#drivingholidays

(Editor’s Note: this was Bruce’s blog to write, but he’s been busy...)

A relatively easy four hours drive north from Fernie took us through Kootenay National Park - cue dropping temps and sleet - and eventually arrive Banff. Before settling into our hotel, we took a driving tour of the town, past the impressive Fairmont Hotel and back along the main streets. Not much had changed in the twenty-odd years since Bruce had lived there.

A relatively early start the next day and we’re once again heading up the mountains - this time to Sunshine Village. Ski gear hired, lessons sorted, trail maps acquired and we pile into a gondola for the long ride up the mountain (cue deep breathing for Fi and absolutely no rocking of the gondola or looking downwards).

At the top of the mountain, Archie and Lyla once again joined ski school and Bruce and Quillan elected to take on some blue runs while I retreated to the cafe for overpriced coffee (a recurring theme).

After spending three days up the mountain and encountering plenty of Australians (mostly Queenslanders), our last day was a beautiful (warm-ish) blue-sky day. After a morning of ski-school, it was the perfect afternoon for Bruce to shepherd all the kids around the mountain and then end the day with boys taking on the 8km ski-out.

We rounded out the few days stay with a drive to stunning Lake Louise and amid much complaining joined the crowd and trekked across the still frozen lake, spotting small patches of defrosting ice.

Leaving Banff we drove east towards Calgary for our last day in Canada. Before hitting the big smoke we came across the wonderful and hugely informative Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary. It was easy to fall in love with the dogs as we learnt that they vary in wolf content from high to medium and low. We arrived in time to watch a keeper feed frozen steaks to two of the high content wolfdogs - Nakita and Lark. More impressive was Nakita’s bouncing skills as lunchtime approached. We learnt that she can jump six-feet and then climb another two if she was so inclined.

We really enjoyed our time in western Canada and two weeks is definitely not enough. Next stop - Disneyland.

Thanks for reading the blog (even though we are far, far behind in postings).

Fi, Bruce, Quillan, Archie and Lyla xxx