Time for culture and history, Victoria, Vancouver Island

Baskets of begonias hanging from the lamp posts

We had the Butchart Gardens on our bucket list at Victoria on Vancouver Island. We had a few hours in the city before visiting the gardens. The city itself stood on display for us, with its beautiful harbour with historical stone buildings lining the streets and the harbour front. The Houses of Parliament and Fairmont Empress Hotel stand guard over the city and there is something about museums that always attracts us.  Maybe that was why I liked history at school  

The boardwalk was busy with buskers and market stalls

 Fairmont Empress Hotel

British Columbia Parliament House

The Royal British Columbia Museum, had a display on the first people of the area
 

Canoe

Totem poles

Clothing of the first people, 

Helicopter Ride over Kananaskis River Valley

Our trip from Lake Louise and Banff to Calgary included a helicopter ride over Kananaskis River Valley and its junction with the Bow River Valley. I made a fool of myself begging for the front seat in the helicopter, but I managed to throw out embarrassment and got the best view.
This magnificent scenery of mountains, the emerald green of the glacial waters of the two rivers also included two man made lakes, which were used for power generation.

Hoodoos, Banff National Park

 

 The Hoodoos are glacial material in the Bow River Valley, which have weathered to leave strange shapes. Rundle Mountain is in the background

Squirrels keep guard over Sulphur Mountain

Overlooking Banff, Sulphur Mountain, was very popular for its sulphur springs. We took a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain. There we found the usual coffee and souvenir shops, but also a boardwalk to the top of the mountain, where the Cosmic Ray Station had been re-created.
The Cosmic Ray Station was established in 1956 by the National Research Station, Sulphur Mountain was chosen for the site because of its high elevation and was the most important station in Canada during the International Geophysical Year 1957-1958.
In 1903 Norman Sanson, established a weather observatory. Ottawa sent him enough weather recording blanks to last him 33 years. However, not only did he use them up, he continued to climb the mountain for another ten years to record his observations.
The view from the top of the mountain was spectacular and being above the tree-line, its was rugged and barren, but that didn't stop the Golden Squirrels from being inquisitive and letting us all get some great photos. Including one who perched himself on a rock above the pavement and kept guard over who was entering his territory.

Bow River Valley and Banff

Canoeing Lake Louise Fairmont Hotel

The bus turns into Lake Louise and the view is spectacular. The Chateau stands in front of the most beautiful scenery, majestic mountains surround the beautiful building. But wait there's more. Our room overlooks the most magnificent Lake Louise, with its emerald green water, which is fed from the glacier we can see on the mountain behind.  The water is perfectly still, on this afternoon, there is no breeze, and the mountains are reflected in a mirror image in the lake water.

We spent the afternoon, walking around the lake, at the waters edge with the mountain rising above us on the other side. We walked as far as we could and found a stream which was running off the glacier blocking our way, but it was a spectacular walk and gave us an appetite for dinner.

It looked so beautiful, relaxing and what a perfect way to see the Fairmont Chateau, canoeing Lake Louise with the backdrop of snow capped mountains.

Dinner on the patio - feeling very spoilt

Banff

Beautiful Banff, with its location in the Bow River Valley it is surrounded by rugged Mountains, with their towering peaks reaching for the sky. We have had temperatures of at least 30C for four days and the locals tells us it is unseasonally warm.  In early August, there is very little snow, or ice on the peaks   in stark contrast to the valley of green below them.We spent the morning strolling through downtown Banff, found the river with a beautiful park beside it and continued on the Bow River Falls track which follows the river east and is situated in a dry Montane forest of fir,  cypress,spruce and wildflowers. The trees are providing welcome shade and have created a cooling breeze. On either side of the river, there are sheer cliff walls and on the opposite side are cyclists riding through forest and stopping to take photos and then continuing on their morning ride.
The river is a gorgeous emerald green colour, which flows from glacier water and it is wide at this point, approximately ten metres. The river is full and the water is fast and furious. There is one large set of falls, dropping about four metres and two other sets of falls , dropping approximately one metre each.  In a space of approximately fifty metres there are numerous other smaller falls.  The track has a timber and stone railing, which follows the falls and  there are numerous high vantage points, until we reach the end of the drop-off and the river flows to a sandy beach and curves away out of sight.
On the sandy beach are kayaks and white water rafting boats, having negotiated the falls and waiting to be packed onto their trailer and taken back up to the start of their journey for their next adventurers to experience the exhilaration of the Bow River Falls and the intriguing "hoodoos"

Bow River bridge

 The Fox Hotel, built from Rundle Rock, which is limestone and is mined locally from Rundle Mountain

 The Caribou Lodge - where we stayed in Banff

The base of Bow River Falls