Rocky mountain high (Kelowna and Lake Louise)

I have returned to the keyboard dear reader to provide a compilation of the last two days. We left Kelowna in near perfect weather, the best we have seen so far. The smoke was clearing, the sun was shining and it was heading for a top of 24º. We walked into town to a patisserie to buy some pastries and average coffee. Mission accomplished, it was back to the hotel to pack up and psyche myself up for the 6 hour drive to Lake Louise. 

Although I haven't been able to view my ball-busting butch Jeep Wrangler in the same way since Danaka told me it's the Barbie car. Barbie did not drive the four-door. That's all I'm saying on the matter.

The drive allowed us both time to reflect on things we had discussed but had not made their way into previous posts.

Indicators

Or blinkers as we would say in Australia. They are not orange but red like the rest of the break light and are easily missed. There are some cars that have the orange plastic, but most have had them swapped out for all red light indicator systems. The Australian system is much safer. Then again, the use of indicators in Canada like the speed limit, appears to be optional.

Canadian Food

Surprise fries? No they are chips.

Breakfast is a very strange affair. Granola with muesli is rare, toast non-existent and even regular pastries are few and far between. They have been replaced by breakfast sandwiches, savoury pastries and muffins - bacon and sun-dried tomato muffins - this is not breakfast food people. 

Then there are fries and chips, a term used almost interchangeably at home. Not so here. Chips are crisps and, yes, they can be served with dinner as Jayne discovered one night. Fries are of course french fries. When you read the menu and it describes the dish as a "burger and chips" it is a simple mistake to make ... if you are from out of town.

The other stand out is their love of Caesar Salad. It is on almost every menu and can be customised to your liking. I don't mind a Caesar, but this is love.

The drive itself was long and difficult in parts. The weather was variable, as alpine weather can be, so we had sunshine, we had cloud, we had rain. The temperature got down as low as 10º at one point. Summer? Apparently. It's warmer in an Australian (Sydney) winter. The real problem was the amount of construction, read road works if you are in Australia. It went forever. And then some. 

Most of the roads were dual lane with periodic overtaking lanes. In between there were double unbroken lines, even when you could see quite a distance ahead. The message was clear - don't overtake unless there is a designated lane. There was a consistent line of traffic both ways but it was generally moving close to the speed limit despite the presence of a number of heavy vehicles.

From our point of view there was little point in trying to overtake unless you could get past a number of vehicles using the designated lane method since there were always more vehicles up ahead.  You had to go with the flow. Others however had a different perspective and thought they could make a serious gain by trying to overtake a single vehicle - we saw two suicidal attempts at this from two different vehicles (one an "N" plate driver which in Canada is the equivalent of a P Plate). One had to force his way back into the stream when he ran out of time with oncoming traffic approaching and the other actually held the line until the oncoming car veered to the side of the road to avoid a collision! We held our breath both times.

We kept scanning the sides of the forests for any presence of bear or moose but none were visible. Mind you our wine tour guide in Kelowna told us that in sixteen years of driving around the area, he had only seen one moose. We did however see a deer gingerly crossing the road fairly early on in the trip and a long horn sheep on the road side just out of Golden.

When we finally arrived at the Lake Louise Fairmont Resort, the front desk girl who checked us in inquired about our trip and when we said it had taken longer because of the road construction work, she actually said we were lucky since the road we were travelling is closed regularly due to fatal head on collisions, although she blamed it on truck drivers.  Our experience was that the truck drivers were not at fault at all.

Long trains

We have had the opportunity to observe several trains snaking their way along the rail lines that are also cut into the mountain side. They are incredibly long and yes, I know, we have the very long coal/iron ore trains out in the sticks, but these could be equally long; I've never seen both ends of the one train. On the drive up, we turned off onto a lesser highway and there was a train line next to us. On it was an aforementioned very long train. I'm not sure how far back it stretched. Imagine getting to a level crossing thought I and then noticed the car behind me was travelling unCanadianly close to me. So I increased my speed, we passed the train and about a kilometre down the road we crossed the rail line. Very glad I didn't have to wait and get to see how long the Canadian trains actually are.

Cliches

Aside from that we saw many Canadian cliches. Logs corralled and floating on the river at a saw mill. Logs laid out to dry. Stacks and stacks of logs, piled high. Logging trucks. Mountains that reached into the cloud cover. The snow capped rocky mountains (and thank you to John Denver for his 1972 song. It's really more about self-discovery and references Colorado, but, you know, it worked).

Lake Louise

We arrived at Lake Louise to cloud and light rain. The view from our room is pretty tidy and as I noted on Facebook as I checked in last night, it is a once in a lifetime experience. For a whole host of reasons. Not the least of which is the price of the hotel and everything in it - you are a captive and it is priced accordingly.

The level of advice from the Concierge and other staff appears to be based on an answer the question only scenario, do not offer any further information. Curiously, I thought that was what the Concierge did, not here. For example: we wanted to get into the Lake Louise village and asked about the walk. We were told it was about 4kms, not a pleasant walk and all uphill on the way home. At no point did they mention that there is a complimentary shuttle from the hotel to the Village. We discovered that ourselves.

Then this morning. There are two restaurants where you can eat breakfast. They offer exactly the same menu, probably cooked by the same chef in the same kitchen. The smallest breakfast? $26 Canadian for a Continental breakfast. All I wanted was a coffee and pastry or granola, but no we were told, that is it. Until later in the day we discovered the 24 hour Deli cafe in the hotel that serves coffee and pastries and doesn't force feed you. Not exactly customer friendly.

The view back to the hotel

From my cynical corner of the world this is about maximising profit. That and the 'we are here attitude, there is no-one else so you have to stay with us'. There are six restaurants in the hotel and the prices at their flagship establishments? Around $50 Canadian for a main, in fact, a pork chop was $51. It must have been massive for that money. Despite the fancy French words they use to describe the dishes ... well, it's overpriced for what you receive and let's not discuss fine dining.

And then ... well it is an old hotel and sound travels, from the outside in  through the windows. That is OK. Also from the corridor into your room and we are near the elevator and I have mentioned before that some nationalities (not naming them, but Aussie crocodiles love them) just don't have, or refuse to use an inside voice. That or they just don't care.  It wasn't overly noisy last night but the intrepid explorers who stay here began early, well before 6am (come on, I'm on holiday) and thought nothing of calling down the hallway to Linde or Linda. It doesn't take much to be aware of other people and be considerate.

After no breakfast this morning, we walked around the shoreline of Lake Louise and watched the numbers swell as the day-trippers arrived. It is spectacular scenery, it's just a shame that the weather hasn't been kinder to us. A blue sky would make this place stunning. Despite the weather there were plenty of walkers around the lake's edge and rock climbers on different rock faces, some easy, some very challenging. The lake itself also became home to red canoes being paddled the length and breadth the water.

We also saw some Canadian wildlife on the walk - some very tame chipmunks who have obviously enjoyed the generosity of human food and so were not adverse to posing for camera toting tourists in the hope of receiving some dietary rewards (despite all the signage telling people how harmful it is to feed the wildlife).  We also saw a ground squirrel.

One of our neighbours

In the afternoon we caught the shuttle down to the village mall. It gives you a 2 hour turn around ... about 90 minutes too long. Again, this is not difficult to work out, why a five star hotel would toy with its guests this way is beyond me. The mall is small, think local suburban shopping centre, and there is not a lot to see. The Information Centre was useful because it provided shelter while waiting for the return shuttle.

The trip did however provide us with something to eat and the opportunity to see the massive number of cars that were trying to access the Lake Louise public car park - which, as we passed by, had reached capacity - it may be a very long drive to then see nothing because you cannot park your vehicle.  Herein lies the monopoly enjoyed by the Chateau Fairmont Resort.  It has exclusive rights to the lake front and if you want to be guaranteed access to the lake, you pay accordingly or else you endure a tour company coach experience - not our idea of a good time.

A ground squirrel ... I think

Until tomorrow ...

Cassandra (Kelowna)

Zen

Kelowna is still shrouded in smoke this morning. We walked into town in search of Pulp Fiction, a coffee shop that Dan had recommended. It was an excellent call as far as the coffee was concerned, not so the service from the distracted girl-child behind the cash register. I'm not sure how you muck up: a blueberry muffin, sausage roll, hot chocolate and an espresso to have here please. Maybe it's my accent. What size coffee, 12 or 18 ounces, she asked? Espresso only comes in one size, so I assumed she was referring to the hot chocolate. 12 ounce please. And what else did you want? A blueberry muffin and a sausage roll. I even gave her a tip.

We take a seat. The muffin arrives 'to go'. No sausage roll. That's cool, I'm patient. My name is called for the coffee. My espresso is in a giant cardboard cup. Sorry, the barista says, it's all we've got. I made no comment but stared silently at the plethora of cups on top of the coffee machine. I negotiated the queue and returned to the table with the coffee and hot chocolate. Still no sausage roll, it obviously wasn't arriving because vacant server didn't order it. Too much to hold in her brain at the one time. Jayne wanted to order another one but I had had enough. A quick calculation revealed that we hadn't been charged for the sausage roll and I'm not sure how she reached the costing she did - I couldn't make it add up. There was a bakery around the corner where I purchased a muffin on the return walk to the hotel. Jayne wanted to call tis post It's a long way to the (top) shop, if you want (to rock and roll) a sausage roll, an Australian spin on the ACDC classic.

Nice view through the vines

The sensational Cassandra at the Delta was wonderful when we arrived yesterday and deservedly has this post named after her and the 1973 hit by Australian band Sherbert. Not only did we get an upgrade to a lake view room, she organised a wine tour for us. I knew next to nothing about the Canadian wine industry and have been very pleasantly surprised by the quality and range of wines.

The wine tour was excellent. Jon from Kelowna Concierge was an excellent host and his local knowledge made the experience that much better. We began at Mission Hill, the 'go to' land mark winery of the area. No expense spared. A total commercial venture. It was everything one should expect. The wine was pretty good too. In terms of tasting, it is conducted differently in Canada. While there is an increasing number of wineries that charge for tasting, in Canada you purchase a set tasting palette for a price.

The next winery, The Hatch, interesting. A barn style space, pressed metal ceilings and equally interesting wines. It is totally cool and the people working here are real. The winery story is awesome and I'm not going to relay it here. Just visit, this place is worth it. The wines are funky and lurking behind the cool facade ... talent and taste and personality. Loved it.

Mission Hill roses. Beautiful. No perfume.

Rollingdale is an organic winery that produces, amongst other wines, ice wine. I've had ice wine from Tasmania that in retrospect was probably dodgy and wouldn't meet the expectations here. The ice wine in Canada needs to exist in 8 degree below temperatures. The ice wine is ace. The other wine was interesting but not our style.

The final stop was the Indigenous Winery. Canada and Australia have a lot in common. Treatment of their First Nation people is not one of those areas. While we wait for our pathetic government to make a decision about a treaty, Canada has moved so far beyond that and areas are owned and controlled by the First Nation people. That said, I wasn't keen on their wine. Sorry.

Piano in the park ... we saw a few of these.

Back at the hotel, it was dinner and drinks and stuff. Nothing special.

Tomorrow is another transit day, Kelowna to Lake Louise. There may be or not a post following the drive.

Until then ...

The Lumberjack Song (Whistler to Kelowna)

The trip from Whistler to Kelowna was fascinating. It is a Geography teacher's dream. The end result is we left a clear sky and traded it for the smoke haze we endured earlier in the week. The rain we had in Whistler which cleared much of the smoke, has not eventuated in Kelowna.

Canada is the second largest country in the world and coming from the sixth largest, Australia, we understand the tyranny of distance better than most. Today we spent almost six hours driving. Large, yes; similar to Australia, not so much.

We left Whistler and drove further into the mountains so the alpine features continued. Eventually this gave way to glacial valleys and massive scree slopes. They varied, as we drove, from huge rocks,  the size of small cars, to fine gravel, and at times, sand or dirt. The river we followed snaked its way across the country. At one point it was almost blocked by a log-jam. It was almost a text book picture. The river flowed on, but the surface debris was captured. I'd never seen anything like it before.

The valleys carved by glaciers were complemented by those made by rivers. The differences were obvious. The U shape of the glacier that carved the landscape as opposed to wider V shape of the river valley. The river valleys had the usual flat land where lucerne was grown, or fruit and vegetables. There were many road side stalls selling what ever produce was local.

What was interesting as we drove, were the smaller settlements - those spaces where there were intermittent clusters of dwellings. The houses seemed to be temporary in nature, mobile home style, and invariably were accompanied by several derelict cars. A scene that was repeated over and again along the road we travelled. It reminded me of the abandoned cars on the Sturt Highway in Australia. Back home these communities would have been signified by a name on a sign - not so here.

At one point looking across the lucerne paddocks and the mobile irrigators, I mused that we could have been in Australia, except for those massive mountains of pine trees in the background. And then we were ascending again, back into the fir trees and alpine climate.

In the midst of the landscape there were occasional sites where logging had occurred and we drove behind several huge logging trucks along the way.  Hence today's title dear reader. Uninspiring? Perhaps. But at some point it had to make an appearance. It is, after all, quintessentially Canadian - via Monty Python. They didn't seem to be as rabid as the cowboy coal truck drivers who intimidate other road users on Appin Road. Going uphill, we actually managed to pass a couple of these trucks and not get mown down subsequently on the next downhill section.

And so we wended our way from Whistler through Lillooet and then Lytton, Merrit and finally onto Kelowna.  We stopped once at Lytton to get petrol having ascertained what grade fuel we needed, what side the petrol tank was located and how to open it. All seemed well until it became apparent that you had to pay for the petrol before you pumped it into the tank. An interesting concept since you might ask how one is supposed to know how much petrol one needs until one has actually filled the fuel tank???

Jayne fronted the counter staff on this conundrum to be told we had to nominate an amount - $40 was the agreed sum which in fact diddled them out of additional revenue as we actually would have purchased more fuel than we did, if we had known how much we needed to fill the tank ...

The road was generally good all the way through, so my concern about driving such a large car on the wrong side of the road was largely unfounded. For most of the journey the road was carved into the side of a mountain which followed the river below. On the more major roads overtaking lanes were reasonably frequent, although not on the minor ones. 

There was one section just out of Lillooet where the road narrowed to one lane and was scratched onto the side of the mountain. Thankfully we didn't meet anyone coming from the other direction since the roadside instruction was to give way to whoever arrived first. Again, not sure how the sequence of arrival would have been determined but shortly after this, a passenger bus came the other way so probably size would have been the telling factor in the contest had it occurred on the one lane stretch and we would have lost.  

The hotel in Kelowna is on the lake and we were upgraded to a lake view room. Nice. And given a complimentary wine tasting in their tasting room in the lobby. Better. Finally, dinner prices returned to a more reasonable level after the inflated prices of Whistler. Best.

Sunset through the smoke

After dinner we went back to our room, turned off the air-con and opened the doors to enjoy the breeze and the evening. Sounds pleasant doesn't it? It was delightful, until the bugs invaded and covered the ceiling. Jayne called reception and asked them to send up some spray to dispatch them to the nether world. Instead we got Ryan and a vacuum cleaner. He proceeded to vacuum the bugs up, carefully and painstakingly whilst giving us a lesson in the entomology of the region - sand flies are apparently called fish flies here. Whatever they are called, Jayne and the little flies don't get on, as we found out on North Stradbroke Island many years ago. So she assisted Ryan in the bug spotting till all were sucked away.  In all my travels, I can't say that I have experienced that before.  The doors will remain closed tomorrow evening no matter how balmy the weather.

Until tomorrow ...

Forever young (Whistler)

A stunner of a day

This is the final post from Whistler and it contains a few reflections, not just on Whistler but on things we have observed on this trip. I'm sure you remember J.M.Barry's classic tale, Peter Pan, my literature loving reader. Whistler is Never Never Land, the place that Peter returned to time and again with the Lost Boys so that he wouldn't have to grow up. 

Whistler is like that. It is full of people avoiding life, adulthood, responsibility. There is no one country that wins this competition, although if it were an Olympic event, Australia would certainly be in medal contention. The majority of work is fractional and many people are employed in a number of different places to make ends meet. Most jobs are hospitality related, many pay below award wages so relying on tips is essential. It is very much a work to party culture. This is well beyond work to live. After the party ends, and it will end someday, there is nothing to fall back on. The cost of living here is extreme, particularly rent. On the weekend just gone, the weather was (for this time of year) appalling, the bars and pubs and cafes were packed from morning till well into the night. While this lifestyle might appeal for a while, even Peter Pan gave up the pursuit of being forever young. And with that we cleverly link to today's title. There are many versions of this 1984 Alphaville song but my favourite is Youth Group (2005), and a song regularly featured on The O.C.

The same view as the last two mornings

The base of the ride

Our final full day here dawned an absolute stunner, blue skies and no cloud. Perhaps it was a little quieter than the weekend, that, or everyone is up on the mountain. We wandered the Village and ended up back at Purebread for breakfast. The pastries are delectable. I even had them make me an upside down Americano coffee, like we make coffee in the rest of the known world, water first then coffee shot. It wasn't bad, but should've gone for a double shot. Then we took a few photos of the Village and surrounding mountains and just enjoyed the sunshine and the warmth in preparation of the Peak to Peak walk.

As we strolled the Village Stroll, I was forced to ask, not for the first time since we have been away, why do some people need to shout when the person they are talking to is standing next to them. This affliction appears to be indiscriminate in terms of gender, but seems to be a market cornered by a few specific nationalities. It is a problem that occurs outside as well as in the confines of a bar or restaurant. In reality it is little more than an inability to consider anyone else, much like the right wing of the Australian Liberal Party. Happily it is a minority and not everyone else is shouting their conversations, just like the right wing of the Liberals represents a minority of privileged white middle class men who are out of touch with reality. I'm looking you Tony Abbott and company.

This is for you Cait

The glorious morning melted into an equally glorious afternoon and we decided to brave the crowds and the queues (well Dan did) and we secured tickets for the Peak to Peak gondola and the Skybridge. It would appear that my previously irrational fear of heights has almost disappeared. Although it would have been truly tested on the Skybridge which, unfortunately, had just closed by the time we made the summit.

The Skybridge

Despite the altitude it really wasn't that cold up there and the crowds of people that had been lining up all day had amassed on various parts of the mountain top. The Gondola ride from peak to peak is a feat of engineering. It is almost 4.5km in length and the longest unsupported span is over 3km and it is 436m above the valley floor. It is a remarkably smooth ride and the lines moved quickly and efficiently, especially on the trip back as it was nearing closing time.

The queue for the gondola back down the mountain to Whistler was enormous and as we moved toward the gate we watched the queue ebb and flow until at one point it had doubled back on itself and it was difficult to see the end. Again, the line moved quickly given the hundreds of people waiting for a ride for back down to earth.

The ski runs look like a golf course

Don't step out the door unless it's been snowing

The view from the top

The view from the gondola

On the way down I saw a bear foraging in the undergrowth. He was golden in colour. Danaka said the colour of the fur probably meant he was big and old. Cool. My first exciting piece of Canadian wild life. The geese do not count.

Today is a transit day as we say goodbye to Dan and Danaka and move from Whistler to Kelowna. The maps suggest it is around 5 hours 30 minutes so no doubt it will take me longer, which means there may or may not be a post tomorrow.

Until then ...