Day Seven - Saturday Wedding Day!!!

Well finally the big day has arrived. I woke up early and connected to the Internet as there was a small matter of Man Utd playing Arsenal. A point would give us the Premiership. Boring game and had to watch on the Internet, but a point was needed and gained. Good start to the day, but the main match was still to come!
Started off with a pick-up at 10:15. First stop was to drop Daria off at the Hair Company to get her hair done. Keith and I left her there and went off to pick up the flowers. They were all ready when we got there, so picked them up and off to Safeway's for our morning Starbucks and pastry. Having got some sustenance, we went back to pick up Daria. She emerged looking great and we went off to the liqour store to get some champagne. Chores done for the morning we headed back to the hotels to get ready. I dropped them off and took the car back to my hotel to get changed. Showered and all dressed up I went to pick Keith and Daria up from their hotel. at 12:45. I arrived to be greeted by two happy looking people. Daria had a deep maroon coloured dress on and Keith with matching waistcoat. A few last minute preparations, flowers adjusting Keith's cravat and we were off. We had to meet Patricia the Registrar at Bow Falls and we arrived early at about 13:45, Patricia turned up and we started our drive to the place where Keith and Daria had chosen to get married. It is a really nice spot, a small clearing right by the side of the Bow River, so peaceful but dramatic - with a snow capped Rundle Mountain as a backdrop. After a few preparations, the ceremony got underway. It was very relaxed, just how they wanted it, with birdsong and the sound of the river in the background. Patricia did a lovely service and it was obvious to all how happy Keith and Daria were. A couple of I do's later and it's Mr & Mrs Yates from here on in!.

We went back to the Caribou for a few glasses of champers and opened the cards. from there we had a drink in the hotel bar, talking to a Man U fan, and then some folks from Gloucester who were about to go on the Rocky Mountaineer. Next up we went into Chilli's at the Fox Inn - Great atmosphere and some good food to round off the Day.

Well that's it, all done apart from the trip home :( Keith & Daria took me to Calgary airport the next day and an 8 1/2 hour flight home - Bugger

Day Six - Friday

Lazy morning after our trip to Jasper the day before. Keih & Daria picked me up at about 11:00 and we headed out out for town. Keith & Daria wanted to have a look at their photos so we went to a shop at the top of Banff avenue. Breakfast was at Phil's on the other side of the bridge. We parked at the top of town and walked up. It was more like a diner but good bacon and eggs. From there we decided to have a drive around. We drove out of town up to Tunnel Mountain and had a long walk along the cliff top. There are some spectacular views along this track so we walked quite a long way, finally ending up overlooking the site where Keith and Daria will get married. Walking back, we spotted a tiny Chipmonk in the undergrowth. From here we drove out to Lake Minnewanka, and then on past Two Jacks lake to Johnson Lake here we had a niced short walk along the lakeside, spottting a Grebe and a Beaver. Back to the picture shop to pick up the pictures and then back to the hotels. Evening we went out to Georgio's an Italian restaurant on Banff Avenue.

Day Five - Thursday

Thursday morning at 8:30 saw us on our way to Jasper. We started off with a visit to Safeways to stock up on lunch. We also treated ourselves to Starbucks coffee and pastries for breakfast. Then we were off, driving out of town towards the railway station, then onto the Jasper road. We decided to take the scenic route so we shortly turned onto route 93a which winds it's way along the base of the mountains following the railway tracks for sometime. Although the weather was not great, quite misty, the beauty of the scenery is obvious. After a couple of stops, we reached Lake Louise. By this time, it was snowing quite heavily. Keith and Daria are staying here for their honeymoon. The place is spectacular. the lake is usually pictured as bright blue, but today, we saw it completely frozen and covered in snow, quite spectacular, I haven't seen a body of water as big as that frozen over before. Back on the road again the weather started to clear but was very changeable throughout the Journey. Wildlife spotting was paramount on the journey of course with a bear being the top target, but rather disappointingly we were nearly half way through the journey and had only seen a Mule Deer. We stopped for lunch on the banks of the Saskatchewan River, just before it is met by the Alexandra River, a really lovely spot. Carrying on, we entered the Jasper national park area and when given a choice of a back road to Jasper rather than the main road it was obvious what we would choose. Things started to pick up on the wildlife front soon afterwards. We spotted a Clark's Nutcracker and then, on a really nice lake, a male and female Barrow's Goldeneye, much to Keith's excitement. Meanwhile, Daria was getting some great pictures of a cheeky looking squirrel. On the next lake we saw two Loons . We travelled on, Daria spotting a solitary Bonaparte's Gull on a rock in the middle of the river, and eventually reached Jasper at about 15:30. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed in Jasper. It's quite an ordinary looking town and quite small. We had a coffee and cake at the Bear Paw Cafe and a short walk around. We then decided to head back to Banff. we retraced our journey along the quiet road and were rewarded with the sight of the Loons again and a pair of Blue Winged Teal. Further on, we spotted a couple of White Tailed deer by the side of the road. We took a side trip of about 7 kilometers to Moab Lake but although it was a nice lake there was no life on ti at all. We travelled on with the light fading and then, after we had almost given up we spotted a Grizzly Bear foraging by the side of the road. We had a fantastic view, staying in the car and taking photos and video. The bear was very obliging, seeming unconcerned that we were there. Elated, we continued our journey, happy that we had finally seen a bear so close and a Grizzly to boot! The weather then took a real turn for the worse, heavy snow falls made visibility almost impossible and, as we approached Banff, we were at a crawl desperately trying to follow the white lines in order to stay on the road. Eventually, we reached Banff safely at around 22:00. We called in the off licence for a bottle of wine and managed to get Pizzas from the Italian restaurant in the Banff Inn, and went back to the "suite" in the Caribou to eat. Back to my hotel for about 23:30 after a great day out - 600 kilometers, about 16 hours travel and best of all a Grizzly sighting.

Day Four - Wednesday

Keith and Daria picked me up in the Jeep at 10:30. First port of call was breakfast. We decided on Melissa's on Lynx Street. Nice place and a good Egg and Bacon breakfast set us up for the day. The main objective for today is to look at sites for the wedding, so we set off on the search. First off we returned to Bow Falls to see how it looked with a bit better weather. It's really nice here and we took some photos and went for a short walk up the road. Of course travelling with Keith we have to keep an eye out for the local wildlife and it wasn't long before we were watching some small squirrel like animals with a beaver type face, either a Ground Squirrel or a Marmot. We also saw an American Robin, a surprisingly large bird with a very orange/red breast. Back to the car and then followed the road past the golf club again. The road got quieter and snaked around at the bottom of Rundle Mountain. Eventually, we came upon a really nice spot by the side of the Bow River. It was a perfect spot, no real man-made noise but plenty of sounds from nature, Ravens, Woodpeckers and Elk all calling out. This looks like a really good spot for the wedding, perfect for what Keith and Daria want. We continued along the road, eventually looping round to rejoin the road after getting some close up shots of some Elk. We then retraced our steps back to a location that the lady who will perform the wedding ceremony suggested - Cascade Gardens. We didn't really stop here, all entranced by the atmosphere of the previous location. On the map we had spotted an area of marsh and thought it may be a good place to spot a few birds so we drove down Cave Avenue to the Cave and Basin Historic site. This is a hot springs location at the base of Sulphur Mountain. The discovery of these hot springs, spurred the creation of the national park, the first in Canada. We took the Marsh Loop Trail walking along the banks of the Bow River again, and then back up to the Cave and Basin Visitor Centre. Along the way we had a snow flurry, amazing us how quickly the weather can change. We also saw Belted Kingfishers, an Osprey high above, Blue Heron and Canada Geese flying overhead and, in the distance in a clearing on the mountain, we saw Mountain Goats, bright white against the green of the clearing. Flying nearby was a brown coloured Hawk Like bird riding the thermals, as yet we haven't identified what it was. On return to the Visitor Centre we took a guided nature trail along the strange sulphur springs, seeing White- Tailed deer in the woods and a small Garter snake bathing in one of the pools. By this time we were ready for a coffe and somehing to eat so we jumped in the car and headed back into town. We wandered around for a while eventually ending up back at aMelissa's for a coffe and then decided to eat back at the Hotel. Firstly though, we wanted to get me registered to drive the car. We went back to pick up my licence and then back to Happy Face at the car rental place. Having done that we headed to Safeways to buy some pate and chese which we took back to the Caribou Lodge and consumed whilst chatting and updating blogs. I wanted to watch the replay of Man Unitd's match on the TV so at around 19:00 I left for the Pump & Tap in the Sundance Mall. Keith and Daria joined me later at about 21:30 and we went off to search for dinner. After wandering around for a while we settled on Masala, an Indian restaurant on Wolf Street. We had a very nice meal and, in return, the waiter got a lessson on the phases of the moon courtesy of Keith. Bed followed shortly after as we had an early start in the morning.

Day Three - Tuesday

Met up with Keith and Daria at about 11:00, they came round to my hotel after they changed rooms at their hotel, and we walked into town. First stop was breakfast at Bruno's. Nice leisurely breakfast, testing each other's knowledge using the Trivial Pursit cards on the tables. From then on there was a bit of arranging to do for the wedding. First off, a hair appointment for Daria at the Hair Company where I got my hair cut the day before. Then we went to the visitors centre to find out where the licencing office was. We set off for the licencing office located at the corner of Wolf and Lynx. A very nice lady did all the registrations, they had to fill in the forms, making Keith's heart race. From there, we went to the Florist to order the posy and the pins. We also took a quick look in the liqour store for some champers. From there we had a walk around town, calling in on Starbucks, for a coffee, and a few shops up and down the highstreet. By this time it was about 2:30 and time to pick up the hire car. The National car rental office is on the corner of Caribou and Lynx. Tried hard to make the guy behind the counter smile but difficult! Car is nice - a black four door Jeep. We got into the car and decided to have a quick drive around, eventually making it up to Bow Falls just outside town and a potential wedding site. From there we went a little bit further up, over the Spray River and on to the Banff Springs golf course with loads of Elk just sitting and standing on the greens and fairways. We retraced our steps a little and then drove up Mountain Avenue to the Upper Hot Springs and past The Rimrock Hotel. By this time it had started to sleet a little bit so we decided to head back to their hotel room and have hot chocolate in front of the log fire. We picked up some stuff at Safeways and headed back to the Caribou Lodge. Their room - a suite is really nice. A lounge with fire downstairs and a bed upstairs on an open floor. Fire was lit and the hot choclate made and we settled in as it started to snow heavily outside. We treid to get Keith's pictures to show on my PC but whatever we did we couldn't get it to recognise the camera. It was getting late so I returned to my hotel for a short nap! At 20:00 we met up again for dinner. At first we went into the Pizzeria at the Banff Lodge but it wasn't up to much so we just had a drink. We walked up the road to the Fox Inn and went into Chilli's there and had a really nice meal. From there, back to our hotels for a reasonably early night.

Day Two - Monday

Woke early after a good nights sleep. Went for a quick breakfast in the hotel but it wasn't up to much. Had a walk round town and eventually ended up in Bruno's for a breakfast. A bit of shopping afterwards then back to the hotel at about 12:00 for a bit of a rest. Afternoon, went out and did a bit of shopping. Clothes seem quite a good price over here. Got my hair cut in a shop opposite Bruno's on Caribou. Nice French Canadian lady married to an Australian. There seem to be a lot of Aussies here. Apparently something to do with the visa arrangements. Also lots of English accents. Back to the hotel for a quick kip and then Keith rang to say they had arrived. They are staying in the Caribou Lodge a little way down the road so I walked down there to meet them at 8:00. Sounds like they had a fantastic train journey from Vancouver, something would like to do someday. We had a couple of drinks and then a meal in the Keg restaurant in the hotel - a nice meal served by a freindly Canadian waiter called Caleb. A quick walk to Safeways then back to my hotel.

Day One - Sunday (cont.)

I'm in Canada! Arrived at Calgary airport about 10 minutes early. Flight was pretty good - Airbus with downstairs toilets! Spent all of the flight doing Su Doku. Did my first Super Fiendish and learned a new trick to help puzzle solving. Only problem was the food - it was pretty awful and of course, apart from a hot drink with the meal, you have to pay for everything. I guess I should expect that having only paid 315GBP. Bags came through pretty quickly so I was able to get through immigration and to the desk for the bus transport to Banf early enough to catch the 13:30 bus. The staff at the airport are all really nice very polite and welcoming from meeters and greeters through immigration officials to the lady on the bus desk. Transpired I booked twice so she gave me a refund! Quickly went to Tim Horton's to get a coffee and a couple of muffins. before getting back on on the bus with about 6 other people. Off to Banf. It's very flat around Calgary and not that attractive but as we got out of town, you can see snow-capped mountains in the distance. The journey lasts about 2 hours and quite quickly we were in the Banf National Park and dropping me off at the Red Carpet Inn at around 15:30. Booking seemed a little screwed up, they seemed to be expecting me tomorrow but no problem. Place is basic but clean and freindly. Unpacked and fell asleep until Keith called at about 20:45. There is wireless in the hotel, so used Skype to call him back. They are travelling on the Rocky Mountainer Train and were just getting into their hotel for the night. Keith seemed excited saying they have had a fantastic day with great weather and he reeled off a bunch of wildlife they have seen including Brown Bear and Ospreys. They arrive in Banf tomorrow at around 19:00. Needed some food so went out about 21:00 and had a walk down town. Ended up in an Irish pub (what a surprise!). Had Shepherd's Pie and a Guiness then headed back to the Hotel. Banff very quiet at this time of the day, although did find a bar that will show Premiere League.

Day One - Sunday

I'm on my way to Canada to be the Best Man at my best mate Keith's wedding. He and Daria are getting married in Banff, so today I fly to Calgary. I'm on the Thomas Cook TX34K which departs Manchester at 11:05, reaching Calgary at 13:05 local time. Been up since about 05:30 - just couldn't sleep. So I have been up on the web, booking my bus from Calgary to Banff with The Banff Airporter Shuttle Service - 53 Canadian dollars for a two hour trip from the airport to Banff. Staying in the Red Carpet Inn in Banff.

Been doing a few last minute things; booking the bus, changing my flight back to Holland, charging the cameras etc., I'm still tired so hopefully will get some sleep on the plane.