On 29 May, my uncle, aunt, grandma and I began a 2 week long trip to the real Maple land, Canada. A flight scheduled at 10:15am meant that I had to be up by 7 and at the airport by 8. There are no direct routes from Singapore to Vancouver so we had to take 2 flights. CX 736 from Singapore to Hong Kong and then transfer to CX 888 to Vancouver. The 12 hour trans-ocean flight was sheer boredom so I was going around taking photos of the view outside the plane.
Sunrise over the Bering Sea.
Mountains of Alaska.
We arrived in Vancouver at around noon and had to wait 3 hours for the hour-long flight to Calgary, our ultimate destination. At Calgary Airport, I had my first taste of Canadian air. Pardon me for being such a "swa koo" but the air was actually cold! It was like perpetually being in an air-conditioned room! Now I understand why people in movies have to wear jackets around when outdoors. Anyway, we were met by my uncle and aunt who are PRs of Canada and they drove us to their nice home in Elbow Valley which is south of Calgary. Their home was pretty well done up.
The house. Calgary, AB.
The view from the house. You can actually see the Rocky mountains in the background.
The basement pool table.
The basement movie room.
The next day, my uncle brought us to see the nearby Elbow River and Elbow Falls. It's only a small river and a small waterfall so don't get disappointed.
The Elbow River. Calgary, AB.
The Elbow Falls. Calgary, AB.
After 2 nights at my uncle's place it was time for my non-PR uncle and aunt along with my grandma and I to rent a car and go explore the Rocky Mountains on our own. Calgary is situated about an hour's drive from the Rockies and Canmore was the first town we visited. The Three Sister's Mountain below is just one of many mountain peaks that over-look Canmore.
View from Canmore. Canmore, AB.
Three Sister's Mountain. Canmore, AB.
After a one-night stay in Canmore, we proceeded to head north towards Lake Louise. on the way, we passed by Castle Mountain. As you can see, it is called Castle Mountain because its structure resembles that of a castle.
Castle Mountain. Banff National Park, AB
After a 1 1/2 drive, we reached one of the most scenic and famous lakes in Canada, Lake Louise.
Lake Louise. Banff National Park, AB.
We did a little walking here to try to look for wildlife but the many tourists there must have scared them away. Next stop, Moraine Lake. Moraine Lake is situated a mountain away from Lake Louise. That translated to a 30 minute drive around the mountain.
Moraine Lake. Banff National Park, AB.
Here, there were many golden-mantled ground squirells and many people were having fun feeding those ever-hungry critters.
Golden-Mantled Ground Squirell. Moraine Lake. Banff National Park, AB.
We spent 2 nights in Banff and did some sight-seeing in the area which included going up Sulphur Mountain in a cable car and seeing the Bow Falls just outside Banff town.
I decided to take a couple of pictures of the car at this point.
Ford Freestar.
Guess what these are...
The "bird poo" in the second picture is not "bird poo" at all. Ladies and gentlemen, what you are seeing is a dead bug that got itself smashed on the hood of the car travelling at 100 km/h. There were lots more of these smashed bugs all over the front of the car.
We proceeded to go north next, the Columbia Icefield was our destination. On the way, I saw the best thing of the entire trip, a black bear. Apparently sightings of bear are quite rear and seeing this one was a real treat.
Black bear. Japer National Park, AB.
Black bear. Japer National Park, AB.
After the small distraction, we were on our way again. The Columbia Icefield is located on the boundary of Banff and Jasper National Parks. One of the largest accumulations of ice and snow south of the Arctic Circle, it covers an area of nearly 325 square kilometres. The continuous accumulation of snow feeds eight major glaciers including the Athabasca, Dome, and Stutfield Glaciers, all visible from the Icefields Parkway which is the main highway in this area. The Columbia Icefield is a true "hydrological apex," for its meltwater feeds streams and rivers that pour into the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans.
Athabasca Glacier, Columbia Icefield. Jasper National Park, AB.
To get up to the glacier, we had to take special coaches called Snocoaches which have these immensly large tyres.
Snocoach.
On the way up to Jasper town, we passed by 2 famous waterfalls in the area, the Athabasca Falls and the Sunwapta Falls.
Athabasca Falls. Jasper National Park, AB.
Sunwapta Falls. Jasper Natonal Park, AB.
A day later, we visited 2 lakes in the Jasper area which were Medicine Lake and Maligne Lake.
Medicine Lake. Jasper Natonal Park, AB.
Magline Lake. Jasper Natonal Park, AB.
Jasper was our last stop in the Rocky Mountains tour. The next stop would be Edmondton which is home to the world's largest shopping mall, The West Edmondton Mall. We spent 2 days at the mall but we couldn't even walk 1/4 of it.
So it was back to Calgary for some shopping and cheap sushi before flying off to Vancouver. Immediately after touching down in Vancouver, we went straight over to Vancouver Island, a 45 min ferry trip away. There, we visited the Butchart Gardens and historic city of Victoria.
The Butchart Gardens. Vancouver Island, BC.
The Butchart Gardens. Vancouver Island, BC.
The next day and another 45 minute ferry ride, we arrived in Vancouver city. We stayed a night and visited places like Stanley Park and Robson Street, the Orchard Road of Vancouver.
Totem Poles in Stanley Park. Vancouver, BC.
Lion's Gate Bridge. Vancouver, BC.
We flew home in the wee hours of 12 June and as usual, I was rather restless on the plane and caught this shot on camera. That's pure beauty.
Bering Sea Sunset.
I arrived home in Singapore at around noon. The first thing that hit me was the humidity and heat. Guess I will never get accustomed to the weather back here again.
Disclaimer: Due to readability, I did not describe all the places I visited. For a full description, please set aside one week of your busy schedule to download the entire photo album.