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The Big Splurge Canada Adventure

Trip: Canada 09

There are [22] stories from my trip: Canada 09


our final mission

CANADA | Wednesday, 5 Aug 2009 | Views [447] | Comments [1]

Tuesday August 4 th Our marine day started at Ukee’s aquarium. What looked from the outside like a beachside shack turned out to be a fab exhibit: all local sea fauna caught, held for a couple of months and released back into the sea. The student ... Read more >


sea kayaking (a.k.a. how to cripple your forearms)

CANADA | Wednesday, 5 Aug 2009 | Views [472]

Monday August 3 rd Another early start for a day of crippling outdoor fun! We arrived at Majestic Ocean Kayaking shortly after 8 to be kitted out with lifejackets, sexy splashskirts (think black rubber tyre crossed with dangling nappy and the ... Read more >


in the tsunami zone

CANADA | Tuesday, 4 Aug 2009 | Views [383] | Comments [1]

Sunday August 2 nd Rhona, Angus and I headed off on the Wild Pacific trail early this morning: great sea views, with mist rolling through wooded offshore islands, black sand beaches covered with driftwood and weirdly weathered trees arching ... Read more >


and so to the island

CANADA | Tuesday, 4 Aug 2009 | Views [380]

Saturday August 1 st We started the new month back in a hot and humid Vancouver currently suffering from several forest fires in surrounding areas. We took a taxi out to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal in North Vancouver, seemingly along with ... Read more >


sunwapta to the great Canadian railroad

CANADA | Tuesday, 4 Aug 2009 | Views [326]

Friday July 31 st We were up and out early and made it to Sunwapta Falls a little after 8.30. These were impressive but nothing compared to the Athabasca Falls a few miles north: surging grey water pounding downward with so much spray that at ... Read more >


last lake?

CANADA | Tuesday, 4 Aug 2009 | Views [627]

Thursday July 30 th We packed up and left the Y and Banff, driving out of town on the old highway, overlooked by the incredible craggy heights of Castle Mountain and with interesting infoboards about the planned forest burn of 1993 which served ... Read more >


last day in B-town

CANADA | Thursday, 30 Jul 2009 | Views [428] | Comments [1]

Wednesday July 29 th Angus and I left the girls to sleep and wandered off in search of the recommended Wild Flour bakery where we bought some evil almond croissants for breakfast. With kids in tow, we set off for the local bike hire shop and ... Read more >


white knuckle rafting

CANADA | Thursday, 30 Jul 2009 | Views [494]

Tuesday July 28 th This was the white knuckle day for me: persuaded by the family that a Grade 1-2 rafting trip just wasn’t worth the bother, we’d signed up for a Grade 3-4, so at 7.45 we were whisked off by a stoned New Zealander in a yellow ... Read more >


in the land of moss and mozzies

CANADA | Thursday, 30 Jul 2009 | Views [418]

Monday July 27 th After another pancake breakfast the girls went to the park and Angus and I visited the Buffalo Nations Museum. A bit of a tacky tribute to the First Nations (don’t think about calling them Indians) it was nonetheless a very ... Read more >


and so to Banff

CANADA | Tuesday, 28 Jul 2009 | Views [428] | Comments [2]

Sunday July 26 th Regretfully we left the hostel and headed south. Our first stop, based only on the briefest of mentions in the guidebook, was at Mistaya Canyon. A short walk brought us out to a bridge over rapids, but walking upstream we were ... Read more >


on the ice and up the creek

CANADA | Tuesday, 28 Jul 2009 | Views [368]

We slunk guiltily to the car (while our fellow hostellers loaded their worldly goods into their panniers and set off for 100km of mountainous cycling) and headed off to the Icefield Centre and the Athabasca glacier. Here you take a shuttle bus and ... Read more >


best place to stay in Canada: it's official

CANADA | Tuesday, 28 Jul 2009 | Views [458] | Comments [1]

Friday July 24 th Rhona’s been running a temperature with a sore throat for 3 days and as we’re heading out of   civilization and didn’t fancy taking a swine flu victim with us (ok, we were actually more concerned it was her usual tonsillitis) ... Read more >


and for the same price as my municipal pool...

CANADA | Tuesday, 28 Jul 2009 | Views [330]

After a good night’s sleep we headed off out on Highway 16 to the N-E of Jasper. The views never cease to amaze: vast mountains, turquoise lakes, endless forests interspersed with emergency stops to avoid the deer and wild sheep which wander all over ... Read more >


of trains and cars

CANADA | Tuesday, 28 Jul 2009 | Views [415]

We woke around 6 at the train’s first stop in Kamloops. At least the first stop for passengers. The Canadian in fact stopped frequently to let vast freight trains pass – the kind of vast where you start counting the wagons and give up and go off for ... Read more >


on the move

CANADA | Tuesday, 28 Jul 2009 | Views [339]

OK guys, after a few days without internet, here's a few updates ! Our last day in Vancouver started at the girls’ request with us hitting the shops. One of the delights of foreign travel to me are the simple but strangely different things of everyday ... Read more >


Grouse Mountain

CANADA | Tuesday, 21 Jul 2009 | Views [409] | Comments [2]

Amazing the bribery power of a stack of pancakes and maple syrup to get a sleepy 12 year old out of bed. After another great breakfast at Ricky’s we waddled our way down to the SkyTrain and again headed off to North Vancouver. Our destination today ... Read more >


chinese or fish & chips?

CANADA | Tuesday, 21 Jul 2009 | Views [341]

Angus and I decided to leave the girls to have a lie-in and doubled our consequent dose of peace and tranquility by taking ourselves off to the traditional Chinese garden nearby. Like something off a willow-pattern plate, it formed an oasis of calm ... Read more >


Transports of delight

CANADA | Tuesday, 21 Jul 2009 | Views [529]

Another early start and down for our first muffin fest. Why do the British stick to choc chip when you can have blueberry muesli, cranberry ‘n’ bran or my personal favourite to date,   zucchini, carrot & walnut? Today was public transport day.... Read more >


We're here!

CANADA | Saturday, 18 Jul 2009 | Views [442]

Thursday July 16 th Well, the big day finally came. Unfortunately it started off in Terminal Four which is one of those places that looks great in some architectural coffee table book but is hopeless if you actually want to check in and fly ... Read more >


One week to go

SPAIN | Wednesday, 8 Jul 2009 | Views [431] | Comments [2]

My last week at work! The girls are still away in the land of rock climbing and canoeing, supposedly bivouacing tonight which no doubt means they'll return scarred from head to toe in mosquito bites. After rejoicing in their absence for the first week, ... Read more >


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