Squamish

A final sign off from Canada....We are homeward bound after a wonderful 6 weeks away together. After a great weekend in Whistler, we spent the final 4 days of our trip in Squamish with our Bay of Plenty friends Alice and Shane (with Evie and Cooper) and Amy and Dave (with Rosie, Conor and Tessa).

Unfortunately our period of golden weather finally broke and we had our first days of rain. This didn't stop the tamariki from having an amazing time - riding, exploring in the forest and lake, pancake breakfasts, roasting marshmallows and playing endless Polly Pocket. We also had such a lovely time, with lots of catching up and group rides.

Kate and I loved riding together ...... but had to work for it, caring for 7 kids in return! The Squamish trails were superb and we rode each day. In honour of our newly born nephew Rupert we rode a trail of the same name - it was one of our favourite rides of the trip! Beautiful forest, lots of roots and rock slabs.

In other exciting news, we managed to pull off a house purchase while out of the country!  We are the proud owners of 6 Fairley Rd, Rotorua - previously owned by our good friends Simon and Lucy. A two minute bike ride from the Redwoods (NZ's mountain biking Mecca) it is a very exciting prospect given the current bike riding buzz we are all on! This purchase completes our trifecta of long distance/attending no open home house purchases!  We have both secured consultant jobs for the end of next year. Kate in Rotorua hospital ED and me as a Rural Hospital specialist in Taupo Hospital (half time, I will commute the one hour drive).

offer accepted!

No, we didn't find the Purple skunk, we didn't even see a black and white one! But the search has been amazing...and its a good excuse to have to come back again!
But for now, back to winter in Christchurch....

Banff and Jasper

I am writing tonight from Whistler. Babes asleep, drinking a local brew and eating chips. Kate tired but happy after a marathon drive and four hours riding....more about that later.

The drive through the Rockies was breathtaking and awesome.  We have not really been able to capture their magnificence with photos as everything is so huge! Our geologist family members would be in heaven.

We drove firstly through to beautiful Banff and spent the afternoon walking and soaking in yet more hot pools. Banff is pretty touristy and a quick stop was enough for us.

Frida ran most of the way! 

We found a secluded spot near the river for dinner

From there we went through to infamous Lake Louise. We visited at 8pm to avoid the squillions of camera wielding, RV driving sight seers....not willing to admit we are one of them!

We camped nearby and enjoyed a family bike ride along the Bow river the following morning. Crazy to think this water flows all the way to Hudson bay!

We then set out to drive the 260km long Icefields Parkway. This incredible road runs between Lake Louise and Jasper beneath towering mountains and 27 glaciers - the vistas were stunning!

We spotted many big horn sheep teetering on sheer cliffs. We also spotted seven black bears, quietly grazing, oblivious to the hordes surrounding and photographing them.  Kate and I really can't work out whether to be afraid of these dandelion munching creatures??

 Frida was not quite so captured by the other-worldly scenery....at one stage, fed up with the driving, we encouraged her to look out the window and enjoy her surrounds. She replied dramatically "All I can see is rocks and trees and road!" Fair enough!  She did enjoy the walks though, and seeing the waterfalls.

The highlight of the day for me was walking up to the toe to of the Athabasca Glacier with fresh falling snow and two very cold but excited kids. It was also the highlight of Frida's day.....because we all shared a block of chocolate!

Running races in the snowfall

The glacier trip ended in a smashing finale with me not closing a cupboard properly.  This amateur RV mistake combined with a rough road resulted in lots of crockery flying though the vehicle and shattering into a million pieces!

"Break and chip resistant!" Yeah right 

We spent the following day in Jasper riding, swimming and library visiting before we starting out on our 740km journey from Jasper to Whistler. The kids were AMAZING and we managed to knock off 600km in one go, only punctuated by Juliet filling her car seat with poo and nearly running out of petrol.....
We then pushed on through to Whistler. Another stunning series of mountains and vistas and here we are.....enjoying some gravity assisted riding.  Chair lift up and then down,down,down.  We have been lusting after this type of riding lately.

The kids have also had a dreamy day of water play, sandpits, imaginary games and drawing. As a result of mostly only having each other as playmates over the past 5 weeks, their friendship has blossomed.  We are very excited about meeting up with our Kiwi friends in Squamish in a few days.

Kootenay Rockies

The latest part of our journey has been defined by unexpected trip highlights of the biking, hot springs and bear variety.

We spent one last relaxing evening with Kynan and Barb after our canoe trip then set off the next morning.  This part of Canada is known as the Kootenay Rockies and is made up of craggy mountains, massive rivers and long, narrow lakes.  We spent a day exploring Nelson which had a similar feel to the New Zealand version.  Kate and I both had a great ride and happily could have spent days exploring here....on a child free trip perhaps!

That evening we made an unplanned stop at the Ainsworth hot springs. We had a delightful evening exploring the real cave connected to the pools and soaking beneath the towering mountains.  Although not nearly as developed as NZ hot pools it was a real treat.

We spent my birthday in the quaint, lake side village of Kaslo.  After coffee in bed and reading to the girls, we discovered a brilliant kid's mountain bike area and spent hours racing around with Frida.

  The rest of the day was spent driving over a high pass, taking an alpine lake plunge followed by another hot springs soak in Nakusp, with hummingbirds whizzing around overhead.

Our next stop was the alpine resort town of Revelstoke.  It lies on the massive Colombia River and is surrounded by towering peaks ....and some dreamy alpine riding that was still closed due to snow- a must do for next time! We did get in some fun flowy singletrack at lower altitudes though and both got good rides in. We found another great kid's bike park and Frida rode her first see-saw!

We stayed at a great campground at Williamson Lake and did lots of swimming and pontoon jumping.  The girls were in heaven!

The 'Enchanted Forest' was an unexpected highlight. People had recommended Kate and I take the girls there - a wooded area dotted with figurines from fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Our initial reaction was "I'd rather be biking", but parental guilt set in when we realised they've spent a bit of time "hanging out" at trailheads in the RV while we tag-team ride, so we decided to go. We expected a slightly tacky/cheesy experience, but turned out we all loved it!

The EF is set amongst towering cedars with lush green undergrowth and the home to hundreds of sculptures, miniature houses and tree houses created by the late artist Doris Needham (opened in 1960).  The place was actually wonderful and captivating.  Juliet walked around awe-struck uttering 'wow' over and over.  Frida was enthralled especially by the tree houses and Dorothy & Toto.

From there we headed to Golden, a dry, dusty, rocky town with an abundance of outdoor recreation on its doorstep.  We camped on the river for 2 nights and explored the area.

The third unexpected, exciting event I will hand over to Kate to recount.....
It was a hot 29 deg day and I had just ridden 7km up a forestry road and was about 500m from where the singletrack descent started. I was lost in thoughts of mortgage calculations when I looked up and 5-6m away was a large black bear. She stared at me as I backed away then did a big poo in the middle of the track. (The bear, not me!) I then noticed her 2 tiny cubs beside her. I rolled down and got a couple of photos from further away then split! I managed to bush bash onto the singletrack so as not to waste my climb. It made for an exhilarating adrenaline-filled downhill!

The fourth and final travel highlight was a visit to the Kicking Horse mountain and Grizzly Bear sanctuary.  Kate and I had low expectations - maybe gain a bit of altitude on a gondola ride and perhaps catch a glimpse of the resident grizzly.  We were pleasantly surprised by a long gondola ride (3km) to the summit  of the mountain with 360 deg views of three national parks.

This was followed by an hour spent observing the magnificent grizzly Boo.  He was found as an orphan cub and has lived in the 20 acre sanctuary for 16 years. We were just metres away from him and watched him play, swim, itch his massive back against a tree and do his thing for over an hour.  It was an incredible experience.  The day was topped off with great rides for Kate and I, a black bear spotting from the RV, and a lovely dinner out.

Tomorrow we head into the Rockies (Banff-Jasper) for a few days and then head back west to Whistler and Squamish.  We are excited about meeting up with our Kiwi friends for the last days of our Canada trip.

Giant cedars, Glacier National Park