Moose - Shuswap Lake to Banff

There was no time for a swim in the morning, because we got on the road pretty early.

Here is a group photo...


And in this one you might be able to make out a cargo train. They were so long and slow I now understand why there isn't a public rail link to Banff.


We also went go-karting, and some of us ended up with fly-spattered teeth.

Just before we got into Banff, we visited this place called Natural Bridge, where a river has eroded through limestone.


We got to Banff at about half seven and John picked me up from the youth hostel. I haven't taken a picture of him but there's one on his website. We picked up his girlfriend, Tonya, and went home. They live on the edge of town in a really nice house, with a cat called Jesse (like Jesse James). Out of my window, there is a full view of Sulphur Mountain, and nothing else apart from pine trees.

So everything looks great so far. I'll go out and get some postcards, but the post is quite slow here apparently.

If you want to send me a postcard then you'll have to send it to this address (they don't deliver in Banff).

Helen Munro,
GENERAL DELIVERY
BANFF, ALBERTA
T0L-0C0

Moose - Vancouver to Shuswap Lake

I checked out at the hostel early and got picked up by the moose bus - it was a kind of minibus. There were quite a lot of Germans and Aussies on the bus, but also some English people, Japanese people and an Irish girl, as well as a sole American.

The driver/guide was called Jeremy, and the bus rules were simple...you can do anything. We stopped off at a load of places like this massive waterfall called the Bridal Veil, but it was a pretty long travelling day. We covered about 600km.


It was about half seven before we arrived at this hostel at Shuswap Lake - it was on the other side of the water from the Trans-Canada highway so you couldn't hear the traffic. By that time, the sun was setting and it was getting cooler, but everyone had been so hot on the bus that we all dived into the lake anyway. There is a great photo of us diving in, taken by a girl who decided not to brave the icy water. She's going to email it to me at some point.

Vancouver 28th May

I was mainly just wandering about Downtown looking for work shoes (they had to be smart enough to wear at a wedding, comfortable enough to run about for hours in, cheap enough to buy, and if they looked nice it was a bonus).

I also got a swimsuit.

Here is a photo of the beach I took in the evening.

Vancouver 27th May

One of the famous markets in Vancouver is on Granville Island (which is actually a peninsula). You get there by taking one of these tiny shuttle ferries over the river...


I went over with Carole, Kevin and a musician called Brian.
Here we are looking for ingredients for a stir fry.


After we'd finished wandering, we sat on the pier eating cookies. There was an African busker, whose brother was the drummer in the biggest band ever to play in Melrose. Brian had a go on the guy's drums.





Back at the hostel, we made the stir fry and Brian showed us how to do Indian tea (you make it with ginger). In the evening, Kevin sat outside playing Brian's sitar, and I took photos, even though it was pretty dark.

Vancouver 26th May

I went to Bowen Island.

HI (hostelling international) Vancouver organises day trips out to various places, so I signed up for one to Bowen Island. It was described as an arduous hiking tour but it turned out not to be. The island was within commuting distance - the ferry and the bus took less than an hour and around $10 from Downtown.

The island itself was quite pretty; a bit like Scotland but more ferns and larger trees. Not very many people actually live there.

Anyway, these are the photos, including the one of me inside a tree.

Vancouver 25th May

I FOUND the bank and set up a paperless account - which took about half an hour. I got a card immediately.

Then I explored around the seawall and saw the seaplanes landing.


I went for a walk in Stanley Park, which is pretty big, so I just stuck to the coast. They have beaches most of the way along, but some of the shore is also rocky. Someone had been balancing rocks (it's apparently a very relaxing pasttime).

Vancouver 24th May

I went paddling with Kevin before breakfast and had to put my feet back in my socks without getting them all sandy.

Then I noticed that Greyhound (the bus co.) was on strike...indefinitely. Which meant that I had to find some other way of getting to Banff at the end of the week. I found the Moose tour company (not very difficult with their ads plastered all over the hostel) which did a 2 day tour to Banff, stopping off at a place called Shuswap Lake.

Then I walked up to the harbour for some photos...



...before heading to the Student Work Abroad Program (SWAP) orientation session, in which this bubbly lady talked about stuff then someone came and sold phones. I got one for $70 which has a camera and $25 of credit included...so if you want to send me a text my number is 403-400-3992.

I spend most of the rest of the day walking about in search of the bank, and I was completely unsuccesful.

Vancouver 23rd May

I'm going to be pretty brief about all this because there's been a lot going on.

I got to Heathrow in the morning, met the others on the flight, and flew across the Atlantic. Our stopover in Edmonton lasted longer than we'd expected but we sat in the pub and time passed. It was around bedtime (i.e. 4pm). On the flight to Vancouver, we flew over the Rockies. It's very strange seeing mountains from above. Touching down in Vancouver at 6pm their time (2am ours) everyone was pretty hungry, sweaty and exhausted. The bus from the airport to the Downtown hostel was empty and we saw the city at dusk.

By this time, everyone seemed to have reached a point where we didn't feel tired any more, so we all walked down to the beach.

In the photo: Carole (Edinburgh), Kevin (Melrose), George and Eva (somewhere near Birmingham), their friend Guppy, and Tim (somewhere near London).

I got to sleep at about 11pm BC time, 7am UK time, so that's a total of 24 hours awake.

London

Hi. I am in London.

The train down yesterday was pretty uneventful. The lady opposite me had a cat in a Louis Vuitton bag and ate beetroot. When I got to London, it was raining and I walked about a bit eating dried banana.

Joan and Allan (my aunt and her partner) took me out to a Lebanese restaurant where I made the wrong choice of main meal (it was called Kugu and I'm still not sure what it was). I slept in the new garden room/office which is massive and very stylish, although I woke up in the middle of the night because I'd left the heater on and it was turning into a sauna.

Here is the room...


Today it's been hot and I walked about for the whole day. I saw a lot of London stuff and took photos of birds in Regents Park (see my photo website), then went to the Photographers Gallery. They had a mini exhibition of photos or letters that people have found on the ground and it made me want to go and be a beachcomber but I didn't. I also went to most other places in London (the Ritz, Abbey Road, Lords Cricket Ground).

Finally, tonight we're going to a new Thai restaurant that Joan and Allan love, and tomorrow I'm going to catch the Heathrow Express to the station.

So, nothing that eventful so far but I wanted to write this to let you know I'm having a good time.

UPDATE: Joan and Allan took me out to a new Thai restaurant on Finchley Road on the Tuesday night and it was probably the best meal I've ever had.

My secret evil fiendish cackling plan.

Hi. This is my Canada blog for everyone who'd like to know what I'm up to (i.e. Mum).

So, right now I'm still at home making mindmaps of what I need to pack, but this is the plan:

Monday 21st May - Train to Kings Cross
Wednesday 23rd May - Depart from Heathrow and arrive in Edmonton, Alberta at more or less the same time. Stopover for a few hours before flying to Vancouver. ETA 01:05am UK time.
Sometime around Thursday 31st May - Get the bus to Banff.
Friday 7th September - Fly home.

There is a big blank between June and September. During the blank I'll work at the weekends, possibly the week as well, and who knows what else...I will hopefully be keeping everyone updated with photographs (snaps here, good ones on the other site) and bloggery.

I hope everyone's doing well, and sorry about the exams those who have them. Expect postcards.