CALGARY - ride 'em cowboy
We had only a couple of days in Calgary enroute to the snowfields of the Rockies so needless to say we only
managed a couple of 'essential' destinations. It was snowy, cold & the days were still short, which unfortunately limited us incredibly. We did manage a fire station visit, a walk along the riverfront to Fort Calgary & some time wandering through the Plus 15 walkway.
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Calgary City Hall, built of local sandstone |
Fort Calgary was very informative, naturally the original timber structure is long gone but the site has been preserved at the junction of the Bow & the Elbow Rivers. The fort was built in 1875 & staffed by the 'Mounties', the North West Mounted Police (they weren't Royal until 1904) to bring law to the territories. Seems to have worked, Canada is pretty law abiding really!!
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Fortunatley they had a dress-up box for the kids! |
The Plus 15 is a system of shopping areas in buildings connected by walkways which join the buildings - 15 metres above the roadway. Good stuff, no exposure to the weather but unlike the underground systems you could actually see the sky & the road signs to help you work out where you were!
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Inside one of the wonderful Plus 15 walkways,
all heated of course |
It proved a little difficult to get to the Greyhound Bus Station & we had to wait for a bus that only ran once an hour. There was a light rail station near the depot but it was still under construction, what a shame, that would have been so much easier!
CANMORE - Learn to ski or die trying!
We rented a one bedroom apartment on the outskirts of town for our stay in the snowfields. The weather forecast looked promising for a bit of snow & fortunately for us not too much wind to spoil things. After our scenic trip with Greyhound from Calgary we settled into our apartment, the next morning we awoke to gently falling snowflakes & a pristine wonderland outside our balcony. Mind you it is a bit cold to be using the BBQ on the balcony at this time of year!
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Falcon Crest Lodge, wonderful accommodation, could easily live here... |
Needing a few supplies (we had eaten just about everything we had brought with us for dinner the first night) we wandered into town through the snow. It is about 2 kilometres from our place to the centre of town but it was OK as long as you took it steady.
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Nice & cosy, but watch your step on the ice |
So, rugged up in just about everything we own, we window-shopped, visited the tourist information office (lovely lass there who holidayed on the Sunshine Coast a few years ago, small world eh!), had coffee & a muffin, looked for some souveniers, bought a couple of second-hand books to read & picked up a couple of postcards. Grabbing a few bags full of groceries at Safeways on our walk home we then settled in for a bit of TV & relaxing as we watched the snow falling outside, fire burning - how perfect is that!
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The view from the corner of our street, on the left are the peaks known locally as the Three Sisters |
Grant has been skiing in the past but he was by no means an expert so we decided now was a really good time to have a few lessons & to spend some time on the slopes to improve his skills. We booked him in for three days of group lessons, that included two, one & a half hour lessons, ski hire & the shuttle bus from the hotel a block away. As it turned out he was the only person in the group & his instructor was from Melbourne......funny eh!
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Historic Building & Museum for the North West Mounted Police |
While Grant was off skiing I used the days to wander round the township & my first stop was the ammolite jewellery factory. They offered free tours on the hour so I timed my 3km walk to get there in plenty of time, as I had never heard of Ammolite it was intriguing. The tour was great, the lady gave the prehistoric history of the inland sea that 70 million years ago covered most of Alberta & explained the mining, handling & sale of ammolite.
As part of a round trip I then walked via the chocolate factory/store & after nibbling on a few samples & watching them make chocolates I walked, downhill fortunately, back to the apartment.
Banff, has always been one of those must see destination of the Canadian Rockies so we hired a car for just the day & headed north to the tourist hotspot. The township is packed with tour buses & tour groups in the summer months but in the middle of winter all we had to contend with were a few skiiers & plenty of board riders. The town was full of Aussies, the very first person we spoke to, a lovely young lady at the tourist information office was Canadian but her mother was born & bred in Tamworth (of all places).
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Now that is a view! As we drove to Banff, the Canadian Rockies rose before us |
Following her advice we headed through town & uphill to the gondola. Wonderful, wonderful views on the way up in the gondola to the mountain top, when we got to the restaurant & viewing area we found it connected to a kilometre long, wooden, raised boardwalk which followed the natural contours of the ridge all the way to the cutest little stone cottage, the fully restored historic weather station.
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View over the river valley from the viewing area |
In just that one walk we met five people, all of whom where or used to be Australians, see it is an invasion! The views were amazing, over the township & river itself right up one valley to Minniwanker Lake, which of course was white like every other lake we have seen this winter. The snow was gentling falling & it was a truely magical spot, so just to extend our visit a little we enjoyed a nice hot soup in the restaurant before descending to the valley floor again.
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Panorama - that is Banff township in the lower right & Lake Minniwanker above it |
A short drive & we were at the historic & absolutley gorgeous Banff Fairmont Hotel & at the back of that we stopped for a photo opportunity at the frozen river cascades. Quick wander round town for a few souveniers & some postcards & off again.
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Frozen Lake Louise, above it you can see Victoria Glacier which feeds the lake |
Lake Louise is a short drive further north, this is a very small place, just a half dozen shops & a bakery (thank goodness for that) & of course its famous blue lake. Well, as you might already have guessed the lake was white & frozen, we're told about one metre deep & there were plenty of people out there snow-shoeing & cross-country skiing across the lake. It was a fine clear day & it was very easy to see the glacier high up in mountain valley behind, that feeds the lake. The unusual blue colour comes from the glacial sand (very fine particles) suspended in the water.
On the lake side of the famous Fairmont Hotel there was a small hockey rink, a skating rink & a wonderful display of ice sculptures which included a 'castle' right out on the ice of the lake.
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Modest decorations inside the
Fairmont Hotel, Lake Louise |
Our week in the snow was at an end & we caught the Greyhound bus back to Calgary, changed buses & headed for South Edmonton where Joy & Lew picked us up....
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