Banff!

Marlies WobbenCanada7 Comments

» photo albums 2006/CANADA

As promised a more detailed report from the first couple of days plus a few pics. Even one from the car, esp. for Agnes 😉
Oh and Jos & Henny… I’m already filming all the time haha!

Saturday, October 7th

It was a long wait, but finally the 7th of October did arrive! At 9.15am we left Heerlen and I think it was little past noon when we arrived in Nieuw-Vennep. My brother Ton and his family live there and it’s very close to the Amsterdam airport, so we could leave our car there and after lunch Ton brought us to the airport. Thanks! The check-in started at 13.30 and we immediately found Marc and Brenda (and their kids Nikita and Ivana) from the CBB forum. Another couple from that forum, Kees and Marlies (with their daughter Sophie), found us too. We had drinks together before boarding and chatted a couple of times during the flight. Very cool to talk to others that are about to emigrate to Canada. The flight itself was pretty long (nine hrs) but very smooth, but the Air Transat planes are known for their tight seats. For that reason we had booked seats at the emergency exit and we had about 2 meters of space in front of us! That was very cool, but in width the seats were also smaller and I just barely fitted in my seat! I mean, I know I’m not exactly small, but I’ve never been literally stuck in my seat before 😉

At the Calgary airport we got our Alamo rental car, a very nice red Chrysler Sebring Touring, and around 7pm we were on our way! We grabbed a burger on 16th avenue and it must’ve been around 8 when we arrived at the Anew Horizon B&B (http://www.anewhorizon.ca) near the Springbank Airport. We had the warmest possible welcome from Debbie, Richard, their dog Hershey and three adorable cats! We had some tea, and then a few drinks with them outside at the fire pit, until we crashed around 10.30.

Sunday, October 8th

I couldn’t sleep much that night, but that was OK. The bed was comfortable and I listened to the coyotes bark and howl at night! Our room was absolutely gorgeous with a view on the Rocky Mountains. Actually everything was so beautiful there, the house as well as the views of the foothills and the mountains all over! We had a really good breakfast (Debbie loves to cook) and around 11 we had to say goodbye again. We really want to come back to this place, that much we know!!

We had all day to get to Banff, so we drove a big loop to Canmore first. South through the foothills, over Bragg Creek to Black Diamond and Longview, then back up through the Kananaskis, where we chose the gravel road to Canmore that passes the Spray Lakes. A very tiring but beautiful road! We were exhausted when we arrived in Canmore. We went to find the Two Moose internet cafe. It’s from Anneke and Gerard (or rather, Ann and Gary), who we also met on our first Canada trip when they still had an internet cafe in Banff. They were the ones who made us realize that emigration is something you can actually make happen, so we really wanted to see them again. They invited us for dinner on Wednesday, so we’ll have a chance to chat more then. Looking forward to that!

In Banff we checked in at the Rocky Mountain B&B (http://www.rockymtnbb.com) on Otter Street. A beautiful old heritage home in a just as beautiful street with lots of trees, close to the edge of town, but still just a few streets from the shops and restaurants as well. We had dinner at Wild Bill’s and were so tired that we crashed at 9pm!

Monday, October 9th

Finally we slept a lot better up until around 6am. I had been awake a few times still and I think I heard a coyote once and a bugling elk a few times in the morning. They serve a real nice breakfast here, with fruits, cake, cereal, yogurt, toast etc and the ‘hot’ part of the breakfast today was french toast.

Today we wanted to do some things in Banff and we started with the Cave and Basin site (a national heritage site) where the sulphur springs are. Except for the smell, that was a great experience, esp. the two boardwalk hikes near the site. Nico is enjoying his polarization filter very much! The pics of the mountains with the blue skies turn out much better with it!
We then went on Sulphur Mountain with the gondola and the weather was much clearer than when we were there the last time. It was chilly (frost at night and in the morning), but soooo nice and sunny! We also drove to the nearby Banff Springs Hotel and the Bow Falls for a few pics.

We got back around 4pm to chill at the B&B and as I’m typing this I’m in the lounge, connected online through someone’s unprotected wireless network nearby hehe. That’s it for today, only thing left is going out for dinner!

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7 Comments on “Banff!”

  1. hallo,allereerst een fijne tijd toegewenst in canada.ik las dat jullie ook naar regina gingen.als jullie de tijd hebben moet je ook eens naar Moose Jaw gaan en de Al Capone tour even doen.Moose Jaw staat bekend als Little Chicago en die tour is zeer leuk.groeten Tontje

  2. Marlies bedankt voor het verslag.

    Wat een prachtige omgeving daar!

    Zo te horen hebben jullie het heerlijk daar.

    Groeten

    Henri

  3. Hallo daar! Ook afdeling Velsen-Noord (c.q. Haarlem) is weer ingetuned om jullie belevenissen te volgen! Zelf gaan we over 2,5 week naar Chili (inclusief Paaseiland) voor bijna ‘n maand. Ach ja, iemand moet het doen… Tot die tijd lezen we dus mee. HEEL VEEL PLEZIER!!! Groeten, Ilse & Casper (Reisboekhandel De Wegwijzer)

  4. Hallo Nico & Marlies,

    Beter laat als nooit: geniet van jullie reis!!! Misschien moet ik volgende keer een one way voor jullie boeken, je weet maar nooit, het kan allemaal snel gaan… Ik ben zel net terug uit Californië, GEWELDIG! Ik blijf jullie ervaringen volgen, erg leuk. Groetjes

  5. Ha toekomstige emigranten,

    Leuk jullie enthousiaste verhalen te lezen.
    En wat zien jullie leuke dingen.
    Ook leuk dat jullie steeds de link van het B&B er bij zetten. Dan ga ik even spieken hoe mooi het allemaal wel niet is.
    Prachtig zo’n uitzicht op de bergen met in de verte het gehuil van de coyotes te horen of ander wildlife!!
    Gaaf dat jullie morgenavond (woensdagavond) hebben afgesproken met Ann en Gary. Leuk om ze weer te spreken en om over emigratie te praten. Misschien helpt het jullie wel over de drempel!! Wonen ze in de buurt van Banff?
    Leuk jullie berichtje weer te lezen. En de foto’s zijn super leuk om te zien.
    “We want more!!!” Hi,hi,…
    Veel liefs van Agnes en Colinda (die heimwee hebben naar Canada)

  6. hee meissie, hallo Nico,

    prachtige foto’s en voor ons ongekend wilde natuur! nog nooit oog in oog met een beer gestaan… respect! geweldig, zo’n site! voor een digidreuzeltje als ik onvoorstelbaar! mag je me ook eens leren als je trug bent, maar zal wel makkelijker lijken dan het is. Anyway, PUIK!!! Kan alleen maar zeggen: geniet, geniet en geniet! veel groeten en benieuwd naar je volgende script! eric

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