It's the Location and the Snow

When we were planning our trip to this area a few months ago, we considered staying in the Banff area and the historic Banff Springs Hotel was one of the options that we looked at. As I mentioned the town of Banff seemed to be a larger centre with many more options but in the end the scenic location of the Chateau Lake Louise won us over. I don't think that I'm overstating things by saying that the chateau is the most spectacular location of any place that we've been in the world. It's truly breathtaking. 

We ended up doing a fair amount of snowshoeing while we were here. We found out that there are dozens and dozens of trails in the vicinity of the chateau and we could probably spend several weeks here and never go on the same trail twice. Many of the trails double as cross country skiing and snowshoeing and some even doing triple-duty with having a separate dog sled track on the side.

And Finally …

Seven days in Lake Louise was just perfect for us. Since we lose the first and last days for travel, the full five days ended up being more than enough to spend enough time outdoors and also to explore the area in our car. Most of the pictures that are seen of the Chateau Lake Louise are of the summer time and this is indicative of the fact that there are probably ten times more visitors to the area during summer. This turned out to be a big plus for our visit as the hotel was rarely busy and all of the local amenities such as the trails we often had all to ourselves. Our visit to the Lake Louise exceeded our expectations in every way. We can definitely see ourselves returning back here again – perhaps at a different time of year to experience the area in a slightly different way.

Baden

By the time the morning came, we were anxious to get some breakfast and then get into our snow gear and get out there in our snowshoes. Before I forget I wanted to show the great view of the lake at night as the lights come on on the skating rink as well as the ice sculptures that are all around the back of the hotel.

Since the lake was frozen, many people head out from the hotel across the lake either on cross-country skis or snowshoes. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the far end of the lake which is 2 km away.

While we were crossing the lake the wind was blowing bit it was at our back so we really didn't feel it to much. Keep in mind that when you're snowshoeing you're not wearing ally heavy clothes as you're really working up a sweat so it's mostly several light layers and wind proof, snow-resistant jacket and pants. At the far end of the lake is a frozen waterfall which is quite spectacular. While we were there, there were several people who were climbing up the waterfall and many near the top.

We spent about 3 hours outside on our first snowshoe adventure. As we normally do, we stopped half way and had lunch which we had picked up in the morning. Along with the hot tea that we had brought l with us, it really hit the spot just when we were starting to run out of steam.

The History

Next to the incredible scenery, the Chateau Lake Louise is probably most famous for its history. The original hotel at this location was built around 1890 and the beginnings of the 'chateau' starting about 20-30 years later. Walking through the inside of the hotel, you can just see the history in all of the furnishings and architecture.

One can only think that in our very room there might have been a couple like us, 75 years ago, staying here for snowshoeing. Very likely watching movies on their iPad and updating their travel blog. I guess some things never change.

Baden

A few months ago, Liz told us that her sisters (and their husbands) had booked a houseboat for early September and that there was a spot was available for Barb and I if we were interested. We didn't have to think about it very long before we jumped at the chance.

Renting a houseboat is somewhat like renting a motor home but the major difference is that, unlike a motor home, the "driver" can step away from the wheel every now and then on the house boat. Houseboats travel so slowly and the lake is so big that you don't need to be at the wheel every second as you're not in danger of hitting anything or crashing the vast majority of the time.

Shuswap Lake is about a 6 hour drive from Vancouver and many of the house boating companies are located in the small town of Sicamous, which is the south shore of the lake. Shuswap lake is shaped roughly like an "H" and subsequently there a four sections or "arms" to the lake. This unique shape means that over the several days that you are renting the house boat you can travel the length of many parts of the lake and rarely see the same areas twice. Also, even though there are so many houseboats (during peak summer season), the large size of the lake gives you plenty of room to find places to navigate where you are not seeing too many other boats.

The main criteria for having an enjoyable time on a houseboat is that everyone on the boat must be fairly compatible and can have fun together. Since you're spending a lot of time together in close quarters, it can very easily turn out to be a big problem if people have widely different interests or just don't get along. In this respect we were well equipped. Both of Liz's sisters (and their husbands) were all great and we all got along well. About the only complaint was that we only had a four day house boat rental and not a full week. Four days really went by really quickly and before we knew it we were heading back to Sicamous to drop off the house boat and the long drive home.

Barb and I have already talked about wanting to go on another house boat adventure again. We're not sure when this will happen but we know for sure that it won't take 16 years to get back to Shuswap.

Some of the photos from our Houseboat Adventure can be found on my photo web site here.

Baden

We spent five and a half days travelling in the Outback with a group of about 17 other people with most of them in their 20's, backpacking through Australia. In fact we found that the vast majority of them were in Australia for at least three months (some almost a year) and it made our three week trip seem very brief in comparison. The backpack part was the big tip off as everyone seemed to be very budget conscious and as a result the type of camping was consistent with that. What this meant was that the sleeping arrangements meant sleeping bags and swags (a canvas shell that went over the sleeping bags) sleeping under the stars. It also meant shared toilets and showers – hot water sometimes optional. I didn't bother asking about queen size beds.

One of the things that you have to quickly get used to when sleeping outside in the Australian Outback is that fact that all of the snakes, spiders and small rodents that Australia is famous for may or may not be crawling into your sleeping bag every night. We found that wearing earplugs was almost a necessity – better to ignore those scurrying noises coming from the corner that you wake up in the middle of the night. Not getting a good night's sleep was pretty typical for me but most of that was the discomfort of sleeping in a thick sleeping bag (I just don't like sleeping with so many layers). I ended up removing most of the sleeping bag and sleeping completely open and willing to accept my fate with whatever critter was going to crawl over me.

Ironically, with only getting about 3-4 hours of sleep each night, we were more active than we were on just about any other trip. For at least 4 of the days in the Outback we went on long hikes often over 3 hours long climbing up and down mountains.

Saying Goodbye

Despite all of the mechanical problems with the bus and the challenges of sleeping outdoors, by the time that we got closer to the end of the Outback trip I think that we all felt a little sad to be saying goodbye to all of the people with whom we had spent the past 5 days. There's something about spending day and night travelling together with people and sharing a common experience that creates a real bond despite the years of age difference between many of us.

Although Barb and I rarely do a predefined tour like what we did in the Outback, I have to wonder if that is something that we need to rethink as I think that there are many positive aspects to this type of travel.

Time to Relax

When we were planning our Australian Adventure several months ago, we deliberately planned to make the very last part of the trip a relaxing few days on an island resort. So right after we left our Outback tour group we hopped on a flight and flew out to the Great Barrier Reef area where we stayed on Hamilton Island.

Our four days on Hamilton Island came at the right time and was just the perfect remedy to wind down after spending the past few weeks exploring different parts of Australia. The weather here was really perfect – in the mid 20's and just humid enough so that the evenings were always warm but never unbearable.

For the most part our agenda here on the island was to just stay by the pool and really do a lot of nothing but we did manage to get out yesterday and took an all day cruise through the Whitsunday Islands (to which Hamilton Island belongs), doing some snorkelling in the reefs and walking along the spectacular Whitehaven beach . Barb and I reminisced that the last time that we had snorkelled was off the coast of Africa on Zanzibar island three years ago.

And Finally …

The end of Our Excellent Australian Adventure approaches quickly. As I am writing this we are planning on packing up our suitcases today to leave Hamilton Island to catch our flight to Sydney. By tomorrow we will be back at at home in Vancouver.

There were several aspects of this trip that were unique and will be things that we will remember for a long time. Spending time with my family in Melbourne and our week in the Outback (with all of it's trials and tribulations) were really two of the highlights.

I've only said this once before, referring to South Africa, but there really is no other country in the world like Australia. Its unique geography and culture simply don't exist anywhere else. Everywhere we have travelled in Australia, we have been made to feel welcome and the people here couldn't have been more friendly. About the only real down side is the 17 hours of travel that it takes us to get here. Well, that and the flies of course.

Over the next week, I will be adding pictures of our Australian Adventure to my photo web site located here.

As far as where our next Excellent Adventure will be, for once I don't have an answer. Barb and I normally have at least 1-2 trips lined up in advance but as of right now we don't have anything in the works. Of course this won't remain so uncertain for very long so it won't be long before we are reporting in from somewhere new.

Until then.

Baden