5th November, Banff- Calgary, AB

We awoke this morning in our upgraded room to pull back the curtains and see the sun rising over the Canadian Rockies. The clouds had mainly cleared and we packed up and headed out to catch the eight minute ride to the 2285m summit of Sulpher Mountain. The view heading up the gondola amazing and once we arrived at the summit we would feel the temperature had dropped a number of degrees already. There weren’t too many tourists and we headed up the walk to the historic weather station. Whilst prints were in the snow everywhere, we didn't see any large wildlife. The view here was simply breath taking. We are very lucky that we have traveled a reasonable amount of the world and we both agreed that the views from here would be some of the best we have ever seen in the world. The pictures here will never be able to do justice to just how beautiful this part of the world is. So rather than go on, here are some photo's and a video.

The photo above we could barely keep our eyes open to have taken. It was so sunny yet so windly the cold was hurting our eyes.

We’ve both agreed that we would love to see it again in summer and the dead of winter (although probably without the tourists).

Whilst the views were beautiful it was freezing with the wind chill. Dan had pins and needles on his fingers. We headed back for a hot chocolate. Who could resist with this view out of the window.

Sadly we left the summit, catching the gondola down. We had about a ninety minute drive to head into Calgary, watching the Rockies disappear in the rearview mirror. Calgary, unfortunately, looked rather flat and boring driving into it after being in the Rockies for a number of days. We would of liked to stay in Banff for another night but we had a reason for being in Calgary. We had booked concert tickets. However, we had a quick stop in the nearby town of Canmore at the Bear Paw Brewing Company for lunch.

Now, not many people would share my enthusiasm here (other than you Az) but we had organized tickets to see Billy Joel. Dan, whilst not a fan, came along with me. I had missed seeing him the last couple of times he had come to Perth so this opportunity was too good to pass up. His concert was sold out and it was great, although we would have been some of the youngest people there, we didn’t care, we had great seats.
We headed home after the concert to invite Whitey in (the B&B cat), who made himself at home in about two seconds.

3rd November, Lake Louise – Banff, AB

I couldn’t find my beanie so the first thing today was to buy a touk (Canadian for beanie). We went into a shop and an aussie served us. This is very common close to the snow fields in Alberta and British Columbia. We got chatting and he came from Yarram (50km from Foster), played for Foster Football Club and knew Boka. It’s a small world! With new beanie in hand we went back up to Lake Louise with one aim – to re-capture a photo that sits pride of place in the Wehrle house hold in Lesmurdie. It’s a great shot of Az, Renae and Lauren with an ice covered Lake Louise and snowy Mount Fairview.
Now they can have matching sets!! It’s hard to believe a few years ago they were standing in the same spot in awe of the mountains and blue from the cold.

We ended up walking along the edge of Lake Louise to the where the glacial fed stream runs into it. One tip – be careful while walking on the ice! The track was somewhat slippery in places. It snowed on us lightly for the entire walk and I am impressed with Tan’s “I’m okay in the cold now” outlook!
The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is an uber expensive hotel with great views but it looks a bit out of place sitting on the lake edge. In a way it ruined the view looking back.

We did the drive along the quieter and slow paced route along the Bow Valley parkway. It was one of the roads where you are almost guaranteed to see wildlife. Even at slow speeds were saw only one squirrel. Damn...

On arrival in Banff, we went straight up Mount Norquay and people were already skiing! In Banff town and it was a busy Saturday afternoon, deep with tourists. Something I am not a big fan of. Banff Ave is great as it is set against the backdrop of the snow covered mountains.
We ended up eating at a Japanese restaurant with a Canadian Pacific sushi train. My first pick was a six out of ten with BBQ’ed eel sushi roll. We had a great cheap feed which was filling.
That afternoon we went out to the Cave and Basin area, the first inauguarated National Park with the fledgling country of Canada. We watched some squirrels play, walked around the hot springs and sucked in the sulphurous air. The Basin itself, didn't look too appealing, it may have in the early 1900's though.We did a 3km walk around the Marsh Loop which traverses along the banks of the blue Bow River. We had to piff some yonnies onto the frozen lakes as well. This too was highlighted as the place to see big wildlife. No such luck again.
For a change we had a quiet night in the hotel with a quick dip in the hot tub. No foam – the spa part wasn’t working!