Canada, eh?

Long haul flights. Joy! Settling into our economy seats as we departed Sydney for Vancouver, to my left was a very hungry Ben who proclaimed (the entire flight) that Qantas starve their passengers, and to my immediate right – a loud and massive twangy Texan dressed in his souvenir akubra and drizabone which itself really needed a seat of it’s own. By the time we landed in Vancouver I was hating Texans and wanted to feed Ben a double cheese burger, pronto.

The light at the end of the tunnel was seeing Trace and Grant at the other end! It felt like we only saw them last weekend, hardly 11 months ago. They took us back to their apartment and after showering my jet lagged body and honouring the nanna nap, I was feeling so good I could have hunted down that Texan just to hug him for the hell of it.

Trace and Grant have been awesome tour guides in Vancouver. We caught the ferry over to Victoria – the capital of British Columbia on the West Coast. I loved the city… beautifully colonial with a funky urban edge. It was there I suddenly realised how I close I was to the town of Forks. I could almost smell Jacob, but alas, viewing the sign to Port Angeles was as far as I got to indulging my Twilight novel obsession.

Visiting Victoria. So close to Forks!

 

While Trace and Grant have been awesome tour guides, they have also been incredibly cruel. Behind the city of Vancouver sits the mighty Grouse Mountain. For the super fit lyrca lovers, the Grouse Grind is a 3km hike straight up covering 850m in elevation. It took nearly 2 hours of hell to drag my butt to the the top. I thought about all the bad things I had done in my life and decided karma was kicking my ass. I thought I was going to have a heart attack, faint and spew at the same time. After the 1/2 way mark with legs trembling in fear, I seriously deliberated throwing myself off the mountain, but instead persevered, trailing behind Trace who ploughed up like a trouper. When we finally made it to the top, the boys were onto their second beers at the summit pub.

Ben half way up the Grouse Grind. Parched as, bro!

 

After the legs recovered, we picked up our massive RV. I love the North American concept of camping. Basically you put a small luxury apartment on wheels, drive into a campsite, plug in your electricity, water and sewer pipe – light a fire next to your RV and heeeeey presto, you’re camping! Armed with a loaded fridge, enough alcohol to flood a small country, UNO cards and almost connect four, our wheely cool motor home for the next 10 days was ready to roll!

Capt'n Grant RV luxury

 

We covered around 3,000 km in our RV with Grant as our capt´n. What a luxurious way to take in the magnificent beauty of the Rockies. I liken it to sitting on a comfy sofa, though instead of watching television, massive snow capped mountains and turquoise glacier streams lined with flowers frame the windows. Oh, and it’s closer to the fridge to grab a beer.

The rig!

 

At Sicamous we pulled in for zip lining. Donned in helmets and harnesses, we climbed 40 feet  into the trees to brave obstacle courses which required optimal coordination to balance and swing across suspended chunks of wood in the air. Sadly, I do not have  the above mentioned optimal coordination. I nearly wussed out during the beginners course, but after coaxing and having everyone laugh at my scared senseless face – we all made it through the complete course which took around 2 hours of fun. 

Em and Trace zip lining

 

Banff was a scenic, cozy winter ski village basked in Canadian summer sun. But unfortunately for us, the rain Gods decided to unleash upon us. We spent a few days couped up inside the RV playing UNO, cheat, round robin speed and then creating ‘Cheato’ – UNO where you cheat to win.  As soon as she sun peeked through the clouds, we were out of the RV and headed to the historic Banff Springs Chateaux and Bow falls seeing marmots, squirrels and deer along the way. We checked out Lake Minnewanka where the boys felt at home and had a dip in Banff Hot Springs 40 degree water.

Main street in Banff

 

Doe! A dear

 

Bow Falls

 

Banff hot springs

 

Minne wankas

 

Leaving behind rainy Banff, we headed to majestic Lake Louise, the jewel of the Rockies. After a tip-off from a friend at work, we made the 3km hike up the Mountain to St. Agnes tea house, a cute wooden cabin perched beside a glacial lake and raging waterfall. I must say – it’s my kind of  hiking…. after all the sweating and puffing we indulged in cups of tea and home baked banana bread before the 3km trek back down.

Lake Louise

 

Driving along the Icefields Highway is mind blowing. Snow capped mountains as high as the sky, turquoise lakes, white water streams and long green meadows where you sight the odd bear (Cookie not included). It’s considered one of the best drives in the world and I certainly agree. I had neck cramps from looking up, around and everywhere.

 

Along the icefields hwy

 

Ben at Athabasca Glacier

 

At Jasper, we caught Canada’s longest and highest tramway which rises 1km into Jasper National Park’s alpine tundra. On the way up we spotted mountain goats and many Aussies working the tramway. We hiked a further 1.5km to the summit which boasted spectacular 360 degree views, 2890 metres high which is higher than Mt Kosciusko, Australia’s tallest.

Top of Jasper

 

After all our hiking and climbing, we arrived to the town of Clearwater feeling pumped f0r a day of white water rafting. Our guide Sam took us down Grade 4 rapids, alongside 4 bogan Canadians. We exchanged terrible jokes when the water was calm. Ben was stoked to have a brand new audience to appreciate his ‘best of’ collection. 

On the water

 

At our last stop in Squamish surprised us as the best campsite all trip. Perhaps because it was nestled amongst wild red, juicy raspberries. Tracy and Ben often went wandering off only to be found with berry stained fingers and nirvanic glaze over their faces. We hiked up another mountain to a warm lake for a swim and checked out Whistler village, full of BMX bikes and hens parties. Trace and I painted rocks at the campsite and the boys made a beer tree with their empties, which perhaps gave them the courage to swim in a freezing glacier river. 

Star jump!

 

Busted!

 

Overall, I’ve loved Vancouver. It’s a dog friendly city, where the sun sets around 10pm in the summer. As well as our RV adventure, we bought fresh salmon from the fisherman in Steveston, cycled around Stanley Park, had lunch on Granville Island, hit the city for a boogie with Tracy’s cousin and friends and tried to swim in the freezing Lynn Valley National park. I’m sad to leave Wild Salmon burgers behind, but it’s it onwards to Mexico!!! Ole!