Into the Rockies

In an effort to get away from the city I hopped on board a Moose Travel Network tour bus the day after I arrived back in Vancouver. Usual suspects on board were from Australia, UK, Germany, New Zealand, Netherlands and even a guy from Taiwan. We hit the road at a civilised hour, after the bus was late (a running theme during my trip so far), and drove out of Vancouver on the freeway. We had a  quick stop at the Bridal Falls just outside of Vancouver. Waterfalls are everywhere due to melting snow on the mountains.

After a few hours we stopped to grab some lunch at a little place called Hope nestled at the base of some big hills.

From Hope it was straight up to Kamloops where we had a pit stop at a gas station to check on some noxious odour coming from under the hood, pretty much all day on the road, with out first night's stop at a dodgy little place called Shuswap Lake. Sorry Shuswap Lake, I'm sure it's a nice place for a relaxing summer holiday but it's just not the place you take a bus load of tourists. There's nothing to see or do so the 20 of us just chilled at the bar beneath the hostel where there were only 6 other patrons throughout the night. Next morning it was on the road again up to Revelstoke for canoeing, the first of many exciting activities that one can engage in on a Moose Travel Network tour.

I declined to participate due to the ominous state of the weather so as punishment, instead of taking the rest of us (about half the group) into town for lunch and a beer, we had to sit out one and a half hours at some rest stop camping ground with the dodgiest looking mini golf I'd ever seen. In the drizzle. We were all then back on the road into the mountains and heading for Banff.

During the course of the day we'd somehow lost a few hours and didn't get in until 8pm which was actually 9pm because we'd crossed into a new time-zone. Very disappointing as we were expected to arrive in the late afternoon to give us enough time to checkout the town during daylight. Some of us popped into Banff for a late night drink to find the place deserted (only to find out later that you have to *know* the right place go to on the right night of the week). Spent the night at the HI hostel which was on the edge of town but a nice improvement on the previous night. They had their own nightclub down stairs which was fun to visit at 1am and watched the drunks bump into one another. Very disappointed to be splitting up and back on the bus early the next morning. Some of the group heading North to Jasper, some going their own way and the remainder heading out of Banff, back through the Rockies and back to Vancouver (not as disappointed as those who were stuck in Banff because that bus we were on, with the foul smell, finally broke down about an hour out of Banff on the way to Jasper).

After another long day on the road we had an afternoon stop at one of the many vineyards dotted along Okanagan Lake for some wine tasting. A nice place to stretch in the sunshine and relax in the cool breeze off the lake. It was only a short trip along Okanagan Lake until we reached Kelowna. A summer holiday, university town.

We never did discover where the Carmelis Goat Cheese Art was despite the sign posting. Was it cheese art by a goat? Was it four different things and the sign missing a couple of commas? Either way we all felt disappointed. That evening we stayed at the Same Sun hostel in Kelowna. Nice place, they put on a great dinner for us and even laid on breakfast for us the next morning. The highlight of the trip came late in the afternoon on the last day near our return to Vancouver, when I thought all was lost. The Othello Tunnels in the Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park, once planned to be part of the Kettle Valley Railway.

A series of tunnels carved from stone by manual labour and dynamite through some of the most impressive terrain I am ever likely to see. It was never used as part of the railway once completed but I am glad it exists.

It was then only a short, but rushed, trip back to Vancouver so one of our number could get back in time for the Britney Spears concert. Also allowing many of us to get back to town to enjoy what was left of Canada Day.