Because it's quicker than individual replies...
Thanks for all the good wishes on our holiday! We're in Banff and without internet for the week, so only now catching up a little while lunching at a cafe offering free wireless.
So... last day in the Rockies, and we have: visited the town of Banff, driven around lakes and mountains galore, visited specific lakes including Lake Minnewanka (yes, really!), Lake Louise, Moraine Lake (which I actually prefer to Louise), Bow Lake, Peyto Lake (which you can only see from above unless you're a really dedicated hiker) and more. So many of the lakes around here are a brilliant blue-green, because they're glacier-fed. We've seen mountains and waterfalls, and we drove up Icefields Parkway as far as the Columbia Icefields, where we went for a trip on the Brewster Ice Explorer out onto the Athabasca Glacier, and walked on top of it ;) It was COLD! Probably around -4 out on the ice. And in fact it snowed yesterday as we drove through the highest part of the parkway. Snow. In SEPTEMBER!
This is the trip we took on the glacier: http://www.columbiaicefield.com/
We've also visted a factory which makes jewellery from ammolite, a precious stone made from fossils only found in the Rockies. We visited a chocolate factory which has the best chocolate we've had since moving to North America - run by an English guy who uses only Belgian chocolate. And we've looked around shops that actually aren't chains and sell (some) stuff that's even made locally. (Though still way too many souvenirs are made in China). And we've relaxed and had fun.
Tomorrow, off to Victoria - probably warmer weather! And if we have internet I'll be checking in a bit more regularly :)
So... last day in the Rockies, and we have: visited the town of Banff, driven around lakes and mountains galore, visited specific lakes including Lake Minnewanka (yes, really!), Lake Louise, Moraine Lake (which I actually prefer to Louise), Bow Lake, Peyto Lake (which you can only see from above unless you're a really dedicated hiker) and more. So many of the lakes around here are a brilliant blue-green, because they're glacier-fed. We've seen mountains and waterfalls, and we drove up Icefields Parkway as far as the Columbia Icefields, where we went for a trip on the Brewster Ice Explorer out onto the Athabasca Glacier, and walked on top of it ;) It was COLD! Probably around -4 out on the ice. And in fact it snowed yesterday as we drove through the highest part of the parkway. Snow. In SEPTEMBER!
This is the trip we took on the glacier: http://www.columbiaicefield.com/
We've also visted a factory which makes jewellery from ammolite, a precious stone made from fossils only found in the Rockies. We visited a chocolate factory which has the best chocolate we've had since moving to North America - run by an English guy who uses only Belgian chocolate. And we've looked around shops that actually aren't chains and sell (some) stuff that's even made locally. (Though still way too many souvenirs are made in China). And we've relaxed and had fun.
Tomorrow, off to Victoria - probably warmer weather! And if we have internet I'll be checking in a bit more regularly :)