Thursday, 25 May. Banff

A very relaxed and slow-paced morning in Banff as I didn’t have to be anywhere until 12.30. Walked up and then down the Main Street, stopping for a coffee at a promising-looking cafe. It was terrible. I knew I should stick to tea. Had tea at another cafe and that was fine. The part of Banff that I’m in is mainly hotels, tourist shops and restaurants. Whatever direction I turned while  on my peregrinations there was a mountain looming in the distance. On a sunny day I probably wouldn’t have used the word “looming”. Banff gets lots of points for its novel street signs (on three intersections)

At 12.30 I was picked up by a tour bus which took us to Lake Louise, stopping along the way for a couple of good views of Castle Mountain and a river and mountains across the train line I was on yesterday.

Lake Louise was pretty amazing. It would be difficult to design a more idyllic scene. The lake is a blue green colour and behind this were mountains, one with a good amount of snow. I followed a path part of the way around the lake and was able to look back at the famous Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. There were some quite good mountain reflections in the water. Did not bother to spend a fortune on coffee at the Fairmont. That would probably have tasted like dishwater too.

On the way back our driver stopped to give us a look at the Vermillion Lakes, just the sort of place you’d expect to see a moose or two, all swampy and full of delicious plants. But no luck. We did see some deer and a couple of ground squirrels. These squirrels don’t have fluffy tails and can’t climb trees. They are burrowers. They don’t stop still for photos either. One of the interesting things pointed out was an overpass for animals to save them being squished on the Trans Canada Highway. The highway is all fenced off as there have been some terrible accidents with animals on the road so the overpasses and some underpasses allow them to move around.

Another great day in Canada and although cloudy, it didn’t rain. Nor was there any smoke from the bushfires. I hear that we’ve sent some of our people to help fight them.

Wednesday 24 May. Kamloops to Banff

 A bus picked us up from the hotel at 6.00 this morning and we were soon on our way, waved off once again by the Kamloops staff. Today they put the heating on so we were much more comfortable and I was able to peel off the extra layer I was wearing.

The food and drink, like yesterday, were both excellent and plentiful. At lunchtime I plucked up courage to try “Canada’s cocktail”, a Caesar. Think vodka, lime juice, Tabasco,Worcestershire sauce and the special ingredient, Clamato, a mixture of tomato juice and clam liquid of some kind. It was surprisingly good.

Looking at my photos I can’t remember what every place was but some of the things we saw were 

• lakes where people camp or rent holiday houses
• Salmon Arm on Shuswap Lake which is where salmon go to spawn.
• Craigellachie where the last spike of the Canadian Pacific rail line was driven in
• Various bridges over more than one river
• The Rocky Mountain trench, a huge valley separating the Rocky Mountains from the range whose name I’ve forgotten 
• Two spiral tunnels taking us in loops inside the mountains to get us up a steep incline
• The continental divide. West of this the rivers go west to the Pacific and east of it the flow east to the Atlantic.

The sun came out for a while late in the afternoon and it was a pleasant change from low cloud. Two bears were spotted (not by me) and the moose score is still zero. As the bus brought us into town there was an elk wandering through a paddock. Maybe there’ll be more wildlife tomorrow.

We finally arrived in Banff around 8.30 pm, having moved our watches on one hour. Buses ferried everyone to their hotels, where I suspect most of us settled in for the night. Dinner was not needed!

Tuesday 23 May. Vancouver to Kamloops

 It was an early start today, a 6.50 pickup to take me to the Rocky Mountaineer. The welcoming and pre-boarding was similar to the Ghan but no champagne. They did have a piper and the station staff all stood along the track and waved us off. Fortunately there were some spare seats so the woman who was seated next to me was able to move behind to her own window seat, making both of us more comfortable.

Breakfast was served soon after we set off. It took a long time to get out of Vancouver as we had to wait for a swing bridge to do its thing and then a goods train to go ahead of us. During the day there were a number of stops in sidings to let goods trains go past. I lost count of the number of very long trains we saw.

The day started with fairly lush farmland - lots of blueberry farms. We spent the morning travelling beside the enormous Fraser River and later in the day it was the Thompson. The countryside became quite mountainous and wooded, then later it was dryer and desert-like. There were terrible bushfires here, which wiped out the town of Ashcroft in 2021.  Then it changed again becoming greener as we approached Kamloops.They describe it as a plateau but it still seemed pretty mountainous to me.

They don’t want you to be hungry on this train. Not long after breakfast they came around with a drinks (beverages) trolley and a snack. This was followed soon after by a three course lunch with beverages, which was followed by more beverages and snacks and then the welcome to Kamloops beverages. I mostly stuck to the non alcoholic stuff as I want to survive this trip.

The variety of geography and geology was interesting and unexpected. Gloomy weather wasn’t a problem but the freezing train was. I snuggled under a blanket all day and will be wearing an extra layer tomorrow. A bit like Melbourne suburban trains there is a cold breeze near the window.

Monday, 22 May. Vancouver Island

I had a better sleep last night as I was exhausted after all that very fresh air on the boat yesterday. My bed is like Mother Bear’s – way too soft… too close to the edge and it tips you out, further in and you sink down, expecting to be swallowed into the mattress. Fortunately once you’re settled it’s ok.

I was picked up around 9 am for a trip to Victoria and the Butchart Gardens. This involved a ferry crossing of about 1 1/2 hours, to Vancouver Island. It was very cold and breezy on deck but fortunately, though cloudy, there was no rain. We travelled between a number of islands. There was quite a bit of water traffic and lots of lovely houses on the edge of the water. Didn’t see any more whales but didn’t stay outside long enough to search. Saw a number of sea planes too.

The Butchart Gardens were every bit as good as people have told me. I was particularly impressed with the colour combinations in the borders. For some reason, forget-me-nots looked good there.  I rip them out as much as possible at home. I hate their sticky seeds.

Next stop was Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. The clouds disappeared and we arrived to blue sky and warmth. Had to find a very early dinner there (4.15ish) as we had to be back at the ferry terminal for the 7 pm crossing. It’s a long weekend here for Queen Victoria Day and Ed, our driver, was very concerned about the amount of traffic returning to Vancouver after the holiday. The queue at the ferry was not too bad, though the ferry was a bit late arriving. Sitting in the queue for the ferry was a good chance to scribble these thoughts down for later on, as it’s going to be a late night, and a very early start tomorrow.

Sunday, 21 May. Vancouver

 I hadn’t factored in a number of huge cruise ships when I wandered down to the Hop On Hop Off bus this morning. There were people everywhere and I had to queue for the bus. Some Canada geese were enjoying the water in a fountain right beside our queue. 

Only waited about 20 minutes before hopping on and completing a circuit. This told me that I should have plenty of time to get to Granville Island in time for the boat.

Whizzed back to the hotel and added another layer of clothes before returning to Canada Place, where I had to do the check in for the Rocky Mountaineer. Basically this meant picking up my ticket and being given luggage tags.

Then it was back onto the HOHO and off to Granville Island. It has markets with food and crafts as well as various entertainers, and it was packed with people enjoying a Sunday outing. Found some soup and a bench to sit on and people watch. At 2.15 it was time to board the huge catamaran that was to take us whale watching. 

Once away from the built up areas we put on a lot of speed and I was very glad of my fleece jacket, coat and beanie. The wind was really cold. We must have travelled for nearly an hour before the boat slowed right down in the spot where a whale had been seen. Sure enough he was still there and we were treated to some lunge feeding, where he pops up head first, as well as the usual arching back and fins. I took many photos but only a few actually had whale in the shot. 

The sea was amazingly calm for us and we had a bit of sun, which was lucky as the forecast had not looked great. Racing home was really cold and I added gloves to my frozen hands. Nearly forgot the bald eagle sitting on top of a lighthouse as we neared town.

Caught a taxi back to the hotel as we didn’t return until 6.30 and the HOHO had stopped running by then. A much less glamorous meal tonight in the hotel restaurant and once again I am looking forward to bed.

 

Saturday 20 May, 2023. Melbourne to Vancouver

A big thank you to Sally and Joe for getting me to the airport in comfortable time. Both flights went smoothly and I was very relieved when my case appeared at Vancouver Airport, as for weeks  I’d been imagining it going off somewhere else, never to be found.

My “chauffeur” was waiting for me, holding a sign with my name on it. What luxury to be driven the half hour to the hotel by a very pleasant young man who was happy to answer questions. He is a Somali immigrant and had me laughing about how he spent his first few years in Alberta, freezing through 6 months of winter. He said his body was shivering with cold the whole time so he moved to Vancouver.

My hotel is a block or so from the water and I am in “a room with a view” - between two tall buildings. The travel agent had booked me into a Harbourside restaurant, the Cactus Club, for a four course dinner, so three hours after landing, there I was, nobly working my way through a  delicious meal. My lovely waitress allowed plenty of recovery time between courses. 

I asked her about a strange mountain that looks like cat’s ears poking up from behind another mountain. She said it’s called the Lion and is popular with walkers.

I couldn’t resist trying the cocktail pictured on the drinks menu, a Frozen Cosmo. Very good and very dangerous but I restrained myself and only had one, as well as a complimentary glass of bubbly. My excuse is that they will help me sleep tonight and also I wanted to make Karyn proud of me. There is something about Canada and cocktails!

Only a five minute walk back to the hotel, where I am sitting up in bed and looking forward to some shut-eye. A fine start to my big holiday.

 Just testing before next trip

The engaged couple