Fri 6/10 - Icefields Parkway (Jasper to Banff)

Today we were on a coach tour which travelled along the Icefield Parkway - the road that runs between Jasper & Banff.

It was another early(ish) start as we were picked up outside the Whistler's Inn hotel at around 08:30am and there were a few more stops at various other hotels to pick up more passengers before we were properly on our way. Unlike other tours we'd been on, there were only limited stops along the way and the weather wasn't as good as on previous days, so we made the best of it we could, peering through the windows of the coach in between stops.

The first stop was Athabasca Falls - another very photogenic location and the camera and GoPro were busy again.

We gained altitude as the coach climbed towards the Icefield Discovery Centre at the top of Wilcox Pass and as we got closer, the weather began deteriorating. We were at the Discovery Centre because we were scheduled to go on an Ice Explorer ride on the Athabasca Glacier. By the time we had transferred to the Ice Explorer vehicle it was snowing lightly and there was a cold wind.

To get onto the glacier itself the vehicle has to negotiate a 1-in-4 hill and goes through a 'tyre wash' - a water-filled pit that cleans the tyres so that no stones or dirt get onto the glacier (which would increase the melting of the ice) - and we then slowly made our way out onto the glacier. We decided not to get out of the vehicle and amused ourselves by watching the others slipping and sliding around on the ice.

Afterwards we made our way back towards Jasper to visit the Glacier Skywalk which gives you the opportunity to stand hundreds of feet above the Sunwapta Valley with just glass between you and the rocks below. My photos don't do it justice so I've used a 'stock' photo to give you an idea what it looks like ..

A 'grab-all-you-can-eat' buffet lunch at the Discovery Centre and then we were on our way again with no change in the weather. Our next stop was Lake Louise and although the mountain tops were lost in clouds and mist I took what photographs I could (I didn't know at the time but we would be visiting Lake Louise the following day with much improved weather! - I'll post those photos instead in my next blog).

It was still overcast and windy when we reached Banff at the end of the tour and checked in to our next hotel, the Elk & Avenue (so named because it is on the corner of Elk Avenue and Banff Avenue). We decided to eat at the in-house restaurant "Ricky's All-Day Grill" and our waitress introduced herself and explained it was only her second day so to bear with her if she was a bit unsure about anything. We asked what the soup of the day was and she said she thought it was (her pronunciation) Mine-Strownn .. which we worked out was Minestrone and which we ordered. Aside from the fact she was very slow to get our meal (she arrived with our soups at the same time as our main courses so we had to send them back for 5 minutes or so) the food was fine.

We headed back to our room and looked forward to the following day which promised a tour of mountains (what? - more of them I hear you ask), lakes (yep, more of them too) and waterfalls (there are lots of waterfalls!).

Thu 5/10 - a quiet day in Jasper

After a few busy days, seeing the sights in Vancouver and enjoying the 'Rocky Mountaineer' trip, we needed to re-charge our batteries before the next phase of our holiday (which promised more non-stop sightseeing) and decided what we needed was a quiet day in Jasper.

Managing to have a lie-in was a good start and being able to enjoy breakfast without any timetable to stick to was a bonus. The hotel has a wildlife museum (free to guests) so we had a wander around that. Then we headed outside and wandered down Jasper's main street, pottering around the various shops and buying presents and postcards to send to our friends. We bumped into a couple we had met on the Rocky Mountaineer trip and compared notes - they were also having a quiet day before picking up a rental car and driving to Calgary. I mentioned we would be heading for Calgary ourselves but not until Sunday and that we would be on a coach taking us to the airport for our flight to Toronto.

A bit more pottering around and then we had a coffee while we wrote out our postcards. While we were wandering around Jasper I took some more photos because in every direction you looked there were mountains ..

We visited the local tourist information centre to get directions to the local post office. Because Canada is celebrating 150 years in 2017 (or more correctly, the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Canadian Confederation) the local TIC employees were taking photos with a rather large red balloon. The wind wasn't helping and they had to hold it down (or at least try!) with some large stones. I have to say, watching them I thought any moment we might see a scene similar to 'The Prisoner' but with them chasing the balloon rather than the other way around ..

Some more shopping and as we knew we would be checking out early(ish) the following morning (08:20), on the way back to the hotel, we grabbed a couple of rolls from the local Subway. The hotel's in-house restaurant was an Italian-themed one and because we both liked the menu we ate there again rather than heading out into town again to find anywhere else. 

Wed 4/10 - Rocky Mountaineer (Day 2) - Kamloops to Jasper

I think I already remarked on how slick and professional the Rocky Mountaineer operation is and today was no exception. We were picked up from our hotel and bussed back into Kamloops and the buses all congregated in a large car park. I could see a RM employee nearby with a clipboard and walkie-talkie and I could hear her over the bus radio. She called the buses one by one and they performed a kind of bus ballet so that they drove in convoy alongside the train and we ended up parked alongside our train carriage - no point making the guests have to walk further than a few yards!

Lots more of the same amazing scenery today as we travelled from Kamloops to Jasper and lots more photo opportunities like this one ..

and this one too ..

One thing that was explained early on yesterday was that sometimes freight trains take priority. Yesterday we hardly got held up at all but today there were a couple of occasions when we stopped to let some freights train pass. And what freight trains - the comprise several hundred wagons and in some cases can be over a kilometre in length.

We were on the first sitting for breakfast and lunch today so no scone & jam or cheese & wine to keep us going! You don't have any reserved mealtime tables so you end up sitting with whoever happens to arrive at the same time as you. However, as we were last to arrive for lunch we ended up sitting by ourselves.

As I said in the last blog, in amongst all the eating and drinking the scenery just keeps on coming. A couple of highlights today were Pyramid Falls ..

.. and towards the end of the journey, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies, Mt Robson ..

Unfortunately good things don't last for ever and our journey ended as we arrived in Jasper. Our hotel (Whistlers Inn) was across the road from the station and we had almost reached it when we checked who had the bag of merchandise we had purchased earlier in the day - turned out we both thought the other one had picked it up. I left Margaret to check-in while I ran back to the station. And as I ran alongside the train it dawned on me how long that train was and I had no idea where 'our' carriage was. A RM employee saw me running and asked what the problem was - I told her my name, carriage number and what we had bought. "This one?" she said as she handed our bag over - it turned out they had already found the bag left behind and she was on her way to our hotel to re-unite us with our goodies.

Tue 3/10 - Rocky Mountaineer (Day 1) - Vancouver to Kamloops

It was an early start today as we needed to be at the Rocky Mountaineer station in Vancouver by around 6:45am to check-in. Needless to say, the early start meant there wasn't much traffic around and the taxi ride was quick and easy and we arrived at the station with plenty of time to spare. Check-in completed (and suitcases whisked away, not to be seen until later on in the day at our hotel), we were pointed in the direction of the tea/coffee and told to listen out for an announcement when the RM train was ready to board.

As we drank our coffees, more and more people arrived by coach and taxi and the noise levels slowly increased as the concourse filled up. Then at around 7:30am, a tannoy announcement asked us to congregate at the front of the concourse. There was no need to rush as the train seating is reserved so we ambled over with everyone else. A couple of quick speeches by RM managers and then (as a bit of a gimmick), one couple who were celebrating their wedding anniversary were asked to give two hoots on a ceremonial train whistle while the rest of us (all on our best behaviour of course) did as instructed and shouted out "All Aboar-rrr-d" as we filed out of the concourse onto the platform following a bagpiper (nope .. me neither).

There were plenty of RM staff around to help us find our carriage and seats. We had opted for the Goldleaf Service for this train journey which meant we were in one of the double-height carriages with our seats (with huge observation windows) on the top deck, while the lower deck is where our meals would be taken and where we could access an outside vestibule for taking photos or just to get some fresh air (and having seen the normal carriages we were pleased we'd decided to upgrade). As the train pulled away from the station, RM staff were lined up to wave us on our way. There were some initial announcements about health & safety and housekeeping do's and don'ts. The most important of which was to always keep a napkin under your glass - with the rocking and rolling of the train it's all too easy for the glass to slide off of your tray! Anyway, formalities over, we were able to sit back and begin to enjoy the experience.

And to enjoy the first of many eating & drinking opportunities! We were on the second sitting for breakfast and were offered a scone (with jam & cream) to keep us going until breakfast itself. Breakfast happened a little later and we didn't seem to have been back in our seats for very long before they were calling the 1st sitting down for lunch. We were called back for lunch later on but not before we'd been offered cheese, crackers and wine (to keep us going!). Lunch over, they announced the bar was now open until the end of the day so you could watch the world go by (Well, British Columbia anyway) while enjoying your favourite tipple. And as a leaving present after Day 1, we were presented with a cookie before we disembarked.

All the while the eating and drinking was taking place, the countryside was passing by the windows ..

I was taking photos through the windows but also taking full advantage of the outside vestibule to take photos and going up and down the stairs on a regular basis. I had my GoPro with me on this holiday so was also taking footage of the countryside (which I will eventually edit and stitch together into a film). The terrain was lush and green at the start of the day but by the time we were approaching Kamloops, had become much more arid and desert-like.

One of the highlights of the day was Hell's Gate at the narrowest part of the Fraser Valley ..

.. but there were many photo-opportunities during the day including the Cisco Crossings ..

.. and the 25-mile long Kamloops Lake ..

You won't be surprised to discover there was merchandise available and I decided to order myself a RM t-shirt (actually reasonably understated and much less garish than you might imagine) which came with a RM baseball cap.

At the end of the day, coaches were alongside the train to whisk us away to our hotels. We were staying overnight at the Coast Kamloops Hotel which is a few miles from the centre on one of the many hills surrounding the town. The driver explained the large temperature difference between the centre and the surrounding hills - apparently you can have snow on the hills while down below, there can be no sign of it.

Arriving in our room, as promised, our cases were there ready and waiting for us. One thing they warn you about (and which I experienced) was 'train legs' - you get so used to the movement of the train during the day, when you are sitting still at the hotel, it feels like you are still moving - a very odd feeling. Needless to say, after all the food and drink on the train we were not in the least bit hungry and all we needed was a bowl of soup (courtesy of room service) before we headed to bed for an early night.

Mon 2/10 - Grouse Mountain

As it was such a fabulous day weather-wise, we thought we would visit Grouse Mountain. You can see Grouse Mountain across the water from the harbour-side near Canada Place and we were able to confirm it was clear at the top so that was our decision made. We bought our tickets from the Visitor Information Centre at Canada Place and after a 20 minute wait, caught the shuttle bus. On the way to Grouse Mountain we passed another popular attraction, the Capilano Suspension Bridge - to say it was 'heaving' outside would be an understatement. We wondered how busy Grouse Mountain was going to be (pro tip - not as much).

Grouse Mountain is 1250 metres (4100 feet) and you reach it via the Skyride, an alpine-style gondola. When we arrived at Grouse Mountain we made our way to the gondola and queued with everyone else. Frustratingly, having queued for 15 minutes to catch the gondola, we were told the tickets we were holding needed to be swapped for a Skyride pass. So we had to join the (by now) long, slow-moving queue (caused by only one member of staff being on duty). Grrrr .. that was another 20 minutes wasted.

The gondola ride itself was great. You slowly drift above the Douglas Firs and looking back, see views of the Vancouver area unfold.

We had seats at the front of the gondola so rather than having to stand the whole way up, were able to sit. However I was standing up taking photos and film when the gondola passed over one of the two support towers. Everyone had been warned going over the tower would make the gondola swing a bit but despite a warning announcement and despite being ready, it was still an odd feeling (and there was a chorus of "ooohs" and "aaahs" from the rest of the passengers). Apparently, in the Summer, you can ride up to Grouse Mountain standing on the roof of the gondola - not for me I'm afraid to admit. Interestingly, although it was Summer, there were two male passengers dressed in ski-ing gear. Where was the snow? (we didn't bother asking).

Once at the top we had a look around the visitor centre then made our way to the wildlife refuge where two orphaned grizzly bears (Grinder and Coola) live in a 5 acre compound and listened to a talk by one of the conservation experts. We also found out why there were two skiers in the gondola - there was some filming going on nearby with lots of fake snow and white fabric covering the hillside. Maybe the two were local celebrities? We'll never know

We went back to the main building for a spot of lunch and I took some photos from the observation deck. Then we made our way back up top to see some entertainment in the form of a lumberjack show. The show was actually really well scripted and presented (better than you might expect) and was really good fun. As well as demonstrating some of the skills the 'old time' lumberjacks used to use in their day-to-day jobs the two lumberjacks kept us all entertained .. clambering up tall posts, chopping trees, axe-throwing, log-rolling - it was all there.

Once the show was over we made our way back to the main building and queued to get the gondola back down. We managed to get seats at the front of the gondola again and I took some more photos and some more footage with my GoPro.

Back at Canada Place we stopped off for ice creams at Bellagio and booked a table for dinner. We headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready for the morning (when we would be boarding the Rocky Mountaineer train for the next stage of our holiday). Some Rocky Mountaineer reps were in the hotel reception and I checked with them if there was anything we needed to do before the morning. But the rep told us .. "No, you're good to go" and reminded us all we needed to do was make sure we checked-in on time. And one good result of speaking to the RM reps - they presented me with a voucher to use for the taxi in the morning to the Rocky Mountaineer station - one less thing to have to think about.

Once we had packed for the morning it was time to walk down to Bellagio. We got a table outside and were able to eat our dinner whilst watching the sunset reflecting on the buildings across the harbour - perfect.

(Grouse Mountain - https://www.tourismvancouver.com/activities/attractions/guide-to-grouse-mountain/ )

Sun 1/10 - City and Park

I woke at 6:30am and although I was hoping I might have adjusted to the new time zone, decided I was still feeling slightly jet lagged.

We decided to use our vouchers for the sightseeing buses today and have a look around Vancouver and get our bearings. We thought a tour of the city would be a good place to start so made our way to the harbour-side in front of Canada Place. A 'city' bus appeared and we hopped on - however , as we pulled away we quickly realised we had made a mistake. The driver (who we nicknamed "Mexican Pete") had a very 'thick' accent which made him almost impossible to understand, and what little of his words you could make out, was uninteresting and banal. As if that wasn't irritating enough, he spent most of the time trying to persuade you to get off the coach and use the money off vouchers you had been given with your sightseeing bus ticket.

After a frustrating hour or so rumbling around Vancouver city we arrived back at Canada Place and were relieved to get off. We walked to the "Gastown" area of the city to see the steam clock and statue of "Gassy Jack" then had lunch at a nearby coffee bar.

We went back to Canada Place to pick up the sightseeing bus that does the tour around other areas of the city such as Stanley Park. A 'park' bus arrived and a nearby rep asked if we were getting on. I had already seen "Mexican Pete" was the driver so I (diplomatically) explained we had struggled to understand him and were happy to wait for the next one. The driver of the next bus was Canadian and so was much easier to understand. And he was much more knowledgeable too, so his commentary was useful and helped us understand a bit more about Vancouver.

After the 'park' tour we walked around for a bit visiting places like Bute Street before making our way back to Canada Place. We scouted around the various pubs and restaurants and eventually ended up eating at Mahoney and Son once again :-)

After the meal, we walked back to the hotel - we were both feeling very worn out (jet-lag!) and had an early night.

Sat 30/9 - Almost 5000 miles

4800 miles according to the in-flight display screen on my seat, is the distance from Heathrow to Vancouver flying via Scotland, Iceland, Greenland and then heading south west over Northern & Western Canada.

The Hoppa bus was already waiting when we went to leave the Premier Inn so we didn't have time to check out or leave our room keys behind - we just ran for the bus. Check-in using the automated machines at the airport didn't print any bag tags so we had to queue for a person anyway. Other than leaving my glasses case in my pocket when going through security (and needing to be frisked!) there were no hiccups. We had time for a coffee and cake before boarding started.

We had good seats at the front of the economy section with plenty of legroom. I checked and was pleased to see we have the same seats on the flight home. The flight was delayed by 40 mins at takeoff but this didn't seem to matter as we arrived on time anyway. On the flight we had chicken and roast veg with a side salad and a dessert. Later they served hot wraps before we landed - I had the meatball one and Margaret had the veggie option. In between times they dimmed the cabin lights and we tried to get some sleep. I think I managed to doze for a bit but it was noisy, even with ear plugs.

We opted for a taxi into Vancouver and the traffic was heavy on the way into town. We checked into our hotel (Sutton Place Hotel) and we're on the 14th floor - they have incredibly fast lifts that get you to the upper floors in no time at all and the floor to ceiling windows in the room are quite vertigo inducing. We got directions and some maps from the concierge and walked down Burrard Street to the harbour front at Canada Place where a huge cruise ship (Nieuw Amsterdam) was in port.

(Above: Vancouver Harbourside; View from 14th floor of Sutton Place Hotel)

We walked around the harbour area for a bit, soaking up the views of the tree covered hills across the bay and watched the harbour flight seaplanes taking off and landing. We decided to grab a meal at Mahoney & Son on the harbourside and were given a table in the corner away from the worst of the loud music (good music - but loud!) and with a view of the cruise ship. We watched it leave as we ate (fish and chips for me, chowder for Margaret) then we walked back up Burrard Street to the hotel, stopping off at Subway to get some rolls.

We were both worn out by the time we got back to the room at 7pm, Margaret especially. We showered and washed some clothes and eventually settled down to sleep at 8pm, which because of the time difference, equated to 4am UK time! Hopefully we won't wake too early and will get sort of adjusted to the new time zone. I fell asleep listening to the traffic 14 floors below, punctuated by the sound of police sirens.