Travel Diary
Day 1
Well here I was ready to set off on another adventure.
Six weeks of fun in front of me. So I said my farewells and jumped on the plane
for the 13.5 hour flight. Got the good seat with 5 feet of leg room. On landing
it took 30 minutes to get my bags and get through customs at San Francisco. Had
a chance to get on an earlier connecting flight, but thought that I would relax
and stick to the plan for my flights. The plane was nearly empty and open
seating so I pulled a window seat on the right hand side - good call. All the
way up through the breaks in the clouds all I could see was snow capped
mountains. What had I got myself in for. Luckily I managed to get some photos of
Mt St Helens so that saved me a day trip.
Then hopped on the bus to the
hotel. Luke, Andrea and Stephen were in the van as well. So this worked out well
as Stephen and I were to share a room. Then we went for a short walk to get some
food. Well what seemed 2 miles (and one large blister) later we hit the local
KFC. The call was made to get a cab back to the hotel for a shower and a nap to
reconfigure sleeping patterns. Woke and went down to the Howdy, had several
Beers (Wheat beers-very nice) and slept like a trooper.
Day 2
Today was the start of the tour. We rocked on down to the
restaurant for some breakfast. The only problem was that there was only one
person running the show. In the end all I had was a glass of orange juice as
they had run out of milk and bread (pretty professional eh). We all jumped in
the van all 13 of us and headed off to the Canadian Border. This small drive was
pretty much the start of things to come, most of our drives were complemented
with beautiful scenery. The lakes and miles of conifers were grand and something
that I am not accustomed to. We arrived at the border and first things first we
had to do some duty free shopping. I bought a bottle of Gentleman Jack for US$20
(a litre bottle at that). The group bought several cases of beer. This bought a
very surprised look on Juttas (or leader) face. If we had know how expensive it
was in Canada we would have bought 13 cases. You could have imagined her face
then. We then passed through Immigration and was not as easy as I thought it
would be.
Now we had made it to Canada, we made our way to Vancouver gasping
at all the snow covered mountains as we got closer. We stopped at the Gastown
district. It is the tourist hub of Vancouver. Seemed very Victorian. Then we did
a drive through Stanely Park and stopped to look at the totem poles. Over the
Lions Gate Bridge (very high and looked very old) to our campground. It was a
very nice campground. The only drama was that our tents were pitched approx 20
meters from a river with lots of running water. Note to self, ensure empty
bladder before retiring for the night. So the explorers in us set us off on a
walk and we found a shopping mall. The thing that sticks out the most is how
friendly the people are from the cars that stop so you can cross the road to the
pet shop attendant that let Andrea hold the Charmelian. After dinner we had "the
talk" which made us eager with excitement of the things that were to come. Of
course we had to sample some of the J.D (have to keep warm somehow) and it went
down like mothers milk. The cooler weather and extended light was something that
I was not accustomed to, very weird.
Day 3
Woke up to a beautiful day, something we were told had
not been to common in Vancouver lately. So we planned the day. We were going to
check out the Capalano suspension bridge. It was a fairly small area with a few
small trails in the woods and a big bridge spanning the river and gorge. It was
quite spectacular and was an experience walking so high up on something that
does not feel too secure. For some reason there was an overwhelming scent of
pine. It was very natural and soothing.
After we collected all the stamps we
caught the bus up to the Grose Mountain gondola. We bought our tickets and up we
went to a height of 1100m (3700 ft) . I was hoping to see a bit of snow up
there, but as we got to the top there was white shit everywhere. It was awesome
and most definitely a nice surprise. The only down side was that no-one was
dressed for the occasion. Walking around in shorts (although it was not cold at
all) and our choice of footwear could have been better. We had heaps of fun
walking around in the snow and marvelling at the views. I don't know how but not
many snowballs were thrown at all. Unfortunately the chair lifts were out of
service for maintenance so we could not go all the way to the top. We had lunch
and watched a movie about Vancouver and finally took some photos of Vancouver
which was the reason that we came up the mountain. It only took us a couple of
hours to get around to it.
Then back down to sea level. We caught the bus and
sea bus back to Gastown. How is that for value, a harbour cruise for $2.25. We
landed back at Gastown with a couple of hours to kill so we walked around, got
photos developed and Martin and I had to try out the local brew at the Gasworks
brewery/Pub. Being entertained by some Irish dude singing had to be the
highlight of the day while waiting for Jutta to pick us up : ) Back to the
campground for dinner. Nachos with a killer bean sauce, is this a good idea when
spending time in the confines of the van tomorrow. Only time will tell.
Day 4
Toady we were going to rock on over to Vancouver
island. So we loaded the van and took off to the open road. We did not have to
go too far to get to the ferry. This was not quite the ferry I was used to. It
was huge. We walked around in the cold wind as we waited to board the ferry. It
took us an hour and 35 minutes to get to Sidney on Vancouver island. I took a
trip to the outside top deck on the way over and it was blowing a gale and was
freezing. The wind ripped through you like a bad curry.
After disembarking we
drove down to Victoria. We had 2 and a half hours to explore. I needed to buy
another jacket as the weather was a little bit more extreme that I had counted
on. So other than looking for a jacket we walked around and sussed out the
quaint little town. It was very beautiful with all the old buildings. Martin,
Werni and I checked out Crystal gardens. It was really touristy but fun. There
were flamingos, macaws and a walk through butterfly area. It was nice and warm
in there so the butterflies would not die. One of the butterflies landed on my
hand so Werni grabbed my camera and took the shot. I finally found myself a
jacket, on sale too 40 % off, wohoo !!! for all you shopaholics out there : ) We
made our way back to the harbour and the wind was starting to get very cold as
the arvo progressed. Everyone seemed fairly shopped out so off to the campground
we went. As usual there was the typical writers guild going on. Most of us were
keeping diaries and it was a daily ritual seeing several people writing before
or after dinner. Went to bed not affected by alcohol. Big mistake, froze all
night long.
Day 5
Woke up and needed a shower to defrost. Today our final
destination was Tofino. But first we had to do some grocery shopping and were
taking a small side stop so some of the fools that wanted to could jump of a
bridge at Nanimo. As I woke up I was a firm no starter as I am into life
preservation. But 40 minutes in the back of the bus can do strange things to the
mind (as we saw on many occasions). By the time we had pulled up I was keen to
do the bungy and the ultimate swing. We got to the place and it was cool. It was
a nice bridge over this beautiful river at the bottom of a gully. The height was
42 meters or I think 140 feet sounds better. I signed my life away and made my
way up the bridge. I said I would go first as the screaming of people before me
would not have been the most encouraging sound. In I went, I sat down and the
dude wrapped a towel around my ankles and put on the strap. I tell you it did
not look like any modern technology life saving device. Then he attached the
rubber bands to my ankles. I tentatively walked out onto the platform holding on
for grime life. Looking down at my toes shuffling towards the white line but
also being careful not to focus anywhere past the toes. There I was, all I had
to do was turn off the brain and jump.
3.....2......1.......BUNGY !!!!
Then gravity took over. I will never forget the speed at which the water came
up to meet me. I stopped about 2-3 feet short of the water. The guts stayed in
the correct position and it was a lot smoother that I expected. But the bouncing
back up was the rough part, up to 7 meters short of the bridge. Then I watched
everyone else jump. It gave a different perspective on the whole thing watching
everyone else jump. Then we watched the video before lunch. I looked as shit
scared as I actually was : )
It was time to do the Ultimate swing. They say
that you pull 3 g's and hit 146 km/h when the tension is taken up. In to the
harness I went. The voice did go up a bit as I was strapped in. They said it was
a bit of a crunch on the old crown jewels and I had better secure myself in
well. I sat down of the seat hanging over the side of the bridge. Then when they
attached the wire all this weight was trying to pull me over the edge. Even
though I was hooked in at the back it was really scary. 3..2..1..Swinggg. The
drop was incredible. Then the slack took up on the rope. Crunch, but it was not
too bad, then .75 of a second later CRUNCH, Ouch !! that felt more than 3 g to
me. They did not say anything about the second one, but there I was doing nearly
150 kays swinging like Tarzan. It was the ultimate rush. I hobbled back to dry
land with a much higher voice and watched Martin and Bob swing. Again seeing it
from below made me think why on earth did I just do that.
After buying a
shirt and the video we piled into the van and headed for Tofino. It was a very
scenic drive, high mountains, lakes and rivers. Beautiful waterfalls, but it was
raining and visibility was not always the best. We had to set up the tents in
the rain. We decided to get out of the rain and headed for the bar. In the bar
there was a dude having his bucks night. It turned out that he lived in Dapto (a
15 minute drive from my place). Small world or what !!
Day 6
Todays basic plan was whale watching. We drove down to
the wharf and got kitted up. We looked like North Sea fisherman. It was cold,
but at least it had stopped raining. We jumped on these Zodiacs and felt like
greenpeace activasts. With twin 150 hp outboards these things were going to
motor. The wind was ice cold and it felt like any tears from the wind would
instantly freeze on you face (just like in Dumb and Dumber). First stop was to
look at some seals and while we were there a bald eagle was perched on the top
of the rocks. Just as I put the camera back in its cover the eagle did a fly
past over our heads. I was too slow to get the picture, but the sight of the
bird flying past was enough for me. It was quite majestic.
We cruised around
and looked for some more stuff. We saw a pack of wolves on the beach from a long
way away. Apparently we were very lucky to see the wolves, even if it was from
half a mile away. We also saw grey whales, more birds and sea lions playing in
the water. We also came back past a bald eagles nest. The area was extremely
scenic, once the fog had lifted.
Back to camp for lunch. It was not enough so
we went into Tofino to look around and top up on lunch. The funny sign of the
day was seen in a driveway "Beware of flat tyres when parking in driveway".
Bought some beer at $20 for a 12 pack. After dinner we went down to the beach to
see a glorious sunset over the ocean. After standing around in the ice cold wind
for ages it was determined to be a fizzer. The only saving grace was another fly
by from a bald eagle. Again I was too slow to get the photo. It rained pretty
much all night long and I froze all night.
Day 7
We got up to cold moist weather. We drove off to do a
small 1 km walk in the rainforest. It was very pretty and green but was not
raining. We drove back to Nanimo to jump back on the ferry to Horseshoe bay
(just north of Vancouver). On the ferry it was extremely windy and very very
cold, almost painful. I tried some of the red clam chowder on the boat. Not as
nice as the white version. We hopped onto the Sea to Sky Highway (Hwy99). The
drive was very scenic. Lined with snowcapped mountains. One the way we saw a big
bastard black bear crossing a side road. Unfortunately we were going too fast to
stop but it was very big. You would not like to cross it in a dark alley. We
arrived at Whistler and there was not as much snow as I had expected. It was
cloudy and yes again it was cold. Our campground was still under construction
about 4 kms from town. As it was a long weekend the next alternative was a 50
minute drive away. Due to the lack of equipment this allowed us to use our
imagination for internal decorating. We used a cable reel for a table, little
ones for seats. Constructed benches around the fire with all the wood that was
lying around. It started to rain so we went into town to kill some time and do
some shopping. Well the cold weather had go the better of me so I raided an
outdoor shop and purchased a thermorest mat to sleep on and a thermal t-Shirt.
We decided to eat out as the rain was still hanging around. We ate we drank,
tried a few new brews, some nice some not.
Day 8
It rained all night and was very cold. Luke said it was
approx 2° when they returned at midnight. As it was raining, our
first day of skiing was put on ice (no pun intended). We awoke to see that some
of the tents had suffered from there positioning with the rain. Still being a
construction site a lot of the dirt had started to turn to mud. We dug trenches
around our tent, but most of the others had to be moved. After the drama we
bummed around in town, checked e-mail and did a bit of window shopping. We
planned to do some ice skating in the afternoon, but once we arrived we found
that the ice rink was closed. Bummer, so we came back to the campground and did
some washing. At one stage we tried to get a tarp from under one of the tents
but had a heap of difficulty. It was not until later that we realised that Werni
was sleeping in the tent at the time !! oops. The forecast for the night was
-3° so we cranked up a good fire before heading to bed.
Day 9
As predicted it was a very cold night. Today was the
final day of the season and we were going skiing. This was to be my first
attempt at skiing, and what a place to try it, Whistler. Drove down to the
village and ended up getting a good deal. It cost us $32 for the lift pass and
$30 to hire Skis, poles, boots and a spiffy suit. Some of the more adventurous
took the snowboarding option.
Then up the gondola we went. As we got higher
it did get colder and the snow was getting thicker. The only area open was about
the top third of Whistler Mountain. This was still a nice big skiing area. More
than I could ski in a day thats for sure. There we were at the top. There was a
snowboard competition going on a bit further up and quite a few people around.
The plan was to stick to the green slopes, but even the first one looked very
steep for someone who had never skied before. Being on skis was something very
different, not much friction there at all. So down the first hill I went,
picking up a heap of speed. Then the old how do I stop this thing popped into
the head. Well I came a cropper big time. It must have looked great but it did
not hurt so this was a good sign. That sort of set the tone for the day. I fell
over more times than I care to remember. Unfortunately I lost the gang early in
day when i made a pit stop.
Some of the stacks were huge with me, my skis and
poles all ending up in different postcodes. It was a great deal of fun. By the
afternoon I had learnt to swish and carve down the slopes, all about weight
distribution and I had a bit more confidence up. Spent my time on the Upper
Whisky Jack, Ego Bowl and Marmont runs. During one run it started to snow, so I
swished to a stop to enjoy the moment. How cool, the first time I ever saw it
snow was on skis at Whistler. That just made my day. I found the skiing hot,
hard work and the only time I was cold was on the chair lift and it was
sleeting. It took ages to get back up the top. By the end of the day I was very
sore and stiff. Some times I would just go Kamakazy and stop when I fell. The
thighs were burning but a great day was had by all. We did not do too much that
night as everyone was damm tired.
Day 10
We woke up to a beautiful sunny day along with 50
construction workers. Very sore loading the van. The plan was to take the next
two days to drive to Banff. Tonight's destination was Cache Creek. Leaving
Whistler we saw a bear in the distance about 500 m away walking across on of the
grassy ski runs. We had to stop for supplies, and of course booze. $37 for a
bottle of J.D. Wow. Again the drive was very scenic and we stopped a few times
to admire the views. At one stage we saw a pile of cars on the side of the road.
We pulled up and there was a bear on the other side of a river about 50 meters
away. By the time we all piled out of the van the bear had disappeared back into
the woods. We stopped at this nice blue/green lake near a hydroelectric power
station. We then headed for Cache Creek. Stopped at the dairy queen to enjoy an
ice cream, yum. We chilled at the campground, played basket ball and polished
our skills at frisby. We only injured 3 people. Martin took a spill on the
gravel, Andrea got a fat lip and we hit Jess in the back of the head with the
frisby. Then we played a bastardised version of baseball until it got dark.
Day 11
Today we were going to do our second leg of travelling
to Banff. Slept in again and hence missed breaky. To make matters worse the
water in the showers was really crappy. So we packed the van and headed off into
the distance, until 5 minutes later we realised we were going in the wrong
direction. We chucked a u-turn and drove half an hour to our old favourite,
Starbucks. I finally got my breakfast a healthy start to the day, 2 brownies and
a coffee even though it was a bit rushed. As usual the drive was mixed up with
some wonderful scenery thrown in. We saw a bear really close to the road, but as
we were doing mach 4 on the wrong side of the road overtaking, it was a little
difficult to stop. So that makes it Bears 4 - Camera 0. As we drove through the
little town of Golden, Jutta was pulled over by an inspector. Half an hour and a
nice lecture later we were back on the road.
We arrived at Banff at 4:45. So
we got to look around for and hour and a half. It was heaps bigger and more
commercial that I though it would be. Then off to the campground we went. As we
went up the hill we saw a nice big elk. Ohh quick get a photo, as you do and we
did. We got back in the van and went around the corner and saw another Elk, and
another and another. There were heaps of them. The campground was situated up on
tunnel mountain, giving a great view of the valley and the surrounding
mountains. It was very woody and reports of wildlife were plentiful. Bear
awareness was always very high and signs were everywhere. We had big bear boxes
where we had to put anything that smelled into before bed, you name it food,
deodorant, toothpaste. After dinner the plan was to have a couple of drinks
before bed to keep us warm, as it was a bit colder up at the campground when
compared to the town. In the end two bottles of J.D went missing as did my
memory from certain parts of the night. Apparently it took me an hour to put the
toothpaste in the bear box. Oops : )
Day 12
Woke up and I was still drunk, I'm sure. It was a very
cold night, someone in the park said it got down to -5°. Copped a fair bit of a
ribbing about the night before, but hey why not. Went for a shower at about 8:00
to try and sober up. Nothing special about it but on the way back from the
shower it started to snow. I thought I was hallucinating but I was not. It was
bloody well snowing. We decided to go and do a small hike up a big hill. We
hiked up tunnel mountain. It took the hungover ones half an hour to get to the
top (Yes me). We sat around up the top for a while and took some photos. See the
group photo on the main page. Hung around up top for a while and then trekked
back down. Several people walked back into town as we still had 45 minutes until
we were to be picked up. I layed down on the concrete and fell asleep.
We had
lunch and then drove up to Lake Louise. Decided to take the scenic route to see
if we could see some wildlife, but all we saw was an Elk. As we got closer to
Lake Louise the amount of snow on the ground was increasing until we hit the
carpark and it was everywhere. Out of the van we and it was cold. We walked up
to the lake and as we laid eyes on it, it took us by surprise the bitch was
still frozen. Except it was a little defrosted around the edge. Through the
defrosted section you could see the blue tinge that the lake is famous for. We
walked around the lake and it was very spectacular. The chateau was very nice
with the Lake Louise ski resort in the background. We had to duck inside the
Chateau to check it out and to defrost a bit. It was very classy, including the
clasical music in the john. We also had a bite to eat. I bought a pie. I will
never complain about a pie in Australia again. I was hungry so I ate all 17
parts of it : )
So then we decided to check out Lake Morain. It had also been
belted around with the ice stick. There was heaps of snow on the ground. We
thought that we were walking around on terra firma until we saw a postcard. We
were actually standing on the frozen lake (oops). Again it was very beautiful.
Headed back to the campground and chilled around before going to bed. Chilled
being the appropriate word as it was 0° by the time we went to bed. Rugged up
big time for sleeping. Gloves, thermals, beanie. Drugged up to try and beat the
oncoming flu.
Day 13
Slept in until past 10. Caught the bus into town and
then transferred to Banff Springs Hotel. It is huge and is a very beautiful
building made up of a lot of little bricks. We could just see and hear Bow Falls
from the hotel. We also had a fairly good view of the golf course. We walked
into the foyer and felt somewhat out of place. Very grand indeed. As we were
waiting for the bus we could see the Sulphur Mountain Gondola in the distance.
Took the bus back to town and then went back to camp for lunch (sandwich
style).
We drove up to Sulphur Mountain. The Gondola is 1.5 km long at an
average incline of 51%. So doing the maths that is a 700m rise in altitude. Well
it cost something like 12 bucks to go up and is free to ride back down. What
else were we to do. We decided to walk up and catch the gondola back down. Yes
it would be easier to ride up and walk down but where is the fun in that. Up we
went and it took us 2 hours of hard yakka, always going up. Occasionally we
would look at the gondola to see if the people were laughing at us. I used this
walk to try and sweat the flu out, I think it worked. At one stage I brought out
the camera to take a shot of yet another snow covered hiking trail and as if on
cue it started to snow. The views from the top were worth the hike. Saw a
mountain goat and beautiful views of Banff. It also sleeted a bit when we hit
the top. As a reward I walked into the restaurant and bought a Budwiser and an
Orange juice (needed my vitamin C). I inhaled the beer. I don't know whether it
was the altitude, the exercise, lack of hydration or the speed at which I drank
the beer, but that was the best beer I have ever had. It was though it had be
injected into the veins. After a little rest we took our free ride down the
gondola and back to the camp ground for dinner. Which in itself was a
show.
Jess, Angela and Luke cooked Spag Bol. It was a comedy of errors, from
dropping the spaghetti on the floor to Bob burning his fingers on the pan. The
old "Here, let me have a go at that" trick. A video of this would have been a
treat. The nights entertainment involved having a night out in an Irish Pub
where a couple of Guinii were consumed, Yum. I remember walking back to the tent
alone in the dark in the woody campground at midnight thinking that a bear could
be hiding around any one of these trees. It was very freaky. If anyone would
have jumped out in front of me I would have made it into orbit. Later that night
we had the unenviable feeling of having an animal of some sort sniffing around
our tent. It freaked us out and felt like the heart was beating with the sound
of a drum. We found out later that Werni heard it to and was as freak out as us.
Day 14
Up for an early start to get to Canmore for the
25 minute helicopter flight to and around Banff. There was 6 of us in the
chopper and the weather was sort of fine. Jo was as solid as a rock in the
chopper, even though we encounted a little bit of turbulence. It was an awesome
ride and gave a different view of the magnificent mountains. In the end after
landing I had a bit of a queasy stomach, but it was well worth it.
Then it
was off to Calgary, the home of the 1988 winter Olympics. I slept most of the
way until Andrea elbowed me in the head : ) We decided to spend some time at the
Olympic site. They had a special countdown to Sydney running, only 111 days to
go. It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. It had the Luge and Bobsled
tracks and the skijumps. We took the guided tour around the site, which included
a trip to the top of the 90 meter ski jump. The people that throw themselves off
these jump are bananas. This was the place where the infamous Eddy the Eagle
made a name for himself. They actually had the 70 meter jump set up for summer
training and we were lucky enough to see some of these athletes/madmen training
going off the jump.
Then we reluctantly went down to downtown Calgary. We had
2 and a half hours to kill so we did a bit of window shopping and I drooled over
some new rollerblades. The comment of the trip was made by Di as we were driving
across some bumpy roads, shocked us all it did : ) Decided to eat out and ate at
Toni Romas. Yum Steak and rib combo. By the time we got back to camp (just next
to the Olympic site) it was 10 past nine. A quick unload and setting up in near
dark. It was then a mad rush to the laundry as everyone needed to do some
washing. It was quite a site seeing nine peoples heads rotating watching the
driers going around.
Day 15
Woke up to another nice sunny day. So the sensible
clothes selection for the day was shorts and a shirt. We decided to go and see
the zoo. As you would expect we saw lots of animals and the Canadian Rockies
section was cool. We saw an elusive moose, cougars bears (black and grizzly) and
a bald eagle. Although it was nice to see the native animals it would have been
nice to see these animals in there natural habitat. The Grizzly bears were huge.
You would be seriously fubar if you annoyed one of these bears. Just their claws
were 4 inched long. The Gorillas were heaps of fun to watch. We had 3 hours to
do the zoo and this was just enough time.
Then it was back in the van as we
headed for the long drive to our next destination Jasper. To get there we had to
drive back to Banff and then up the Ice Fields Parkway. We stopped at "The
crossing" to be marvelled by "the worlds biggest postcard collection" and a stop
for a bite to eat. We continued on and this drive was the most scenic of the
trip. Even though we were so over snow covered mountains, these mountains and
lakes (the odd frozen one thrown in for good measure) were indeed a grand site.
We got out of the van and at this stage the clothes selection for the day was
looking a bit shaky. We walked up to the tip of the Glacier and walked up onto
it a little bit. The wind was blowing a gale off the glacier, I'll tell you that
the term brass monkeys took on a new meaning, as I was still wearing shorts. At
least I was not walking in the snow with a pair of J.C's on. Ouch !!! We went
into the Icefields center and this was other than a warm place to be, very
interesting and educational. Who said holidays was all about fun ? Then we took
off to the campground. There was one very disheartening sign as we drove in the
gates. There was a big bear trap. Not really something that I would be showing
possible customers before they parted with their hard earned. As this was the
furthermost North that we travelled the length of daylight was incredible. We
did not need our torches until half past ten. Sat in front of a huge warm fire
until bed time.
Day 16
When we got up in the morning the showers were
so far away you nearly had to pack a day pack. It was also one of those showers
that you had to push the button every 50 seconds to keep the water going, Grrr.
So any warmth that had been accumulated from the shower soon wore off by the
time you reached the tent. Off to explore Jasper town we went. It was really
cool and just what I expected, nice and small. We did a bit of shopping and
looked around. I bought a snazzy water bottle/bag for hiking. We then drove off
to Lake Edith for lunch. It was a very pretty lake. After lunch we went to do
check out Malign Canyon. It is a very deep (51 m at it deepest) and narrow
canyon, with a creek flowing through it. It was a nice little surprise. Now it
was time to do a decent hike. Well Jutta took a right instead of a left and 20
minutes later we ended up at Medicine Lake. As you can see the journey was not a
total waste of time.
Once we had our bearings sorted we headed for our hiking
destination in the Valley of the five lakes. Sounds very Indiana Jones eh ? In
all, we did the approx 10 kn hike in about 3 hours. It was a spectacular walk.
The lakes were beautiful and each one had a different colour to it. There were
some very scenic views and we did not get eaten by a bear. Well with a half an
hour to go it started to hail, actually it was like they were raindrops that had
just frozen on the way down. They were about 2-3mm in diameter and did not
tickle when they hit you. So now we had completed the grand slam of weather. We
had been snowed, rained, sleeted and hailed on. Talk about variety. So after
buying more booze we had dinner and drank a few brewskis around the fire.
Day 17
The night was extremely cold, well below freezing. By
far the coldest night we had experienced. The coldest night I have ever
experienced. I had taken all warming precautions (beannie, thermals, gloves and
alcohol) and still froze. The amount of steam that came from my mouth after my
head popped out from the bag was astounding. It was even a battle getting the
toothpaste out of the tube. You get my drift IT WAS COLD : ) The morning was
taken up by doing the e-mail ritual, buying a new fleece to keep me warm and
posting some of my souvenirs and useless jacket home. Chowed down into some KFC
before going off to our next hike. We were driving up to Moose lake. On the way
we sore a couple of traffic jams. The first was a heard of mountain sheep on the
road, then some big horn sheep. Then we hit the jackpot. A BEAR. Better than
that 3 bears. A mother and two cubs about 10 meters off the road on the other
side of a crash barrier. Out we jumped along with 40 other people and click,
click, click. I thought Jo's camera was about to start to glow. We were all
happy that we had got some great bear photos and lived to tell the tale.
We
continued on our way to do a hike up to moose lake. There was thermometer at the
trail head. It was 13:00 and was 5°. I told you it was cold. Again we
ended up walking through snow as we walked past Moose lake and then on to Malign
Lake (although we are no experts we saw what looked like moose and bear
footprints in the mud, but alas we did not see any). We sat around in the sun
and enjoyed the priceless view. We drove back to the campground and saw the
bears again and got some better photos. More grog from the liquor shop, (had a
great selection of Aussie wines) dinner and the usual routine of a defrosting
fire. The unlimited supply of wood and Werni's wood chopping skills with a
screwdriver ensured good fires were a norm while in Jasper.
Day 18
When I woke up I had thought it was a warm
night. But the crunch of the frost under my feet on the way to the shower sort
of shot that theory down in flames. We packed up and took off. On the way we saw
a coyote milling around a big red patch on the road (must have been a deer I
suppose), then half an hour later eagle eye Jo spotted a Moose in the distance,
very distant but at least it was a moose. We passed through the town of
Clearwater (lots of Helisking around) and past Mt Robinson (the highest mountain
in the Canadian Rockies - 3984ish m).
We hit camp at this ranch place where
we were booked in to do some horseriding. We went down to saddle up for our
horses. Being honest I put the hand up and said that I had never been on a horse
before. The dude give me a horse called "Cody". To make a long story short it
was a psycho horse. The problem was that this horse did not like other horses
behind it and the horse behind me wanted to go.. He gave me a hard time all the
way. Bucking a few times, even once when we were on the trot......Yeeeee haaaaa.
Just like a rodeo star NOT. That night it was Di's birthday party. We saved
dinner and cranked up a huge fire. A good nite was had as Jess waking around
with a bud box on her head and Bob nearly going Arse over head sort of proved.
Day 19
Today we meet our guide for the Canoeing, Tim. We
stopped at this waterfall called Halementco Falls. The drop was huge and the
water was pumping. A bit further along we saw this bear running across the road.
We discovered that it was a mother getting back to her cub. As this bear was a
little more jumpy, there was no safety rail and the desperation for a bear shot
was not as big, we were a little less keen to get out of the van. We did anyway
and took a couple of shots until a ranger hurried us along.
We arrived at the
lake, grabbed our canoes and stashed out necessities into waterproof bags then
into the canoe. We paddled for a bit and as it started to spit we pulled over at
this little area for a bite of lunch. We jumped back into the canoes and Bob and
I decided that we were going to be pirates (a little childish I know, but a shit
load of fun). We raided several boats and generally made a pain of ourselves. It
was a ton of fun ,extremely scenic and good to get back to nature. Our camp site
was just off the bank of the lake and was very primitive, with our tents
overlooking the lake. All it had was a pit toilet and that was it. The water was
way too cold to swim in so we were all going to smell together.
After dinner
we ran out of beer and the natives got restless. The pirate thing must have
stuck in our heads and as one thing lead to another. We made a plan to go and
steal the other groups paddles. Bob and Luke were sent on a recon mission using
the old "can we have our grill back" line. They returned with a sit rep. All bar
one canoe was turned over. Out came a torch, a stick and we drew a mud map in
the dirt. This include strategic points such as nipple 1 and nipple 2. Quite
zone was beyond nipple 2. Giggling was allowed between 1 and 2. The plan was to
steal all the paddles and one of the canoes and tie it up across a small bay
from their camp. At precisely 23:30 4 boats left, 3 active 1 passive. The troops
hit the beach and maintained silence. In the end we got all but 3 of the oars
and took one of the canoes. Everyone from the other group thought it was an
animal and were too scared to come and have a look. All that was heard as we
pulled away was the other leader yelling out "You Bastards". We later found out
how close it was. The other guide was about to hit the beach with an axe and no
flashlight. Every one was in high spirits due to the success of the mission.
Day 20
Woke up to a fantastic morning, packed up back into the
canoes. Bob and I decided more pirating was in order. This time we were planning
on ramming and turning boats around. We ended up in a big water fight with Jo
and Di. Unfortunately Jo and I came off second best. We made a bee line for the
dock to off load our gear and come back and wreak havoc. The only problem was
that the other group had beaten us back and were waiting. Full Astern Bob !! We
waited for the rest of the group to catch up to us . We had to storm the beach
and a large water fight ensued. Casualties were taken (me included) but again we
had won the day.
We decided to visit some of the fine wineries in the region
so we hit one called Grey and Monk. Tasted several wines that were O.K. Then we
drove down towards Vernon and ate dinner at a buffet restaurant. We finally
found our camp site and put up the tents in a somewhat small area. Unfortunately
my head was only feet away from Martin, not that Martin snores at all : ) We had
a nice fire with the other group and then hit the sack.
Day 21
Today was to be our last day in Canada. We continued on
the winery theme and visited 3 more wineries through the Okanagan Valley. The
favourite wine that I tasted was the ice wine. It was very sweet and fairly
pricey. It cost $37 for a 375ml bottle. They served it in a nice chocolate cup
and at two dollars a pop. The weather was very warm and sunny, a little
different from what we have been used to. So then it was off to the Duty free
shop. The bargain of the trip a 1 litre bottle of J.D for $20 Canadian. Bought
some other souvenirs and claimed $27 worth of GST back. Why not if you can get
it. Headed for Winthrop . We looked around this little western town for 45
minutes. The campground was nice, on a little lake with a lot of people around.
A few rabbits around as well. We were unable to party too much as we had an
early start in the morning.
Day 22
We were up and had the cleaning duties finished, van
loaded and on the road by 8:30. Stopped quickly in Winthrop for a bite of
breakfast. Off to Seattle we went. We drove through the cascade mountain range.
It was extremely scenic more snow covered mountains. Passed Diablo Lake and
Dalmatian Creek going through the range. How these people thought they were in
hell beats me. We stopped at a nice waterfall then made our way to Seattle on
the I5.
Hit Seattle and drove past the Space needle, the weird looking Opera
House and were dropped off near the Pike place Market. Martin and I walked along
the waterfront and through the market place. Stood there and watched the dudes
throwing the fish. We went on a one hour very informative harbour cruise. We saw
the City skyline, Grain terminal, Dry Docks, Nuclear Ice breaker ships, Safeco
Felid. Then back in the van for the last time and drove to the hotel.
We got
ready to go out for dinner. It was quite a shock as I had not looked at a mirror
for 3 weeks. The face was a bit browner and the hair a touch longer. Not a
situation you come up against every day. And yes, I did shave on the trek, I
just used the force. We caught the bus in and had to pick up Jess before going
to the crab pot. We had the happiest waitress I have ever seen. Planned to go to
an Irish pub, but by the time we got there it was closed. We found a saloon in
Pioneer Square. Must have shocked the barman when he turned around and his
patronage had more than doubled. We drank a few buds and had a great time. Had
to catch the cab back to the hotel as we missed the last bus. Then it was off to
bed, yes a proper BED.
Day 23
Utilised the bed time and slept in. We went to the bus
stop as we planned to look around Seattle. It was a half hour trip into the
city. There were some very interesting people on the bus. A real eye opener. Jo
put her photos in and we all had a session at the e-mail cafe. Then we went to
this Army, Navy disposal store. It was incredible. Everything you could ever
need and it was mega cheap as well. Werni had a large smile on his face as he
had plenty of axes to choose from. Although this keenness had some of us a wee
bit worried. Will Jo make it through the next trek ? But I did think that the
store was going a bit over the top when they were selling a missile carrying
case (only in America). We picked up Jo's photos and they were great. As for the
rest of the day we just walked around town until it was time to go back to the
hotel for some sustenance and to chill out.
Day 24
After saying farewell to Werni for his next trek I
caught the bus in to meet Jess. Now there was only 2. We did the cheesy thing
and had a photo taken outside the first ever Starbucks. As the weather was very
Seattle, Jess dragged me into the art Museum : ) Actually the native Northwest
section was fairly interesting. Then we headed down to the wharf and walked
through the Aquarium. It was cool, and we got to see a cute baby otter. After
that we said our farewells and I headed back to the hotel, of course the bus had
its usual quota of psychos.
Day 25
Today I was on my own. So I hit the bus again and
travelled into the city with more of Seattle's finest. Jumped onto the Monorail
up to the Seattle center. It was pretty corny and I did the touristy thing and
went up the space needle, as you do. The view was OK but as it was only almost
raining, I could not see to far. Then back on the monorail and I went down to
the wharf to the Imax theatre. As I was in Seattle I decided to see the "Mt St
Helens Eruption" It was a fairly good film and pretty interesting. After that I
headed back to the hotel to prepare for my Howdy and the Northwest Escape.
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