Rockies trip and settling in Vancouver

Dale and I have just returned from a 10 day trip up to the Rocky Mountains with two friends Kate and Muir. On our way to the Rockies we stopped in the Okanagan Wine Region to sample some of local wines. We were pleasantly surprised by this region and its wineries. The Mission Hill Winery was the most impressive winery I had ever seen (rumoured to be in the top 5 winery restaurant settings in the world!)




Unfortunately on the day we were there it was too cold to eat at the outdoor restaurant.

After two days drinking wine and eating food we headed to Banff. Banff's beautiful snow-capped mountains, glaciers, aquamarine lakes and abundant wildlife made this an excellent area to see by foot.



We walked the famous Lake Louise, Lake Moraine and straight up Sulphur Mountain 6kms of up (I have only just recovered from that walk - if I don't have buns of steel now I never will!!)






Besides walking, Dale and I spent time driving around at twilight (9-10pm!!) trying to see bears, moose and elk. We saw big-horned sheep, deer, ground squirrels ...




... and a hoary marmot - our favourite animal yet. The hoary marmot is the largest North American ground squirrel.




Our next move was north on the Icefields Highway to Jasper. It was on this breathtakingly beautiful drive that we saw the first bear - a little black bear cub. The only good thing about having so many tourists around is that they all were on the search for wildlife. Cars parked on side of highway = wildlife of some description. Fortunately for us on two occasions these stops yielded black bears. So we did what the books told us not to and went to take photos. Don't worry mum there were "more tasty"' looking people next to us!



We also passed through Japser which was less touristy than Banff but still beautiful and then quickly onto Whistler.



We are now back in Vancouver and have moved into a great apartment in Kitsilano. We are four blocks from the beach, 10 minutes to downtown Vancouver and are surrounded by a huge range of restaurants, shops and outdoor equipment. We are really happy to have found this place and happy that we have finally seen some signs of summer in Vancouver!!

Next steps will be finding employment. I started looking today. Will have to get a wriggle on...

ktdz