Mr Parmenter's Weblog

Banff

chrisparmenter — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:55:46 +0000

Very much a tourist town, it is still very nice, and I had my first night alone in a bedroom for over two weeks. I leave tomorrow for Clagary, then back to Banff.

The mountain as we drove in to Banff

Athabasca Falls

chrisparmenter — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:50:39 +0000

This is the biggest of the wilderness hostels. We had a meal of Chilli that the manager made for us. The dorm was very nice. A few bears around (smallish black bears – no Grizzlies yet).

Athabasca Glacier

Those small black dots in the middle are tourists hiking on the glacier. There is no way a photo can describe how big these mountains are.

Rampart Creek

chrisparmenter — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:45:04 +0000

A slightly bigger hostel, with a bunch of crazy old people who took over the kitchen and made things a bit tough going.

It is very hot and humid here, so the nights are a bit sticky. I was amazed when I went outside at 3 am and looked at the stars. They were clear, but a lot different than what we’d see in Australia. The Big Dipper was very big.

I am about 2000 metres above sea level, so the air is a bit thinner.

The building on the left is the kitchen, on the right the dorm.

Edith Cavell

chrisparmenter — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:34:12 +0000

The mountain and hostel were named after a famous wartime nurse/spy. The Nearby glacier is called Angel Glacier (we’ve seen as many glaciers as mountains it seems). Tiny little hostel. Had to clean our teeth inddors so as not to attract bears.

(I have seen bears, but am refusing to take pictures as the bears seem very stressed and I think it’s a bit cruel).

This is the glcaier on Edith Cavell

Wilderness Hostels

chrisparmenter — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:29:58 +0000

Sorry, guys, but I just got back from a week at Wilderness Hostels. These places had no running water and solar powered lights, so no internet access. However, it was really worth it to see the mountains up close,

I’ll put up the pictures later today and you can see what I mean.

Whistler

chrisparmenter — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 03:29:38 +0000

Whistler is a beautiful place. It’s hard to believe just how big the mountains are. There was a landslide last weekend which blocked the highway, but everything was okay when we came through. The hostel didn’t have broadband and was full of mountain bikers, as this is one of their major competition weekends.

Off tomorrow to Shuswaup or something. This is on the way to the Rockies. Just to keep you up to date – the hostel in Tofino, brilliant, the hostel in Victoria, poor, the hostel in Whistler, okay, the hostel at Jericho, great if you’re 18.

view from outside the hostel

Victoria Day Two

chrisparmenter — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:04:07 +0000

parliament building and totem pole

Can’t get the photos up today, but will try tomorrow before I leave. I go back to Vancouver tomorrow. It’s much quieter here today now that things are back to normal. I walked down to Fisherman’s Wharf, which is a collection of houseboats and floating houses. I didn’t realise we were only about 40 miles from the USA border.

Hot here today. 27 C, but feels hotter.

Victoria Day One

chrisparmenter — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:00:41 +0000

Victoria is crowded as it’s their big festival day. It’s a beautiful little city with lots of old buildings and harbour views. Took a tour around on an open bus. I certainly can’t recommend the hostel, but all the hotels around look extremely expensive.

Tofino Day 2

chrisparmenter — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:31:28 +0000

Went out whale watching on a Zodiac. We saw several whales feeding off the shore, but it’s hard to take pictures as most of them is underwater and the spout spray only lasts a second. Anyway, I manged to get a couple of shots. Believe it or not, the second picture is the head of a young whale surfacing near his Mum.

The head of a young whale

Tofino

chrisparmenter — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:11:28 +0000

We sailed across on the ferry this morning, and spent the day driving around Vancouver Island. We’ve ended up in the beautiful bay of Torfino. Will post pictures tomorrow after my whale watching trip.