Banff Ptarmigan Inn Hotel

... that i would not be eating well, would just have noodles and pasta pesto(my speciality). But after joining the "safeway club" and becoming a "valued member of nesta" i have managed to narrow down some really good deals. a whole cooked roast chicken for 7 dollars, 2 steaks for 6 dollars and 16 sausages for 4 dollars! so to say i have been here two weeks and already had 2 steak dinners without having them in ...

... on our way to Sulpher Mountain. We took the gondola to the top of the mountain, which was a new experience much enjoyed by some family members. Later we relaxed in the Sulpher Hot Springs, visited the Banff Springs Hotel and the rock gardens. The day finished with supper and some shopping and driving back to Calgary.

... all then kicked out by the park rangers and we weren't supposed to have alcohol.. but we just went back to the hostel to party some more! It was a good laugh, especially when we got a group photo with one of the young Britts who fell asleep on the toilet with his pants down, but his boxers on - interesting! After Shuswap we headed to Banff for a night, on the way picking up this Dutch family which had a 14 year old and a 17 year old.. and the parents were probably in ...

Nakusp to Banff Last night we arrived at Nakusp, according to Lonely Planet, 'a small town wwith enough charisma of its own to warrant a visit'. The town, like many I guess, is set beside a picturesque lake with a backdrop of dramatic snow capped peaks. The main reason for our visit was twofold; first a convenient midway point between the Okanagan valley and the Rocky tourist town of Baanff. And, second, it ...

... could set the kids free amongst the whole hostel to play in the games room annoy the swedish backpackers and eat other hostellers food(just kidding) So we never planned to ski Here but so glad we did we had 10cm overnite of new snow so a great day and nakirra had her 1st ski lesson, Keelan not interested yet.

... turquoise. We only went as far as Saskatchewan River Crossing where there is gas (I'm cottenin' on to this lingo!!), food and lodgings near the confluence of the Saskatchewan, Howse and Mistaya rivers and turned around and came back to Lake Louise. The scenery in Canada is very beautiful with the mountains covered in glacial ice possibly thousands of years old. We could see the scars on the mountains where avalanches had taken all in ...

... the Great Depression, were just being planted with flowers, so a month or so from now they will be brilliant...so I guess we just got there too early in the seaon. Afterward, we visited a museum of the Northern Plains Indians, with artifacts that were collected over a hundred years ago. Then we took the gondola to the top of Sulpher Mountain to see Banff from above. What a view!

... was closed due to ice, which was exciting. We reached the Bow falls which are spectacular, and again Mhairi nearly fell on the ice. Then we walked up the hill to the Fairmont Banff Springs which is a massive hotel protruding from dense forest. It's very luxurous inside, we had a short wander through it. What was more amazing about it was that it opened in 1888. It's incredible to think that they managed to build such an incredible building in the middle of the ...

... we noticed a coyote on the side of the road. We pulled over and watched the coyote sunning itself just along the tree-line, before it became weary of us and strolled away. The massive Columbia Icefield was next on our itinerary. It covers 325km², is up to 350m deep and its melt-waters feed three oceans. It is the largest accumulation of ice south of the arctic. From the icefield flows 6 glaciers, the biggest being the Athabasca Glacier ...