Hiltons in Canada 2018

Last day in Ottawa. Slow start. Breakfast then pack up. Store bags and go out for walk. Buy mandatory been-there t shirt. Bit more shopping then pick up bags and head to station. Go 100yards and Judy realises doesn’t have her backpack. Reverse up, get bag and off again. 2 hour train trip to Montreal. A few hassles getting subway to Place d’Armes, but finally arrive at apartment. Quite good on 13th floor of apartment building on edge of old Montreal area. Settle in and Judy excited to do her first load of washing. Out to dinner and where do you eat in the French Canadian province? Chinatown! Boiled and fried dumplings. Best ever! 1st day in Montreal. Head out to explore old Montreal. First to Place d’Armes the sight of Maisonneuve’s victory over the Iroquois Indians. Then Notre-Dame cathedral. Huge queue so decide to come back later. Head off to the old port area. Lots of historic buildings, great old architecture, restaurants and pubs and tourists. This is where Canada day celebratio...

Thursday. Really good day today. Start out early after breakfast and Oscar’s piano accompaniment. First to parliament to try to get in-demand tour tickets. Get some for 2:20 session. Then just in time for changing of the guards ceremony in front of parliament. Spectacular display of very British process. Pipe band, brass band, lots of guards, precision marching etc. took about half hour. Next go down to locks to watch boats climbing up into Rideau Canal. Apparently takes each boat about 1.5 hours to climb up through 6 locks. Catch water taxi across river, coincidentally crossing into Quebec province with the border in middle of river. Go to fascinating Mosaiculture exhibition in Jacques-Cartier Park. From a distance this looks like topiary animals, but is actually shapes built with framework then covered in flowers. Fascinating process. Massive wire frames in general shapes. Then small “buckets” of compacted soil are attached. Whole thing covered in fabric membrane. Then small holes...

First day we arrived at B&B early and found it was ok to check in. Lillian and Oscar hosts in old multi story heritage house. Lillian very talkative and explained the house rules etc at length. Very pleasant and welcoming. Our room on 3 level with narrow stair cases to lug bags up, but with Oscar’s assistance. Funny old fashioned room. Quite big with ensuite. Bit like big attic room. Out exploring. Find Byward Market area. Lots of market shops, fruit, veggies, meats, cheeses,delis bakeries etc. Have lunch in ubiquitous Irish pub. More exploring.big shopping centre. Pretty tired so buy bread rolls, ham, cheese, tomatoes, wine. Steal salt, pepper, plastic knife from food court. Home for picnic in room and early bed. Next day, breakfast with another guest family while Oscar plays very good light jazz piano in adjoining room. Nice way to start day. Out again to explore parliament precinct. Get on hoho bus and do 1.5 hour tour which is good. Back to parliament precinct and spend hour ...

Back on train this morning for short trip further up the St Lawrence river to Brockville. Check into 1000 Islands B&B. Nice older well maintained house in tree lined street. Leave bags and head out exploring. Wander along shopping streets with interesting shops, cafes, restaurants  etc. bit of a country town feel. Have breakfast at little old fashioned bakery. Lots of fantastic old architecture. Can’t stop taking photos of buildings. Walk down to waterfront where there is a marina with lots of expensive looking boats, plus a couple of tall ships. Big park lining the river bank. Next check out the train tunnel which is supposedly the oldest in Canada now an historical item but also a thoroughfare under the town’s streets. Next do a 1.5 hour cruise on the river around the “1000 islands”. Actually 1800odd islands along the river. All sizes, some privately owned with houses, some public parks, many just islands. Pass by lots of big houses lining the river. Really good cruise. Bac...

Arrived Kingston on upper stretches of Lake Ontario and mouth of St Lawrence, early afternoon after good train trip from Toronto. Check in and head off walking around town. Interesting town of around 100,000. Apparently reasonably affluent city where university & jails are main employers. Quite British in appearance with interesting streetscapes. More Irish pubs and churches per square mile than Dublin by the look of it. Also quite a few Cambodian/ Thai restaurants. Lots of shops and many open on Sunday. Quite a few big grand buildings - town hall, churches etc. very little modern architecture with many examples of historic and ornate architecture. Had intended cruise here but bad reviews so will do from Brockville tomorrow which has good reviews and cab driver here agreed.

Toronto, or Trono as we locals say. Here the locals say that the 2nd T stands for Tourist. Quite good flight from Vancouver. Check into Fairmont Royal York hotel. Good big old grand hotel. 3 hour time difference threw us a bit and found us staying up until 1am and getting up at 10.  First day, Judy still sick so did the hop on hop off thing which minimised required walking. Good overview of city. Dinner in ordinary Italian place near hotel. After dinner drink in the hotel’s library bar, comfortable old style bar. Meet server Michael who becomes a great source of info. Recommends 3 restaurants and some things to do. Next day get back on hoho bus (48 hour tickets) to visit some places drove past yesterday. First St Lawrence markets. Good big markets with everything you can think of fruit, veg, meat, fish, bakeries,  deli’s, all sorts of food outlets, clothes, souvenirs etc. good morning there. Then onto boat cruise (included in hoho ticket) for cruise around Toronto islands...

Catch ferry and bus back from Victoria to Vancouver. Board ship ms Volendam. Good cabin with balcony. Head north through inside passage. Welcome dinner for group in top restaurant on ship. Fantastic quality far exceeding expectations. First stop Juneau. Interesting old town with obvious fishing influence. Huge crab legs being steamed at Tracy’s King Crab House on waterfront. Talk walk around town see statues of politician who organised purchase of Alaska from Russia, governor’s house (no security), ancient Russian church. Drink in the Red Dog hotel furnished with moose heads, bears, guns etc. fun entertainer singing country music. Taking piss out of Aussies. “What’s the difference between a canoe and an Aussie?” Wait staff all yell answer “a canoe will tip”. 😏 Next stop Skagway. Bit of a Hollywood film lot look about the town, but the best bit was the trip on the White Pass and Yukon railway. Old train and ride up into mountains along the railway built in late 1800s. Fantastic engin...

Great day. Start with coach trip to Butchart Gardens. Fabulous private botanic gardens started 100 years ago in site of quarry. Great breakfast in beautiful room in gardens. Then set out on walking exploration of gardens. Many acres of garden with all sort of flowers and trees imaginable. Immaculate lawns. Check it out on YouTube. Back to hotel to get ready for afternoon activities. Take whale watching cruise. About 1 hour to get out to whales then spend 30-40 minutes whatching Orcas swimming along about 100 metres from boat. Pod of about 15 whales. Really good commentary. First siting of this pod this year. Crew on board very excited with this siting as were we. Back to hotel for farewell dinner for this section of tour.

Bus from Whistler along the Strait of Georgia to Horseshoe Bay. Here board ferry to Nanaimo passing Bowen island. From Nanaimo by coach again to Victoria. Stop on way at small town, Chemainus. Town beautified by many murals. Arrive Victoria and check into Delta Pointe hotel overlooking Victoria harbour. Walk into town and explore government sector with fabulous government building and nearby Empress hotel. More exploring with drink at Irish Times hotel and then dinner at Chinatown. Back to hotel to enjoy sites of Victoria by night.

Start the day at the First Nations cultural centre run by local tribes Squamish and Lilwat. Provided breakfast which included their traditional bread, bannock. After this, a tour of the centre conducted by a young Squamish woman, including singing, stories, film. Very interesting. A few hours free time spent exploring Whistler village. Pretty town with lots of shops, restaurants, pubs etc. Late afternoon go for tour in Jeep. Up a long dirt road, many kms, to the top of the mountain. Massive piles of snow, some new today. Pine trees with snow covered branches. Mountain 2000 feet high. Get out at top with great views of Whistler far below, ski runs, gondolas, chair lifts etc. Walk on snow and sink past ankle deep. Great guide with lots of info about area and skiing industry. He works in emergency response in ski season rescuing and treating injured skiers. Back to dinner in Irish pub. One in every town.

Big driving day today. Mainly scenery watching, some on board games, trivia etc. Stop for coffee at Merritt, country music capital of Canada. Apparently have a big annual festival. Also stop at Shannon Falls - a huge impressive waterfall. Arrive at Westin hotel in Whistler. Raining. Dinner in hotel and then watch Tigers lose to Cronulla on iPad.

Travel today from Jasper to Kamloops. Tomorrow to Whistler. Most of day on bus. Leaving Jasper we see elk cows with new born fawns. Also on way see grizzly bear on road side. Stop near Mt Robson, highest mountain in Rockies. Drive to Blue River and get into 10 man canoes. 2 joined together like catamaran. Travel around river and lake looking for bears that live in this area. Pleasant trip but zero bears. See osprey in nest. Lunch there then on to Kamloops. Long drive and arrive at South Thompson Inn. Different part of Kamloops from last time we were here. Other side of river in rural area. Inn is set in farmlands by river and looks like horse stud with lots of white fences. Horses, sheep, llama. Got to feed llama by hand. Golf course next to hotel. Dinner in hotel.

Tour today to Lake Maligne. Drive to Maligne gorge where we see huge waterfall where water has cut a channel through the rocks forming a series of falls and eddy pools. Local guide explains history of its formation. Also points out various local plants and flowers. Many of the pine trees in this area are attacked by pine beetle which burrows into trunk and prevents tree getting nutrients and kills it. Dead and dying trees become fire hazard in summer. Back on bus and on our drive, 2 deer run across road in front of bus. Also stop at one point to watch 2 bears walking through bushes about 100 metres away. See eagle in tree top nest. Next to cruise on Maligne Lake. Massive lake surrounded on sides by mountains and pine forests. Stop at small Spirit Island which is actually a small peninsula in the lake, sometimes cut off when water level high. Sacred site for First Nations. Great scenery. Travel back and stop in Jasper town for look around.  Dinner tonight is lakeside bbq with per...

Up at 4am to watch state of origin. Last morning in Lake Louise. On bus to Jasper. First stop is the ice fields. Get onto a huge ice bus with massive tyres and drive up onto the Athabasca Glacier. The glacier is 1 km wide, 2km long and 300 metres deep. Solid ice. Very cold up there with the wind blowing off the ice fields across the glacier. Have a great time walking around on the glacier. Not slippery is it might seem as a surface of chopped up ice. Next to glacier skywalk. One of those ridiculous glass platforms hanging out from the edge of the cliff over the valley floor 300metres below. I had small walk on it and Judy walked right around. Don’t get the point as the view is no different from just looking over the edge. Continue on to Jasper stopping to look at the Athabasca falls. Been looking for bears for days and despairing. Then when nearing Jasper suddenly see bear walking along not far from side of ride. Very exciting. Managed quick photo. Then not long after see a wolf stalk...

 First off today we meet up with local guide for short waterfront walk and talk about the lake, mountains, glaciers and local history. Very informative and entertaining. Then onto bus to Lake Moraine. Beautiful blue lake surrounded by mountain peaks. Seven peaks valley. The moraine is the pile of rocks and other debris pushed down the mountain side by the glacier. Spent some time exploring there. Then drove onto lake Louise village which is a tiny centre of about 5 shops. Bought some things to have dinner in room as dinner tonight not included and chance to have simpler lighter dinner. FaceTime with Kate and Lara. Now off for walk around lake.

Another relaxed start. Breakfast then “meet the Mountie” which was good. Had interesting stories about history of Mounties and his time in the force. Then on to bus. Drive to Sulphur Mountain for gondola ride to top. I was brave and looked out at view on way up. Great view from top plus lots of good info. After this, back to Banff town centre for quick lunch. On to bus to Lake Louise. On way look out for wildlife and encounter elk buck grazing by roadside. Still had a bit of his winter coat to come away and still had the velvet on his antlers. Quite exciting. On to the hotel at Lake Louise and  open blinds in room to fantastic view of the lake, mountains and glacier. Dinner in hotel tonight.

Sleep in. Breakfast at 9:30 in huge breakfast room. The hotel is huge in the old grand resort hotel style. After breakfast go for walk around hotel grounds which are massive surrounded on all sides by spectacular snow capped mountains. Walk down to the golf course beside the river. Top grade course ($200 a game). Then around the river to a rushing waterfall. Walk into town and check out the town centre. Lots of shops and restaurants. Buy obligatory t shirts. Back to hotel and onto bus for Banff discovery tour. Drive around visiting various points of interest with interesting commentary about Banff and national park facts and history. Back in time for quick rest shower and on to dinner in one of the restaurants in the hotel. Quite good Italian.

Another early start. A day of magnificent scenery. Lakes, rivers banked by farmlands, mountains, huge cliffs. Rushing rivers of crystal clear glacial water, even acqua at times. Some bears. Judy saw 3, me only 1. Also some elk and eagles. And of course, trees. Thousands and thousands of beautiful pines and furs. Train ride fantastic. Amazing “spiral” tunnels in the mountains allowing the train to turn effectively 90 degrees while climbing. Great service from fantastic crew. Hope photos give some idea of how great it is. I managed to win the poem contest in our carriage😀. Long day. About 14 hours. A few stops to allow other trains to pass. Arrived to Banff to huge castle-like hotel with many rooms. Fell asleep quickly. Today in Banff with tour around area and dinner in Italian restaurant in hotel.

Bags out 5:30. On bus at 7:00 to Rocky Mountaineer train. On board 7:30 after welcome from bagpiper. Slow start through Vancouver suburbs. Then follow Fraser, and later, Thompson rivers. Rivers very full and fast flowing from snow melt. River at highest our guide has seen. First travel through farm lands. Very lush and lots of cows. Great views from train. Next into canyons high above river which is swirling heavily below. Many bridges and some tunnels. After canyons, leave Fraser river and start to follow Thompson. Now very dry looking country with huge white cliffs bounding the river. Eventually reach  Kamloops lake which is huge - 42 kms long. Thompson river continues after lake all the way into Kamloops where we arrive around 7:00. Train trip included much “watering” and feeding. Breakfast at 8:30. Dining room downstairs in carriage. Small so 2 sittings. First drinks service at 11:00 and virtually continuous for rest of day. Lunch at 12:00. Rest of day punctuated with deliver...

Up early for Tai Chi in hotel’s rooftop garden area. Good breakfast in hotel then off for bus tour of Vancouver. First drive through city centre and on to Stanley park. Huge park on edge of city. Very green with dense forests. Stopped to view and hear about story (totem) poles donated to city by First Nations people. Drive through park viewing “beaches”, yacht club, cycle and walking paths, view of bridge, city skyline. Then through residential area along waterfront. Very expensive real estate. Studio apartments start at $1,000,000. Next to great market area on Granville island. Huge food market with everything possible. Also craft shops with lots of Canadian specialties. Granville island site of still operating concrete plant surrounded by market buildings. Back through Chinatown and Gas town which is the historical area. Think of a mix of Rocks and Paddington. Most buildings retained original facades and modernised internals. Lots of pubs, bars, restaurants. Feature of steam operated...