2 Months to go. Sunday 20th October 2013

Wow, we can't believe that in 2 months today we will be on our way to Canada. In the last couple of weeks we've managed to buy some snow pants and jackets that were on sale. We've already booked the Alcatraz Island night tour in San Francisco, as apparently it sells out weeks in advance. We have also booked for a Dog Sledding tour a couple of days after Christmas in Banff. Looks like great fun. Nearly all of our accommodation for the trip has been booked and paid for as is the 3 different hire cars. Yesterday I read that this winter should bring above average snow falls for the western side of Canada and that mid to late December temperatures will be below average. I think we are in for a big shock. The December averages for the Banff village is 44cm snow fall over the month and max daily temp of -5 degrees celsius and Min of -15! But heaps more snow up on the mountains around.

The 32's with 2 weeks to go! Sunday 8th December

Day 1. Perth to Calgary. Friday 20th December

Finally after years of dreaming and planning we set off on our next BIG holiday. As to be expected, we did have a couple of hiccups. The first being before we left the our own driveway. Our wonderful  Travel Agent friend, Jenny  had organised a nice shiny black limo van for the airport transfer at 9pm. By 9:20 and no sign of the van we got a feeling that the relaxing part of the holiday wasn't going to happen for a while. A couple of text messages later we found out that the limo driver had his days mixed up and wasn't coming till the next night! Deep breaths, it's ok we'll just get a taxi. NO, a taxi big enough for all of us would take at least 30 minutes to arrive. That plus travel time to the airport would get us there after the boarding time. More deep breaths! Luckily our house sitters were there so we jumped in our cars and drove ourselves and then they returned the cars back home. We arrived at the airport boarding gate with 10 minutes to spare. Not even enough time for that relaxing pre-flight red wine. We got to Sydney at 6:30am and used the train to the International Airport where we had breakfast with our Sister in-lawn Rebecca & her kids and Christine's sister Sharon who had come out to see us. It was a lovely quick catch up and the kids loved seeing their cousins again for the hour or so before we needed to go through customs. Chelsea obviously thought it was time for another hiccup, so she vomited on the tarmac while boarding the Fiji bound plane. The ground staff were hesitant about letting her board but there was no way we were going to miss that plane. She perked up and slept much of 4 hour flight. We had a 3 hour stop over in a wet and steamy Fiji. Chelsea was sick again on the Fiji to LA flight but luckily used the paper bag. We had a 4 hour stopover in LA before boarding plane ride number 4 for Calgary. We arrived at 7:30pm to a chilly -14 degrees and snow everywhere. It was very pretty seeing the houses with Christmas lights and snow from the plane. The last hiccup for day 1 was our hotel wasn't going to let us all stay in the one room. After explaining that perhaps that should have been brought up when the room was booked in July and we had a confirmation letter with the details they very kindly gave us a room with a inter-joining suite for the rollaway bed. After a dinner and a much needed wine and a shower we hit the sack. Phew


Sydney Airport Breakfast with Aunties and Cousins

View from our Calgary room

Day 2. Calgary. Saturday 21st December

Our first experience at -15 degree day wasn't too bad. We hit the shops when they opened at 10am to go in search of gloves, beanies, scarves and boots. Our hotel is in Downtown Calgary and therefore it was only a 5 - 10 minute walk to the closest shopping mall. After a wander around it soon became obvious that if we were shopping for designer label clothing, this was the place to come. After explaining to a nice salesman that we are tight Australians didn't want to spend a fortune on gloves and boots, that would only be worn for a week, we hit the icy footpaths and train to seek out bargains. Our first stop was Mountain Equipment Cooperative (like Anaconda) for the gloves and beanies at clearance prices. Bargain number 1! We then ventured, via a 15 minute train ride and a 15 minute walk, where probably not that many tourist tread - Value Village, a Salvation Army style store that sells donated goods. 4 out of  5 of us needed suitable footwear for the below freezing temperatures and sneakers weren't going cut it. Half an hour later 4 pairs of brand new second hand warm waterproof boots walked out the door for less than $20 each. Bargain number 2! We headed back downtown to the hotel for a rest and a warm up before having tea at a nearby Irish pub and finished day 2 with a swim in the hotel pool. The 20 story hotel is very nice with fantastic views from the gym & pool on the 18th floor. After a bit of research we have found out that the adjoining suite  we are using for 1 rollaway bed and our luggage would normally cost $1500 per night( we only paid the standard rate)! Bargain number 3!



Downtown Calgary



A warm hearty Irish dinner

A real life Gingerbread House in the hotel lobby 

Swim with a view

City lights with ice skating rink

Day 3. Calgary to Banff. Sunday 22nd December

Andrew and Christine woke up early, thanks to jetlag, at 1am after only a couple of hours sleep. Both spent some time reading, tossing and turning, reading some more and trying to get to sleep. Thankfully there was a 'domestic' going on right outside our room so that kept us entertained for a little while until we had to call security to come and sort it out. Christine managed to get back to sleep but Andrew struggled a bit. Luckily the hotels free wifi, gym, pool and spa  kept him occupied until everyone else work up at 9am. The Calgary Tower was less than a 5 minute walk away so we decided to fit that in before we had to leave. It was built in 1968 and stands at 190 meters high with an observation deck, revolving restaurant and a continually burning gas torch that can be seen from 15kms away. Thankfully, a thick fog had cleared to a thin fog which helped make the view impressive. One part of the floor was glass that you could walk out on to and get a great view straight down. We headed back to the Hyatt, grabbed some breakfast ,checked out of the room and caught a taxi back to the airport to collect the hire car. Andrew watched the taxi driver like a hawk to try to get an understanding of driving on the 'wrong' side of the road. We are now the proud renters of a large 7 seat Dodge Caravan that has plenty of room for us and our 4 bags. The initial challenge was trying to work out how to open the boot. Turns out it was frozen shut as it was a rather chilly -18 degrees.  Using a borrowed GPS, that directed us to take the shortest route - not the easiest, we drove along main arterial roads, through Calgary suburbs and finally onto the main highway heading to Banff. The driving advice Andrew had received from many well meaning friends and family was "keep the centre line on the left and be careful when turning at an intersection". The extra challenge of driving in Alberta in the winter is the 'kitty litter' all over the roads for grip and therefore the centre line isn't always visible. All passengers were great and kept very quiet until we hit the freeway when Andrew could relax slightly and even turn the radio on (more stressful that driving a fire truck to a fire). The scenery along the way was beautiful with endless fields of snow and huge snow covered mountains. We arrived in Banff early afternoon after the 130km drive and found a supermarket for supplies for the next few day. We are staying at the Hidden Ridge Resort, a couple of kms out of the town centre, in a self contained loft  apartment/lodge with 3 queen beds and a fold out sofa bed. No children have to share a bed this time. Yay! We checked in and found our apartment and had a personal greeting at our front door by an elk. When we entered a Christmas tree was all lit up ready for us to decorate. We have a magnificent view  from the balcony of the surrounding mountains. After unpacking our bags, the kids decorated the Christmas tree, we started the fire, had an early dinner, watched a bit of tv and were all in bed by 7:30.



View from the Calgary Tower



The glass floor in the tower



Some random Calgary suburb.



Plenty of room for a family of 5



The look of a focussed driver



Highway towards Banff



Our home for the week (Upper Left hand side)



Our welcoming party

Christmas tree & Fire Place, now the wait for Santa

Day 4. Banff. Monday 23rd December

Andrew and the kids managed a 12+ hour sleep while Christine was awake for a few hours in the middle of the night still due to jetlag. Chelsea woke up unwell and spent the whole day in bed sleeping with a high temperature, sore throat, head ache and vomiting. The sun doesn't rise until after 8:45am here with sunset at 4:30pm so there is plenty of darkness. Christine had the first tumble on the ice and not only bruised her pride but also her elbow and backside. After breakfast we caught the shuttle bus into town to spend a couple of hours wandering along the quaint main street. It was filled with endless souvenir and gift shops with the odd bakery, clothes shop and restaurant/pub We were mainly looking for Christmas wrapping paper but couldn't find any anywhere. We finally found a Dollar Shop but wouldn't you know it a customer was paying for the last roll they had. However, with the temperature getting up to a balmy 3 degrees, at midday, and not dropping below -2 till after 3pm it was a nice day for a walk. Occasionally there would be a very light snowfall which Jacob and Cameron would get very excited about. We headed back to Hidden Ridge and did a pile of washing. After a late lunch we stripped off to our bathers and went for a soak in the 40 degree outdoor hot pool amongst the snow and  mountain views. The chilly air made for an invigorating dash in and out of the pool. We finished the day with a bowl of spaghetti and watched Christmas movies on 'cable tv'.

Banff avenue.

Another pool with a view

Brrrrrrr

Alone at last

Day 5. Banff. Tuesday 24th December

Hiccup number 3 - Chelsea has tonsillitis! Christine took her to the local doctor first thing in the morning and after a couple of hours came home with antibiotics and our cash card lighter by $300 . Hopefully our travel insurance will help out with a refund of some sort upon our return home.
Chelsea spent the rest of the day in bed. She normally responds well to antibiotics so hopefully she will start to improve soon and can join us for all the festivities on Christmas Day. Andrew and the boys went and played in the snow, had snowball fights, made snow angels and explored the surrounding 'bush'. Fortunately the bears* are hibernating . Unfortunately the only wildlife spotted was a cute little squirrel. With Canada being 18 or so hours behind NSW & SA we called family to wish them all a Merry Christmas.  After dark we went for a drive along the main street to have a look at the pretty Christmas lights that made it feel like Christmas Eve .  After a light tea of scrambled eggs and toast Christine and Andrew went for another soak in the hot pool and met some Canadians (finally, most people here come from some other country ) who were at the resort overnight for Christmas. They were fascinated that we had travelled all this way to spend Christmas in Banff and then spending another 3&1/2 weeks in the US. We found our way back to the room and settled in for the night watching Indiana Jones with Cameron. Eventually we all fell asleep dreaming of Santa's impending visit.

* Don't miss the hyperlinks


Jake and Cam preparing to fight

Fire at will! (Who's Will?)

Cam's Angel

Banff town centre in the valley. 

Banff Avenue