Monday, 5 October 2015

Canada - August 2015

We left from Manchester - Heathrow - Vancouver, on the 15th August, meeting Kim and Gavin in the Customs queue! From here, we picked up the hire car, travelling to Kamloops - Jasper - Canmore - Golden - Kelowna - Vancouver Island/Victoria - Quadra Island - Strathcona - Victoria - Vancouver -  flying back to  - NZ and UK on the 4th September.



                        16th August.......... Lunch stop at Hope.
                                                     Artists Retreat at Kamloops.
                                 17th August...............    

                                 This is what we should have seen - the whole of Mt Robson.
                                       Pyramid Lake and Pyramid Mountain.
                              18th August             Jasper....setting off on the Icefield Parkway.....
                                                This lady has not been fed for a while!!!
                              Mt Edith Cavell..............
                                  .....walking to see the Glacier............



                        ......................  Athabasca Falls....................


                                  mountains, rivers, lakes..all along the Icefield Parkway...............



                                  Climbing up to Parker Ridge...............




                                             Looking down to the Parkway.
                                                          Lake Louise..................turn round..........
                          .......................and you see this!!
                     19th August...........At the start of the walk ...................
                                   ...............Moraine Lake...............

                                        .............looking down to the Lake............
                     ...................wooden plank bridges a common feature.............
                                      ................Sentinel Pass in background............


    ..... looking down the other side from the pass. There were two climbers on 'the needle'.
                                ...........this was now late afternoon and getting chilly.
                            .............warmer down at the Alpine meadows.
                                             20th August....................

                         ..............The Presbyterian Church in Banff.
                                             ..............Fairmont Banff Springs Historic Hotel.
..........Looking down to Bow Lake on walk up to Helen Lake................
.....................Signs of a forest fire................


                                       ............... Dolomite  and Cirque Peaks .....................
         ............because of bear restrictions, two ladies had joined us from the start.

                                              .................. Helen Lake....................
                            ..............it became quite cold..............

                                   ...................Dolomite Peak .
                     21st August........... Cabin accommodation just out of Golden (Kicking Horse) 
                                           ..............the rental car...........
............playing Bananarama.

                                   22nd August......    Wapta Lake carpark.................
                               ............... lots of board walks which were very slippery after frost........
                                     .....Sherbrooke lake..................
                                                          ...............frost on log................
                                        .........top end of lake looking back................
                                          .....up and out to...................
                                   ...........the alpine meadows (keeping eyes out for bears!)....

                 ...........up and out to Niles Ampitheatre, Kim and I stayed here in the sun.......
                       ..........Gavin and Graham climbed up to the shoulder...........
                                                     ..........Gavin on the way down..............
.............and back through the trees.

          23rd August. We met up with a friend of Kim's for this walk from Takakkaw Falls.

                         ...............Yoho National Park..................













                              ...............an offshoot walk to another 'peak'............

                                  ..........view from the top................
                                 ...........walking back down ....................


                           ................it was a very long day.................
The Takakkaw Falls.

24th August    The drive via Rogers Pass, Revelstoke, Shelter Bay ferry to Galena Bay, Nakusp, Burton, Fauquier Ferry to Needles, Cherryville, Vernon and finally Lelowna - views were obscured by the smoke haze from western fires.
                                   .....accommodation at Kelowna.......

                          25th August.........visibility was better for drive to catch the ferry from Tsawwassen to Vancouver Island.........................stayed in Victoria for the night.

                             
                      26th August................Raptor Centre at Duncan..................
                                              .....Barn Owl..............
                                            ............Spectacled owl.......
                                       ...............Bald Eagle..............
...............Turkey Vulture...............

                             ............Eagle owl........................
                                            ..............Peregrine Falcon..................
                                     We sailed from Campbell River to Quadra Island...........
                                    The chalet accommodation on Quadra Island...............


                              ............the main living area.............
                          27th August........... Kayaking............

                                     28th August.............walked up Chinese Mountain............
                               
                   29th August..........left Quadra Island on ferry back to Campbell River



                        ...........Kim went back to Victoria, we three stayed on in this rather unique place....there were bunk beds to the right..................
                                .........we did a short walk from Mt Washington ski resort.........


                              ...............to Battleship Lake............




                 
       30th August............weather had changed here so we didn't get good views,..after parking at Mt Washington again, we walked in Strathcona Provincial Park......on the Forbidden Plateau to Helen Mackenzie Lake...................




...........The Ranger's Hut................
                                 31st August . another wet day . Elk Falls suspension bridge..........

                                   !st September .... went back to Victoria...........
        The gardens cover more than 55 acres which bagan from an idea that Jennie Butchart had to beautify the worked-out limestone quarry which had supplied her husband's nearby Portland cement plant. It is still owned and operated by the family.
                                         The day started quite wet, but ended in sunshine.

                                                ............. begonias and fuschias................



                                    ............the sunken garden..................
                                              ............The Ross Fountain, created and installed by a grandson.


                                         ...........part of the rose garden......
                                 
 3rd September..............started wet, became sunny and ended in rain but Gavin and                                       Graham cycled the Galloping Goose trail.



 







   4th September............a last look round before catching the float plane back to                                                                        Vancouver airport.














                               While the 'boys' had been cycling, we visited the Museum.
                              Part of the First Nations display.

                                                Tree squirrels

                                              Very friendly chipmunks at Sentinel Pass.


                                                  Ground squirrels in the alpine meadows.



                                                            Marmots.

                                        Bald eagle chick in nest.
                                            Adult bald eagle in tree by the chalet.
                                    Gray jays in Strathcona.
                                   Otters at Fisherman's wharf.


                                       Otter with three cubs.
                                                   Seal at the wharf.
                                                    Fungi near a woodland path.
                 4th September............ Catching the float plane from Victoria ............ 










                     .............back to Vancouver airport, landing on the Fraser River.
             The rare Kermode bear only found in British Columbia, related to the black bear...
                              and the only 'Mountie' we saw!!!

4th September............... the only black bear we saw!!!! (at the airport)