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rickandsuejohnson

118 Blog Entries
9 Trips
1351 Photos

Trips:

From the Shire to Middle Earth and back
The island of birth for 'Le petit caporal' and the roots of Bernard Nobili
Two Thumbs up for the Canucks
Go West then go East
Paying our respects
Hungary anyone?
Venice of the North - St Petersburg
Go west, then go west some more.
Argentat de nouveau

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A good day out

Budapest, Hungary


Danube with flood defences
We've been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast with the idea of saving the places we want to visit that will mean being inside for a rainy day. Day by day the prediction of rain and thunder storms has moved back towards Thursday, which will be our last full day, so we decided to take another day out of town, this time to Szentendre 20 kms North of Budapest on the banks of the Danube. It is mentioned as the most easy place to visit outside Budapest in the Rough Guide and 40 mins later we arrived via the HEV suburban railway at this pretty little town. The plan was to combine the trip with a visit to the Hungarian Open Air Museum 4 kms out of town. The buses don't run there between 10am and 1 pm so we spent a couple of hours wandering the back streets and walking down to the river.

High Street
There is major construction work going on in the village square and we felt sorry for one particular restaurant right in front of the fenced off area with diggers and drills working away – surprise, surprise they had no customers! Back to the bus station and thank goodness for our guide book which has place names also written in Hungarian so we are able to point out where we want to go and everyone, without fail, has tried to help us or called someone else over to see if they can understand what it is we want. Tickets purchased we boarded the bus and found that our stop was ¾ of the way round a circular route only operating in one direction.

Upper Tisza House
We arrived at the Museum just before 2 pm and downed 2 large beers (well one each!) and some lovely scone like bread before wandering round. The park is set out with buildings typical of the different regions that comprised old Hungary.
Before the Treaty of Trianon at the end of the First World War Hungary's territory included some of what is now within Bosnia, Serbia, Transylvania and Romania.

Middle room, Upper Tisza house
Most of the buildings that we decided to concentrate on dated from 1800s onwards. It was surprising to note that in the early 20th century many villages had typically thatched houses , with fairly spartan furnishing.
Temperatures around 30º again and not a black cloud in sight, we made our way back. All the transport is right on time and really reasonable – thumbs up to Hungary. Our 7 day pass cost 4,600 ft (£13 approx) and we only had to pay a slight supplement to make the journey beyond the city district today. The pass covers buses, trams, metro and HEV to the city limits; most of the little buses that operate in the city centre are not in the first flush of youth - indeed most of the transport has been well used and worked hard so has a rather care worn look about it. As we exited the metro station to catch the bus back to our hotel it started to rain and as I type the last rolls of thunder are fading away. It's certainly cleared the air.

Rick facing the meal for 2
After a glass of Tokay courtesy of the manager (we had had to change rooms – a faulty air conditioning unit) we headed out towards the Palace Buildings at the opposite end of Varhegy for our evening meal – possibly the best yet. A platter for 2 to share with assorted meats, rice, vegetables and french fries.
The Palace (now the National Museum) and the President's official residence are floodlit at night and we wandered into the inner courtyard, which has been set up for a Lipizzana Horse Show.

The Palace
With very few other people there it almost felt like stepping back in time to the grandeur of the 18th and 19th centuries. This is such a beautiful city!
Rain or not we are planning to visit the Parliament Building, St Stephen's Basilica and the State Opera House tomorrow!

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on June 1, 2011 from Budapest, Hungary
from the travel blog: Hungary anyone?
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Let's try some public transport

Budapest, Hungary

Dodge the guards at Fisherman's Bastion! When we arrived on Sunday, we trotted across the square to what we thought was the ramparts and were able to walk along a part which gave excellent views over Pest.

Fisherman's bastion
The following morning we thought it would be nice to see this in early morning light; oh no – there were a couple of burly individuals (one male the other probably not) in uniform ensuring that anyone who wanted a good view would pay for it. When we went back later that evening, they were busy counting their money and preparing for bed so we were able to have another look then. We had discovered that these ramparts are called Fisherman's Bastion. They were built between 1895 and 1902 and restored in 1947–48, after its near destruction during World War II. Its seven towers represent the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in 896. The Bastion takes its name from the guild of fishermen that was responsible for defending this stretch of the city walls in the Middle Ages. Most fishermen I know are fairly peaceful folk, I don't know who thought it was a good idea to give them a section to defend but I confess they wouldn't have been my first choice. Anyway, to get the good view go at or after about 8pm.

The cogwheel train not going very far today
Today was a day for brave acts – using public transport! Sue liked the idea in the rough guide to get on a bus to the cog railway, walk a short way to what is known at the Children's railway, then take a trip along to the end and halfway back for a short walk up to a splendid viewing tower with a chair lift back down to civilisation. To enable this and other such activities, we would purchase a travel card which would give us free transport for the duration. We duly walked down to the place where the tickets are sold and using her best pigeon Hungarian with associated signing, Sue was able to extract the requisite items – I restricted myself to saying sagely in my best Hungarian 'kurssurnurm' which is supposed to be thankyou – it got a smile anyway.
Theory was fine but the practise had a small hiccough initially in working out from where the bus actually ran to get to the cog railway. No problem for Sue who deployed a stream of her best pigeon Hungarian and gesticulation at a couple of official looking blokes in uniform who duly delivered the required information. We managed to get on the bus but now had the problem of where to get off. The book said 2 stops but hadn't mentioned anything about request stops or whether we should counts stops where we didn't. Anyway when we disembarked Sue nailed a couple of old ladies who couldn't run and deployed her language skills to good effect. We were told we had missed our stop (surprise) and would have to walk back. About 200 metres back we found where we should have alighted and crossed the road to the cog railway. A word about Budapest bus drivers; I am not aware of a Hungarian F1 driver but I am quite certain that there are a huge number of potential candidates from the bus drivers we had today. As some readers may be aware I am not averse to being a bit heavy with my right foot occasionally but I have never before heard wheelspin from a bus; I am sure I did today, frequently. And I am quite sure that there is a competition to see who can turn the bus over first from the way they corner.

The train now departing................
Anyway as we waited on the tram, our ideas ran out of steam as a lovely couple deploying similar language skills to Sue indicated that the line was under repair from the third stop, so we wouldn't be able to go to the end and would need to get off and catch bus No. 22. While we had got the message, they were a little puzzled that we didn't alight. They would have been even more puzzled by the crazy English who went up to the third stop – and then just travelled back down again. Well we had promised ourselves a trip on the wretched train and we were jolly well going to have it. As it happens the bit we did was pretty uninspiring. Anyway, we managed to find bus No. 22 and a nice bloke who suggested that we don't try to get to the first station but aim for the second as the bus could drop us very close to that at Normafa. In fact we found the penultimate stop was right by the station.

the salute
The Children's Railway is a narrow gauge line and most of the station staff are filled by Scouts and Guides who have an interest in Railways – hence the name. I did find it a little other worldly watching a 10 year old saluting the train as he had been taught as it left the station. It was a pleasant trip on the railway climbing steadily through woodland and we left it at the second station, Janos-hegy. We had a steady uphill walk of just over 1km to get to Erzsbet look out tower. However, if our trip to lake Agnes last year rated a 9/10 for difficulty, this only managed about 3; it made us puff a bit but we didn't have to stop often.

Elizbet tower
We got some fabulous views over the city from (not quite) the top and were able to note the parliament building, the military museum, Mattyas Church and thereby our hotel. Childish but fun!

View from the top, Parliament in the middle
We had some more fun at the cafe by the chair lift. There were a small range of foodstuffs on offer but the main ones were hotdog, hamburger, which I vaguely recognised and melegszendvics. The last sounded like some kind of sandwich, confirmed by our phrase book as toasted sandwich. I duly (and worriedly) ordered these and the surprised looking lass taking the order confirmed one each; I was pleased that she correctly interpreted the single raised digit. The word meleg, it turned out may be better translated as 'hot' because it was not a toastie as we may expect but a huge torpedo which has a minced beef sauce on it and cheese melted over it. Sue confirmed between rather unnecessarily full mouthfuls that it was very good indeed.
On the chair lift back, there was a note not to rock the chair while in motion.

View from chairlift
Given the height above ground and the lack of a safety net I felt this admonishment was rather unnecessary. Arrival at the bottom terminus left us with a short walk to a waiting bus. Sue, feeling confident and fluent by now asked how we could get to one of the cave systems and was told very precisely that we should stay on the bus until a stop called Budegyozgye, then take a No 61 tram going in the opposite direction for 2 stops before finding a No 29 bus and getting off at Outilan; once Sue had elicited the information, I did my bit and smugly said 'kurssurnurm'. Sure that we had now got the complexities of Budapest travel understood, we never even blanched – perhaps we should. Getting off at the right place was no problem, nor was finding the tram going in the right direction or indeed, after some discussion, getting on the right bus going in the right direction. No our problem was the old one of knowing the right stop! We duly alighted several stops after we should have done near to the cave system that is in fact closed today. We had a 1.25 km walk to the other one, the first half km retracing our steps or rather wheels.

The Organ
The Palvolgi Stalactite caves were originally carved from the rock by rising thermal waters that subsequently powered the Budapest hot springs rather than the more common rain drainage. We only toured a small part of the huge complex but what we did was extensive and I'm tempted to say 'fantastic', Dad. In the course of a half hour tour we went up and down through some vivid underground landscapes at one point having to climb a 7 metre ladder.

Stalagmites - Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs (Snow white is 5ft 6 in tall)
The temperature in the caves is a steady 10 degrees which was a welcome relief from the 30 degrees outside, but we were glad to have brought some warm clothing.
When we got out we noticed there was a bus nearby and undaunted or perhaps enboldened by our earlier efforts jumped on the first going in roughly the right direction. This took us to a square we had never heard of so we jumped on another that was going somewhere we had. From here we felt we should have a go at a form of transport we hadn't tried before so jumped on a metro which took us to Moscow Square from where we were able to get a bus right back to the front door of the hotel. Public transport here is absolutely excellent; relatively cheap, incredibly frequent (usually today we had a maximum 10 minute wait even well out of the centre) very reliable and rather unnecessarily quick. It operates largely on a trust system so nobody checks you have a ticket as you board saving a huge amount of time over the course of a journey. UK take note.
For our evening meal tonight we thought we should try a little restaurant hidden away behind the main drag not far from the hotel. As we looked at the menu it looked pretty good and noticed a violinist playing (rather well to my untutored ear) some classical and classic music. We duly ordered and when the only other diner (!) vanished, we found ourselves treated to the undivided attentions of aforesaid violinist. Now I don't mind a bit of music as I eat but I found his attemps to get eye contact somewhat unnerving and the final straw came when he appeared with a 2000 forint bill stuck in the neck of his strad. This was taking unsubtlety to a new level but I was up to the job and looked him in the eye – not difficult as he was only a foot away at this point. I told him he played well and asked how long he had been playing. Misinterpreting my interest he told me that he was a gypsy violinist – my 'oh really?' was greeted with a virtuoso performance of recognisable and very nice hungarian folk music. I duly applauded and thanked him afterwards but he was confused but the lack of cash forthcoming so retreated to the interior of the restaurant. We paid our bill and left. You can't lever cash out of a Johnson by trying to embarrass them into it, we have too much experience of the state.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on May 31, 2011 from Budapest, Hungary
from the travel blog: Hungary anyone?
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Hop on - hop off

Budapest, Hungary


Vienna Gate
A walk round the old town taking in the Vienna Gate and views of the surrounding Buda Hills before catching the Hop on Hop Off Bus from the Palace about 300 metres from our hotel. A great way to get our bearings and have an idea of what we might want to return to to explore in more depth later in the week. The bus dropped (well it felt like it though it followed the road) down to the embankment and then climbed to the Citadel, past the striking Liberty statue that dominates the sky line before descending to cross the Elizabeth Bridge from Buda to Pest.

The Opera House
Turning left along the embankment up to the beautiful Parliament Building before doubling back and taking Andressy Ut we passed the Opera and Liszt's house. Everywhere little squares with statues of famous Hungarians and impressive buildings with late 19th century facades, ornate iron worked grilling to windows and balconies.

Castle in a city park
Our first 'hop off' was at 'Heroes Square' at the western end of Andrassy Ut in Pest and the entrance to the City Park complete with its own castle, zoo and thermal baths. We stopped for lunch in the park and then took the next bus to reach the Pest embankment for a boat trip to Margaret Island. Once underway the guide told us that they couldn't go to the Island due to extensive bridge work there but they would drop us off at the nearest point Bathyanay Ter. We eventually discovered the pick up point for the next Hop On (they aren't marked you just have to hope that other people are waiting too or someone selling tickets for the Tours spots you and points you to the exact pick up point!).

Millenium fountain, Margit Island
One stop later we Hopped Off into the middle of the Bridge Works. And how did the chickens cross the four lanes of traffic plus 2 tram lines? Well they tried the sensible way first but couldn't find the right exit in the underpass and then they negotiated several pedestrian crossings before reaching the other side. A short walk along the Margaret Bridge and then on to the island. Halfway along the island Rick's pedometer gave out just after gasping '14,000 steps' – he said it was the batteries; I think it died of exhaustion!! It's a beautiful park with ruins of Fransiscan and Dominican churches (one the final resting place of Margaret the daughter of King Bela IV); a huge water park with slides, pools and trick fountains; two thermal spas and a Japanese and a Rose Garden.

Sue takes the long path up Margit Island
An hour or so and one gorgeous and very reasonable ice cream later we retraced our steps to the entrance at Margaret Bridge. You can hire bikes, or beach buggies on the island, there are several cafes and stands; 2 Wcs (100HUF entrance – standard in Budapest) and along the main path lots of drinking fountains – very handy in temperatures in the high 20s. Despite much time with TomTom, Rick's homing pigeon senses have not grown weak and with map in hand we negotiated the back streets to find our way back to the Castle district and home. The route took up us a stone staircase to the Vienna Gate – a fairly long climb of about 300 feet from top to bottom. Doesn't sound much but the backs of my legs are telling me it was! A long drink, rest and shower before heading out for our evening meal. Hungarian Beef Strips with Peppers for Rick and Pork Tenderloin Strips with Blue cheese and Vegetables for me all washed down with local draught beer – great.

Watch out Canada - huge maples on Margit Island
Looks like another hot day tomorrow. Maybe a trip to the Buda Hills on the cog railway followed by a dip in the thermal baths at Gellart.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on May 30, 2011 from Budapest, Hungary
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Arrival

Budapest, Hungary


Parliament building in the evening sun
And today's lesson is.................when you change your pin, don't forget to change the note you made of it. Embarrassment at Manchester Airport when the card I had got for this trip back in October didn't respond to the pin I thought it had. When able to think in the cool light of a pint of Guinness, I realised that I had probably changed it to something more memorable and forgotten to note it. A slight hiatus with crossed fingers at a restaurant in Buda having tried the alternative showed this to be accurate.


View of Matthias Church from our room
Although leaving 15 minutes late because some nonce had checked their baggage in but not arrived at the departure gate until 15 minutes after we were due to leave, we actually landed ahead of time some 20 minutes early. Well done Jet2.com! Mind you while seat pitch was quite generous, I got the feeling that travelling light is Jet2's watchword, we had to walk across the tarmac to (in the rain) and from the plane and every opportunity was taken to relieve passengers of the weight of their cash during the flight. I didn't use the toilet as I suspected there may be a charge for that. During the flight we were overtaken by a 4 engined jet; it is the first time I have seen this and it was fascinating.

Arrival at Ferengy was trouble free, a tiny airport everything was compact – about 20 metres from the tarmac to passport control, 5 metres to the baggage reclaim and another 10 to the exit!

Our taxi driver was waiting and he escorted us to the taxi in the pleasantly warm 23 degree temperature. He made purposefully towards the car park and then towards an isolated Lada that had seen better days. I breathed a sigh of relief as he went past. The 25 km trip to the hotel would be relatively quiet being a Sunday our driver told us. Leaving the airport, there were all the signs I had expected of a former eastern bloc nation becoming part of Europe. Areas of timewarped, charming if tired 30's & 40's building with some derelict factories gave way to a huge modern business, hotel and shopping complex.


Evening Meal
I wondered how long the huge grey tenement blocks in the background would stay before someone realised that they spoiled the impression. The road was lined with trees on either side and I was struck by the sheer quantity of greenery around.

At the hotel we checked in and went for a wander in the immediate vicinity. Being in the old castle district of Buda we were high up over the Danube and had a fabulous view over the ramparts to Pest and the Parliament below in the evening sunshine. We found a nice place for our evening meal (11,500 HUFs!!!) and as we walked back saw the Matthias Church opposite the hotel all lit up – very spectacular.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on May 29, 2011 from Budapest, Hungary
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Journey's end

Calgary, Canada


Smelly Banff Springs
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.


permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 20, 2010 from Calgary, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.
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Adventures with wildlife and a steep climb

Banff, Canada


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.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 18, 2010 from Banff, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.
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Mountains high, falls, frozen rivers and the gene pool

Lake Louise, Canada


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.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 17, 2010 from Lake Louise, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.
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A lake with an unfortunate name and two with very good ones

Banff, Canada


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.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 17, 2010 from Banff, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.
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Maligne ('Maleen') Lake & more wildlife but no bears

Jasper, Canada


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.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 15, 2010 from Jasper, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.
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On a clear day you can see for miles and miles............

Jasper, Canada


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.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 14, 2010 from Jasper, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.
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