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Back from Canada - lots to report!

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I’ll try and keep it brief but OMG the Candian Rockies are AWESOME!!!! Lots of lovely wildlife and amazing flowers and plants. Got v excited about my first bear sighting so all of the well rehearsed safety intentions were forgotten in the heat of the moment but soon recovered my sense of self preservation :-)

We visited the lovely city of Calgary – not much to it but there’s a great park on Princes Island and we had a meal at the top of Calgary Tower…look closely at my photo and you’ll see I’m terrfied standing on the glass floor!

The lakes really are amazing blues and greens – no photoshop wizardry needed!

We stayed in a fantastic luxury chalet in the second week with a hot tub, freindly local bear and the most amazing restaurant

We took the Jasper tramway to the top of Whistler’s mountain but it was still a steep climb to get to the summit.

It actually snowed when we went to Lake Louise and we made our way up the the tearoom of the Six Glaciers, working up quite an appetite.

Chipmunks, squirrels, bears, deer and elks were all over the place but we never spotted a moose :-(

This the view from Tunnel Mountain, which has no tunnel and is not actually a mountain :-)

Wapta Falls was my favourite walk. I played for ages with rocks and pebbles at the base of the falls, regressing into childish delight at creating my own little sculptures. It really was a magical place and quite an unknown to some of the locals who just whizz past the turnoff on the way to Banff.

I fell in love with Wiley the wolf who had the most beautiful wolf call I’ve ever heard. He was such a sweet crooner.

It took a week to recover from jetlag but I found out I’ve been taken off the at risk register at work so now redundancy is not on the cards I’m planning my holidays for 2013!

Got back to find that the sweet peas were still flowering and my lovely lemon Kniphofia is stunning this year. Had a big tidy up in the back yard today while the sun was shining and front garden tomorrow. Looking forward to catching up on all the GOY news and hoping everyone is well. BTW I received a surprise delivery of spring green tulips today but no details of sender so if it was anyone reading this thanks so much!!!

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Comments

 

Wonderful blog. Thank you so much for sharing your holiday with us.

7 Oct, 2012

 

Oh wow,Julie..this is the place I have always longed to visit..such stunning scenery..but rather you than me standing on that glass viewing platform ! Love all the flowers and animals too..my idea of heaven ..thanks for sharing :o)

7 Oct, 2012

 

Great blog & pics. I feel absolutely ashamed as I spent 5 weeks in America, visiting with sons & their families, & have been back home in NZ since 9th August .....& have still not done a blog. I really must work on that this week. We were in Michigan, which sits just beneath Canada, but sadly never crossed the border. It is certainly a beautiful country.

7 Oct, 2012

 

Enthralling.........how very beautiful it all is

7 Oct, 2012

 

The others have used up all the adjectives - WOW was what I was going to say. How fantastically beautiful. Thank you for putting on all the photos.Did you discover what the funny swelling on the tree trunk is?

7 Oct, 2012

 

Hi. Thanks for all the lovely feedback! Steragram I've no idea what the swelling on the tree is but just had to take a pic. Perhaps I should post a question? sure to get the answer in about 5 mins on a slow night ;-D

7 Oct, 2012

 

Lovely blog and you've brought memories back of our couple of weeks in an RV in Tunnel Mountain Camp! We also trekked up to Lake Louise - in snowshoes, but couldn't see the wonderful turquoise water in the lake as it was frozen over, and the tearooms were firmly shut with icicles hanging off the roof! Memo to self: If going to Canada again .... don't go in April/May - it's frozen!

8 Oct, 2012

 

Stunning, looks like a great holiday :o)

8 Oct, 2012

 

What fantastic scenery ... wonderful ! I liked the wolf and the bear, ... but I don't think I could have gone up to that place with a glass floor lol

8 Oct, 2012

 

Hi Nariz. We had a chioce of June or September but I was worried the ice wouldn't have melted so pleased we picked September!
Hywel - the glass floor was only one bit so not obligatory. Some kids were actaully taking a running jump onto it which made me feel very queasy. After we had our meal in the revolving restaurant (very 1970s and had to be careful not to put my handbag on the windowsill!!) I got very brave and stepped on it again - 2 large glasses of red wine gave me the courage but I quick got off it even with a bit of dutch courage!

8 Oct, 2012

 

You're very brave :o)

8 Oct, 2012

 

September was obviously the best choice - I remember reading a sign at Lake Louise that said they often get night frosts as late as June! Brrr!

9 Oct, 2012

 

I've seen snow here in June! We have a saying "cast ne'er a clout 'til May is out" which essentially means don't put your winter clothes away too soon :-)

9 Oct, 2012

 

fantastic blog and photos, i would love to go there and its on my wish list, maybe one day, beautifull is all i can say :o))

10 Oct, 2012

 

You and me both, Sanbaz! Since moving here we've had very little desire to see anywhere but this country, except a return trip to Canada would be fantastic! I shall have to buy shares in 'El Gordo' (Spanish lottery) and hope for the best! ;o)

11 Oct, 2012

 

Thanks for the trip down memory lane,I did that one14 years ago wonderful scenery as you discovered not much to beat the green lakes and snow capped mountains.Strangely I didn't see any bears it was a May trip(for a big birthday)perhaps wrong time of year.you have made me want to go and look out MY photo's now. X

11 Oct, 2012

bjs
Bjs
 

That was one fantastic holiday,thanks for showing us.

13 Oct, 2012

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