(My solo road trip of western Canada – Tuesday 22nd September)
I was told by so many people who I had spoke to before and during my trip that I must visit Moraine Lake, I think you will agree through the photos and the videos that they gave me the correct information, Continue reading “Banff National Park: Lake Moraine…very, very special!”
(My solo road trip of western Canada – Monday 21st September)
Ok, I got up this morning hyped up for a hike, I had drove past Sulphur Mountain yesterday and chose this to be my first hike of the trip, it was excellent and well worth it…much more than I expected. Continue reading “Banff National Park: Sulphur Mountain and Upper Hot Springs”
(My solo road trip of western Canada – Monday 21st September)
Well here I go, the first of my lakes which I believe is the biggest of the lakes in this area. It’s actually huge and quite magnificent, the weather, air and environment was spiritually uplifting and I was so happy to be here and reminding myself of how fortunate I was to be here.
Lake Minnewanka (“Water of the Spirits” in Nakoda) is a glacial lake located in the eastern area of Banff National Park in Canada, about five kilometres (3.1 miles) northeast of the Banff townsite. The lake is 21 km (13 mi) long and 142 m (466 ft) deep, making it the longest lake in the mountain parks of the Canadian Rockies (the result of a power dam at the west end).
Aboriginal people long inhabited areas around Lake Minnewanka, as early as 10,000 years ago, according to stone tools and a Clovis point spearhead discovered by archaeologists. The area is rich in animal life (e.g. elk, mule deer, mountain sheep, bears) and the easy availability of rock in the mountainous terrain was key to fashioning weapons for hunting.
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/banff/visit/les10-top10/minnewanka.aspx
Vermillion Lakes
The Vermilion Lakes are a series of lakes located immediately west of Banff, Alberta, in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
The three lakes are formed in the Bow River valley, in the Banff National Park, at the foot of Mount Norquay. They are located between the Trans-Canada Highway and the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks. A hot spring is found at the third lake.
Cascade Gardens
Cascade Gardens in Banff National Park is a well-landscaped garden with a varied mix of annuals and perennials surrounding the park administrative building.
Parks Canada took over the Brett Sanatorium and Hotel built in the 1880s, when it burned down in 1930 and converted it into the present day gardens. Ontario architect, Walter Beckett, planned the Parks administrative building and the gardens in the ~12 acre site, which was completed in 1935.
http://banffandbeyond.com/escape-the-crowds-of-banff-avenue-in-cascade-gardens/
Fresh handmade pizza from Panago…very tasty, I chose my own, the sauce is butternut chicken Mmmmm!
(My solo road trip of western Canada – Sunday 20th September)
Driving to Banff was truly incredible, very exciting and I was experiencing a mix of emotions. I had heard so much about Banff and there was so much to do and explore. Continue reading ” Road to Banff, Tunnel Mountain and Downtown”
(My solo road trip of western Canada – Sunday 20th September)
Hi everyone, this is the beginning of my 14 day solo driving trip of Western Canada starting and ending in Calgary. Continue reading “Calgary sunset welcome, drive to Canmore and Bow ValleyTrail…”
Niagara Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls that straddle the international border between Canada and the United States. Continue reading “Niagara Falls…part 2”
These are photos from the famous Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls which is about a 10 minute walk (without stopping at any attraction) from top to bottom, where you then reach the sights of the American Falls. There is plenty of things to do and eat here and particularly for children this is a blast, unless you unleash your inner child, patience will have to be on the menu as kids want to do everything…at the same time and then repeat as if they had never done it in the first place!
Arrived in Niagara for a short three day trip. Niagara is a region which is located in southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Niagara has a total population of over 427,000.
Nour’s eldest sister Baria lives in Niagara Falls and her house number is 6919, I am sure you would never find numbers to houses in four digits in the UK, it’s crazy as there are no where near that many houses in the neighbourhood never mind the the road, it’s as if they just keep counting!
It was over a two hour journey from Toronto and the kids were fed up, the heat and the traffic. When we arrived, they liked the house, buzzed off their cousins cool ride driven by Nour and attacked the variety of tomatoes growing in her back garden like little Cornish Seagulls with no hesitation at all…they were happy, very happy! Can’t wait to visit the famous Falls again tomorrow and hopefully have time during our short visit this time to visit Niagara on the Lake, a place we first visited during our honeymoon in 2002.
I would say that if you arrived at this table for breakfast and do not like anything you were definitely at the wrong breakfast table…luckily I was at the right breakfast table and liked many things that were on offer!
Another visit to a Provincial Park to visit close friends who were camping and were on their last day there.
We call them the ‘Saleh’s’ taken from their surname ‘Saleh’, they have been blessed with four daughters and together are a bit of a crazy bunch. They camp a lot as their father (Darwish, or Dan) has a love and admirable passion of fishing and has got everything under the sun you can imagine for a successful and adventurous camping trip, to be honest, if the world ended, as long as he had his army knife, fishing rod and his slick boat he would probably be fine (don’t know about the rest of us though!).
Turned out to be another beautiful day and was a very nice campsite with excellent facilities. The young lady with the fish is Zaynab (or Za Za as they call her, I like to call her the ‘fishinator’) who as you can see has a special relationship with fish that she and her father catch, hard to let go I suppose, a slippy relationship!
Ali Hadi (Rosie’s son) looks proud to show off his catch which he didn’t catch but still makes a nice picture, such an innocent smile!). Then there is my Maryam who courageously accepted the challenge of holding the fish and still managed to pull of her mesmerising smile, oh and by the way, she wants the world to know that this picture was her last day of being four years old. Then there is Sara and Fatimah, cheeky little madams, I am sure they were up to something when I as not looking, wouldn’t you agree?
What do you get if you leave a slice of juicy watermelon near Sara…a slice of juicy watermelon that is asking to be attacked…and I have to say, she does a really good job of it!
And that fish that was caught by the fishinator earlier in the day, extremely tasty when barbecued!
Excellent company, sizzling weather, very fishy fish, juicy, scrumptious corn, long drive for one day but a fantastic day nonetheless and definitely worth it!
http://www.ontarioparks.com/park/balsamlake
