision as there appeared to be very little in Pemberton itself.

Cider, a seal and jumping fish

rickandsuejohnson — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Merridale

An early wake up to ring Neil and wish him a happy birthday. Then breakfast, a quick clean up of the flat, pack and on the road. We rang Ocean Island Suites to let them know we were off and spoke to a lovely lass who said that she was from Church Stretton (who said Shropshire folk don't venture far?). After a quick stop to see the Juan De Fuca Strait when it is not raining, start at Trans Canada Highway 1 mile 0 and off to our first point of call, the Merridale Cidery, where I had a tasting after a tour of the Cidery itself. They make some lovely brews both traditional and novel, one of which tastes very similar to icewine. We came away with a lovely 10% 'Cyser', which is slightly sweetened by honey and makes for a delightful appetiser. The girl who did our tasting was from Kidderminster - yet more Brits abroad!

Village

Sue took the wheel for the next stage and drove us to Cowichan Bay Village where we enjoyed our packed lunch while watching the world go by in the little port. While we were sitting there, Sue spotted one of the buoys popping up and down and after a few seconds recognised that she was watching a seal.

I'm watching you!

We sat entranced for several minutes as it cruised the area.

Widest girth in the world

Next stop was at Duncan, advertised as the town of Totem poles. They were not exaggerating and we went on a circuit to see the major poles. I stopped counting at 20 – apparently there are over 80! It is not explained why there are so many, although as almost all of them are relatively modern, I guess it is for tourism. But they are quite entertaining on a Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, we had yet another record – the world's biggest girth for a totem pole! The girl who directed us from the Tourist Information Office was from Chelsea/Windsor - 3 Brits in one day!! You can't get away from them.

Back in the car again for the final leg to Nanaimo. We only drove briefly through it on the way onto the island and so when we checked in to the super flat in the Buccaneer Inn and had a quick skype with Ollie and Ang, we went out and had a walk down by the harbour. From the little that we saw, it really is quite an enchanting place with crystal clear waters despite the traffic.

Jumping fish

As we walked along the sea wall, quite suddenly huge fish of 15 to 24 inches started jumping out of the water within a range of 6 to 20 feet of the sea wall. I imagine they were being chased by some predator but despite the water being quite clear and the fish being so close, wasn't able to see anything.

As I write this, someone with 7-league boots is walking very heavily on the floor above, so if I have made any mistakes you know why!

Rainy day in Victoria

rickandsuejohnson — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Provincial Government building

Our first experience of a full day's rain. (Memories of Rotorua 3 years ago but not as hard). Nothing daunted set off for a walking tour of Victoria – Old Town. Ocean Island Suites is only a 10 minute walk from the inner harbour and we started our tour at the Parliament Buildings. A very interesting tour of the interior by timed ticket and then on to view the Helmcken House, reputedly the oldest home on Vancouver Island built on land given to his bride upon their marriage by the bride's father Governor James Douglas.

Dr Helmcklen's house

The house was donated to the Province by Dr Helmcken's daughter on her death a few years after her father early in the 20th the century.

Across Government Street to the Empress Hotel and the Crystal Garden. Managed to sneak in via the Crystal Garden to catch a glimpse of old world opulence and use the facilities!

The Empress (on the left)

On to Market Square and then to China Town and 'the world's narrowest street' Fan Tan Alley then back to Government Street and our walk back to the flat for lunch and a dry out!

Narrowest street

Still raining at 5.30 pm so we decided to abandon our plan to go to Butchart Gardens and view the fireworks in the evening and go instead to the park just two blocks away – Beacon Hill. Not much of a view to the Juan de Fuca Strait to the Olympic Mountains in Washington State. Maybe the rain will clear tomorrow morning before we travel back to Nanaimo.

Mile zero marker

Terry Fox memorial

We found the Mile Zero marker of the Trans-Canada Highway and the touching statue commemorating Terry Fox's sad, mammoth attempt to cross Canada from Labrador which he was forced to abandon at Thunder Bay and plaque commemorating Stephen Fonyo's successful one. A walk through the formal gardens with colourful flower beds and. beautifully manicured lawns. We saw a terrapin the size of a small dinner plate in one of the small lakes, peacocks, and loads of squirrels.

World's tallest totem pole

Then on to 'the tallest Totem Pole in the world'. (We have noted a number of extremes on this trip – 'world's narrowest building', 'formerly highest building in the British Empire', 'Oldest building in ….' etc.) Back to the flat for tea with a bottle of Canoe - a lovely rose from the Okanagan Valley, a rest and blog writing!

Chillin in Victoria

rickandsuejohnson — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

You have been warned

A more casual start to the day today, leaving Howard Johnson, a sort of Travelodge franchise chain. A well organised place and a good nights sleep. Off to Cathedral Grove and arrived before 10; the guide book suggested an early arrival to find parking. Sure enough by the time we left at almost 11, the car park was double parked in places and we were glad to be able to navigate out before being completely blocked.

Under the old man

The grove itself was stunning; words really can't describe seeing an 800 year old tree with huge girth and height, festooned with mosses and lichens, surrounded by fallen comrades returning to the earth the nutrients they have stored, together with other younger comrades of perhaps 600 years old. They bring a sense of one's own tiny contribution in the timeline of evolution. The 800 year old tree was already 300 years old when Christopher Columbus discovered N.America.

Bridge damage

On arrival, we were warned that one of the trees had fallen yesterday afternoon and taken out a bridge and footpath, so while we could see the damage, that circuit was closed. I'm quite glad we didn't stop there yesterday as a tree on the head is quite likely to spoil your day; there is a notice outside the entrance spelling out the risks...............

The beach

Quitting the Grove, we drove on to Qualicum Beach, where we had a lovely brunch of crabcakes, salad and fries in a pub on the sea front. The beach here is extraordinary – huge only just begins to define it! And it was busy but looked empty.

Upper English River Falls

Driving on south to see the English River Falls at Errington, we pulled in to the car park which was huge and quite empty. There are two sets of falls with bridges across just downstream to admire the view. These were quite spectacular. Despite the bridge being very substantial, I still felt uncomfortable looking down into the void at the upper falls, where the river tumbles over a ledge into a deep narrow channel at right angles to the flow. The lower falls are rather gentler by comparison but the clamber back up to the car park is quite strenuous, especially in the warm conditions. We were glad of the air conditioning to cool us off back at the car.

Arriving at Victoria late afternoon, it was obvious it is a Friday, with the long queues getting out for the weekend going the opposite way. It is a lot cooler here than it has been, with a temperature of 20°C and a fresh breeze. We checked in to Ocean Island Backpackers and were given our keys, directions and essential information before driving off to the flat.

The house at the back of which we had our flat

It is a lovely place with its own bathroom and fully equipped kitchen. It was nice to be able to choose and cook our own meal again. The shops are within a 10 minute walk, so we put our coats on and spent a happy hour there before getting back and cooking supper.

Haze over Vancouver

rickandsuejohnson — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Cable car to Grouse Mountain

Mountain B&B

Mountain B & B on East Balmoral Road was a good find. Our hosts provided us with a mammoth breakfast – fresh fruit salad, home baked Blueberry Pie, Ham and Eggs and tasty black bread. Ivan explained that what appeared to be mist was in fact the smoke from the forest fires and as it was hot and there were no winds it was lying like a blanket overhead. From their lounge you could just about see Canada Place and make out Burrard Sound. We knew it wasn't an ideal day to go up Grouse Mountain for the views but it would be our only opportunity so we went for it. We parked up just before 9 am and were one of the first up on the Cable Car. Apparently each one can take up to 100 people - ours carried 6! The ride was smooth and although there wasn't the amazing view of the city below us, due to the smoke, it was a thrilling ride to the 1128 m summit.

Grouse Mountain

I'd read the previous evening that if you walk the Grouse Grind be sure to use plenty of insect repellent. As I've a history of being a very tasty bite to flying insects, I liberally applied Jungle Strength lotion and was I glad that I did. No sooner had we emerged from the lift terminal building than they descended on us – well it was 9 am and we were the first potential meals of the day. They were annoying but didn't actually bite.

Coola & Grinder

The top of the mountain has been set out with various trails bordered by lovely wood carvings. There is a short lake walk which we did once we had spent some time watching the two resident juvenile bears, Grinder and Coola in their enclosure. They were found as tiny cubs on the mountain (they think the mother was probably shot) and instead of being placed in zoos the park commission decided to keep them (they wouldn't have been able to survive in the wild). One of the guides gave a very interesting commentary about them and Grizzlies in general. Apparently the whole mountain is home to Black and Grizzly bears and there have been recent sightings on the adjacent trails. We took the chair lift to the mountain summit (1250 m) and walked up to the wind turbine.

Pod under the wind turbine on top of Grouse mountain

We didn't think it was worth paying another 28 dollars to the viewing pod because of the smoke haze. On our way back to the lift terminal we stopped to watch a Lumberjack show – great fun!

Log rolling

Off to Horseshoe Bay to catch the ferry to Nanaimo. Only a short drive and we managed to catch an earlier one to our original booking. Shame about the smoke, which didn't allow us to see as much of the scenery as we would have liked , but we realised that was rather selfish to put it mildly as news reports showed people loosing their homes and firefighters risking their lives to bring the fires under control. Arrived at Port Alberni around 6.30 pm. Brief glimpses of Cathedral Grove as we neared our hotel and we plan to go there first thing tomorrow to view the giant cedars.

Walking on air

rickandsuejohnson — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Breakfast with the irritating bloke who wants to talk about global warming in attendance. He is miffed that I neither wholeheartedly support the contention that it is all man's fault nor debate why it isn't. I dodge the 'so you don't believe in climate change' with 'I don't believe the science is agreed'; I dodge the 'look at the flooding in Pastistan' with 'there have been floods since time immemorial but with modern communications we are more aware of them'; he thinks he nails me with 'you don't think that a disaster would have been recorded 500 years ago' and I sidestep with 'not all cultures have a written tradition.' I would love to ask why he thinks had a mini ice age for 300 years in the middle of the last millennia and whether he has considered that the vast herds of buffalo covering the North American plains may have produced more methane that current population of cows – or on what assumptions he calculates the methane output of the herds of herbivorous dinosaurs. But I would have ended up entertaining him rather than getting on and enjoying what the planet has to offer now!!

Steam clock sounding off

We checked out of our rooms and stored our bags in the basement. First stop today was gastown, apparently named after an early publican in the area who enjoyed 'gassing' - I would have been happy to introduce him to climate change man. Gastown is an area for domestic shops, furniture etc. and quite old. It has not yet suffered from an explosion of high rise buildings and seems familiar to provincial eyes such as mine. It looks rather attractive, I think. While there we saw a steam clock, originally powered by waste steam from the local businesses. Every ¼ hour, it toots; we were lucky enough o be there for the 09:15 tooting.

Chinatown gate

Moving on to Chinatown with its rather magnificent millennium gate, near which is supposedly the narrowest building in the world at 6 feet. It is undoubtedly narrow but it is tacked on to the front of a building a lot wider, so I think it is a bit disingenuous. Dr Sun Yat Sen has had a small park and garden dedicated to him with some funds towards it provided by the Chinese government. The park was small but beautifully formed and the garden was closed all day to accommodate a ruddy film crew, so we didn't get an opportunity to see it.

We wanted to get some maternity wear as part of Zoe's birthday present, but hard as it is to believe, there are no maternity shops in downtown Vancouver – or possibly none of the locals we asked wanted to share it with us.

Traditional patterns at Hudon's Bay Company

Even the Hudson Bay Company couldn't oblige.

We collected our bags, made our way to the Canada Line and Airport and picked up our rental car, a nice Toyota Corolla. Looking at the map, our next port of call, Lynn Canyon involved a long drive round Vancouver or a shorter drive though the middle. Rather to Sue's horror, I elected to go through the middle, hoping Ollie's tuition last week would be remembered. I found that having driven in Corsica last year, it didn't take very long for me to adapt to left hand drive.

Terrifying suspension bridge, Lynn Valley gorge

Tomtom navigated us beautifully through town but was less sure where Lynn Canyon was. Not altogether surprising as there are no signs to guide you. After stopping for directions a couple of times, we were able to find the path and take the ¾ hour walk up one side, over a terrifying suspension bridge and back up the other side. The walk through pine forest with huge trees along board walks and up and down steps was a wonderful experience. The guide book said that this was better than the Capilano which is much better known, busy and expensive. We can't compare but it was not too busy, it was free and our landlady at the B&B told us that in her view it was a much nicer walk.

We found a nice pub for our dinner of meatballs with linguini – excellent.

Skyscrapers and mountains

rickandsuejohnson — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Strange arrangement for breakfast. Only three or so table in the buffet area so you collect what you want and sit in the reception area or pop back to your room.

Market

Off on the first leg of a hectic day taking in the architectural heritage of the area on our way to Granville Island and its famous market. We caught the number 50 bus to the area, got somewhat disorientated but got there after twenty minutes or so. Great market. Almost as good as St Jacobs! Bought Burritos at one of the stalls and ate them overlooking the water. Back to Downtown and a change of bus (No 19) to Stanley Park. Hired bikes and set off on the seawall circuit.

View from Stanley Park

Wonderful views of the harbour in our two and a quarter hour circuit. Passed a couple of lovely beaches and at the second one took a brief detour to the Interior to see some 'big' trees. There is so much to see we only scratched the surface but we had come to see the scenery and what scenery. Back on the bus to the hotel and a quick call to Ol before heading out to nearby Chambar (Belgium restaurant). We both had Mechui a dish which we have when we go to Argentat, washed down with some unusual Belgian lambic Beers. The lamb was beautiful. And the beers were excellent too! Blog writing to catch up with and we are planning to stop up to 11 ish to ring Zoe and wish her happy birthday. We are hoping that 7 am in Bristol won't be too early!!

Arrival at the west coast

rickandsuejohnson — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Approach to Vancouver

On the road shortly before 8 am and a trouble free run to Terminal 3 at Toronto airport. A sad farewell to Ollie and Ang after our wonderful week with them. Thumbs up for West Jet and an arrival in Vancouver shortly after mid-day. We stopped for a bite to eat in the airport before buying or day passes for the Translink transport system for the three days of our stay in Vancouver and hopping on the Canada Line in the airport. Sixteen minutes later we emerged from the Waterfront station and a short walk to our hotel, The Victorian on Homer Street.

View from Canada Tower

We quickly unpacked, loaded our day bags and headed for the Harbour Tower just a couple of blocks away. From the observation platform we were able to identify the key sights with the help of information plaques and fully appreciate the wonder of the location that is Vancouver.

Lift outside Harbour Tower

The lift is on the exterior of the building, which is a little disconcerting if you're not very good with heights!

Off to catch the ferry (a super speedy catamaran) to the North Shore using our day passes. A quarter of an hour later we were on Lonsdale Quay. As it was a bank holiday Monday and by this time about 5.30 pm very few of the Mall shops were still open.

View from our table at Mario's

We took in the views of the city from the decking at the quayside and decided to have our evening meal overlooking the harbour at Marios (Italian Restaurant). We both decided to sample Sockeye Salmon and linguine. Someone was obviously slumming it in a little boat moored right next to the restaurant – how the other half live!
Back on the Catamaran to downtown and a wander round Canada Place Board Walk to take in a wonderful sunset and watch the float planes land.

Sunset over the Harbour

At this point it was around 9 pm (12 pm to our Ontario body clocks) so we headed back to the hotel for an early night.

From the ridiculous to the sublime

rickandsuejohnson — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Ollie, Sue & I went for a walk through the slightly tacky part of Niagara Falls looking for a place to have breakfast while Ang went to meet up with a schoolfriend and her baby daughter. The place we found offered an excellent breakfast if with a rather slow service. After the extended breakfast we walked back along the strip between the falls, making the most of the photo opportunities along the way before being picked up by Ang.

Queen Street

We then took a trip back along the very attractive drive down Niagara Parkway to Niagara on the Lake to have a wander down to the lake and then round the very pretty town. Brian had yesterday recommended the Golf Club as a great place to have good value meals and drink but we were still too full from breakfast to try it out – it certainly looked nice.

We found a lovely old pub, The Angel Inn with half timbering and exposed oak joists, serving an excellent range of beers. I had a particularly good Sleemans Honey Brown which refreshed all essential parts very nicely.

After a little bit of souvenir shopping, we all piled into the car and went back to Ollie & Ang's flat where we took advantage of the communal 'Broil King' outside the apartments and enjoyed a lovely meal of barbequed huge burgers and sausages with salad.

An Increasingly Merry Crew

rickandsuejohnson — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

American Falls by Sheraton Hotel

Off bright and early to Niagara Falls to park up at the hotel and be picked up by Wine Tours International for our Wine Tasting Tour. Ol had managed to get us booked in to the Sheraton On the Falls opposite the American Falls and a stone's throw away from one of the border bridges. Two years ago we had stayed at the Ramada overlooking the Canadian Horse Shoe Falls so it made a nice contrast to be at the other end of the parkway which runs the length of the escarpment and from which you get wonderful views of both waterfalls.

The experience begins

We were due to be picked up at 10.15. After an exchange of calls to the tour operator we were picked up by Brian at around 11.00 am and taken to Niagara on the Lake. The drive took us through beautiful parkland peppered with neat, clean picnic areas and plenty of opportunity to stop off and admire views of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. Apparently there is a 34 km cycle path that the more adventurous can take that borders the river and lake. Brian told us that the whole area is maintained by the Parks Commission who keep it immaculate and there are strict planning regulations for anyone who wants to build in the area.

Queen Street

As we entered Niagara – On -The- Lake we passed Fort George where they were busy preparing for a 'Battle Enactment' weekend, presumably re-enacting the failed US invasion attempt.

We had driven through Niagara-On-The-Lake on our Wine Tour two years ago so it was great to have the opportunity to explore it on foot whilst Brian took the remainder of our bus party (two couples) to their first Winery and then on to their lunch. We wandered down the main broad street and spied several interesting shops, which we decided we would return to at our leisure on Friday. We were due to be picked up again by Brian at the Tour Operator's unit in an hour's time and needed to get our lunch so stopped at a lovely little eatery, Fournos Restaurant, with a cool basement bar and dining area.

Lailey Estate

Back on the bus and off to our first Winery, Riverview. Then on to Lailey, Marynissen, Caroline and an added bonus, Rancourt. The most interesting in terms of being taken to the vineyard and the cellars was Lailey's. The Sommelier told us about the winery's ethos – small but quality wine produced, using traditional methods, with natural fertilisers and wine, aged in oak casks. The only winery that we had visited two years previously was Carolines and even there the range of wines seemed to have increased. Rick and I sampled 8 different ones all amazing – a shame our luggage allowance prohibits taking several back! We did buy some to drink with Ol and Ang and some to take with us to Kris and Dave's at the weekend!

Caroline Cellars, very happy by now

The two couples had visited Rancourt at the beginning of their tour whilst we were at Niagara-On-The-Lake and had much preferred their white wines to any they tasted in the afternoon so Brian took us back there. Rick got chatting to the owner's brother a Quebecois, who was down for the summer on holiday.

We got back to the hotel just before 6.00 pm and quickly changed before walking along the parkway to The Keg overlooking the Horse Shoe Falls.

American Falls at Night

A great meal and then views of both Falls lit with different coloured lights – amazing.