22 July - Friday - Rocky Mountaineer Day 3 - Whistler to Vancouver

G'day All,

Since we had the upgrade and adjoining rooms we utilised both bathrooms and made the most of the space, if only for the night. We decided overnight to do the chair lift to the top of Whistler and also do the Peak 2 Peak gondola ride as well. For someone not keen on heights Penny was getting amongst it with yet another elevated activity :-)

Looking back towards Whistler as we ascend to the top.

At the top of Whistler mountain.

Gold gold gold.

The Peak 2 Peak Gondola is a tri-cable gondola lift located in Whistler, British Columbia that links Whistler Mountain's Roundhouse Lodge with Blackcomb Mountain's Rendezvous Restaurant. It is the first lift to join the two side-by-side mountains. It holds world records for the longest free span between ropeway towers at 3.03 kilometres and highest point above the ground t 436 metres. The Peak 2 Peak Gondola was built by the Doppelmayr Garaventa Group in 2007 and 2008 at a cost of CDN$51 million.

Peak 2 peak looking from Whistler towards Blackcomb mountain.

View from Gondola

Passing another Gondola

It's a long way across and down.

View from the top of Blackcomb Mountain.

Once we got off the gondola we had a look around and noticed a marmot just below the lookout viewing area. This is the animal that Whistler was renamed after, the marmots are abundant on the mountain and surrounding area and make a whistling sound.

 Marmot.

From here we had to head down hill on the ski chair lift, another challenge for Penny with her little legs swinging in the breeze.

Penny wasn't so sure about descending on the ski lift.

After we had our feet firmly back on the ground we did a bit of a walk around Whistler village and then headed back to the hotel ready to catch the bus to drop us back to the train for the last leg to Vancouver.

River on way to Vancouver

Beside the fjord as we head to Vancouver.

The train pulled up in Vancouver and the rocky Mountaineer crew kindly organised a voucher for a taxi from the station to the Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel, for a while it was looking like we would have to carry our luggage a few blocks as this wasn't a regular drop off point. We decided to rest up for the night with the view to do the Hop On Hop Off bus tour of Vancouver in the morning as we didn't need to be at Canada Place at the Port of Vancouver until 12pm to book into the Holland America cruise. So rest up we did.

Cheers
Gary and Penny

21 July - Thursday - Rocky Mountaineer Day 2 - Quesnel to Whistler

G'day All,

Up bright and early and heading for Whistler. The scenery changed quite a bit from Quesnel (with a silent "S") to Whistler, transiting from pastures and forest to arid bare hillsides and chasms and back to forest on approach to Whistler.

Onwards we go . . .

Across the bridges.

Passing the lakes.

To changing landscapes

Through the arid chasms.

And back towards water.

The mountains beginning to change.

Higher the mountains rise, dusted in snow.

Contemplation.

Back into the forest as we enter Whistler.

We arrived in Whistler at checked into the Fairmont Chateau overlooking the Upper Village. When we opened the room we noticed we had no luggage so I went down to the front counter to see what was going on. The concierge said the bags had been delivered to room 507 but we were in room 505, a quick check revealed that we had been booked in to both rooms (?). He organised for our bags to be delivered to 505 and all was well in the world. About 30 mins after we got settled there was a knock at the door where another staff member informed us that we had been given an upgrade and had both 505 and 507 adjoining rooms with 507 more or less being the formal lounge and second bathroom. Sweet gig but only for overnight so we really didn't get to utilise both rooms fully. We did a quick lap around Whistler and decided it was time to seek out a place to eat and what better idea than an Aussie icon, a pie. Owned and operated by Aussies, Peaked Pies will open its second store in Vancouver in a couple of months. The pies were absolutely what we needed to fill (over fill) our bellies, if you find your self in Whistler or Vancouver look them up for a taste of home :-)

Aussie pies in Canada.

Hunger pangs satisfied it was off to bed, tomorrow was a free day until mid afternoon, we had nothing planned so had a look at some things to do but left the decision up to the weather on what we would do as it looked like it may be a sunny day after quite a cloudy trip to date.

Cheers
Gary and Penny

20 July - Wednesday - Rocky Mountaineer Day 1 - Jasper to Quesnel

G'day All,

Today we said farewell to Samantha and Oliver bright and early at 5:30 am and headed to the train station to board the Rocky Mountaineer.

Carriage with a view.

This leg was from Jasper to Quesnel (with a silent 's') and took most of the day to do the trip. Along the way we saw severl townships including "Penny".

Penny Station

View along the train

Drink time.

Here is the dining car serving restaurant quality breakfasts and lunches

We arrived at Quesnel and did a quick tour of town before hitting the sack as it was another early rise to catch the train to the next stop, Whistler.

One of the landmarks of Quesnel

Some big wheels in town.

Quesnel also has some unique painted fire hydrants.

 
Next stop, Whistler.


Cheers
Gary and Penny

Preparing for Canada

It is early days yet as we don't officially depart Australia until the 01 July 2016, but time stops still for nobody and it won't be long before it's upon us.

The tickets are booked and the itinerary is starting to take shape. We'll be flying with Air Canada as they now fly direct and non-stop from Brisbane, Australia to Vancouver, Canada taking about 13.5 hours. Not a bad run really, well for me at least, as Penny is not that fussed on flying :-)

Once we hit Vancouver we'll have an hour or so before catching a connecting flight to Toronto before settling down there for a couple of days. From there it's off to Niagara Falls to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary for a few days before flying to Calgary to meet up with our eldest Samantha and her better half Oliver.

A couple of weeks in Calgary to meet some new friends and take in the Calgary Stampede, Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper before we head out on the next leg of the journey.

From Jasper its time to relax on the Rocky Mountaineer through Quesnel and on to Whistler and Vancouver. From here we hook up with Holland America cruises to head north to Alaska. Seven fun filled days of cruising on the ms Nieuw Amsterdam up the inside passage to Tracy Arm Inlet and back via Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan before returning to Vancouver.

From Vancouver its off to Victoria for a couple of days before returning once again to Vancouver to spend the last couple of days in the city before finishing up the vacation. It's a midnight flight from Vancouver back to Brisbane, losing a day to the international date line and ending 5 weeks of fun and frivolity.

The aim will be to update this blog frequently throughout the trip to keep you up to date on the activities, fun times and I guess all those events that will make the trip one to remember.

So for now, it's time to sign off, finalise the itinerary and secure those bookings, until we get a little closer to the departure date.

P.S. All the bookings mostly done and the tickets, itinerary and paperwork picked up, a big thanks to Samantha at Booval Flight Centre for her insight, enthusiasm and great communication in assisting us with the planning for the trip. :-)

Cheers
Gary and Penny