Thursday 30th April. Where has the month gone?  We have been here for 19 days already, hard to believe, off to Whistler tomorrow. Left Clearwater this morning and travelled to Kamloops. Scenery nowhere near as stunning or beautiful as where we have been to date. Bit more on the summer meadow style. Couldn't get radio so entertained Gary with my IPod, singing to him along with Bruce Sprinstein, Linda Rhondstat, Johnny Cash etc, etc, etc. I think he was amazed at how well I could sing and the fact that I knew all the words. Don't think he can wait for tomorrow's trip to begin!
When we got to  Kamploops, went to the information centre to see where to visit. Went for a walk to  Peterson's creek Park, climbed up to see the Bridal Veil Falls. They were closed due to falling rocks but we decided to brave it. Glad that we did, they were lovely. After that we Took off to the local Indian Museum and the Heritage Park, very interesting but also very sad to see how they were treated by the priests and nuns and the children being made to attend school and learn English and stop speaking their native language! From there went to the BC Wildlife Park, also. A bit of A sad place, Pam and VERNON you were right about it. Only place so far that we have seen bears, black and grizzly but they just sat there looking sad. No matter how much I called out or spoke to them they just wouldn't stand up! Obviously not into the tourism thing at all! Had dinner in a place called Carlos O Bryan's- yes an Irish pub believe it or not! Had the best meal to date. A 24 hour marinated rib fillet with prawns and scallops in a Bernaise sauce, yum, yum, yum! Gary has Shepard's pie and steak and potato soup. Most meals come with soup, fries or salads, such great value! Had to go for walk after dinner to try and make it go down.

Out in front of information centre

Kamloops 

Gary braving Bridal Falls

Bridal Falls

A winter pit at the Indian museum.

Wildlife Park.

Selfie at wildlife park. 

Birds of prey enclosure

Eagle at park.

Don't know what this is, Gary must have taken it!

Continuing April 29th. I am sure it is the stupid system and not me but I cannot get the blog to work with the photos like I want. I think we are just going to have a picture night when we get home and titilate (  translated  as bore shitless but who cares!) you all with our magnificent pictures. Pammy and VERNON as fellow sharers of this magnificent country, you are also invited to add your titillating pictures as well. What a great night we will have! Will keep you all in suspense for the date! VERNON, need you to understand that I definitely do not write your name in capitals, it just comes up that way - what did you do?
Have to admit this was the least scenery day that we have had today, the trip from Valmount to Clearwater isn't as spectacular as what we have seen to date but 1 day out of all the days so far isn't something to complain about! We went to the Wildlife Safari cruise place but it was closed so took photos anyway as if we had been there! Off to Kamloops tomorrow, currently staying in Clearwater for the night to break up trip. Gary has been doing such a great job of driving but very tiring as we are the only ones who sit on speed limit, 100kmps but everyone - and I mean everyone travels at least at 120kmps! VERNON , Delaney you need to come over here and do some policing! Seriously they are the fastest drivers I have ever seen, even the trucks overtake us and we will be doing 110kms! We have seen about 3 highway patrol but not much seems to get pulled over! Can't believe how much the time seems to be speeding up. From Kamloops we head off to Whistler and then Vancouver Island, Vancouver and then time for the cruise! Slow down time, do not want 1 June to get here any time soon! Hope all is well at home, I am very jealous of Maurs ability to put her photos with captions in the right spots, embarrassing! We were going to stop at Alvola which has the best burgers in the world, not just Canada but the world! What happened? Still  trying to work out where the "Log Inn" was. It said to go to the bottom of the hill and turn left. We went to the bottom of the hill but there was no left to turn in to! Now cannot give advice to them or anyone about whether or not they were the best in the world! Pammy did you and VERNON work out where it was and stop? Anyway at this stage I had a bison burger, yes Josh, bison! , at Banff and it was brilliant so until some one tells me different, I am going to say that was the best burger in the world!

Wednesday 29th April. Sadly left Jasper today we so enjoyed this place, could have spent another day or two here. Said goodbye to Dan, Lori had already left for work. They were such a nice couple and made us very welcome. Anyone planning on coming to Jasper should stay with them at B&B on Balsam. Stopped at Yellowhead Pass, the join between Alberta and British Columbia, a beautiful lake in between two mountains. Sad to leave Alberta as it is a beautiful state. Stopped at Mt Robson, they apparently aren't sure who this mountain was named after but it is the tallest mountain in the Rockies 

Mount Robson

Again

Selfie at Rearguard Falls

Me at Rearguard Falls

Tuesday part 2
Went from Maligne Lake to the Fairmont at Jasper for a cuppa. Sat beside the lake and ate our muffins and drank our cuppas. The colour of the water is superb (running out of adjectives! Seem to use the same ones all the time!) walked the lake and saw some elks and 7 million mozzies! Went from there to see Lake Edith and Lake Annette, again the colours are just unbelievable! Went and stood in the water, ice blocks for feet, friggin freezing! However must admit feet felt a bit better after it. The water is crystal clear and the bluest of colours. On way back to Jasper, saw the Rocky Mountainer go past and stop at the station. It has to be the longest train I have ever seen!

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Golf Course at Fairmont Jaser, 15th hole! 

Elk grazing on golf course

Rocky Mountainer

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Maligne Lake, just beautiful 

Maligne Lake

Selfie at Maligne Lake

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Tuesday 28th April. Happy birthday to our darling Dan, 29th in Australia, thinking of you heaps today sweetheart. Hope you have a great day! Today we set off for Maligne Lake. Stopped at the L
Maligne Canyon first what an amazing place. Walked to the 4th bridge and couldn't believe the depth of the canyon, some of the after falls were frozen and the rock formations were spectacular

Maligne Canyon, waterfall going through ice

We spent quite a bit of time there, kept one eye out for bears but Lori has lent us her bear spray but didn't have to use it! Once we left the canyon we headed off to Medicine Lake. This place is unbelievable, from August to October it is full of water from the glaciers but for the rest of the year the water disappears in the porous rock and you are let with a large sandy yow plain with a small river running through it. The Infians thought it was a "bad" place because they couldn't work out where the stare kept going to. Thought I had a photo on the IPad to show what it looked like but they must all be on my camera. There was a sign there to say that bald eagles were nesting there. I decided to go down to the water in the Lake whilst Gary had a bit of a rest in the car. Got near the water when a big gust of wind virtually blew me backwards and the bald eagle left its nest and soared around the trees. I felt it was a sign from the spirits and didn't go any further! The eagle was magnificent. I saw a Bald Eagle! From there we headed off to Maligne Lake, still frozen and just beautiful.

Monday 27th April. Had a lovely lazy start to our day in Jasper. Got up, had brekkie and then walked in to town to do our laundry. Once that was finished headed off to one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen - Lake Patricia! My feelings about this place have nothing to do with the name! The wind was blowing a little bit so ruffled the top of the lake but the water was crystal clear and a real emerald colour. Sat and ate lunch and then headed off to Pyramid Lake and walked across a small bridge to Pyramid Island. Wind blowing straight off the snow capped mountains and was freezing but spectacular. Drove from there down to the Valley of the Five Lakes. Walked about 4.6kms through bear country to the most amazing coloured lakes I have ever seen, they were just beautiful. It was so quiet there, bit nervous about the bears but we didn't see any. Lori, the lady of the house where we are staying told us later that a couple of years ago a guy biking through the same area was attacked by a bear but survived. She said she herself  has been chased by a bear whilst out running not far from where we are staying and it was one of the most frightening things. She said they are very active at the moment as they have come out of hibernation. She is lending us their bear spray for our walks tomorrow! Having survived the walk without a bear encounter, we drove on to Horseshoe Lake, again an amazing site. The lake was partly frozen over and was beautiful. From there drove off to Athabasca Falls. I know I keep saying this but the scenery is amazing! The falls were spectacular with deep canyons made by the water flow, gorgeous. Left there and took highway 93a back to Jasper, a really scenic drive. Stopped at the 'Meeting of the Waters' where the Whirlpool River meets the Athabasca River. It has great historical value for being part of the fur trading that went from Hudson Bay through to Jasper and on to Vancouver. Took over 3 months to receive mail, some places are still like that today! Another lovely, lovely day in Jasper. We really like this place and are glad we have another full day here tomorrow to explore.o

Sunday 26th April. Left Lake Louise this morning. Felt quite sad as we had a wonderful time there. Travelled to Jasper, what an amazing road. There is so much to see. We again had a beautiful sunny day, everyone keeps commenting on how unusual the weather is and I desperately want to tell them it is because of us! Not sure it would go down too well. Stopped in at heaps of lookouts, waterfalls and just sheer wonderful places on the way to Jasper. The Colombia Icefields was unbelievable. Catching the big ice bus to the Athabasca Glacier was fantastic, so friggin cold! To know that you are standing on 300 metres of ice and looking at trees that are 700 years old is indescribable, we just have nothing like it at home. There had to be about A million Japanese tour buses their and all I could think of was the time we took Dad and Mum to Phillip Island!
We are staying at a  B & B at Jasper, lovely place and the owners are very friendly. He is a fireman but works on the trains. He told us about a black bear that hangs around a part of the train tracks so we might pop over tomorrow to see. Haven't seen bears as yet but have seen deers, elks and what we think was a Caribou - we are claiming so at least! Off to explore tomorrow .

 Scene when we left Lake Lousie, place called Herbert Lake

This is a selfie taken at Bow Lake, amazing place, got to walk out on the frozen lake

More photos of Bow Lake

Me out on the lake

Place called Mysart River, amazing