Whistler – Ziptrek Eco Tours

Our first plug of the trip – our zip-line experience was brilliant! We signed multiple disclaimers, were kitted out with harnesses and hard hats and transported up high over Fitzsimmons Creek, which separates Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, past the 2010 Olympic Bob Sled run.

John and Kim did the Bear Tour (aka Zip-lines for the elderly!), five zip lines ranging in length from 400m to 1.1km. Our guides were very good keeping us entertained with history and geography facts, while talking us through the easiest way to walk off the edge of a wooden platform into oblivion. It was all very well organised but does rely on a couple of trees to keep it all together,

Matt was booked on the more extreme Eagle Tour – higher, longer, faster!

Kim is not built for zip lining and was the only one of the group who refused to go down the last run upside down!

John enjoyed every minute and wants to do The Sasquatch, the highest and longest in Whistler

Matt videoed his runs, enjoy this for the next 30 seconds!

A well earned cup of tea was required, so we whiled away the afternoon in the Longhorn Saloon, which has great views of mountain bikers taking their bikes up on the ski-lifts and then hurtling back down the mountain at extreme angles and returned this evening to watch some more of the spectacle.

Whistler…..

…..rather like Bicester Village on speed!

Matt went for a run, while John and Kim visited the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre. These two First Nations communities lived in the Whistler area and, in 2001, signed a protocol to live and work together. The cultural centre celebrates their deep connection and respect for land and water.

We were greeted by our guide singing a native welcome song, before learning about the history of the two Nations and how respectfully they make careful use of natural resources.

Canoe building was interesting, made from a single hollowed out Cedar tree, using fire and water to help shape the boat and fish oil to help keep it watertight.

The tour concluded with a practical lesson in how to make a bracelet from cedar bark. Kim was in her element!

We wandered into Whistler Village and found ourselves in a very lively, very manicured environment, dodging extreme downhill mountain bikers and skateboarders

Ziplining for us tomorrow!

Whistler here we come

The sun was shining when we woke up but, honestly, Kamloops didn’t look an awful lot better!

Last night’s walk into town had seemed like a scene from American Graffiti with big V8s cruising the strip!

Breakfast was an adventure, making our own waffles. The last time we tried that, in Norway, it had been a disaster. Canadian waffle maker instructions are better!

We left Kamloops and joined the Gold Rush Trail on the Trans-Canada Highway.

We reached Cache Creek, the satnav recalculated and added an hour to our journey. We over ruled her, stuck to our original route and came to a halt 100m up the road. The road was closed while a mudslide was cleared. We were advised it would be quicker to wait than take the other route.

We pulled it to the Bear Claw Cafe to sit it out in a proper Canadian log cabin.

The door handle was a little alarming…

We continued our journey and were grateful we hadn’t attempted Jasper to Whistler in one go, in yesterday’s rain. It was only 100 miles but, on the Cariboo Highway, the speed limit reduced to 60kph and it twisted and turned along mountain and riversides. At one point, the highway was reduced to to a single carriageway – the other side had disappeared in a landslide!

Whistler couldn’t be more different to Kamloops. We have a two bedroomed suite, with a balcony and a rather nice view! Perhaps we should have attempted the long drive, another night here would be good!

Jasper to Kamloops

We waved bye bye to our lovely lake view and left Alberta. 360 miles lay ahead of us, in pouring rain. We weren’t looking forward to the journey and we didn’t take many photos!

We drove down through the Rockies, past many trees scorched by wildfires. At times it was difficult to tell if the haze was low cloud or smoke drifting up from ongoing fires.

We stopped at a service station, about halfway along our route. Lunch consisted of delicious homemade samosas, but the whole area felt and looked very ‘Wild-West’ it’s difficult to describe without sounding derogatory and condescending (although we were).

Kim took over driving for the second half of the journey and was the only one to see a bear fishing in the North Thompson River, despite John and Matt being on wildlife spotting duty. She really should have been paying more attention to the road!

We were in timber logging country, then the scenery changed and we were surrounded by fields of hay. It almost started to look like home!

Kamloops is a measly 345m above sea level and started life as a fur trading post on the Thompson River. It’s very flat and industrial, here’s the view from our room…

The good news is it does have a pool table and bar football, we have decent WiFi, films are being downloaded ready to watch later and we’re only here for one night.

With hindsight, and three drivers we could have managed the remaining 180 miles to Whistler.

Jasper Sky Tram and some culture…..

John did his usual, got chatting to some locals (well Liverpudlians) and as a result decided the Jasper Sky-Tram was worth a visit.

The Sky-Tram takes you almost to the top of Whistlers Mountain, from 1258m above sea level to 2263m in about 7 minutes. On a clear day, you can see mountain ranges 80 miles away. It wasn’t a clear day, we could just about see Jasper with Pyramid Lake at the top of the picture.

Whistlers Mountain gets its name from Marmots that live there, they have a strange whistling call. The only wildlife on show today was a Pika, a cross between a rabbit and tailless squirrel, munching its way through the alpines.

The wildlife has been very shy, no bears and only a fleeting glimpse of elk or moose….unless you count Jasper the Bear, the local mascot. He may be the best we get

Matt did the last 1km climb to the top of the mountain, Kim and John declined, taking the option to explore less demanding paths instead. They’re still suffering from the Lake Agnes expedition.

On the way back down, Larch trees provided a reminder of how rapidly Autumn is approaching as their deciduous needles start to turn yellow and red in the early season fall.

Back in Jasper, we visited the local Museum specifically to see an exhibition about Alien Internment 1916 – 1920. Canada, desperately short of labour, had encouraged immigrants from Europe with offers of free land. These same people became Aliens on the outbreak of WW1 and were interned.

Germans were categorised as Class 1 and lived in camps where they didn’t have to work and were well fed. Immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire were classified as Class 2, they were put to work, lived in poor conditions and fed very little. They started building the infrastructure of the national parks, including the Icefields Parkway driven yesterday. The Canadian Government quickly realised that loss of these labourers was detrimental to the economy and many were released after only a few months. Others, mainly Germans remained in camps until as late as 1920.

Patricia Lake, which is just down the road from us, was the site of an interesting WW2 experiment, Operation Habakkuk. Oxford Graduate, Geoffrey Pyke, had designed a ship to withstand torpedoes, made out of glacial ice which is virtually indestructible. There was some wood pulp in there too! Unfortunately the project was deemed too expensive and disbanded. If you don’t believe us…….Google Pykrete.

Jasper is small, with a disproportionately large railway station, and very pretty. Kim will be checking out the Canadian equivalent of Rightmove later, she’s very taken with the town which is no larger than Ampthill, has a population of 5000 and a free book exchange scheme

Icefields Parkway to Jasper

What an amazing drive today. 150 miles of stunning scenery through the Canadian Rockies.

First stop was Bow Lake.

The water colour is dictated by the amount of rock flour (particles washed down by the ice melt). Less rock flour creates vivid blues while more flour turns the reflected light green. Too much flour and the water becomes milky.

The Columbia Icefield and the Athabasca Glacier followed. The Icefields Centre was heaving.

The glacier is receding at the rate of 5m per year and lost over half its volume in the last 125 years. We decided our lives were complete without taking a tour up to it and headed onwards.

Suddenly the scenery changed and the views opened up.

Waterfalls were next on the list and we stopped at Sunwapta Falls where Matt decided he could only take photos from beside the river rather than the safety of the walkway

The Parkway followed the Sunwapta River for a while and we think we need to revisit in late spring when, as the ice melts, the rivers must be spectacular.

The trees are just starting to take on their Autumn colour, which we hadn’t noticed in Lake Louise.

Our final stop, before Jasper, was the Athabasca Falls. According to Kim, you can’t have too many cups of tea or see too many waterfalls!

Our next two nights are overlooking Pyramid Lake, a designated Dark Sky site. Our accommodation is definitely a step up from the rather dated ski lodge in Lake Louise

And this is our view from the balcony, thank you Trailfinders!

Lake Agnes Tea House

John was up and out for breakfast in 10 seconds flat. It was only 7:30 but he’d been awake for ages and had had enough….. of Matt sniffing and Kim snoring.

The remainder of the family struggled to catch up. Matt went for a short 10 minute run. 45 minutes later, a text arrived saying he’d got carried away and hadn’t been eaten by a bear. Quite honestly, we hadn’t noticed he been missing that long.

Today’s challenge was the hike from Lake Louise up to Lake Agnes Tea House, a round trip of 7km which is no distance at all.

We hadn’t reckoned with the 400m elevation climb over 3km. It was a challenge for the older Brays, stopping frequently to catch our breath. We blamed it on altitude sickness rather than being unfit and made a note to spend more time drinking tea at base camp to acclimatise before attempting mountaineering feats. Most of the climb up was through trees with just an occasional gap offering a view of the lake below.

About 3/4 of the way up you could glimpse the Tea House above the trees, but it was still a huge climb.

1km before the top, there was a chance to catch our breath at Mirror Lake. It gets its name from the reflection of the trees and Big Beehive in the water. Not a great photo, sorry!

After another 800m climb we finally arrived at Lake Agnes and the Tea House at an elevation of 2135m above sea level.

It’s the oldest in Canada, opening in 1901 and is family run. There is no electricity, supplies are helicoptered in at the start of the season and topped up by staff, on their way up, on a daily basis. Everything is made fresh on site and our soup with homemade bread and pot of tea were delicious. Walkers are asked to assist by carrying bags of rubbish back down with them. It was well worth the effort with Lake Agnes in the background

We set off intending to walk to another Tea House at Plain of the Six Glaciers. It’s elevation was lower, so we thought the extra 7km should be easier. We picked up the trail back down at Mirror Lake and stopped at the first serious incline. Sometimes you need to know when to give up!

The descent was hard on knees and calves, it was difficult to imagine we’d actually made it to the top

Back at base camp Lake Louise looked stunning in the afternoon sunshine.

Tonight’s dinner was at Lake Louise Station Restaurant. It is one of the few remaining log stations in Canada, built in 1910 and still active. Staff are rushed off their feet – meeting one train a day, the famous Rocky Mountaineer. As we dined a couple of freight trains rumbled past, they are huge and can be up to 4km long, taking 15 minutes to pass which is very inconvenient if you are waiting to cross the track while out on a run as Matt found out.

It was raining when we left but decided to take a final trip to Moraine Lake. The approach was misty and moody in the fading light however the lake itself totally eclipsed anything Lake Louise could offer. These pictures were taken at the same time, we couldn’t believe how different the lake looked from two perspectives

Tomorrow we drive the Icefields Parkway, across the Rockies, to Jasper

Mountain biking in the Rockies (part 2)

We caught our breath and headed for the hotel overlooking Lake Louise, it had taken 2.5 hours! Despite the challenge of cycling, we were pleased we had. The car parks were full and the lake was heaving with tourists.

The history of the cycle track dates back to the late 19th century. Travellers would take a month to sail to the east coast of Canada, many days travelling across the country by train before arriving at Lake Louise. The final step was the tram ride up to the Lake – we had retraced the steps of many travellers before us.

Lake Louise is the highest settlement in Canada, about 1800m above sea level. By the time we arrived at the lake, we were 2k above sea level. No wonder we were hot, sticky and a little bit smelly. Despite this, we approached the concierge with confidence and were directed to the hotel’s cycle parking. More uphill as we negotiated ramps in the spiral car park. Then there was a mad dash to buy deodorant to make ourselves more socially acceptable!

We were served by Dan, a Canadian with an Irish father and mother from Manchester, who’s very excited by his first trip to the UK in November.

Afternoon tea overlooking the lake was civilised, however whipped cream in place of clotted cream was disappointing.

John and Matt were particularly taken with the self serve dessert buffet..

The ride back took a fraction of the time, downhill all the way, woohoo! John and Matt were off like demented things while Kim was on the brakes all the way – there were some steep drops down the side.

We dropped the bikes off and Kim had strong words with the owner, re-defining flat cycling for him! He awarded her ‘Hero of the Day’ and gave her a prize to shut her up and get her out of the shop….

Mountain biking in the Rockies (part 1)

No you didn’t, we hear you cry! Yes, we did and here’s the proof!

We needed something to keep us out of mischief until lunchtime. Afternoon tea is booked at the Fairmont Hotel on Lake Louise. Kim had found an easy 7k route along the Bow River and agreed to get on a bike.

The only trouble was that John chatted to the cycle hire guy who persuaded him we could cycle all the way to the lake. It was only another 6k and there was only one hill. Let’s just say that a Canadian’s idea of a hill is different to a Kim’s. She should have listened to the guy who said it’s a 200m incline over 5k – she valiantly pushed the bike most of the way!

Beware the smoke….

Our bargain basement WestJet flight was fine,

The sky was dark grey and orange as we approached Calgary. There was a strong smell of burning and the ash settling over the city has drifted in from the wildfires 500 miles away!

Calgary Airport was interesting. Very clean and populated by elderly Canadians driving electric buggies. At no point did we see passengers in any of the buggies, perhaps it’s simply a kind way of keeping pensioners out of mischief?

Mathew heroically drove us 2 hours to Lake Louise through torrential rain. We stopped briefly by the Bow River so we could at least say we’d done some sight seeing.

Exhausted, we made it to Lake Louise Village where dinner beckoned. Fed and watered, we drove up to Lake Louise, it’s 7pm here and still very busy. Even on a fairly overcast evening, the lake is stunning

Our final challenge was the 12 miles round trip to Moraine Lake

So we’ve been up 24 hours with only a little snooze on the plane, we’ve all got colds, I wonder how we’ll feel in the morning!

Canada here we come…

After four years of planning, we are finally on our way. We left home at 5:30 and were at Gatwick just after 7 – some sort of record, we think!

We fly to Calgary and drive to Lake Louise, for our first three nights, before heading to Vancouver via Jasper, Kamloops and Whistler. There is white water rafting, kayaking and zip lining to be experienced on the way.

From Vancouver, we take the ferry down to Seattle for a couple of nights before finishing our holiday on Vancouver Island, in Victoria.

We are flying with budget airline WestJet which saved us a fortune, I’m sure we’ll let you know whether that was a sound decision!

Our first crisis has been telling Matt that data costs £5 a megabyte in North America, cue frantic checking of phones.

Final thoughts on our Italian adventure

Never again? …………..We’re not sure, John was adamant and then started to make a list of items we’d need next year. Kim thinks he’s hoping that JustGo will blacklist us after the accident

Our highlight was the drive up to the (closed!) Pennes Pass, it was amazing!

Our motorhome has had a variety of names from ‘blooming Fiat’ to ‘pile of junk’ although at some point, while trying to climb a steep hill, John was shouting ‘come on girl, you can do it’ – but that was only once!

We still have the M25 to negotiate….. and watch this space to see if JustGo lure us back with a tempting 2019 offer. One thing is certain, we’re going small if we do it again.

Grottes and other adventures

Yesterday started with a railway trip to the Grottes de Han. These are limestone caves formed over the last few million years as water dissolves the rocks and produces some fantastic sculptures from Stalagmites and Stalactites.

We were keen and caught the first tram out of town

Our guide, Etienne, was fantastic. He is an 8th generation guide in the caves. The 9th generation is also a guide. As to the 10th generation, she is only 5!

The cave system is the largest in Belgium at 17km, luckily our tour was only 2km! There is evidence that tourists were visiting the caves since the 18th century. This photo was taken in the cave discovered by Etienne’s grandfather.

We left Han with the aim of visiting Talbot House in Poperinge on our way to Ieper. We did 180 miles and 3 hours without stopping. We were determined and arrived at 3:30.

Talbot House opened in 1915 as a place where soldiers, regardless of rank, could spend a few days to relax before returning to the front. It was run as Everyman’s Club and the philosophy was that rank was left at the door and that you helped others less able.

The house felt very peaceful and the visit comes with a complimentary cuppa – hospitality was, and still is, paramount here.

The garden, described as the most important room in the house, continued the calm and peaceful theme. Neville Talbot and Tubby Clayton were truly remarkable men. Interesting fact: Tubby Clayton was chaplain to the Bedfordshire Regiment.

The evening ended with The Last Post at the Menin Gate

Belgium here we come!

Our Rattle (not sure that’s the correct term for a group of motor homes but it seems appropriate!) of motor homes looked idyllic in the morning sunshine

David had done some research and the Lalique Glass Museum was close to our route to Rochefort so we decided to give it a go. We drove through the Vosges mountains on lovely quiet, but narrow and winding roads. It was surprisingly easy.

The museum was stylish and the exhibits, as you would expect, were stunning. Rene Lalique’s creativity, and the skill that continues to go into making the pieces, are quite amazing.

Even the Salon de The, on site, was elegant.

We headed out of France, through Luxembourg, into Belgium, about 200 miles, and arrived at the campsite in Han-sur-Lesse, near Rochefort late afternoon.

It’s very basic but it does have the attraction of the tourist train running around the outside every 10 minutes. Somewhere round the back of the site are the Grottes De Han and a wildlife park full of bears! There’s also a group of very drunk Belgian lads whose flabby pasty torsos (and bottoms) have been on display! Not quite sure how the night will pan out!

Ken and Kim were determined to sample the Belgian classic dish of Frites and mayonnaise, it was a short walk into town, which made a pleasant change. Most of our sites have been fairly isolated so a choice of restaurants made us feel very cosmopolitan!

After the biggest plate of ham and chips ever, a walk rounds very small town centre was needed. Look at the English tourists confused by the sculpture with a man and bear on the inside,

The journey to Saverne

Sadly we didn’t make it to the Zeppelin museum. The main disadvantage of driving a car 3.2m high and 7.4m long is that it’s blooming difficult to park! We sailed through Friedrichshafen without finding anywhere to park the monster truck, even the bus station was out of bounds despite us being a similar size. We definitely need to come back to Bodensee, there is much to see and do.

We stopped on a German Autobahn for an early lunch and Kim decided it was now or never. The road was wide and quiet so she decided to drive.

Little did she know that it would take another 4.5 hours to travel 150 miles! We have no photos but had a fantastic drive through the Black Forest, through snow and past ski lifts.

The satnav and google maps were in dispute over our route and a number of options were discounted as roads narrowed and weight limits reduced to 2.5 tonnes. At one point we stopped for fuel and by the time we came out of the garage, both satnav and phone had decided we needed to turn around… why? We will never know!!!

We were surprised to arrive at the site at Saverne only 10-15 minutes after everyone else.

It was al fresco eating for us tonight

Another 180 miles tomorrow to Rochefort in Belgium before our final night in Poperinge

More about Lindau

We felt we didn’t do it justice yesterday and, as we’re in a traffic jam trying to get to Friedrichshafen to visit the Zeppelin Museum, we thought we’d give you a bit of history!

The Mangturm, with its colourful roof, dates back to the 12th century and was built as part of the town’s medieval fortifications. It served as lighthouse until 1856 and is currently used for storytelling events.

The harbour is guarded by the Bavarian Lion and the ‘new’ Lighthouse. The harbour used to be owned by Deutsche Bahn before being sold to the town of Konstanz in Baden-Wurttemberg. It was only returned to Bavaria in 2010, after a long dispute. Can you imagine a German row over a harbour?

We’re aiming for Saverne in Alsace, fingers crossed we get there before Reception closes at 5:30. Only 180 miles to go after Friedrichshafen!

A day by the Bodensee and then there were 8

We cycled into Bregenz this morning. It was only 4.5km but some of the signage along the way was a little alarming.

You’ll be relieved to know that we arrived unscathed and headed for the cable car which took us to the top of Mount Pfander. The views were stunning and we were treated to a Zeppelin Air-Ship flying past. Can you spot the sea plane?

We were back down in Bregenz for the 12:30 ferry to Lindau and look who we bumped into as we waited to board.

In typical German style the ferry was looking its best…..

…… and the approach into Lindau harbour was very pretty

We abandoned the bikes, and our friends, and found a little bakerei for lunch and decided it would be the healthy option

Well, apples and apricots were involved so it must be healthy!

We cycled around the island and then back to the campsite and suddenly six became 8. Jacky and Ken’s friends, Sue and John, joined us for the night on their way home to Datchworth from Malaga

The problem with John and Sue arriving was they brought this with them…

At just under 6m long, with everything you would need, we all had motorhome envy. This was shortly followed by bike envy as we all took turns to ride around the campsite on their electric bikes, very impressive – another new experience to add to the list.

Off to Saverne in France tomorrow, the end of the trip is fast approaching. It’s a shame we can’t stay here longer, there’s so much to see and do.

Next stop Germany…

As we prepared to leave the land of magical showers and amazing views, Google Maps gave us an alternative route. Only an extra 35 minutes on our journey and it looked far more interesting than a run up the motorway.

The message on the caravan says it all. Surprisingly no-one else wanted to join us….. some people have no sense of adventure!

We had a fantastic drive through the Austrian Tirol. The roads were a joy, even in a Fiat motorhome, and snow capped mountains kept us company.

Sorry about the quality of photos through the bug splattered windscreen!

We arrived at Lindau am See, on the shore of Bodensee late afternoon with just enough time to rent some bikes and cycle to Lindau Islet.

Natterer See

This campsite deserves a post all to itself. It’s very special with breathtaking views, fantastic facilities and we’re considering staying here and making a mad dash to Calais on Sunday!

This is the view we woke up to.

And the showers left Kim speechless. She came out with warm, dry feet. John’s taunting chant of ‘communal showers’ is now redundant as a threat.

Finally, for when we get home, a couple of motorhome projects have been identified

If John is smart, he’ll track down the Citroen D model otherwise expect a conversion to be appearing on a driveway in Clophill soon! Of course, Matt would prefer the version with Maserati engine!

Lake Garda to Natter See (Innsbruck for those less well travelled than us!)

150 miles for us today. The aim is to meet up with Jane and David who are re-joining us for the rest of the trip.

Kim took a final walk down to the lake and the view was less hazy

John was a man on a mission, we were packed up and out by just after 9. The aim was to drive along Lake Garda as far as we could before joining the motorway for the rest of the journey.

We stopped for a cuppa and a photo opportunity. JustGo run a competition for the best photograph which could win a free trip next year. John is hating the thought of another trip but is also a man who likes to win

How could we fail to win? Snow, mountains, Lake Garda, trees and a JustGo van!!

We headed for the motorway and were making good time when Kim’s phone gave us an option! We could take a route over the top of the Dolomites’, rather than around, and it would only take an extra 38 minutes. We checked it on Colin’s special motorhome satnav and a good old fashioned map. It was a ‘main road’, what could possibly go wrong?

As an aside, Ken and Jacky are en route to join us, woohoo!

We left the motorway at Bolzano, and headed up towards Pennes Pass. We were cutting a chunk off the journey and amazing views beckoned. We weren’t disappointed and more competition photos presented.

An hour after leaving the motorway, this was what we saw

The blooming Pass was closed! We like to think we missed a sign further down but we did drive past one in disbelief! We had snow chains so debated whether or not to give it a go but common sense prevailed and we could at least turn around!

It was painful, but we re-traced our steps back to exactly the same place we’d left the motorway. Two hours lost and now it was a race against time to get to the campsite before Reception closed at 5.

It was embarrassing, everyone else had started behind us and arrived before us. John hates to finish last.

The site is amazing

And we’re all safely back together. Cheers!