Banff Canada AB

Hello all,

What a very hectic few days....
Sun goes down at 21:30 so by the time we have dinner and get back to the room, shower and get to bed, it's always after midnight and most of the time after 1AM.
Needless to say our intentions of early starts never seem to eventuate!  Mind you, getting up and out at 08:00 still gives us over 12 hours of daylight :)

So, how is Banff I hear you ask.  It is a truly amazing place.  There is so much to see that we easily fill up our long days and get to back exhausted from all the walking and breathtaking sites.
The highlight for us both is a toss up between Lake Louise and Johnston Canyon.  Both incredible for different reasons.

At Lake Louise, we rented a canoe and paddled out into the lake.  The water is an amazing colour.  It's actually aqua.  The view of the mountains on one side and the "chateau" on the other could not have been designed any better.

The place was extremely busy though and we were very lucky to get a car park.  It's school holidays at the moment and being a Saturday as well it was a very busy place.  Lots of nationalities including Italians.  All in all, everyone has been very friendly and take the time out to chat and help if needed.

Johnson Canyon is a different story to Lake Louise but just as beautiful.  It's a very nice leisurely walk through the canyon and in some areas, a pathway has been built out from the side of the canyon.  Just amazing.
We filled up out water bottles from the river and it was incredible to drink.  Absolutely no taste.  Pure as the driven snow...  and so cool.
Interesting fact.  Pets are allowed into national parks in Canada so we often came across many fluffy dogs.  We have even seen them in shopping centres and Safeway.  That's the equivalent of Coles or Woolworths.

We have also visited Lake Moraine which is not too far from Lake Louise.  Again, very very busy spot with a nice walk around the lake to it's source where the glacial waters melt and flow down the valley into the lake.  We took off our shoes and stood in the water.  It is refreshing for about 3 seconds after which time paralysis sets in.  We did see a dog chase sticks in the water but it had a coat that would put any shag pile carpet to shame.  It was a Newfoundland and it was an amazing dog.  If the video link below works, please note the water is just above freezing and the dogs coat, although saturated keeps the skin dry.

Back at Banff, we hire bicycles and rode for about 4 hours around the area and up to Sundance Valley. There, we walked for a while to another small waterfall and drank some more of that beautiful refreshing cold glacier water.  We did come across a heap of mosquitoes here which did spoil the trip a bit but not too much.
On the way back, we came across a bunch of people on horses out on a trail ride which really made Connie's day.  She was able to pat one and spoke with the tour leader.  Mind you, I can't convince her to go for a ride herself but I'm working on that.

O dear.  So much more to say and so little time left to sleep.....

The weather has been hot much to Connie's delight.  The day starts off around 12 but quickly jumps up to the high 20's which made our walk to Tunnel Mountain so much harder today.  We were told it was worth the walk because of the great views we would get of Banff and the surrounding area.  It is true as you can see by the photos but is was a killer walk.  We climbed around 240 metres in height over 2.3 kilometres.  Not the most comfortable of walks but worth it once we got there.  Well at least that's what we kept telling ourselves....

I will leave you with some photos of Banff, the Chateau (Better known as Fairbank Banff Springs@$400 per night minimum) and the golf course.  We hope to catch up soon.  In the meantime keep posting comments.  We do read and enjoy them.  O, I have also included some photos from the Banff Gondola.  Yes, I did get Connie to go up in it.  Here's a couple of snapshots.  Not sure she will appreciate a couple of them, lol.

I'm sure there is other sites and stories I have missed but we have honestly done so much in just 4 days it is really hard to keep up.

Mr Clair, you reapplication form should be with you shortly and the executive will take a vote once I return.  Cheers everyone.

:-) :-) :-)