Mt Norquay and Cliff House Bistro Banff

MOUNT NORQUAY AND CLIFF HOUSE BISTRO

We only have a couple of days in Banff and had spoken to our waitress at the hotel after breakfast and she suggested a chairlift ride up Mt Norquay.  A twenty minute bus shuttle out of town, Mt Norquay overlooks the Bow River Valley and Banff.  On top of Mount Norquay we would find a quaint English tea house built in 1959 and recently renovated into a bistro, the Cliff House Bistro.

We caught a shuttle in Banff Avenue and this took us up to the bottom of the mountain and the start  of the chairlift.  Not being skiiers, we are nervous about using the chairlift and speak to the  attendant, it doesn’t take long to pick up his accent and he is Josh and he is a paramedic from Melbourne.  He is friendly and helpful and we are soon comfortable and on our way to the top.  The magnificent Douglas fir trees surround us as we make our way up and the air begins to cool down.

We spot rabbits and a cheeky little squirrel is sitting out in the sun, eating his nuts and another is shy and runs into the bushes away from us.  Half way up the mountain, quite a lot of young ladies must have come to misfortune, as we find a number of bras and beads hanging out of a dead tree.  I couldn’t get my camera out in time to take a photo. I would love to know the story behind this adventure.

At the top of the mountain, the Cliff House Bistro overlooks the Bow River Valley, it is beautiful scenery, with the mountains towering over the town of Banff the emerald green of the Bow River winding its way out of sight.

 We enter the Cliff House Bistro and order lunch from another Australian expat, a young man from Terrigal. My meal was calamari stewed in tomatoes, onions and olives, served with slices of dry toast. I had never had calamari served this way, but it was delicious.

Having spent a very pleasant, relaxing, couple of hours, we travelled down the mountain again, looking out for the squirrels and rabbits, but they were nowhere in sight.

Butchart Gardens, Vancouver Island

Words cannot express the beauty of Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, so I will just show you a heap of photos. Enjoy

Capilano Swinging Bridge and Temperate Rainforest.- Vancouver

For the history buffs and naturalists the Capilano swinging bridge and temperate rain forest are a must when visiting Vancouver.

On northside Vancouver at the base of Grouse Mountain, the Capilano Swinging Bridge is 450 feet long and 230 feet above the river  below. Crossing the bridge itself is no mean feat, as it swings and sways while you may your way across with a crowd of visitors.  The easiest way is (if you can) leave the guardrails and walk up the middle.  As you cross you have an incredible sense of awe for the original builders of the bridge, which was made of timber and rope and was attached to giant trees on both sides of the river.

Totem poles, photos, murals and artefacts bring to the life the stories of the early pioneers and First People, who inhabited the area.

Taking a guided tour through the rainforest was very enlightening. The  Douglas Fir trees which grow extremely tall, don’t have branches until they reach above the other trees. The western red cedar tree, was used extensively by the First People, for their home building, their canoes and the bark was softened to make baskets and utensils for the home.