Samara's Art Shot....

I'll let Samara explain this one.....I really like this shot.

HI :) well i got new shoes and they were all white and clean, we had all hired bikes to ride around Stanley Park and mine matched my shoe laces!!!so when mum and dad were taking photos of the bridge i took a photo of that.....bye...dad says i have to write more so i gonna keep writing....im having heaps of fun...its way better than school...except i get sick of nature like lakes and mountains. They are nice at first but we have seen like 20 lakes and thousands of mountains. Soon we are going to do something unatural like go - karting and stuff....the shopping is fun to and when we get to mexico there will be heaps of jewelery:).....stuff in america should be good too & Im buying Hollywood stuff.....ok well im going properly now.....bye.....

Granny...Victoria !

As we were exploring the city we came across this charming big granny sitting outside a lovely shop called "Dig It" (Dig This) maybe..... (a gardening shop). Granny was a large work of art looking very much the country gardening granny. We couldn't resist a picture.

Wendy.

Victoria, Vancouver Island

Wendy speaking here........... The Empress Hotel at the inner harbour, Victoria. We met Mal here after Samara and I had been looking at the shops. We decided to have a drink on the Verandah overlooking the Victoria harbour.
It was very fancy and very pleasant. Many people come here to have the high tea and the place was hopping. It is a lovely old hotel which has been kept beautifully with lovely garden beds and hanging baskets around the outside. We looked into the ballroom which had an elaborate stained glass dome in the middle above the dance floor and conservatorium (which was being revamped). The only thing that was lacking was that they did not know how to make an iced coffee. (Samara ordered one and when it arrived it was only cold coffee in a glass). We sent it back and Samara ordered an o.j.

Victoria...Vancouver Island.

I'm not normally a big Harley fan, but this bit of machinery was parked downtown yesterday while we were cruising around the streets of Victoria on Vancouver Island. The owner just stepped out to take off as we were walking past......I struck up a conversation with him, as it was one of the best presented bikes I have seen for a long time. I'm guessing that probably not many of you will be interested in it , but I had to stick it in here, it was just so tidy and unadulterated with unnecessary crap that you normally see on choppers.

Victoria is a beautiful city and we really enjoyed our time there, the fringe festival was on while we were there and the place was really hopping.

Waterton Lakes National Park

Good friends of mine from 25 years ago......Theresa and Mike at the top of a short hike called "Bears Hump" that we did last thing in the day (24-08-2007) of our last day at Waterton Lakes National Park before leaving here to head back to Vancouver.
This was only a 20 minute each way job............a walk in the park compared to Crypt Lake.

Our campsite is visible down the bottom in the distance on the edge of the Lake, and the sunset shot on this blog was taken from there, and looking up to here. If you look very hard you might see Samara dagging around the tent reading Harry Potter while we were hiking this mountain...............the Crypt Lake hike the day before was enough for her for a while.

Anyway, enough blogging for me for a while...........it's time to hit the road again, we spent last night in a place called Greenwood, about half way between Waterton and Vancouver and we are going over to Vancouver Island tomorrow, sooooo we still have about 6 to 7 hours on the road today , the Jeep rental car we have is sure racking up the miles.

Talk soon and keep checking in here for our progress.........Seattle, Washington sometime next week, that should be good.

See ya.

Crypt Lake

Samara, Wendy, Kellen and Theresa at Crypt Lake....... after the big hike up the reward was well worth it....notice the snow right down to the waterline and the clarity of the icy water.....beautiful.
Mike , who is not in the pic was wandering around exploring a bit, and obviously, I am taking the shot.

Canada really is something else.

Crypt Lake

Myself and Samara on the Crypt Lake hike.

Crypt Lake

This is on the other side of the tunnell where the cable section is....it's a long way down if you stuff it up.

Crypt Lake

A bit longer shot of the one below with Samara and Wendy making their way across very carefully.......and YES, it is as high as it looks.

Crypt Lake

This is a part of the 17.6 kilometer round trip hike up and into Crypt Lake. It was one of the more adrenalin and cardio pumping adventures we have had for quite some time.

This particular section of the hike involved crawling through the dark and small tunnel that has been blasted out of the mountain you see behind us for about 15 meters, and then very carefully making your way accross this section of track you see here which is only about 400 millimeters wide with a sheer vertical drop straight into the valley floor below...........and it is a long way down.

This shot was taken on the way down the mountain, as it was raining quite heavily on the way up which made it even more interesting. On the other side of the tunnel is a steel cable which has been anchored into the cliff to hold on to as it is an even harder section than this one. The entire hike up and down took us about 8 hours with about an hour at the top.

Six of us did the trip...myself, Wendy and Samara, and Mike, Theresa, and Kellen........Mike and Theresa are friends of mine from 25 years ago when I did Canada.

What a very special day !

Waterton Lakes National Park

Sunset from our campsite at Waterton Lake..........these colours only lasted a matter of minutes, but it was full on and well taken in after a big days hiking up to Crypt Lake.

Lake Louise

Up at the top of the Lake Louise Chair lift with Doug and Kaden.

Last Chance Saloon.

Wendy and Samara having a game of pool at the Last Chance Saloon in Wayne, Alberta.

Glynn and Serena...Edmonton.

Wendy and Samara with our friend Glynn and his lady Serena in Edmonton after we had breakfast with them the morning that we were leaving to go to Dougs house in Medicine Hat....what do you reckon Doreen, it was a very enjoyable morning........20-08-2007

Wayne.......

Fifteen meters from the bedroom at the "Last chance Saloon / Rosedeer Hotel"....... a 125 carriage freight train rolled through at about 2am on this track while we were in bed and it took about 5 minutes to pass...........ask Wendy about this one.....It was very real !

Last Chance Saloon / Rosedeer Hotel..

Last Chance Saloon / Rosedeer Hotel..........this was our lodgings for the night ( my choice) ....middle floor,....two windows around the corner to the right...$38.00 per night ( more pics to come over the next few days hopefully) with one other person in the entire building for the night....a little bit on the strange side....the main door on the right that you see never gets locked.

Will add more over next few days when I can keep my eyes open....it's about 2am and I'm off to bed...............Lethbridge tomorrow...Mike and Theresa's place............25 years since I have seen them..............so looking foward to it.

Talk soon ...............Mal !

Field

A little shed at a beautiful little place called Field....I could'nt resist this shot.

Wendy

Wendy on the top of Whistler's Mountain.....not to be mistaken with Whistler Mountain.

Lake Moraine.

Lake Moraine......There's not much to say about this place other than that it is just so incredibly beautiful that it is bordering on unbelievable.
The colour of the water that you see here is absolutely true.......I have not adjusted anything in this ( or any of the other pictures on this blog).......what you see is as it is. The colour comes from the water being "glacial water" apparently, and yes, it is pretty icy when you stick your hand in there.

It is only a couple of kilometers from Lake Louise, and our campsite. This was the second time that I have visited this place and you can see why by looking at this shot......it's really something else !

If you ever get to Canada, this place should be on your "must do" list.

Lake Louise

Ice on the boardwalk. Holy hell........this was bloody cold.

It was a snappy night in the tent for the three of us last night and the evidence is on this boardwalk. My fingers were freezing after about 5 minutes of shooting here, and my toes also.....even with my thongs on................( naa....just kidding, I did have my boots on, and it was still freezing.

Wendy and I got up at first light to go up to Lake Louise so I could photograph the place before the tour buses and the gazillions of other people get up there, (and while the water is dead calm) while Samara slept in and came up with Doug and his family about two hours later.

It was only at Wendy's persistence that I made it that early, as Doug and I had had a big one the night before (as usual), but it was well and truly worth it. The only people that were there at that time of day were the photographers......maybe half a dozen or so, and the shots were going off thick and fast.......some of the best photos of the trip so far have come from here or very close to this area.

Banff Springs Hotel.

Lake Louise

The boat house.

Canada.

Around the campfire at Lake Louise with Doug,Debbie and the kids....Kaden and Connor.

This was the night before we drove to Edmonton.
Doug and I thought it was a good idea to have a few beers around the campfire, and ended up going to bed at about 3.15am after fits of laughter all night......it was a good night without a doubt.

Wendy

Wendy........on top of the world on the way to the Icefields.

Columbia Icefields

No, it was'nt that cold....a bit nippy, but not freezing ( except for the thing we were standing on).

Columbia Icefields

We went to the top of this glacier and walked around on it for a while.....it is about 365 meters deep of solid ice where we were standing.........quite an incredible feeling.

The Girls.

The girls at Bow River in Banff.

Canada.

Wendy, Samara and myself at the gondola ride to the top of Lake Louise.

Canada.

Another stunning lake shot from the Canadian Rockies. This one was taken on the drive from Banff to the Columbia Icefields...........I forget the name of it but will add it when I remember.

Doug has just sorted me out on this one and it is Bow Lake......more stunning water colours and scenery in general.

Lake Louise

A long shot of Lake Louise taken from the Chateau Lake Louise hotel boardwalk............it was freezing when I took this and very early in the morning.

Mal at Lake Moraine

This is a shot Wendy took of me setting up at Lake Moraine......a photographers dream (just like the rest of the Rockies), the water colour is incredible.

Lake Moraine.

Lake Moraine. About 14 kilometers from Lake Louise.....unbelievable colour and a stunning backdrop of the Canadian Rockies. This is beautiful rugged country.

The water gets it's rich blue colour from the glacial ice.

Lake Louise.

This place is just stunning. Its right near Banff in BC. This morning we got up early and went up to the lake to photograph it.

This shot was taken at about 6.30am........the timber boardwalk and pontoon with the canoes on it are still frozen and covered in ice from the night.....it was a great experience seeing this place like this before all the tour coaches and the thousands of people that visit there every day start turning up.

Kicking Horse Mountain.

Samara and Wendy standing outside the Kicking Horse Mountain Lodge with their little mate the "Inukshuk". This place is a reasonably new ski resort near a place called Golden in BC.
Winter is for skiing, and in summer they take their mountain bikes up in the ski lifts and ride them down the same slopes.

Canada....Cache Creek 11-08-2007

The girls in the doorway at the "Tumbleweed" Hotel with the "Patriot" in the foreground.

Canada....Cache Creek 11-08-2007

"Tumbleweed Hotel"..... With a name like this we just had to stay here, and it was a great little find also, clean quiet rooms and an excellent price to go with it.....wireless internet at no charge so I can do this job at night to keep all you guys informed of our trip also.

The car in the pic is absolutely identical to the one we had in Hawaii also...what a great family truckster that thing was....plenty of room and power. At the moment we are getting around in a "Jeep Patriot", good, but not as good as the Dodge/Chrysler "Magnum" as in the pic here.

Canada...Lillooet.

What a cracker of a name and even more of a cracker slogan to promote your town with........they're the reasons this shot is up here.

It's pronounced exactly like it reads also. Gotta love that.

Canada.

Still on highway #99.............more big mountains and big lakes.

Canada.

A rather large waterfall on the way from Cache Creek to Golden

Canada....Revelstoke.

Wendy and I on a street corner in Revelstoke while the grommett shoots us from accross the road.....12-08-2007

Canada.

Revelstoke again, like I was saying......heaps of character.

Canada....Revelstoke.

Revelstoke .........cobblestoned streets and stacks of charm and character.

Canada....Revelstoke.

Wendy doing her thing with a big bronze grizzly in a happening little place called Revelstoke....a huge ski destination (with the highest vertical descent in north america), that could end up being the next Whistler. This season they are opening up heli skiing, powder skiing and any other type of snow activity all in the one spot and are expecting big things as a result. Check the website for more info and pics, www.discoverrevelstoke.com

We went through Whistler the previous day and could'nt even get a car park, even the overflow parking out of the village was chockers, way, way to busy to enjoy the place, so we kept on driving, this little place well and truly made up for it.

Canada.

Classic pub in the same area.

Canada.

I just loved the sky in this shot. It was taken about a hour or so out of Cache Creek.

Not much in the way of greenery or trees, just desert like country with a very fast flowing river running through it .........white water rafting and kayaking were big around this area, and the driving was very relaxed and easy, highway #97 just after coming off #99 through British Columbia if I remember correctly.....before we joined the absolute flat out pace of the #1 Trans Canada Highway through Rogers pass.

By the way, none of the shots from any of this trip have been "photoshopped" or adjusted in any way, they are straight off the camera each night or whenever I get a chance to upload them.

Canada.

Roger's Pass.................BIG, very,very big, there's nothing else to say, except for the fact that it is exceptionally beautiful.

On the way from Cache Creek to Banff.

Canada.

Hi everyone, Mal usually does the writing for the photos late in the evening after a busy, busy, day and I am too tired to think. This one is being written in the morning when I can get my thoughts together. This photo was taken in the gardens of a Salmon Fish Hatchery, in Vancouver. I thought this looked like a little mushroom where hobbits might sit. I am a hobbit.... I am trying to be small. Vancouver is a lovely city, where a harbour, mountains and city all meet. Most areas of Vancouver are well kept and the gardens of people's homes are lovely.....so many flowers. We have seen plenty of wild flowers plus blackberries, raspberries and blueberries on the side of the road as well. No wonder the bears in the wild are doing so well, there is so much food for them! Haven't seen any bears in the wild as yet. That could be a bit scary. Time for me to go.....we are heading off on the Hwy No. 97 on the way to Banff. We are in a tiny little town called Cache Creek where we stayed last night. Motel is called "Tumbleweed".....there is barren hills and I'm sure it is covered in snow in winter. Must go. Luv to you all. Wendy.

Canada.

The Lillooet Ambulance with the Reynolds hotel in the background......priceless !

Canada....Lillooet

Samara being herself while Wendy looks on and smiles. Samara is dancing and stretching constantly. You have to be quite aware anytime you are near her as a leg or an arm can come flying up at any moment and take your head off or kick the camera out of your hand.
The kid has never seen such diverse scenery......as they say, while travelling in Canada, "around every corner is a postcard picture".

This shot was taken about half way through the first day of the trip out to Banff at a beautiful place called Seton Lake near the small town of Lillooet in British Columbia.
We have only one day to go before we hook up with my good friend Doug and his family at Lake Louise, I am really looking foward to that.

Canada.

Canada............. lots of snow even in summer, but I'm still comfortable in shorts and a T shirt..too good. The girls have gone to a sweater though.