Back to a warmer climate

I've just emerged a little prunish from the hot tub back in that lovely hotel in Summerland. It was a much needed soak after the long drive back from Banff today. The water was scorching, far hotter than the hot springs or the hotel tub in Banff. I'm now the colour of a plum!

The tub is outside, overlooking the lake and the reed area which is a natural sanctuary for all manner of wildlife - birds and ducks congregate in the water and trees while a little muskrat does laps end to end.

We were joined by a whole girls soccer team, obviously enjoying some free time away from their coach, dive bombing in and out of the pool and screaming like no one was listening. Just as I was about to hold one of them under, a couple of older women and an old man got in. One of the ladies started talking to us, asking about our trip. It turned out she was from Dusseldorf but moved here to Vernon, about an hours drive away, forty years ago. She said she was amazed by the country the moment she stepped foot in it and just never left. She still had a german twang, barely noticeable now over the Canadian accent she has unwittingly developed over the years.

On the way out of Banff today we spotted a small herd of bighorn sheep licking salt off the side of the road.




Yesterday we took a five hour walk around the outskirts of Banff town centre. Within minutes of starting the walk, Paul spotted something up ahead. I hadn't even got my camera set up yet! We followed it into the woods and managed to get a better look.

It was a lone coyote. At first we thought it was a wolf, but I noticed it had a bad leg so after the walk, we took our photos to the visitor centre to report our sighting and they identified it as a coyote. Apparently wolves have much longer legs, shorter tails and bigger shoulders. Sightings of both are equally as rare in that area.




The loop took us along the river and then up through the forest via various frozen lakes and brooks. I kept getting really strong whiffs of sulphur which I blamed on Paul... until I saw a steaming pool of hot water coming out of the ground and realised where the stink was coming from.




We were constantly looking out for wildlife, but nothing else was playing. There were plenty of foot prints; wolf, coyote (the same one we'd seen by the river - there was a drag mark after each print where he was limping on his front paw), deer, elk, hare, moose but no sign of life, not even a sound.

We eventually came across a red squirrel eating an acorn. He didn't seem to mind us being there and even smiled for the camera.




On the way back, I took this photo of a man kayaking up the river - just a tiny dot on the landscape in comparison to the towering mountains behind him. You don't really get an idea of the scale of those hills until you have something to measure them against.

Location:Banff / Summerland, Canada

Moving on... Summerland

Due to a real lack of soundproofing in the hotel in Vancouver (with a roudy bunch of old ladies on one side and an over-amorous couple on the other - think Meg Ryan in 'when Harry met Sally' and then raise the volume until the remote explodes, a bit like that) we've had very little sleep over the last few days. This morning I was up at 4am and out taking photographs of the sunrise by 6.

On the first night, we had noticed a really nice scene down one of the main streets; all lit up with neon signs with the snowcapped Rockies in the distance, highlighted by a setting sun. I was way too tired that night to go back for my camera so I planned to go the next night instead. However, the clouds were too low over the next two days to even see the Rockies so I thought I'd missed my chance. But this morning, there they were in all their glory.

I set up my tripod at the side of the road, entered a nice slow shutter speed to catch the movement of the traffic and got snapping.




Since the Canucks victory the other night over Chicago, all of the buses have had "Go Canucks Go" emblazoned across the front of them so when I saw this one pulling up at the lights, I took my chances, ran into the middle of the road, plonked my tripod down, got the picture and then quickly darted out of the way as the lights changed.




After breakfast, we picked up the hire car and set off for Summerland. It was a beautiful scenic drive, mile after mile of rolling hills and craggy mountains. The sun was out but there was thick snow everywhere, about four foot at the side of the road in some places.

The hotel (Summerland Waterfront Resort and Spa) perches right on the edge of the lake, with the yacht club jetty right outside our window.




The receptionist must have liked the look of us because we got upgraded to a studio room with a corner balcony looking out on the lake and pool - absolutely huge room with a full kitchen, dining area, very posh bathroom, massive bed, 3 piece suite, 32 inch telly and DVD player, and a log fire!




I could quite happily live here - I can see myself sat at the dining table with a hot chocolate and my laptop, writing this blog while watching the boats sail by.




There isn't a lot to do here so we're just enjoying the time relaxing with a good book before we have to do the 7 hour drive to Banff tomorrow.

Location:Summerland, Canada