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.