23.5.10

a few mountains with a sprinkling of lakes

The up-in-the-air itinerary has been resolved. It appears that the unaccounted for seven days include things like helicopter flights and visits to glaciers! Whoohooo!So I'm now worrying about which winter woolies to pack....
Here's the itinerary
16 June - Leave CT
17June - Arrive in Vancouver where we spend two days looking for Mounties, markets, maple syrup, WiFi and craft shops. By the way, how cool is Googlemaps?
Sat 19 Jun -Overnight at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
Sun 20 June- Exclusions Attractions Pass- North Shore Capilano & Grouse Mountain Tour
Mon 21 Jun  - Travel onboard the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Kamloops. Highlights include the rushing waters of Hell’s Gate in the Fraser Canyon and the steep slopes and rock sheds along the Thompson River. Overnight in Kamloops.
Tue 22 Jun - Kamloops to Banff  -Our journey continues eastwards to the mighty Canadian Rockies and the province of Alberta. Highlights include Craigellachie, where the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven, Rogers Pass, the Kicking Horse Canyon, the Spiral Tunnels and the glaciers and snow-capped peaks of the Canadian Rockies.
Wed 23 Jun -Banff

We spend the entire day exploring Banff National Park on our own.( Feel my immense sigh of relief here) Optional activities include a nature walk on nearby mountain trails, visiting Banff’s historic museums, cruising on Lake Minnewanka (excuse me?)or playing a round of golf at The Fairmont Banff Springs (eh, nothanks). Overnight at the Banff Caribou Lodge & Spa.

Thu 24 Jun - Banff to Lake Louise -We enjoy a half-day tour into Yoho National Park.
 Ohmygod....if I just get one shot like this I can die a happy woman.

Among the attractions are the Spiral Tunnels, Emerald Lake (pictured above) and a natural rock bridge that spans the Kicking Horse River. Upon arrival in Lake Louise we will be treated to a one-hour guided lakeshore stroll. For the remainder of the afternoon we can flake out or if we have enough energy try and post a blog entry. Overnight at The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.

Fri 25 Jun - Icefields & Glaciers Experience -We'll enjoy a full-day motorcoach tour along the Icefields Parkway. Upon arrival at the Columbia Icefield we will take a ride on an Ice Explorer to the middle of the Athabasca Glacier. Continue through the magnificent Canadian Rockies to Cline River for the highlight of the afternoon, a 25-minute helicopter flightseeing tour above six glaciers. Eish. Baie eish.
A visit to a local ranch and BBQ lunch is also included. Yeehaw! Overnight at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.

Sat 26 Jun - Lake Louise to Calgary with Summit Helicopter -We'll begin the morning with a sightseeing tour of Banff. Among the points of interest are Bow Falls, Lake Minnewanka, Surprise Corner and the Hoodoos. A trip on the Banff Gondola is included. Continue on to Kananaskis for a 12-minute Summit Helicopter Tour (!!!)over the remarkable landscape of the Rockies, before our transfer to Calgary.

Sun 27 Jun - Calgary -We check out the one hotel, into the other and fetch the hire car from the airport---the thought paralyses me now but by then we'll probably either be too exhausted to worry or terribly gung ho after all the helicopter rides and glacier walks.

Sun 27 Jun -Wed 30 Jun -Calgary - Plenty of time to track down some breweries, mounties, quilt material, WiFi and maple syrupy, red-leaved souvenir shit for friends and family.

So just a few mountains then....and a sprinkling of lakes. I hope we get to see lots of mounties too...preferably one like this...remember Due South?

Yum. A cute Mountie standing in front of a  mirrored lake reflecting mountains would be an absolute bonus!
I have no idea how much of this I'll be able to blog but I promise I'll give it my best shot.

Portico Quartet- 'Line' (slow loading but worth it, I reckon)

8 comments:

Val said...

I am counting on meeting that cute Mountie. You will have to stand in line, my girl! Elders first!!! :)
Great job on locating all the links.
We still have to work out our password ...
Love you!

Litchi said...

The codeword, you mean? So that we don't end up trying to push each other out the helicopter as it hovers over snow capped peaks?Lol
How about 'Due South'? ;-p

Jocelyn said...

Trust you to be thorough with every second of your itinerary! That is impressive and a little scary actually.

Let me know what Alberta is like. Calgary is due north of Edmonton so things should be about the same. We're hoping to get there within the next year.

Photos, don't forget the photos. And of course have an insane amount of fun!

Catsby Cat said...

Ah. There he is! Gorgeous, gorgeous man... Man, your trip sounds absolutely amazing! I think you're going to have a blast and have so many photos you won't know what to do with them. :)

Also, how about Diefenbaker for a password? Heh.

Charleen said...

Oh wow, your holiday sounds amazing. So many photo opportunities! You are going to be in your element.
How cold will it be, seeing as it's summer over there?
Looking forward to hearing all about it.

Litchi said...

Thanks for the comments ladies :)

@J- I copied the itinerary the travel agent gave us and changed the all the 'you's' to 'we's' ;-P And adding the links just got me more and more excited. You're immigrating as soon as next year? Now that's exciting!
@ Sam- Ahh yes....Diefenbaker...good word! So many photo ops- am salivating at the thought.
@ Charleen- We've checked out the ave temps for June and it's pretty mild there. A bit like our autumn temperatures here in the Cape. So I guess plenty of long sleeve T's and layery bits will do.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm sorry this is so random... But did you embed only the music part of youtube videos??? Teach me!

Litchi said...

Hi
Yes, the whole YouTube vid is embedded but I've adjusted the code to cut out the actual video.
The embedded code has to be added in the html editor in blogger.Once that's done, while still in the editor window, change the object height of the image to '25'. You have to do it in two places.

Hope that helps!