May 24, 2019 - Let me tell you about the birds and the bees, the flowers and the trees ....

Beautiful Butchart Gardens was the focus of this morning’s activities. On the way there, we drove some very ritzy and expensive areas including the most expensive of all - Uplands - where properties are valued in the tens of millions. They certainly were grand with large manicured gardens and water views. Butchart Gardens, like Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Vancouver and the Eden Project in Cornwall, was built in a disused quarry. It was the brainchild of Jennie Butchart whose husband owned the quarry as part of his concrete business. When it...

May 23, 2019 - Flying high

What a beautiful sunny day for a wonderful seaplane ride from Whistler to Victoria. I admit, as the only person going on it out of a tour group of 42, I was a bit nervous as I made my own way to the pick up point - a 10 minute walk from the hotel. What if they forgot to pick me up? What if it was cancelled at the last minute? I would be stranded in Whistler as the tour group had already left on the bus! However, it all went very smoothly- I was picked up at 10.15 and taken to the Nicklaus Golf Club. Then it was just a 2 minute walk to the...

May 22, 2019 - Whistling away in Whistler

A nice, quiet catch up day in Whistler today. After breakfast, Cheryl and I left for our Jeep tour. Despite having a great time (which I will recount in a minute), something went awry with our booking and we ended up being put on the wrong tour. We had booked and paid for a 3 hour Callaghan Jeep tour. When we went to the tour booking office before 8.30, we handed over our vouchers, signed the waiver forms etc and were told to come back at 9 for the tour - no one mentioned that anything had changed. We did this and were half an hour into the...

May 21, 2019 - The long and (very) winding road

Firstly, an update on Gwenda who became sick yesterday. She was taken, by ambulance, to the hospital where she was put on various monitors. While there, she had another ‘episode’. As she was being monitored, the doctors were able to see exactly what was happening. They diagnosed total heart blockage and she was to receive a pacemaker today. A horrible situation but she was so lucky that it happened where we were, close to medical attention and not in the middle of one of the windy, isolated roads we had been on. Depending on how she is,...

May 20, 2019 - Farewell Rockies

A largely driving day today as we travelled from Banff back to Kamloops. In addition to our few major stops, we had a few quick photo stops - pulling off to the side of the road. The first of these photo-stops was only 19-15 minutes out of Banff, high up on a mountain, where we looked back over the whole area. Being a bright, sunny morning, the view was great. On the hillside we encountered a large herd of big horned sheep happily sunning themselves as lots of chipmunks scurried this way and that. A really nice, serene scene. Back on the...

May 19, 2019 - Two very different modes of transport

A full day in Banff to do whatever we liked! And, boy, did I do a lot of great things! After breakfast, shower etc etc... I set out for a walk while Cheryl went back to bed for a while. (These tours get very tiring - early morning starts, full days, late-ish nights and sleeping in unfamiliar beds). When I left, the shops were still shut and there weren’t many people about. I walked through the village of Banff down to the Bow River where a team of horses were being lead on a pathway to near the Fairmont Hotel to start their day of being...

May 19, 2019 - Vancouver

Today was off early from hotel to the train station 2 1/2 blocks away checked my bags got my seat assignment for the AMTRAK train to Vancouver, were a lot of people on the train today a lot of them going on a cruise to Alaska, was one of them. LOL The trip took 4 hours then about a 30 minute wait in line to get though passport check and customs then a short ride on the sky train to within 3 blocks of my hotel was able to check in early, the hotel Victoria is the oldest one in Vancouver built in 1898, has the original wood floors in the...

May 18, 2019 - Snow, frozen lakes and Mounties!

Woke this morning, at about 6.30, to glorious snow... lovely, delicate flakes falling down and dusting the trees. As we waited to leave at 9.30, it became heavier. Breakfast was scrumptious- so many choices and so fresh! I had some fresh fruit (blueberries, blackberries and strawberries), cranberry juice and then a freshly cooked omelette. Cheryl and I then went out for a refreshing (read cold) walk in the snow. There was no wind so, while cold, it wasn’t too bad at all. We walked around for about half an hour before coming back inside to...

May 17, 2019 - Blog Ten - Whitehorse (Yukon)

Blog Whitehorse (Yukon) Tuesday 14 May 2019 We were up and about without the alarm as today we were on our way back to the Yukon. The drive itself is about two hours but we have been told that there is a fair bit to see and do along the way. With this in mind we were all packed and headed off by 8:00am. The first part of the drive was following the valley on the other side of the road from the train ride the day before. It was just as spectacular with the added bonus of being able to stop when we wanted and take the odd photo! Similarly to...

May 17, 2019 - Majestic

Every day, on this holiday, has something new and wonderful and today was no exception. After the usual packing of bags, shower, dressing and breakfast, we were on the road by 8 am. First stop - Maligne Canyon where our guide, Michelle, took us for a short walk around part of the canyon. The sound and sight of the cascading water was amazing. We saw fossils of small creatures from millions of years ago, a crow’s nest made deep down in the canyon wall and thousands and thousands of pine trees - many of which have been affected by the pine...

May 16, 2019 - Harley chicks

And here I am in Jasper with snow capped mountains all around. This morning I had to take care of some washing for a little while then went for a walk into town - about 10-15 minutes or so from our hotel, Marmot Lodge. Most of the shops are located in two parallel streets and are either gift shops or restaurants/ cafes. There are also 2 supermarkets, a couple of chemists and a few clothing shops. I didn’t stay out for too long as I had to be back to be collected at 11 am for a two hour Harley ride. There were 6 of us booked to go (not all...

May 15, 2019 - Still Rocky(ing) on!

Rocky(ing) on! After a good night in our huge room (2 queen sized beds and still room to party), we were on the shuttle bus at 7.20 and on the train at 7.45. Sadly, there was no bagpiper this morning but there was a red carpet and waving staff to see us off. It was Toot! Toot! All aboard! and we were on our way! We’d only been seated for a very short while when we were called downstairs to breakfast. (A little aside: The train has two different classes - Gold Leaf and Silver Leaf. Gold Leaf: Double storey glass roofed train with a...