Island bound

On our return trip to Vancouver Island last Friday, we decided to take an alternative route for the first section - from Edmonton to Jasper and then down to link up with the TransCanada Highway around Kamloops, BC. Of course, this route is just as picturesque as the other one - it is hard to believe just how vast these magnificent mountains are - everyone should have a trip through the Canadian Rockies on their bucket list. I'm going to bore you with yet more mountain shots.

We stopped in Jasper for a few hours to revisit some sights and wander around the shops. Brian and I came to Jasper in 1994 for our honeymoon.

Jasper Visitor Information Centre.

Jasper t-shirt.

Totem pole in Jasper.

Mt Robson.

We overnighted at Valemount, about an hour further on from Jasper. We saw signs saying that they had a creek where the salmon come up to spawn (and then die) so after we checked into the hotel, we wandered down to the creek to check it out. As we walked, we came across a fellow who had a professional camera and asked him if there were more salmon further on - as we had only seen a couple so far. He directed us through a fence, onto private property and said we should wade across the first section of a creek and onto a sand bar and from there we would have a good view of them! But first he asked if he could film us walking along the creek as he was filming for a promotional video for the town. We agreed but suggested that he could surely do better for models.

After we had completed our modelling duties, we walked further along the creek and met up with a couple of young German girls who were travelling around Canada - had a great chat with them and then proceeded to do the creek crossing - in knee deep, fast moving frigid water and on very hard rocks. We were barefoot so there were lots of exclamations as we made our way across. Safely over, we did see more salmon making their way upstream - it seems such a huge effort for them and they rest often - partly I think because at this point they had been at it for many many weeks and were slowly dying. Actually, it was a pretty sad thing to see. I think I'd rather view this phenomena right at the beginning when they leave the ocean.

Valemount town sign and entrance.

Salmon viewing spot.

Not very good picture of some salmon.

Had a nice walk around the town and came across a lovely little quilt shop - of course, that required a small detour, a great chat and a few more metres of fabric to add to the stash!

Next day, we just beat the busload of young travellers into the small breakfast room at the hotel - ate a healthy breakfast and were on the road before 7am. Lots of oohing and aaahing at the scenery along the way.

Some central BC farmland.

Arrived at Kamloops hungry and Brian noticed a sign for Cora Restaurant - he hadn't been with me in Edmonton when I went so it was a must stop. The food is amazing - focus on serving lots of fruit and a different take on the usual breakfast meals served in North America. We took our time enjoying our meal and then piled back in the car for the final stretch to Vancouver and the ferry.

French toast, Cora style

Eggs Benedict, Cora style.

For all of the miles we have travelled, we only saw one deer off in the distance (not really exciting considering the dozens of deer which roam Nanaimo front gardens) and the legs of what I am going to swear was a moose strolling behind some trees in the distance! Very disappointing. Lots of signs on the highways to say watch for bears, moose, elk and deer but not for us on this trip.

As we entered Vancouver, we hit traffic jams because of the highway roadworks and, despite Brian's best efforts, we missed the ferry back to Vancouver Island by 10 minutes! That meant a two hour wait for the next one at 5.30pm - fortunately the Horseshoe Bay terminal is in a very beautiful area of north Vancouver with a marina, shops and lots of spots to eat...so, we found ourselves a restaurant table on a deck with a view of the bay and enjoyed early dinner. Not a bad way to fill in a bit of time. There was a fruit stall selling fresh BC berries etc. so we loaded up on corn, blueberries & strawberries.

The ferry we just missed.

View of ferry area from restaurant deck.

The trip home on the ferry was gorgeous with the sun starting to set and a cruise ship passing in front of us on its way up to Alaska (this photo is for you Joan & Horst).

Alaska bound cruise ship.

View of some of the Gulf Islands from the ferry.

It was nice sailing into Departure Bay in Nanaimo and seeing our soon to be home waiting for us up on the hillside. Finally got "home" around 7pm (via a detour to check out our new home) and into the same spot we had stayed in before so it felt like coming home. Only 5 sleeps to go. The next post will be written from the deck of our house later this week.