Canadian Memories

We left the lovely Hotel Athabasca in Jasper after a few days there and headed to Edmonton where we had booked into the same Motel we had stayed in at the beginning of our trip as we knew it was close to the airport. We were on the road for about 4 hours and arrived at the motel about 1 pm and quickly got organised and asked for directions to the Edmonton Mall as I had heard it was the biggest Mall in the world (at the time) so I wanted to have a look. We took a wrong turn but soon found our way back and onto the Mall. It was amazing, much larger than anything we had seen back in Australia. We had a fairly quick look around but managed to see a lot although there was so much to see I am sure we missed a lot, but we were a bit tired and also had to get back to the motel to repack our bags ready for our flight to Vancouver.

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Next morning we de-hired our car and waited for our flight to Vancouver where we had booked into the Sandman Hotel on George Street. We were very pleased that it was quite central to the CBD and our room was very comfortable and the hotel had a few dining rooms and bars where we enjoyed a meal and some drinks, just what we wanted. We were soon having a look around the city enjoying the many tourist attractions.

We walked around until we were exhausted so went back to the hotel and had dinner and drinks in the Shark Bar and even watched the Boxing on the big screen -thinnk I had too many Cesars!

Next day we got another early start and caught the Seabus to Lonsdale Market where we had breakfast and caught the Seabus back and then took the bus to Granville Markets. Had a few hours at the market, very busy and lots to see, but we didn’t need to buy the fresh produce but it looked good, had lunch there then went back to our hotel later and had a quick snack/tea of fresh bread rolls and tomatoes we bought at the market.

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Next morning we headed to Stanley Park, weather was overcast and light rain but we were hoping that it might get better, but bought an umbrella just in case. We walked about half way round Beaver Lake and stopped at the restaurant for a coffee near the rose garden, very pretty gardens.

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We left Stanley Park after a lovely morning walking around, but the rain was still hanging around and we were getting tired so went back to the hotel for a rest before headed out to the Imax Theatre in Canada Place. We had seen this theatre yesterday and noticed that they were showing a film on Alaska so decided it would be a good way to have a rest while enjoying the film, and it was better than we expected, stunning scenery on the huge screen. Afterwards we walked around enjoying more of the city. We really liked Vancouver and it was so easy to find our way around.

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We also found our way out to Kitsilano, where Kirsten & Michael had spent 12 mths living there and working in Vancouver. We didn’t have their address but had a good look around the beautiful bay and understood why they enjoyed their time there as it was a really nice area and lots of little restaurants too.

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The next day we headed off on a day trip to Vancouver Island. This proved to be a long day which seeemed like most of it was spent travelling, but we eventually got there but it took almost half a day.

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After all of the bus trips and ferry rides we found our way to the Empress Hotel and decided to indulge in their High Tea ($55/pp) but it was excellent and we enjoyed the luxury and had a beautiful view of the harbour in Victoria.

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After our early afternoon tea at the Empress we caught another bus to the Butchart Gardens. We walked around these fantastic gardens until we could hardly walk any further, but the gardens were stunning and not a weed in sight.

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We reluctantly left the Butchart Gardens, but we were exhausted and still had to make our way back to the Hotel in Vancouver which would take at least 3 hours, and got back at 10.30 pm. A very long and exhausting day.

The next day was our last day in Vancouver so we spent the morning relaxing at the hotel and a short stroll around the area near the hotel, before we caught the bus to the airport which turned out to be a very frustrating few hours as the first bus arrived at the hotel and took us only a short distance where we were told we had to wait for another bus. Unfortunately this next bus did not arrive and after a few phone calls and not knowing when we would get to the airport, a bus finally arrived about 2 hrs late, but most of the people waiting for the bus had decided to catch a taxi as their flights were earlier than ours. By the time we got to the airport we were getting very close to the flight closing time, so had to rush through the terminal to find our flight. We lined up to go through customs only to be confronted by the security and alarms going off. Both of us had no idea what was happening except we were told to stand aside and got searched but were not told why. After what seemed like an eternity with security making sure we didn’t move, we were finally told that my hand luggage had traces of explosives! I was so worried and thought that our bags might have been tampered with in the hotel lobby where we left them while we did some sightseeing before catching the airport bus. After this really awful experience we were told that we could continue to our plane and the only explanation we got was that quite often cosmetics can show up as traces of explosives! We at last got on the plane and couldn’t believe what we had just gone through, but we happy that we were on our way home but it was not a good way to end our wonderful holiday in Canada.

We left Lake Louise and continued on to Banff, 58 km east of Lake Louise. 

We stopped to have a look around the  castle-like Banff Fairmont Springs Hotel which was a beautiful building situated in the Banff National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We parked our car in the huge carpark and walked around the Bow River beside the hotel.

We returned to the town of Banff, and looked for some accommodation and booked into the Bow View Lodge in the heart of Banff.  We had a lovely room with a balcony overlooking the Bow River.  After getting settled into our room, we went for a walk around the town.

On our walk around Banff, we found the Magpie & Stump Restaurant.  This is the name of a hotel in a country town just out of Adelaide where we have had a meal many times. Of course, we had to go in and check it out.  We discovered it was a Mexican style restaurant and nobody seemed to know the significance of the name, but we did tell the waiter about the hotel in  Mintaro near Adelaide.  We decided to stay and have our meal there, and it was very good too.

We wandered around Banff and enjoyed looking and shopping, and I wanted to buy some gifts for friends and family so the Christmas shop was perfect.

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We found ourselves by the Bow River and enjoyed the views of this beautiful river which runs through Banff.

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Next morning after a good sleep, we went out to the Gondola but the weather had changed and it was cloudy and threatening rain so we decided not to ride on the Banff Gondola as we would not have good views.  We thought that we would do the gondola ride when we got to Jasper and hoped the weather would be better there in a few days.

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We changed our plans for the day and drove out to Lake Minnewanka for a boat ride on the lake.  We had an hour before the sailing so we went back to have another look at the Banff Springs Hotel.  We thought we had plenty of time, but roadworks slowed us down, so it was a bit of a rush to get back to the lake, but we made it just in time.

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We made it back to Lake, Minnewanka,  a 15 minute drive,  and  as we approached the carpark we saw the long horned sheep that make this area their home.  We bought our tickets and boarded the boat which would take us around the lake.

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We had a great cruise on the lake, which is 17 miles long and has views of the Rocky Mountains.  We were lucky and saw a Bald Eagle but not a lot of other wildlife. Another passenger sitting behind us on the cruise didn’t spot the eagle when the guide announced, and she tapped Ron on the shoulder and said, in her southern American accent “if you see another eagle, y’all just holler now”.  We just loved hearing her accent and I think she liked ours too, as she wanted to know where we lived.

After the cruise on the lake we headed off again to Jasper and the Columbia Icefields.

Our next stop was the Sunwapta Falls.

We drove on towards Jasper to the Athabasca Falls, in the Jasper National Park, on the upper Athabasca River, about 30 km south of Jasper, west of the Icefields Parkway.

From the Athabasca Falls we drove onto Jasper, about 32 km. As we hadn’t booked a hotel in advance, we droved around the town and noticed the Athabasca Hotel, a beautiful old hotel which we loved the look of and decided to see if they had any vacancies.  We were lucky and got a lovely room in the hotel.

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We had a walk around Jasper and had a nice meal in the hotel restaurant.  The next day we rode on the Jasper Skytram and enjoyed really good views over the town and countryside, much better than the day we spent in Banff.

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We left Jasper after seeing many of the interesting sights, but of course there were many more to see but we didn’t have time as our holiday was coming to a close.

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And so we left Jasper and headed to Vancouver.

We left Creston and headed towards Radium Springs but had to detour because of roadworks and we ended up in Golden, British Columbia.  We booked into a Motel but unfortunately didn’t realise it was Dog Friendly, not something we were familiar with, and it had a very Doggy smell and we were unable to change rooms, not very happy!

We found a great Diner, full of 60’s memorabilia, on the outskirts of the town and had a good meal there. 

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The town also has a wooden pedestrian bridge which was a real work of art.  It is the Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge and is the longest wooden bridge in Canada and is constructed of Douglas Fir.

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Next morning we travelled on the Trans Canada Highway to the town of Field and on to Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park.

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These falls were amazing and we spent some time just walking around the base and enjoying their beauty. The highest point is 380 metres from the base, the 2nd highest waterfall in Canada.

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We reluctantly left the Takakkaw Falls and travelled further along the Trans Canada Highway stopping to have a look at a glacier, all this was new to us.

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We stopped on the Trans Canada Highway, along with a few other cars, to take some photos of a bear, which was exciting and I really wanted to get closer but of course I didn’t.

Lake Louise

We arrived in Lake Louise and spent a while looking around this beautiful lake. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed our short stay. The colour of the lake was amazing, much better than the photos.

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Bob & Fran drove us around Creston and the surrounding area, and our first stop was at the Glass Bottle House in Boswell.  The house was built entirely out of embalming fluid bottles.  Apparently the builder was an undertaker who had saved all the bottles, now that is what I call recycling.

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From the towers and lookouts we had good views of Kootenay Lake.  We spent some time looking through the house and the lovely gardens, it was very interesting.

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We then caught the ferry across the Kootenay Lake to the lovely town of Nelson where we enjoyed looking around.  It had many heritage buildings as well as craft and souvenir shops.

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Fran and I enjoyed looking around the craft and art shops while Bob and Ron enjoyed a drink in the Hotel.

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All this walking around gave us an appetite so Bob found a great restaurant where we enjoyed some Canadian food and drinks.  I really liked the Clamoto which is a mixed drink of tomato juice, spices and clam juice mixed with Vodka, this became my favourite drink while we were in Canada.  We tried to get it here in Australia but it wasn’t available.

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After a late lunch we drove home through the Selkirk Mountains and both Ron and I managed to feel very car sick, so Ron ended up driving, but I don’t think it helped him much.

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We had a great day with Fran & Bob who went above and beyond to show us around and we were very pleased to see some of this beautiful country and the weather was perfect.

The next day we spent around the house preparing and shopping for a party to meet Fran and Bob’s friends and neighbours.

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We had a good night with Fran & Bob’s friends and neighbours and they were interested to hear about Australia. 

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The next day it was time to say goodbye as we had still many places to see before flying home.  They sent us on our way with a huge bag of cherries, and they were the biggest and juiciest we had tasted.  I would go back to Creston just for the cherries!

We left Fort MacLeod after a very interesting stay, not to mention that we tripped the electricity supply in the motel we stayed in as we had both the air conditioner and kettle on at the same time, should have known better!

There was also a cougar on the loose and we were told by a restaurant owner not to go walking in the evening, so we didn’t!!

We had a lovely drive through the Rocky Mountains, stopping in Sparwood to see the enormous Big Truck, a Terex 33-19 Titan powertrain haul truck, and it was huge.

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We had arranged to meet Bob in Fernie so that we could follow him back to his house in Creston.   Bob was waiting for us when we arrived,  which was interesting as we had not met before, so there was a bit of catching up to do before we set off.  Bob had driven to meet us in his little Austin Healey Sprite, so he and Ron were very keen to talk cars, but we had a long drive ahead of us, so that would have to wait.

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We headed off with Bob in front in his Sprite, but it wasn’t long before we could see that his car wasn’t going well, so he pulled over and Ron and Bob had a look under the bonnet.

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After a lot of scratching heads and discussion, they decided that it was a broken oil line, so Ron drove Bob into the nearest town where he was able to purchase the required oil line, and back to the roadside where Bob was able to fit it and we again headed off, this all took a couple of hours, so by this time Fran was getting worried so Bob reassured her that we were on our way, just a bit late and I think the dinner Fran had prepared was now getting overcooked but at least we were on the road again.

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We did however have a short break to view the lovely scenery from a lookout area close to Creston.   We finally arrived in Creston and were happy to see Fran, who we also had not met before, but we had written letters to each other and talked on the phone, so it was lovely to meet her.  We got settled in and enjoyed a lovely meal with them and had time to chat and catch up before heading to bed.   It had been a long day for us and Fran & Bob had plans to take us around their beautiful neighbourhood in the next few days so we wanted to be good for the sightseeing.

After staying the night in Fort MacLeod we headed off to see the World Heritage Site  in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, 18 kms from Fort MacLeod.  It is also the home of a museum of the Blackfoot culture.

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Head -Smashed -In Buffalo Jump is one of the world’s largest and best preserved buffalo jumps.  The buffalo were killed by driving them off the 11 metre high sandstone cliff.  The weight of the herd pressing from behind would force the buffalo over the cliff.  The camp at the bottom of the cliff provided everything they needed to process the buffalo carcass.  No part of the buffalo was wasted.  Deep layers of bison bones are still buried below the surface.  This communal hunting technique is only found in this area.

We had a great time here and learnt so much of the culture of the Plains people.  The centre was very well displayed and we were able to walk out on the cliff top trail with good views to the camp below.

We left Calgary and headed south to Fort MacLeod on our way to visit Fran and Bob in Creston, British Columbia.

We enjoyed our drive to Fort MacLeod and again we really didn’t know what to expect but found a lovely town and decided to stay and look around.

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We decided to have a look around the Museum and spent a few hours enjoying the displays and seeing the NWMP who gave a great display on their horses, certainly different from anything we had ever seen.

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After watching the great display of the NWMP, we had a walk around the town and the main street, and it appeared to us that it was the same as it would have been many years ago. 

The fort was built in 1874 and moved to its present location in 1884.  In 1906 a fire destroyed most of the town but it was rebuilt between 1906 and 1912.  In 1982 Heritage Canada started the  Main Street Restoration Project preserving the sandstone and brick buildings, some dating back to 1878.

We left Drumheller after a great couple of days of seeing all the interesting sites there, we loved the Dinosaurs on all the street corners and shopfronts as well as the beautiful scenery of the Red Deer Valley.  We have a lot more to see in Canada and so we headed to Calgary where we hoped to visit Ron’s mother’s cousin, Roy and Mary Holding.  We had not told them we were coming as we weren’t sure we would have time, but we were heading in the right direction so thought we would phone them first and then work it out from there.  Fortunately they were home and invited us over, although we would have been happy just to talk to them, but they gave us directions and we made it to their house.  They were so pleased to see us as they had visited Australia a few years before and we had spent some time with them here in Adelaide when they visited Ron’s mum.  We didn’t stay long, but Mary was keen to get some information for her Family History and I was able to fill in some of the gaps.  After our short visit, we explained that we had to leave as we had more relatives to see further down in Creston, British Columbia.

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July 2007

In 2007 we flew to Canada for my cousins’ daughter’s wedding in Mervin, Saskatchewan.  Janelle and Janaya had stayed with us in 2004 while on a holiday around Australia.  This is my diary of our holiday and travel in Canada.

After a long flight, stopping for a few hours in Hawaii, we arrived in Edmonton, Alberta.  We had booked the motel accommodation from Australia so when we arrived we picked up our pre-booked hire car and drove a short distance to the Motel.   We were’nt sure what it would be like but it was very comfortable for the short time we were there and it was in a truck stop area so there were a few food shops nearby.

Next morning we had breakfast in the breakfast room before heading off to Mervin, where we would meet up with our cousins.  We set off carefully as we weren’t used to driving on the other side of the road, but we soon got used to it.  We had a lovely day driving through the countryside with canola in the fields, and only stopping for lunch at a cafe at a service station.

We arrived in Turtleford where we had pre booked a motel, but were very disappointed when we got to our room as it smelt of stale cigarettes and was quite run down.  We contacted our cousins to let them know we had arrived and they directed us to Mervin, about 10 km.  

We arrived in Mervin and were introduced to the rest of the family and during the afternoon more people arrived in motorhomes and some set up tents in the yard, it was a very busy houseful of guests.  We were invited to Janelle’s grandparents home which was next door and they remembered my mum and dad who had visited them many years before, so it was lovely to share some memories and catch up on the family history.

.Later that afternoon we all drove to the Golf Club where we had a meal with the guests and the wedding party.  We were very tired after a long day of driving and meeting people, so we were happy to get to bed that night.

The next morning we left the motel and had breakfast in Turtleford and headed on to Mervin where the family were getting prepared for the wedding.  The hairdresser had arrived and the girls were getting their hair done, makeup done and generally getting very excited. 

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We all then headed off to the wedding ceremony on Horse Hill, which was a beautiful area where Bob had his bison grazing, but had moved them off for the wedding!

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It was a beautiful wedding in a beautiful setting on a beautiful day.

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After the ceremony everyone mingled for a while before heading back to the house where we helped to organise the reception at the curling rink.  Marylynn and her friends and family had organised and cooked for the buffet meal of roast meats, including Bison, salads and desserts.  I don’t know how they managed to do it but it was amazing, considering there were around 150 guests. 

 We had a wonderful night and met even more cousins, and it was really quite overwhelming for me as our family is very small by comparison. 

The Canadian family are the family of my grandfather’s sister, Katie, who with 5 of my grandfather’s brothers migrated from Scotland to Canada and remained in Canada, while my grandfather and one of his brothers came to Australia.  The Australian family is quite small compared to the Canadians.

The next day we all helped to tidy up at the Curling Rink, so it was a morning of cleaning, clearing and generally tidying up after the party.  In the afternoon there was more partying as the married couple came back to open their wedding gifts.  We also were able to spend some time with my cousin Carol and her husband Bruce who took us out to see some of the many interesting places nearby and to meet more family members. 

  The next day we were again taken out to see some more sights around Mervin. We wanted to thank everyone for being so welcoming to us and making us feel like we were part of their family, so we took them out for a meal at a local restaurant that was owned by a local family who had just opened the restaurant, and we had a lovely farewell dinner there. 

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Mervin to Drumheller

We set off next morning for Drumheller, on our way to Calgary.  Our cousins had told us that Drumheller was worth visiting and so we took their advice and we were not disappointed.  

We left Mervin, did a quick lap around, and headed off to Drumheller.  We crossed the river and saw the tractor that had fallen off the ferry and had been hauled off the bottom of the river.

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Our next stop was Kindersley where we stopped to buy some supplies and an esky to keep some drinks cool while on the road.  We passed through the small town of Cut Knife which we thought was a very interesting name, but the town didn’t live up to it’s name.  We continued on towards Drumheller.

We arrived in Drumheller and soon found a motel for the next few nights stay.

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Drumheller has a world famous Museum, The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaentology, which featured an amazing collection of dinosaurs.  We spent a few hours at the Museum and really learned such a lot.

We had another day in Drumheller and looked around the Hoodoos.  We were surprised that we could actually climb up and over them.  We drove out to Rosebud, but unfortunately the town was closed!

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The next day we drove around the Hoo Doos which are sandstone pillars on a shale base and take millions of years to form.

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Wayne, Alberta

We drove out to the small town of Wayne and crossed the 7 bridges on our way there.  The town used to be a coalmining area but now there is only the Hotel there.  We had a drink in the bar and enjoyed looking around inside.

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There are 11 bridges in 6km on the way to Wayne.  Here are some of them.

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We visited the 117 metre long suspension bridge over the Red Deer River in Drumheller and had a walk around the Star Mine area.

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On the way to the Museum we passed the world’s smallest church.  It is 11 ft x 7ft and holds 6 people.

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