Day 38 Saturday 1 July 2017

Today is Canada Day and it’s their 150^th anniversary. The dock was absolutely packed.  We wished they were more apathetic. We are celebrating by leaving their country. It would be great if we could see fireworks but it doesn’t get dark until 11 PM.

Day 37 Friday 30 June 2017

Today we left at 7.40 AM to go to the Capilano Bridge and forest.  It was lovely. Elizabeth was a real trooper going across the suspension bridge and the elevated platforms.  It's a lovely place. Tomorrow is Canada Day and it’s their 150^th anniversary.  We got into the park before opening which is just as well as it was crowded but we are certain it gets a lot more crowded. 

There was also a Treetop Adventure to give a squirrel's eye-view of the forest.

We went to Stanley Park and Prospect Point gives us a view of the one of their major bridge - the Lions Gate Bridge. We saw the totem poles which really should be called story poles. We then finished off had a lunch stop at the Granville Island markets.  This was an industrial area that has been converted into a market and dining precinct. Afterwards, returning to our hotel we had a bus tour of Chinatown and Gastown.

Tonight was our tour dinner as we really won’t see much of our tour buddies once we are on the cruise ship. At the trivia quiz Elizabeth knew that Queen Maxima, christened our ship the New Amsterdam. She won a map of the inside passage. (Alaska - just for clarification).

The Fairmont chain of hotels has been lovely but the bathrooms have been very small.  So small they have to put the light switch on the outside and you have to close the toilet lid to ensure nothing falls into the toilet.

We will not have internet access until we return to Vancouver from the Alaskan Cruise (8 July). 

We might be able to post from onshore but unsure about photos.

Day 36 Thursday 29 June 2017

Another day on the Rocky Mountaineer. We trave; from Kamloops to Vancouver through what is called Canada’s desert as it is a rain shadow. We saw Mountain Sheep and Bald Eagles. One had made a giant nest on a bridge.

When we arrive in Vancouver the staff were outside to greet us.

The Skyline of Vancouver.

Day 35 Wednesday 28 June 2017

This morning it was bags out at 5.30 AM as we need to be loaded on the Rocky Mountaineer at 8.00 AM. Here our tour guide Martin us trying to control the group of excitable children.

The weather held off with being cloudy but fined up by the time we got to our destination.  We arrived at about 5.30 PM. We could have arrived much later as our train has to pull over for the incredibly long freight trains. 

 It was a wonderfully pampered experience…I can say that after 5 Baileys and 2 glasses of red wine and they are the ones that I can remember.  They fed us all day.  Perhaps it makes us more docile. The trip was a wonderful experience, the food and beverage staff were lovely and worked so hard.  Unfortunately, because we are early summer most of the snow has melted, that’s the only thing that could have been better. Another highlight was seeing one more Grizzly Bear.

Day 34 Tuesday 27 June 2017

Today we did different activities in the morning. I went on Bow River float where I saw an elk (possibly), two Harlequin ducks and an osprey.  Elizabeth went on a nature walk which was both peaceful and informative, during which she saw a ground squirrel, a robin and lots of mosquitoes.

 This is out hotel. Not too shabby.

 An elk?

After returning to the hotel we went into Banff and visited the Parks information Centre. It was restored in the original design of local architecture meets Victorian taxidermy. For a small space they did a remarkable job to fit in as many exhibits as possible.

Next on our list was the Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum. This is presented as a stockaded fort. It was a suprisingly interesting place which informative exhibits and it had excellent virtual reality technology where it seemed like you were amongst a herd of bison and it seemed like you just reach out and touch them.

Elizabeth bought a cashew Log from the Fudgery.  An amazing store and you put on weight on by just walking in.

Tonight we went to the Waldhaus restaurant. Both Elizabeth and I had a Cornish game hen that was emu sized – too big but cooked to perfection.

Day 33 Monday 26 June 2017

This morning we visited Moraine Lake. We unsuccessfully looked for Pika in the rocks.  These are tennis ball sized guinea pigs. I thought the critters we did see were Lesser Squirrels but in fact they are Golden Mantle Squirrels.

We took a gondola ride above Banff to Sulpher Mountain that provided excellent views over our hotel and the Banff township and very high winds at the lookout – it certainly made it memorable.

 Our hotel is below near the river - a long way down!

We had 90 minutes to explore the town before we arrived at our hotel. Apparently Banff stands for, “Be Aware, Nothing, For, Free.”

Here is the view from our hotel room.

Our evening meal is at a place called Wild Bills.  It was named in honour of Bill Peyto, the lake of the same name. The food was wholesome and included corn bread.  The entertainment was OK but country and western music, combined with line dancing wasn’t really our thing.    

      Before the dancing...aaargh!

Day 32 Sunday 25 June 2017

This morning we got up to take photos at dawn. Not perfect weather for reflections but not too bad. Originally called Emerald Lake; Lake Louise was named after the fourth granddaughter of Queen Victoria. I think Emerald Lake is much better.

After a very above average breakfast (Nutella Crepes and Buttermilk Pancakes….mmmm) we took off at 8.30 AM to climb to Lake Agnes and the Tea House.  To get there you climb up between Big Beehive (2270m) and Little Beehive (2025m).  Here is the Big Beehive.

The climb firstly takes the walker to Mirror Lake and then on to Lake Agnes and the Tea House takes us 65 minutes to complete. The climb was steady and a moderate slope but there were steps at the end.  The reflections seem better in the morning and by the time we left we noticed that the crowd had grown but not too much.  We had morning tea of Rhubarb scones with jam.

On our journey homeward we saw some horses and the slope would be difficult for them.  We had to dodge their landmines. As we returned downhill the number of people walking up was crazy and it would be very crowded to get a photo. Many people seem to have dogs with them or as I call them “bear bait”.   Remember it is legal to take your pet into a National Park as if they get loose they don’t become a pest but more like an entrée for a bear.

This afternoon in the end, a group of 7 of us took the ski lift/Gondola ride. There was an interpretative centre with lots of animal skins to pat.  Bear fur is rough but the lynx’s was so soft but the wolf…. well he was like patting a Labrador.