Days 84 to 90 - Vancouver, Jasper, Calgary & Banff

Mum & Dad – when do you go to Cyprus?!

Day 84 – Vancouver
Up early for a run – Dave had to head back as his calf was hurting but I managed to make it round in the rain!
Back to the hostel for another yummy breakfast then out to Granville Street where we caught the sky train to the main station. Called in to collect our train tickets and canrail passes – very exciting! Then a bus up to UBC (University of British Columbia – or University of a Billion Chinese as Dave and his friends amusingly christened it!)
The plan was to go to the Museum of Anthropology but unfortunately as today was Monday, it was closed! Dave never did manage to get to go to it…
We grabbed some lunch and then headed to the library – hoping it would be warm and dry and have internet access. It was all of the above and I updated the Blog.

Bus back to downtown for the evening. I was beginning to feel pretty rough with a sore throat and beginning to ache all over. 84 days of feeling great, it was about time to get ill.
Dave very kindly walked down to get us a takeaway Chinese. It was too much effort to go out into the rain again!

We agreed that Vancouver hasn’t been seen at its best. We’ve not been able to do everything we’ve wanted to do just because the rain has left visibility so poor – I’ve not even seen some of the mountains. But it seems a very nice city and one which we should come back to one day…when it’s not raining!

M x

Day 85 – Vancouver to Jasper (ish)
No run today as my cold / cough had definitely set in. We packed up all our belongings and left them at the front desk. With 4 hours to kill before our train and the rain predictably falling, we made our way to an internet café. Dave had a sudden brainwave that the Liverpool Arsenal Champions League game was on so we did a quick search on the internet and found a pub down the road showing the game. Result!

We entered the pub (an Irish one!) to find a number of Liverpool fans sat at the bar with their red shirts on. We found a table in the corner, a pint of Guinness and sat back to enjoy the game.
Final result of 4-2 on the night and a great way to spend the morning – the first live football we’ve seen in the last 85 days (excluding the game in San Fran of course!)

Stopping off at the hostel to collect our bags and at the pharmacy to get medicine for me, we then caught the bus to the station to get our train.
We met a lovely man in the queue who seemed to be a seasoned traveller and could tell us the cost of water at each stop on the way, and burgers. Interesting!
As we were leaving the train at Jasper rather than continuing all the way across Canada, we were escorted into the first carriage and to our seats.



The seats were great with loads of leg room, a footrest and the ability to recline quite a way. Much more comfortable than the Greyhound bus!
Marlene and Sonny were our crew and they came round to bring us pillows, blankets, eye masks and a very small towel. Even Flopsy got an eye mask!
The train left bang on time and we were soon heading very slowly towards the Rockies, along the Fraser river.
Dinner consisted of a pot noodle and a sandwich. A film was being shown but as it was Star Trek we decided to read instead. Bingo was called off due to lack of numbers. We should have gone. We’d have won!

M x

Day 86 – Jasper
We awoke to beautiful mountain views. We’d both slept fairly well but I was aching as I opened my eyes. We had a couple of cups of tea, some granola and yoghurt for breakfast and both felt a lot better.
Unfortunately we missed seeing two moose swimming in the river but we’ll keep an eye out on the next stage of the journey.

Dave realized that we were running 2 hours late – it turns out it was due to unexpected freight trains during the night.
Crossing the trans Continental Divide into Alberta, we soon entered a very snowy Jasper along the Yellow Head Pass, passing Moose Lake which is the source of the Fraser River.

I was feeling quite poorly and dizzy so Dave went to collect the hire car, leaving me with the bags at the station.

Lunch at a local pub then we set off along Route 93, The Icefield Parkway to Saskatchewan Crossing.

A brief stop at the Athabasca Falls was absolutely beautiful with snow, ice and crystal clear waters. The paths were very icy and slippy!
We also stopped into the Icefields Centre to find out about a glacier tour for tomorrow.

We checked into our Motel at Saskatchewan Crossing and walked the 5 yards to the restaurant where we were handed a beef patty and told to cook it ourselves on a BBQ! Dave had Buffalo which he said was delicious – I didn’t like the strong taste!

The scenery has really been amazing today. The mountains of the Rockies are covered in snow and the sky has been blue. We’re both really pleased we’ve come to Canada – and the rain’s stopped at last!!
M x

Day 87 – Jasper
Dave was up early to get us cups of tea from the restaurant whilst I snoozed. Quick showers and breakfast then back up the road to the Icefields Centre for the 11:30 glacier tour.
We joined 7 others on the bus up to the edge of the glacier then transferred on to the snowcoach to take us on to the glacier itself.
20 minutes walking around was absolutely beautiful. The ice was up to 1000ft thick and as blue as the sky. Amazing. The air was very cold and very thin and we were glad to be back on the bus to take us back to the centre.
A quick lunch then we headed back towards the motel to try and find a walk that was still open with all the snow. After a little snooze in the car, we found a walk at Bow Summit (the highest road point in the Rockies) that overlooked Peyto Lake.
The walk was beautiful – very snowy but with the sun shining. We saw only one other small group of people as we made our way up the hill to the viewing point then back down to the car park. The view of the lake was great – although it was all snowy, not beautiful and blue as we’d seen in photographs!
Back in the car we continued our drive to Lake Louise. The snow had started to fall as we made our way to the lake’s edge. People were skating and playing hockey and we were able to walk right onto the lake. Very weird! The visibility wasn’t great so we weren’t able to see the mountains at the end of the lake but it was good to see some snow fall.
We stopped off at a hostel in Lake Louise to go to Bill Peyto’s Café for dinner – I couldn’t face another burger! – then back to the hostel. Beautiful views of Crowfoot glacier on the way back and lots more snow!

M x

Day 88 – Jasper to Calgary to Banff
Up and out early to make our way to Calgary airport to pick up Dave’s friend Starky. Pick up at 12:30 then back to Banff via Subway for lunch. We checked in to the hostel (a private log cabin – lovely) then drove the short distance into the town.

Banff is pretty small so the walk around the town took about 10 minutes before the inevitable happened and we found ourselves in an Irish pub!

Dave took the car back to the hostel whilst Starky and I made sure we kept the table!

8 hours later, we made our way home. A really fun evening with lots of laughter and a little too much drinking!
M x

Day 89 – Banff
A very lazy start. I didn’t really want any breakfast so I let Dave and Starky walk into town whilst I snoozed a bit more.
The plan had been to ski but none of us were really feeling up to it so we agreed to get the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain for great views over the whole of Banff.

The weather was absolutely glorious, the sun shining, the sky blue and it was really warm.
We had a quick drink, threw a few snowballs then made our way back down to the car.
Deciding that we were all feeling a lot better, we walked down to the town to Wild Bill’s for dinner. We all ordered steaks with a couple of beers to wash it down.
On to play pool for an hour or so before we agreed that we were all too tired to carry on so made our way back up to the hostel for a bit of TV before bed.

M x

Day 90 – Banff to Calgary to Jasper
Up earlyish, Dave and Starky watched the Man U Arsenal game whilst I had a quick go on emails.
All packed up and ready to go, we set off on the journey to take Starky back to the airport.

We left him at departures then made our way to get a cup of tea. I’m pretty sure Starky doesn’t read the Blog (he told us as much) but thanks for coming up to see us both. We had a really great weekend.

Back in the car, we queued up to leave the car park through the ticket barriers. That’s when we met Bob Wilfur. Bob is the CEO and President of First Capital Management. He reversed straight into our car as he was getting impatient with having to wait in the queue. He told us he hadn’t seen us!
Fortunately the damage was very slight – a small hole in the bumper – and no-one was hurt. Just jolly annoying!
We got all his details, called the hire company to check what we had to do then spent the next few hours taking the car back to the hire place in the airport and getting a replacement car. Luckily Bob was really good about it all, accepting that it was totally his fault so all is covered by his insurance.

Back in the car we drove back up towards Jasper, stopping off for lunch on the way and at Lake Louise to get supplies.

Checked back in at The Crossing at Saskatchewan Crossing where we re-packed in preparation for the journey tomorrow…

M x