Day 23 (18th November)

Okay, so we're just a tad behind on the blog and by now you will have received an email Christmas card from us tandem hang-gliding. We have to come clean and confess that although Kate looks like the competent instructor, she was in fact Chester's instructor with Kate's head stuck on. Almost had you all fooled! Anyway the 18th Nov was when we actually flew for real. Our flights were postponed from 11am to 3pm as the weather was chilly and they had to wait for enough thermals to form. In the mean time we mooched around Queenstown, had lunch in the sun in a waterfront cafe and discovered some fantastic art in the local shops. At 3pm we were bundled into a minibus headed for Coronet Peak just north of Queenstown. Chester was strapped in rather clumsily by a rooky trainee who had to be corrected on where he had the straps (not something you want someone to be 'trying out' on your husband) and before I was fully strung up he was off the edge and flying! Eeeeeeeeek! I hadn't time to wonder how he was doing before I too was instucted to take one step, two step, runnnnn and whoooosh! We soared along the ridge for a while then the instructor said, 'Can I scare you now?' to which I answered, 'Okay just a little'. He then nose-dived the wings, sent us wheeling in circles and I screamed a lot!
A few more of those brought us down to a safe landing in the field below and after laughing face down in the grass, got up and wanted to do it over again.
That evening we drove our van on a long dirt track to the top of Lake Wakitipu to a fabulous spot called Kinloch where we were alone in watching the sun set across the lake to the sound of frogs singing.

Day 22 (17th November)

Sunshine! Hooray! Let’s drive back up the Cardrona Valley to see the view we missed out on yesterday! It was worth the climb. Back in Queenstown we sat in Vudu Café to work out how much money to blow on adrenaline trips. We booked hang-gliding for tomorrow and took a speedy trip up the Shotover River on a jetboat that performed 360 degree spins and dodged the canyon walls. This very professional operation presented us with a short video, photos and postcards of us in action as soon as we climbed back on dry land. It was fun, but even more fun was to be had on the luge! You can take the Queenstown gondola ride for fabulous views of the town, Lake Wakitipu and The Remarkables mountain range beyond. Then at the top you can hop in a go-cart and race down various tracks wearing a very silly helmet and an even sillier grin! A chairlift takes you back up to the start and as their slogan says: ‘once is never enough’…

Day 21 (16th November)

We discovered the lovely, laid back town of Wanaka – cute boutiques and cafes to brighten up an otherwise soggy morning. We needed to get to Queenstown and our anti-clockwise route around the South Island was chosen because the drive through the Cardrona Valley that links these two towns is best done from Wanaka due to the fine views. We set off in low cloud which deteriorated to heavy rain and, halfway along the road, piled into the Cardona Hotel for a hearty lunch of venison and fish ‘n’ chips around their log fire. The hotel harks back to the gold mining era and the bar has an entrance to one of the old mining shafts. From there we descended on Arrowtown as the rain descended on us and the views were obliterated. We tried to dodge the downpour from shop to shop and spent a good long time in Craig Potton’s photographic gallery talking to an English lady who emigrated to NZ four years ago as well as admiring Craig’s amazing pictures.

Day 20 (15th November)

Today we fancied doing a ‘tramp’ as the sun was shining and we drove to Wanaka to check out weather report at the ever-helpful DOC Info Centre. It looked set to be fine so we headed east along the bumpiest 30km track following Matukituki River upstream, over nine fords to Raspberry Creek car park. The walk was so worth it though: ferocious winds whipped us up the valley and made crossing the river on the long swing bridge a bit scary. Ancient beech trees afforded protection from the worst of the gusts as we climbed above the tree line to spectacular views of Rob Roy Glacier. Here huge waterfalls were tumbling down over ledges but were swept away by the wind seemingly not to reach the bottom. We witnessed an avalanche and made friends with a kea – a clever alpine parrot that has adapted to its harsh environment by begging and often helping itself to food carried in rucksacks. Clouds gathered as we turned tail and were blown back through the forest, passed skipping lambs in the fields and kicked up more dust on our return drive to Glendhu Bay. As we set up camp at Lake Wanaka the rain started.

Day 19 (14th November)

Drove to Fox Glacier information centre to hear people being turned away from booking helicopter rides due to low cloud. Smugly we headed for Wanaka, stopping to take a walk through bush to Monro beach where we saw three penguins waddle from the rocks down to the sea before clouds of sandflies drove us back into the bush. The sun came out as we turned inland to follow the course of Haast River and we saw some lovely black and red butterflies as we paused by a waterfall. We travelled through countryside reminiscent of the English Lake District and arrived on the shores of Lake Hawea to watch the moon rise from behind the mountains across the lake. It was a beautiful, warm night.

Day 18 (13th November)

Low cloud postponed our trip from 9 to 11.30am. But when the sun came out we were up, up and awaaaay!! We had a fantastic flight: Chester and I were in the front seats near the pilot and there was another couple seated behind. We traversed along the side of the Southern Alps to ascend Fox Glacier, up to Mount Cook and over the divide to view the long and almost horizontal Tasman Glacier. We landed at on a wide snowfield, jumped out of the helicopter to throw snowballs at each other and make blue footprints all in hot sunshine, then zig-zagged over the crevices of Franz Josef Glacier on our descent. Just the most tummy leaping experience – it was 40 minutes of fabulousness, a real highlight of our trip! We felt even luckier after hearing that about one in three trips to Mount Cook are cancelled due to the poor weather the Tasman Sea conjures up and throws at it. On a high we drove out towards the coast to take in the reflections of the great mountains in Lake Matheson but the wind had crept up and we continued on to Gillespies Beach/ Here we free camped (with a few others) and watched the sun turn the Alps pink behind us as it set into the sea.

Day 17 (12th November)

Got up at 8am and fed the fat ginger camp cat (or the camp ginger fat cat – Ian?) the remains of our steak dinner. It was a grey day with low cloud as we set off down the west coast which proudly advertises itself as the ‘Grey Region’ (well that should pull in the crowds!). We took another quick peek at Pancake Rocks to see if the difference in tide height could impress Chester, but alas, there was not much more activity than on the previous evening. As we continued, the coastline got more and more bleak until we landed in Greymouth for supplies. I am not sure why anyone would choose to live here: it has the greyest weather, it is miles away from civilisation, the buildings are dull, the people are frighteningly ugly and the river inundates the town on occasions. However, not wishing to totally offend, the people here were also amongst some of the friendliest and most helpful we’ve met! Encouraged to move on we headed for glacier country and pitched up at Franz Josef Glacier as the sun came out. We booked a helicopter trip for the following morning and spent the evening feeling very excited!

Day 16 (11th November) – the West Coast

There’s some seriously odd bird behaviour in NZ: this morning Kate had her toes pecked by seven ducklings as mummy mallard looked on and black swans were seen swimming on the sea! It may be to do with the fact we rose at 6am to make the most of the day and hadn’t yet got our brains into gear but I’m pretty sure we didn’t both dream it. The cold shower at this horrid campsite awoke the senses pretty sharply! We needed to start covering some distance so today we drove from Parapara in Golden Bay down the centre and out to the west coast to take the last site in the campground at Punakaiki. On the way we stopped for lunch and took a woodland walk by Lake Rotoiti in Nelson Lakes National Park. The trees are covered in what look like tiny strands of white cotton threads with droplets hanging off the end. These are the anal canals of a scale insect that feed on the trees and produce a sweet honeydew substance that birds love (tasty!). The birdsong here was lovely and we would probably have enjoyed more had we not been chased around the walk by a coach load of very noisy Americans. We also stopped further on near Murchison to cross the longest swing bridge in New Zealand (don’t look down!) over the Buller River.
Before finding camp we had a peek at Pancake Rocks. These are amazing limestone formations that have been eroded to look like stacks of pancakes and when the tide is high and the wind is up, the sea booms into the caverns below and creates spectacular bursts of spray forced up through blowholes. Chester, however, was underwhelmed!

Day 15 (10th November) – Golden Bay

This morning we met a pukeko! This is a pretty blue bird the size of a hen with a bright red beak. It very elegantly strutted through the long grass but when I threw it some bread it picked it up with the ugliest gnarled red claw I’ve ever seen! We stopped off in Takaka for supplies and headed up the coast to Collingwood, the place of Rosy Glow Chocolates: lovingly hand made and sold from a wee pink cottage by the beach. Yum! The rain cleared as we reached Farewell Spit at the very top of South Island. This is a renowned bird sanctuary and protected wetland area with a 26km long beach and huge sand dunes which can only be reached through a tour company. The café at the top was closed so we took photos of as much of it as we could see alongside the skeleton of an unfortunate beached pilot whale. Travelled a further 7km along an unsealed road to take a walk across farmland onto a dramatically remote windswept beach. Here we encountered the unlikely meeting of sheep, seals, horses and blue jellyfish-like sea creatures.

Day 14 (9th November)

Awoke to cloud which deteriorated to mizzle as we set off across the estuary for the walk to Separation Point. This was a brilliant walk mostly through misty, bush covered headlands dropping down onto the golden sandy bays of Anapai Bay, Mutton Cove (where we were attacked by a nesting oyster catcher) and, finally, Separation Point (where we watched fur seals napping on the rocks nearby). On our return route we saw a bottlenose dolphin catching its supper and more seals playing in the water. Eight hours later, back at our remote campsite we lit another fire and watched the stars appear.

Day 13 (8th November)

Planned to get to Totaranui by road and do the walk up to Separation Point as it was sunny, but got side-tracked in the local hippy town of Takaka (or rather Kate fancied the galleries and boutiques!). Another trouser purchase later (!) we headed up Wainui River to navigate a very bouncy swing bridge to view the waterfalls. After losing each other in the woods temporarily we walked from Wainui Bay towards Taupo Point but the high tide cut off our route and the sandflies prevented us from resting on the sand too long. Drove to a remote campsite run by the Department of Conservation (DOC) where you pay the honesty box a minimum fee for the use of their adequate facilities and a spot to park. We had a paddock to ourselves, lit a campfire and opened a bottle of native plonk…

Day 12 (7th November) - Abel Tasman National Park

One of the ‘must sees’ on our list, Abel Tasman boasts beautiful golden beaches and clear turquoise waters backed by lush pristine native bush. It didn’t disappoint despite a rather panicked start to the day when we had to catch a much earlier water taxi than planned in order to complete our desired ‘tramp’ (NZ for ‘hike’ and our new adopted word). The sea shuttle picked us up on (a sunny – hoorah!) Kaiteriteri beach, taking us along the coastline as far north as Totaranui before dropping us off on the return loop to Bark Bay at 11.30. We then had until 3pm to march through fabulous forest and over a swing bridge for the return pick-up at Torrent Bay. The tree ferns and native beech trees are huge and lush!

Our pick-up boat nearly beached itself but delivered us back to our campsite where word had gotten round that this campervan fed ducks. Soon we were surrounded by sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes and some very territorial mallards all dancing around our feet for the next crumb. The birds in NZ are exceptionally tame – until the Polynesian and European settlers’ relatively recent introduction of mammals such as rats, rabbits, stoats and possums, the native birdlife had few predators and the likes of kiwi and the (now extinct) moa, became flightless. Children gradually replaced birds (historically as well as outside our van) and we found ourselves in the centre of a football game! Watched the sun set across the bay and chatted to a couple of local families who were fishing on the beach.

Day 11 (6th November)

Today spelt VICTORY! Six years of searching and a journey to the other side of the world finalised Kate’s epic quest for a pair of jeans! Celebrations in Nelson.

A visit to WOW! – museum of the World of WearableArt complemented today’s findings with such delights as the Dali Bra and an automated catwalk of other extraordinary creations. Look up www.worldofwearableart.com for one of the most creative and imaginative exhibits we’ve seen in a long time.

Took an atmospheric, blustery walk along Rabbit Island beach, again just missing the rain, before taking the bendy forested track into Abel Tasman National Park.

Day 10 (5th November) - Nelson

Awoke to sunshine and took a quick march to the top of the view point for magnificent views across the Sounds, complete with rainbow. After breakfast we set out for Nelson.

Nelson has the highest sunshine record for all of New Zealand and also a very high number of British immigrants! There is a thriving art scene here and the Marlborough wine growing region nearby helps to keep those creative juices flowing. We spent the afternoon exploring the cathedral and cute old cottages of South Street; wandered the shops and galleries we discovered Jens Hansen jewellers – the Lord of the Rings ring designer. At the end of the day we set up camp by the beach and took a breezy stroll, getting back just before the rain.

Day 9 (4th November)

The strange clicks and beeps of the native Tui bird woke us this grey, cold morning as we set off to discover the South Island. Took the cheaper (and stinkier) Bluebridge ferry from Wellington to Picton. Couldn’t decide if it was better to endure the lashing rain on deck or the urine stench below. Our favourite announcement: ‘Pissingers needing left axis go to the sickund floor’ finally gave us a breakthrough into understanding the kiwi accent – they’ve got their vowel sounds mixed up! So, after picking our way through the tiny waterways to land in tiny Picton harbour, we drove the windy bendy scenic Queen Charlotte Drive around Marlborough Sounds, finally parking on a viewpoint above Havelock for another night free camping. The weather forecast on our little TV said winds of 140 kph expected but even parking in the most sheltered corner didn’t protect us from the frightening gusts that shook our little home on wheels into the early hours. We were even more spooked when an air raid siren went off in the town below at 1am in the morning! (Turns out it’s how they summon their firemen.)

Day 8 (3rd November)

Spent nearly the whole day in the capital’s Te Papa Museum which is excellent. We learned about the making of these fabulous islands: the movements of the tectonic plates, volcanoes etc. We experienced what it would be like to be in an earthquake, discovered plants and birds we’d never heard of before and got chucked out before having time to finish the massive collection of art. Froze as we braved the chilly winds along the harbour and headed for shelter in the shops. From there, we took the cable car up to the extensive Botanical Gardens but it was so uncomfortably cold we quickly headed back down the hill for a warming curry.

DAY 7 (2nd November)

Awoke to clear skies and sunshine. Gave the town of Wanganui a second chance and were thoroughly impressed with their museum and the Sargant Art Gallery. We ate delicious pasties outside a café whose owner had emigrated from Ireland and was able to afford a farmstead as well as the Celtic pasty shop, before making the long drive to Wellington. The west coastal area here is flat with dramatic seas rolling onto long wide beaches. We took a walk on Foxton beach, collected shells and made footprints in the sand. Booked into a campsite at Lower Hutt, around the bay from Wellington city, as the sun set. Drove back around the bay and treated ourselves to Asian posh nosh at ‘Chow’. Yum! Ahhh but chopsticks here require great skill – wery swippery.

DAY 6 (1st November)

Hooray - got the docs okay to continue on our travels! Drove straight towards 'Mount Doom' from Lord of the Rings in Tongariro National Park planning to do the amazing Tongariro crossing - a 6 hour walk around volcanoes and lakes. However, thick low cloud as well as the manky ankle persuaded us to abandon that idea and after suffering a half lit presentation of volcanoes at the Visitor Centre, we found a better display from nature at Tokaanu. Here we encountered hot water seeping out of the ground and stinking pools of mud plopping and steaming (not unlike Chester’s morning ablutions). We talked to some local Maoris who were clearing a pit in the ground in which to cook their dinner and another woman who was boiling flax in one of the pools in order to make rope. Then we motored south on the Desert Road. It was raining. Foreboding volcanoes invisible. Tsk! A slippery boardwalk at Rankawa Falls stretched our legs and disappointing first impressions of Wanganui moved us beyond the town to spend the night on the shores of a little lake called Wiritoa. We were the only ones in the field and it rained so hard in the night we wondered that the lake might expand to include us!

DAY 5 (31st October)

Woke to a cool sunny day having spent many of the early hours at the local hospital receiving excellent free treatment for the aforementioned bite. Was told to rest my fat foot and come back later so we hung around the sleepy town, got haircuts, bought DVDs, did laundry, drove to the shores of Lake Taupo and back and discovered emails from home.

DAY 4 (30th October)

A nasty looking Fijian mosquito bite on Kate's ankle sent us back to New Plymouth in the morning to find a doctor. A bottle of antibiotics later we headed down the 'Forgotten World Highway' and armed with the wrong leaflet, we've forgotten we were meant to see. We did get our passports stamped in NZ's only republic in Whangmomona while stopping at their infamous pub for a swift half. Ended up in Taumarunui where the campsite owner sported a fabulously large moustache and an equally large sense of humour!

DAY 3 (29th October)

Seriously awful weather as we drove into New Plymouth town to get supplies and 'put mulk en the frudge, Brudge' (Mindfields joke). Visited the local art gallery called TART and was impressed by the standard of creativity. Took off inland towards the volcano that shapes the south western corner of North Island - Taranaki or Mt Egmont. It was snow capped and at 2518m, attracting cloud. Freak gusts of wind almost flipped us off our feet as we climbed above the tree line to take in the views before returning through tropical forest to the melodious tune of a pair of bell birds. This was after the back doors of the van had slammed back in the wind, smashing the van key into many bits and spending a couple of hours piecing it back together before finding another part on the tarmac to add in. The cloud formations were spectacular as we settled down to our first night 'free camping' finally feeling buffeted enough by 3am to move the van to a more sheltered spot.

DAY 2 ( 28th October)

Armed with an itinerary, tips and books on New Zealand we said farewell and motored south. Stopped at the Kiwi House and saw our first kiwis (the feathered kind) and a tuatara - an ancient dinosaur lizard. We commented on how like England the rolling green countryside is, camped on a bluff in New Plymouth and watched the wet weather roll in, just like holidays in England.

DAY 1 (27th October)

Landed in hot, sunny Auckland and taken to pick up our super new white house on wheels in Auckland. Emptied our suitcases into it and drove straight to Hamilton to land on the doorstep of Kate's Aunt Ruth, her husband Gavin and their three children, Angel, Ryan and Luke. Angel made me my first friendship bracelet, we enjoyed a lovely dinner, had a great time catching up before spending our first night camping in a van on their drive.

News at last

At last, time to begin telling you all about our adventures whilst upside down! Don’t forget to click on the picture button on the right for additional beautiful (and more sensible) shots of all things New Zealand.

NEW ZEALAND

Oops! Sorry faithful readers, we have been properly upside down from you all now for 22 days now and are having too much fun to update the blog. Internet access is not as widely available as Canada and, well, it’s just busy travelling in the place you’ve been planning to come for a decade, alright?!! Must just say HAPPY BIRTHDAYS to Denise, Andrew, Greg, Rachel and my lil’ sis and congrats to KP on getting married!! More after we’ve thrown ourselves a mountain… Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Maggi and Chester

Children from the village

Chester and the mermaid from the deep.

Another village pic

Village School

Kaduvu Villagers

Kaduvu Village

Fiji continued...

After the hustle and hassling of Nadi town - being hounded by every street seller and offered taxis every other step - we set off on a very small plane the following day to an island south-east of the main island called Kadavu. It had started raining at the end of our shopping sprint in Nadi and hadn’t let up all night, and this was the tropical warm-but-now-we-can’t-see-the-edge-of-our-balcony variety. A short, bumpy, viewless flight later we plopped onto the tiny airstrip on Kadavu and ran for the hut to await our suitcases. ‘Bula! Bula! Welcome!’ - a muddle of faces greeted us: those waiting to climb aboard the plane we just landed in and those waiting to meet the new arrivals both official and the local villagers who flocked twice daily to further confuse the comings and goings from the air. We were ushered into a muddy pick-up truck, our luggage bundled in plastic bin liners and placed behind us along with more locals jumping on top, happy to endure the rain for a free ride. We were issued with big yellow macks and advised by our smiling Fijian hosts that we may prefer to remove our shoes before disembarking for the hour boat trip transfer to our resort. Ankle deep in squelchy mud and floating pumice we picked our way along the shore and waded to the boat, Kate making a cartoonlike slippery fall down the bank! Safely on board, our bags wrapped in tarpaulin, we were given sweets (named ‘bush candy’ by Maggi our male escort) and biscuits (‘these are sea cookies and you must eat at least five – it’s the Fijian way’) and picked our way through the reef and sped across the bay.

Matava is an eco-friendly resort catering mainly for divers as the Astrolabe Reef is one of the top dive spots in the world. Their beach isn’t great but a short kayak trip to the small island opposite affords a small strip of white sand and snorkelling opportunities over beautiful corals before you can wade out of your depth. The rain had played in our favour as the roof of the standard bure we booked had been leaking so we got upgraded to a deluxe bure up the hill with fabulous views and a hot water shower! Our thatch-roofed wooden room had a huge mahogany bed with a large mosquito net tied above it, basic rustic furniture and one solar powered bulb that only operated at dusk – a whole world away from Canada and the western world we are used to! Dinner was communal in the open sided main bure and was beautifully lit with gas lamps. Drums would sound when food was ready. The food was excellent: a three course meal every night usually served by Maggi who would introduce the theme ie. ‘Hello tonight it is a Chinese night where we will be serving Mexican food which is Thai curry with a fish that tastes like chicken and American cheesecake for dessert, thank you!’ Maggi was a bit like Larry Grayson in a sarong only we never tired of his gags!

The drums beat early for breakfast of fresh pawpaw, pineapple, bananas (all grown on the island) and coffee, pancakes, cereal etc. We took advice from German honeymooners, Thomas and Louisa, to take cat food with us on the kayak if we were going to the island as there was a very small black kitten with white socks that had been abandoned over there. Sure enough, as we neared the shore a little furry dot ran out of the bushes meowing all the way to the sea edge! So cute.

As well as snorkelling Chester also surprised me by taking his first scuba dive. He started the first few days determined not to dive but by day two he was inquisitive and day three he was in there – wetsuit and ‘flippers’ and up for it! Sharon our Irish instructor was brilliant at sorting us all out and our merry party of four (with Kathy, a 60-ish first time scuba diver too) descended to see lionfish, porcupine fish, angel fish and many other beautiful shoals hovering over corals.

Other highlights of Fiji included a guided walk through bush to the local village with Robbie (one of the villagers) and further to the waterfall where I slipped and pulled Robbie in with me! A ‘kava ceremony’ - the local grog made by grinding the dried root of the kava plant and mixing with water. It makes your lips numb and is passed to you individually by the chief whereby the protocol is one clap, down in one, hand back the coconut shell while the rest of the seated circle clap. Most of the locals drink at least ten and end up slumped on cushions by the end of the evening. We feasted on ‘lovo’ – the traditional meal cooked over hot stones buried in the earth. Beautifully tender chicken and local root vegetables. Our farewell send-off was touching as the villagers had made us frangipani garlands and our new friends danced and waved on the jetty.

Next stop: Funky Fish resort on Molola Island – a short (and less muddy) trip back to Nadi to catch our connecting flight north-west of the main island. The weather was better but we got eaten by mozzies, sandflies and even the fish had a nibble! As the name indicated it catered for the younger crowd with music not gas lamps creating the atmosphere but we enjoyed the beaches, snorkelling off the sandbank and internet access!

We had this beach to ourselves!

Fiji Sunset 3

Fiji Sunset 2

Fiji Sunsets

The evenings were magical in Fiji though the night came quickly giving us a little time to capture these colourful moments when the sun fell out of the sky. Unfortunately it was also the time of day when, despite the fact that the native humans no longer practice cannibalism, the mosquitoes haven't yet been educated in western etiquette. Our white skins still bear evidence and it's not just the mozzies that enjoy the taste of white skin - the sandhoppers, flies and even the fish have a nibble too!

Fiji

We arrived at dawn in Fiji having lost a day of our lives and walked out of the plane to balmy heat at 5am in the morning. Our first stop in Fiji was in New Town, a beachside resort near the airport. We stayed at Aquarius, a budget hostel. Most people staying here were a good 15 years younger than we were and seemed intent on looking cool by the pool and ignoring everyone else – a stark contrast from the friendliness we had experienced in Canada. The beach was OK, but nothing to write home about. This area on Fiji is known for the odd mugging, but Chester was attacked by a group of five dogs on the beach one of which managed to bite him on the leg – no sign of rabies yet – but it’s difficult to tell with Chester.

United States Airport Security Non Existent

To get to Fiji we first had to fly to Los Angeles. You kind of enter America as soon as you get to border security at Vancouver Airport. The passport officer – a rotund middle aged American who struggled to communicate beyond grunting and pointing and a few well rehearsed sarcastic put downs was a wonderful introduction to US security. We flew to LA, landed then walked out of the domestic terminal and on to the street without any security or passport checks whatsoever – so much for increased security these days. We then had a very nice ten hour flight to Fiji in the upper deck next to emergency exit – loads of leg room.

Thanksgiving

On the weekend before we left Canada Scott’s parents invited us to their Thanksgiving meal – a bit like our Christmas Dinner. Scott’s extended family was there together with about 500 of their off spring. The following evening Scott’s parents, who are just brilliant hosts, invited around Paul and Debbie who we had met in Oliver some weeks ago – they just happened to live a few blocks away. This was a great end to our stay in Canada.

Vancouver Island

We kind of ran out of time to really explore Vancouver Island – it’s about the size of England, but we did manage to get to Victoria. Victoria is on the southern tip of the island - the ferry crossing in itself probably makes the trip worth while as it navigates between the many tiny islands on its way. Victoria is supposedly the closest thing to an English town in Canada. We kind of struggled to see the similarities, but did find a few English pubs that served Guinness which of course is Irish. The museum in Victoria was definitely worth the visit so was Craig Darroch castle but that was about it. As ever the Canadians here were super friendly and we hooked up with two couples sitting next to us at a Restaurant and went on to a bar, at which they paid for all the cocktails for the evening – thanks!!

Vancouver

Vancouver has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It has nearly everything – a thriving downtown area, a good arts scene, incredible mountain views, great parks, a beautiful harbour and lots of wildlife. First day we spent on Granville Island, an arty area just south of the harbour and then onto downtown and a couple of galleries, followed by an evening stroll along the harbour.

The following day we took a bike ride around Stanley park sea wall – probably the highlight of our stay in Vancouver and met up with some hungry Racoons that were hanging loose in the park. The aquarium at the park was also worth the visit – Beluga whales, sharks, sea otters, jellyfish, crocs, tarantulas and many humans (it was Thanks Giving).

The Jolly Trinity

On arriving in Vancouver we had a further two hour journey on Sky Train and bus to White Rock, which is well to do area south of Vancouver – here we were able to stay with Scott’s parents. Our first taste of a Vancouver resident was a poet who kindly recited his personal repertoire whilst we queued for the bus – he was actually brilliant. The second wasn’t really a Vancouver resident but an Australian dude who we repeatedly met on different trains and buses and can be quoted as saying “hey man its you again – how’s your 7th hour in Vancouver” – he hated Vancouver and it wasn’t our seventh hour in Vancouver. The third was a bus driver that actually spoke to his passengers. He was mildly obsessed with learning about London buses and gob-smacked when we told him that bus drivers in London don’t normally talk to passengers and wouldn’t let you on without paying your fair.

From Calgary to Vancouver

Next stop Vancouver! This required two days’ travel, the first of which was by car over the Rockies - the Rockies might as well have been East Anglia for all we knew: the entire journey was under the darkest wettest cloud mass we had even seen. We did attempt one stop off at the old cedars of Revelstoke Park: this required a very quick donning of waterproofs before venturing through the forest on board walks. The second day of travel was on a Greyhound bus, but before boarding we dropped our rental car off having completed 5000km since pick up. The Greyhound took us through some great snow covered landscapes and into the centre of Vancouver.

Firewater and Saskatoon Berry Pie in Calgary

We took a day driving the Icefield Parkway back to Banff before taking a detour the following day to Calgary to stay with our newly acquired friends, Dave and Heather Arthurs and their two little girls Ella and Nora. They fed us on huge cuts of angus steak with all the trimmings, a fabulous tasting crumble made with Saskatoon berries (or june berries if you come from the States) all washed down with our offering of chilli infused dessert wine bought from our mutually favourite vineyard in Oliver – Silver Sage. We even managed to cram in chocolates and a cup of tea before rolling ourselves down into their newly decorated basement/playroom for the night. Here Ella introduced us to her kitchen where we created even more culinary delights of brightly coloured salad, burgers and tomato soup, with never-melting ice cream and fruit. Fortunately my stomach couldn’t fit another morsel let alone a plastic one! Poor Dave had work the next day (how he managed after so much firewater and a teething baby is anyone’s guess) leaving the girls to show us around downtown Calgary. Met their friend Laurie and her cute daughter who joined us for supper. A big thank you to the Arthurs for putting up with us / putting us up! We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and look forward to offering the same hospitality in return… somewhere…

Surprise Corner

This is Surprise Corner in Banff and as you can see, this is the affect it has! Kate is still recovering.

The (not so) Big Five of Canada

Friday 3rd October – Wildlife Day!

Waiting patiently for three days in Bear’s Den for its namesake to appear, in desperation we finally went on the hunt for the Big Five. Fully camouflaged with tomahawk and war paint and covered in the scent of a grizzly bear in season, we stumbled across a large group of rutting elk surrounded by a strange camera clicking people from the east. Bedlam ensued as vehicles were abandoned willy-nilly and the Japanese risked their very lives to get another photograph of themselves riding an elk.

Our next wildlife encounter was an air raid attack from a grey jay. We first spotted it as we left our car to visit the huge icebergs floating on the lake at Mount Edith Cavell. It waited to ambush us upon our return and leapt on the boot of our car. In a very loud voice it demanded our bag of trail mix. Prolonged negotiations ensued but we resisted this sustained attack as we believe ‘wildlife should be kept wild’.

At the bottom of Athabasca Falls, Kate stopped to take photos of the First Nations’ rock sculptures but jumped out of her skin when a ghostly white face with big black eyes popped its head out from under a rock right close by. This cute little ermine continued to pop up and disappear, flashing the black tip of its tail as it tried to pass, and finally like a ribbon of light, whizzed back along the shore into the woods.

Next, a black raven coolly posed for our camera. And finally on our way back, we ran over a sweet little red squirrel, who thoroughly lost his game of dare. Sob!

Jasper

Jasper feels less commercial than Banff – and less crowded. Though still a tourist town it doesn’t feel over-the-top. We stayed at Patricia Lake which is about three miles out and above the centre of town, surrounded by woodland and lakes - this accommodation was a good base for some off-road biking, canoeing and walking. We stayed in ‘Bear’s Den’ a teeny log cabin near the lake.

Places near Jasper we visited were Lake Beauvert, Maligne Lake, Maligne Canyon, Medicine Lake (a lake that has no apparent water as it drains underneath the glacier silt). The Maligne Lake Road is a classic route for seeing bears and other beasts especially at dusk, but alas we saw nothing but squirrels. Blasted squirrels!!!

One of the highlights of our visit to Jasper was the Jasper SkyTram. Rising at 4 metres a second to a height of 7,500 ft, SkyTram drops you off at its base and then you are left to climb the remaining 800ft or so with your own pegs. The views, 360 were amazing. The mountain was called Whistlers because of the marmots that live up there and spend idle hours whistling. Sweet!

Icefields Parkway

National Geographic states that this the most beautiful highway in the world. About 230km long, it takes you through some pretty impressive scenery from Lake Louise to Jasper through the Canadian Rockies. At this time of year it was also spookily empty – at points we wondered if the world had ended and we were the only ones left on the planet.

Reached Lake Louise before dawn on an on a very chilly morning, surrounded by half the population of Japan taking photographs – lots of photographs! Before you get to the lake you see a huge hotel complex – still in development which is kind of off putting. The lake itself is a bit of a let down and not as interesting as the lesser hyped Moraine Lake which we quickly moved on to and spent a couple of hours walking around as the sun came over the mountain tops and slowly revealed the amazing turquoise colour of the water.

Warmed by an expensive coffee and pastry we moved on and stopped at Crowfoot Glacier, Bow Lake, Peyto Lake, Mistaya Canyon and then just before it got dark we got to the Columbia Icefield. Luckily the tourist machine had shut down by the time we got there - we managed to get right up to the glacier as there as was no one around. This huge glacier is receding at a frightening pace; once up to and beyond the highway, you now have to drive about half a km to the car park and then walk for about 20 minutes to its base. Along the way signs tell you it reached here in 1972 here in 1982 etc Once at the base you can hear rivers running under the ice and the odd creak and groan from within!

Dusk came and we still had some travelling to do before we got to Patricia Lake in Jasper.

We’re back!

Sorry for the gap in communication but there was not much electricity in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just about enough solar power to turn on the bulb in our little thatched bure! More about that later, first let’s wrap up Canada…

Everybody say, ‘Ahhhhhhhhh!’

There seems to be a theme emerging here. Answers on a postcard please…