Boozing in Banff

We had heard a lot of good things about Banff, mainly because it's a fantastic ski resort with a terrific nightlife, so we were very excited about visiting here. As the ski season was still a few weeks away, we were going to have to enjoy the nightlife to the full, and as were arrived on a Friday, were we well positioned to do so!

The campsite in Banff was our most basic yet as it was our first "winter" campground. This basically means you only have electricity on your allotted campsite and there are showers / restrooms available to use too. It was however, one of the more picturesque stops and certainly the cheapest to date- $25 per night.

We did arrive late after our long day travelling from Jasper, so we took a short drive around Banff to get a feel for the place before retiring for the night.





After a bit of a lie-in the next day, we walked the downhill route towards the town centre to grab some breakfast. The Lonely Planet Guide recommend Melissa's as the best place for brekkie and who were we to argue? After our 30 mins walk, we had worked up an appetite and headed straight for the restaurant to find the queue nearly out the door, but soon learnt that the wait was only 15 mins or so. Was it worth the wait I hear you ask??? Certainly. The place serves up a brilliant "Big Breakfast" with huge, thick pancakes complete with Maple Syrup. This set us up nicely for our boozy afternoon.

As we were both very full, a walk around time was needed before we could crack on. Banff is full of souvenir shops selling everything from gold plated maple leaves to Rocky and Bullwinkle pyjamas. We did notice on our walk however that the place was littered with pubs! It was time to stop walking and start drinking, and where better for an English man to start off than in an Irish bar! A few scoops in there before heading off to other bars that our waitress in Melissa's had told us to visit. The second was a sports bar that was showing the local derby CFL game (Canadian Football League) between Calgary and Saskatchewan. I assumed that everyone would be supporting Calgary as they were the closest town to Banff, but I was wrong. Everybody in there was a huge Saskatchewan fan. The game went one way and then the other, with the result ending up 44 - 44 after overtime. I just had to look that score up was we were on our 7th beer by the end of the game.

We meandered from bar to bar before settling back at the Irish bar, where live music was about to kick off. It did seem that a lot of bars had live bands on each Saturday - all of which were a little bit average if I'm honest, but the locals seem to like it! After taking in another live band, we called it quits at about midnight.

I can see why Banff is such a great ski resort. We were there at probably the quietest time of year and the place still has a real buzz to it.

The next day we were heading the short 1.30hr drive to Calgary, but decided to stop at a local tourist spot called Lake Minnewanka. I think the only reason for this is we were being really childish and kept laughing at the name of the lake. But I'm glad we did as this was yet again, a lovely, picturesque lake in Canada. Clear waters surrounded by snow capped mountains.


After about an hour here we hopped back in the RV and headed off to Calgary.

Our Banff pics can be found here.

Stuoobs

xxx

A 3 stop strategy on the way to Banff

I am writing this blog as a passenger in the RV while Cazzie is driving.  There are times when we will spend most of the day travelling as Canada and America are so huge!

When I last left you we were in Jasper and planning our route to Banff and this involved 3 stops.

1 - Athabasca Falls.  The Athabasca river is the longest river in Canada and runs for 1231 kms.  The river runs quite peacefully up until it hits softer rock, it erodes it and Athabasca Falls is born.  This place is very similar to Maligne Canyon with its frozen waterfalls, swirling pools and blue rivers. 

The place is, as all attractions in the National Park, really lovely.

2 – The Columbia Ice Fields.  We drove past this on the way up to Jasper from Revelstoke and noticed that there was a visitors centre here.  Having seen the leaflets for trips to this Ice Field, we decided to stop on the way to Banff to see what it was all about.  Once in the centre, we booked ourselves onto the 90 min tour.  This involved getting a bus to the huge Ice Explorer that would then transport us onto the ice field.  We hopped on and started a very steep decent to the ice field and then a very slow drive into the middle if it.  The ice fields have been created by the coming together of 4 glaciers that create a huge sheet of ice, which in places is over 300 metres thick – that’s the size of the Eiffel Tower.  The main glacier is the Athabasca Glacier.  As we stepped onto the ice to try and take photos, we were told to stay within the marked areas, as there was a chance you could fall into potholes in the ice and never be seen again.  So, remaining very close to the Ice Explorer, we attempted to take photos, which wasn’t easy!

It was very windy and very cold.  The lowest recorded temperature here was minus 76 degrees!  One thing that did hit home a little was the effect that global warming has had on this place.  The ice field has retracted over 100 metres during the past 50 years and is shrinking at a faster rate the ever – about 10 metres per year.  We don’t ever really get to see the effects of global warming the the UK, so this got me thinking.  Our tour guide in Jasper informed us that the lakes and rivers have dropped by 60 % in the past 20 years too. 

3 – Lake Louise.  This place was always on the list to go to.  I had heard so many nice things about the place, such as it’s the most beautiful, scenic place you will ever go to. We arrived, parked up and took the short walk to the lake and we were not disappointed.  It was beautiful.  The lake was so still, the views were amazing, there was snow covering the ground and there wasn’t a gust of wind in the air.  It also felt like Christmas with all the pine trees about!  What was really good about the place was all the touristy shops were 5 kms before the lake, so the lake itself wasn’t spoilt. The only hotel that was there was the impressive Fairmont. We walked 2 kms down one side of the lake and took as many photos as we could, and this one is my favourite.

I could go on about all these places, but again, the photos that I took tell a much better story.  Just click on these links and you will see them all. 

Athabasca Falls

Columbia Ice Fields

Lake Louise

This has probably been the best day of the trip so far.

After Lake Louise we headed to Banff, which will be the subject of my next blog!

Stuoobs

xxx

Wildlife spotting in Jasper

After leaving Kelowna, it was about a 10 hour drive to Jasper, our next destination. To break the journey up we stayed the night in Revelstoke. There is nothing to in Revelstoke at this time of year, so after a very brief walk round town, we headed back to the RV site, Cazzie made a chilli and I set about lighting the fire. We cracked open a bottle of red and had our first campfire of the trip.



We were up early the next day to head towards Jasper, which involved driving over the top of the Rockies and Cazzie decided that she wanted to drive this leg, which I was quite pleased about as it meant I could get a proper look at all the views.

There had been some snow overnight and the higher we got, the heavier the snow became, but the Canadians are geared up for much, much worse than this, so our journey was quite a smooth one after the huge snowplows and gritting machines had done their work.

Once we had crossed the BC / Alberta border and started our decent, the snow stopped, the roads became clear and the views became better. It felt like we were stopping at every opportunity to take in the scenery and a snap a few photos.


We arrived in Jasper, but as all the RV parks were shut for the winter, we booked ourselves into a hotel for 2 nights and we took this opportunity to have an early night and enjoy close, warm showers and inside toilets!!!

Up early the next morning as we were being collected at 9am for our wildlife tour. Sundog Tours were the "local experts" at finding wildlife, and sure enough, we saw a Bald Eagle, Mountain Goats, a deer and a coyote.

What we were really after was Elk though, but our "experts" couldn't find any.

Our tour took us up to lunchtime, and we were dropped off back at our hotel, so after a quick bite to eat, we decided to head out to Maligne Lake to see what we could find. After about 15 mins drive, we spotted an Elk just standing by the road. It was brilliant and we felt really chuffed with ourselves - almost like we were better than the pros! After another 2 mins drive, a few cars were stopped on the road, and another 2 elks were about to cross the road.


What we really, really wanted though was a stag, and Cazzie managed to find one in it's natural environment hidden deep in one of the forests. You have to look very carefully to spot him.



We continued down towards Maligne Lake where we met a couple that told us we must do the Maligne Canyon on the way back, so after a few more pictures, we moved on. Maligne Canyon was littered with iced over waterfalls, wildlife and swirling rapid rivers.



Having walked down and back up the canyon, daylight was fading, so we headed back to our hotels room where we once again wanted to take advantage of the home comforts, so we ordered a pizza and bedded in for the night!

I don't feel like I have done this place justice in this blog, but I didn't want to could go on and on about how lovely and picturesque Jasper is. But they say pictures speak a thousand words, so all of ours can be found here.

The town of Jasper is quaint. Lots of gift shops selling little bears, elks and deers, a few restaurants and a couple of places that sell tours etc. A lot of places were closed for the winter and the town itself was quiet.

But let me leave you with my favourite pic of Jasper, a place called Medicine Lake.


Next stop, Banff via Athabasca Falls, the Columbia Ice Fields and Lake Louise!

Stuoobs

xxx

Wine tasting that I can remember this time

I have photographic evidence to prove that I have been wine tasting before. Andy also did a blog on it which can be found here. I can’t really remember any of it.

We arrived in Kelowna from Harrison Hot Springs and had a wine tasting tour booked starting at 1pm. Our tour guide, Dagmar, was waiting for us at our RV park, so after a quick check-in, we were in the back of the mini bus and off. Dagmar had another 2 couples to collect en-route, who turned out to be Sharon and Michelle (not a lesbian couple as we first thought) and Haydn and Laura.

Dagmar was brilliant as a tour guide. She was retired and both her and her husband work for a wine touring company. She asked us the right questions that got all 6 of us chatting to each other about where we were from and why we were here.

There were 3 wineries planned. The first one was called Mission Hill and was easily the biggest and most impressive. There was a very organised, hour long tour that Dagmar had booked us onto. Now, I could bore you all by telling you that white wine should be served between 10 and 15 degrees and that red wine should be served between 13 and 18 degrees. I could also bang on about how the thicker the grape means the darker the red wine. Or, I could send you all to sleep by letting you know that the older vines yield less grapes, but the are much more flavoursome. But you’ll be glad to know I won’t ramble on about any of that.

After a short video about how the winery started and grew, we were shown around the place to see the vineyards.

Cazzie loving the scenery

After a quick visit to the cellar to see 1000’s of American and French Oak barrels, we were off to the wine tasting session where we were taught how to taste wine. It’s all about rinsing the pallet, swilling the wine in your glass and slurping the wine in your mouth to get all the flavours. It was a lot of fun – even though we didn’t get that much wine!

The wine was ready and waiting for us, complete with a very unused spitting bucket!

This was a really lovely place to visit, but it all felt a bit impersonal as there were 22 people in our group. Nevertheless, we were so impressed with the wines we tasted, we bought a couple of bottles. I did have a Pinot Noir in my hand, but Dagmar said I should wait and buy a bottle from the next place – and who was I to argue?

The next port of call was Quails’ Gate. This was a much smaller winery, where the tasting took part in a corner of the wine shop. As there was only our group taking the tasting we got a much better, personal service. This is where we learnt that the best wines come from older vines matured in brand new oak barrels. Another fact was that you should ALWAYS decant red wine no matter how cheap. The only red wine that doesn’t need decanting is Pinot Noir.

We were given the chance to have a wander around the place, so after buying the Pinot Noir here (Dagmar was right, it was the best Pinot Noir I have tasted) we took a step outside for a few photos.

Final port of call was an organic winery called Kalala. It was a 10 min drive away and we were all now a few glasses to the good, so the journey was a lot of fun. We arrived at Kalala just in time to see some harvesting taking place.

We were allowed to try these grapes out and they were so juicy and tasty.

We tried another 8 wines here, including an ice wine which is a very sweet dessert wine made from grapes that are picked and crushed when the temperature hits –8 degrees.

Overall, it was a top day. The 6 of us decided to meet up after dinner for some beers at the local dive called Blue Gator. It’s not often I walk into a bar and everyone else is more drunk than I am, but this was the case here. Everyone was smashed and dancing to the amateur blues night that takes place every Sunday. Cazzie and I couldn’t take our eyes off most of the people here as they bounced their way from the bar to the dance floor and back again. It was a brilliant laugh! We did our best to play catchup, but there wasn't enough time before closing.

Kelowna is a brilliant place with red hot summers and cold winters meaning you can spend half your year sunbathing and the other half skiing. There is a buzzing nightlife too with a pretty good casino thrown in. Perfect. The views across the 135kms long Okanagan Lake aren’t bad either!

If you are ever in the region, this place is a must.

All the pictures can be found here.

Stuoobs

xxx

Whale watching and attempting to bike ride!

Our first port of call was Vancouver Island which is situated, as you would expect, off the coast of Canada near Vancouver. It did mean getting a ferry across which took abut 90 mins.

Our RV park was situated about 15 mins outside Victoria, which is the capital of the island. Arrival time was about 7.30pm, so we plugged in and settled in for the night. As this was our 3rd night in Canada, we were still a touch jetlagged so it was an early night.

The plan for the following morning was to go whale watching in the Pacific Ocean, so we hopped on the local bus, which dropped us off right in the centre of Victoria. After a short walk and we arrived at Orca Spirit tours which is where we met Geoff, our very cool captain / tour guide for the day, and the 4 other shipmates who had signed up for the tour. Once we had been fitted up with our lifejackets, we were off.

Cazzie in a very fetching life jacket!

So we were off. Once we have obeyed the speed limits in the harbour, we reached our cruising velocity of 55 mph and started our search. Captain Geoff was constantly on the CB radio, walkie talkie and mobile phone speaking to all other boats in the area, sharing information about where the whales were. Before we found our whales, we stopped off to view the sea lions that were all gathered on a large rock.

These guys weigh about 1 tonne each!

The radio then buzzed with news that there were 5 humpback whales in the area so it was full speed ahead! These humpback whales only appear off the Island for 7 weeks a year on their way to Hawaii, so we were very fortunate to have found them. As we approached we could see their huge tails slapping about in the water.

A tail span of 4 metres and a humpback can weigh up to 36 tonnes

There is something really special about seeing these guys in their natural environment. We have all seen whales at SeaWorld, and don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing what they have trained them to do, but to see them in the open ocean was quite something. One thing I didn’t appreciate was the foul stench of their breath when they surfaced and blew water our of their blow hole.

We stayed around here for about 30 mins with 5 or so other boats before we had to leave. Unfortunately there were no sightings of any Orcas in the area, so my SeaWorld memories will have to do.

Captain Geoff then dropped us all off in a pretty central location in Victoria where, after a quick bite to eat, we started to wander around to see what this place was like. It’s very British with a huge statue of Queen Victoria overlooking the harbour. We meandered through the town, popping into the local boutiques, sampling the freshly made fudge and visiting the Christmas Market. It’s a lovely city and it’s a very desirable (and expensive ) place to live.

The next day we were leaving the Island for Harrison Hot Springs, and decided to take to scenic route back to the ferry.

A view to die for!

This drive took about an hour and was amazing. This route was littered with stunning mansions all with beautiful view of the lake and mountains.

We arrived at the ferry terminal hoping to catch the 2pm ferry, only to be greeted with a massive queue and a ticket for the 5pm crossing. This meant we arrived at our next destination at about 9pm!

The RV park in Harrison Hot Springs was only about 2 kms from the town, so this was the first chance we had to get on our bikes. I was a bit worried that we might look a bit silly with our helmets etc, but I think we managed to pull it off quite well. It was a real laugh from start to finish as we hadn’t ridden bikes for ages and were pretty much all over the place and couldn’t stop giggling!

My favourite bit is the trousers tucked into the socks!

We cycled around for about 3 hours to see the place, but the source for the hot spring water was 2 hours drive up the mountains, so we were unable to see it, which was a shame. The water comes out of the spring at 65 degrees C and they have to cool it down before you can swim in it. We could have swam in the local pool that was fed from the springs, but it looked just like a normal swimming pool, so we knocked that idea on the head. I’m sure there will be plenty more opportunities to have a splash in an outdoor hot spring in the near future.

After another drive in the RV to take in more scenic views, we parked up back at the RV site, opened a bottle of wine (or 3), hopped onto the free wireless network and watched X-Factor!!

Harrison Hot Springs is beautiful, and I imagine a real hot spot in the summer.

All the photos from Vancouver Island and Harrison Hot Springs can be found here.

Vancouver Island - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158526&id=502160409&l=01367625b1

Harrison - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158569&id=502160409&l=28408410ee

Next stop – Kelowna for wine tasting!

Lots of love

Stuoobs

xxx

Our journey begins

I won’t bore you with with our plane ride to Vancouver only to mention that it was the smoothest flight I have even taken. 1 minute of turbulence in the entire 9 hours. Brilliant.

We arrived in Vancouver airport at 6.30 local time tired and a little hungover. The Gin fairy had been good to us on the flight. There wasn’t much we wanted to do on the first evening, so we checked into our hotel, showered, went to the bar for a drink and a late night snack before retiring to bed where I enjoyed half of “Secret Of My Success”.

The RV rental people picked us up the next day at 11.30 to take us to their rental depot. This was huge and had over 400 RV’s parked there, most of which looked massive. This was the part that we were both a tad worried about – the size of the vehicle we were going to be driving for the next 2 months. Upon arrival we were shown into reception where we we told that we had been upgraded to a better RV. Normally I love hearing the word upgrade but this time my only question was “is it going to be any bigger?”, to which we were told it was 4 foot longer, but with more stuff. Yes, that’s right, we were going to have to drive around in a 30 foot long, 12 foot high and 8.5 foot wide monster truck!

Anyway, once we had gotten over our fear of driving this thing, one of that chaps showed us how everything worked from turning the lounge lights on to emptying the toilet tank. All pretty straight forward stuff. After about an hour we were off on route to Whistler. We stopped on the way to collect 2 bikes and stock up on food at Wal-Mart (which by the way is surprisingly crap compared to Tesco).

The drive to Whistler took a couple of hours and we were getting very excited to spend the first ever night in our RV at our first ever RV park! After a night’s rest in a very comfy bed, we were up at about 6.30 (still jetlagged), and headed towards Whistler village for a wander. It was great to see it in summer time with stunning greenery and snowy topped mountains.

The main purpose of the visit here was to drop off our snowboards and luggage and get our discounted season passes. We will be back here in 2 months, and I will no doubt have a lot more to tell you!!

We left to head towards Vancouver Island and this is where I am writing this blog from now. I see this as the proper start to the trip as it’s all new and unplanned!

Stuoobs

xxx