Royal Canadian Lodge Banff

... and I met heaps of people that were just staying there. Went out every night, because that's just what you do in Banff! Also went white water rafting down grade 4 rapids - Soooo not even close to the awesomeness of Africa white water rafting, didn't even flip the raft :( Went on a horse ride around the forest which was great on the way, but on the way back a little scary. You see, the problem was I was stuck behind a horse that liked it's own space, and my horse ...

Woke up to sunshine... what more could we ask for?

Today we saw some raggedy mountain goats, a BLACK BEAR, a humongous icefield caravan at the Columbia Icefields, the famous Lake Louise (still gorgeous and serene from when i last came here 17 years ago).

And then there were those awesome jagged mountains staring down at you in every direction, and oh, just a few billion trees scattered everywhere in between - for added effect i suppose, in case you weren't in ...

... the State of Origin and settled in to watch the game. Although because of the time difference we were watching it about 12 hours after the game had finished, so most people knew who had won, but it was still fun to cheer and carry on.

... and Tunnel Mountain (after getting lost because I just can't read maps - and I am a Navigation Instructor in scuba diving ... ;) ...). We wrapped up the day at the Old Spaghetti Factory and some American sitcoms at home. The next day was a glorious again with the sun shining and our hiking boots (or in my case cross-country running shoes) were ready for another challenge: Sulphur Mountain. There is a cable car going up but we wouldn't be we if we didn't hike up (or as ...

... looked just like Bambi. We continued along the road in the morning but only saw ravens. The sky was looking very grey as we got closer to Lake Louise. We turned up the road to visit Moraine lake and the trees were all coated with a fine layer of snow. They looked lovely. I wonder how long it will take before we are sick of the sight of snow covered trees... Even while snowing, Moraine lake is a very pretty colour but we couldn't see the 10 peaks, which is the view they used ...

... I think it was my favourite lake overall! The water was a mesmerizing colour and there were no signs of civilisation to blight the peaks that rose behind it. Stunning - I'm running out of superlatives. We arrived in Banff that night quite late so just went for dinner near where we were staying. The next morning we set off for Sulphur Mountain. Mum and Dad took the gondola up but Nath and I decided to hike the 6km up as it was a beautiful day. At the top the view was ...

... wir haben unser bestes gegeben und maechtig Spass dabei gehabt! :) Chapter 11: Banff National Park 1. - 2. May 2008 Also this time we recommend to look at the pictures. Unlike in Jasper we spent an afternoon in the town of Banff. Highlight of this afternoon were the western photos we got taken. Totally in style of saloon girls we got dressed up in corsages and frills and posed on the bar! we gave our best and had a lot of fun! :)

... of wildlife ... a big horned ram was just standing in the middle of the road! Why are all the animals in Canada so big and dangerous??? On our final day in Banff we went for a beautiful scenic drive to Lake Louise. Along the way we stopped at Johnson's Canyon to see the frozen waterfall ... as Janai said, it looks like Narnia, you expect a half goat half human to trot out from behind a tree at any moment! Lake Louise was very pretty too. I have only ...

... everywhere you look is breathtaking, and the energy of the people is contagious. After a couple nights in Banff, we headed up to Jasper which is equally amazing for different reasons. Along the way, we stopped at Lake Louise and Morraine Lake. Although they were beautiful, the hoards of people and RV's were not mentioned in the brochures. We will spend two nights here in Jasper and then head west to Golden.