Vancouver

And finally on to Vancouver itself, city of skyscrapers and a huge downtown park called Stanley Park. Weather was beautiful, we ditched the car and travelled around on the Hop on Hop off bus which had a cheesey commentary but got us around all the sights. Above, Canada Place, where the ocean-going cruise liners dock. Below, we did a trip on a seaplane and got fantastic views of Vancouver from the air. Problem was, I had to stay in the hold and saw nothing.

Below is Gastown, the oldest part of the city, and its famous steam-driven clock which actually isn't really particularly old but makes a good tourist landmark.

Butchart Gardens, Vancouver Island

Finally got away from the misty drizzliness of inland Canada and made it to Vancouver Island, on which the city of Vancouver isn't but the capital of British Columbia (Victoria) is. We spent a very enjoyable few hours at the well-renowned Butchart Gardens, carved out of a limestone quarry by the very wealthy Butchart family and now generating a veritable goldmine. Aside from the gardens, they have live music and fireworks on a Saturday night.

Abandon all....

This is Hope, near the confluence of the Fraser River and the Thompson River. It is known as the Chainsaw Carving capital of the world. The streets around Memorial Park are full of wooden statues that have allegedly all been carved with a chainsaw.. I shouldn't say'allegedly.' At first, I thought, yeah, yeah, they probably used chisels and pretended but apparently no, the carvings were all prizewinners at the chainsaw festival which happens every year and the carvings have to be done in public.

Yale, erm, not the University

Next stop was to Yale Historical National Site. Yale is a very small village on the Fraser Canyon but at one time it was the largest settlement west of Chicago and north of San Francisco. And all for one reason - Gold. When they discovered Gold here in the 1800s, 30,000 people flocked in, some for gold, some to provide the services for those seeking gold. A very congested tented settlement was set up on this tiny foothold on the banks of the mighty Fraser river.

They've done up a few tents to represent the saloons, barber shops etc of the time and so I had a good time playing music, cheating at cards and drinking whusky. No dancing girls though...

The Othello Tunnels

This wasn't bad actually. They brought me to the Coquihalla Park just to the east of Hope, where there was a lovely walk through a series of disused railway tunnels that had been cut through a mountain. Weather a bit drizzly but it was quite unusual and we needed flashlights for a couple of the tunnels.

The Gates of Hell

Well, they've brought me to some interesting places on this eart but the Gates of Hell? To be fair, the ugly one with the glasses accidentally left me in the car, so I didn't get to go down on the cable-car into the Fraser canyon and watch the whirling, swirling waters that so terrified explorers in the early 1800s. They only remembered me afterwards.

Okanagan wine

We did a tour of West Kelowna wineries which was great. The Hatch was the first one, then the famous Quails Gate, then On the Grid, hic, Off the Grid, then erm, Dallingroll, um, Rollingdale and then some Hills, Beverley Hills? the Black Hills of Dakota? no, hic, Volcanic Hills....

Kelowna

Down in Kelowna for a wine tasting tour, this critter nearly got a taste of me. Actually, he was friendly enough. His name is Ogopogo and he is the Okanagan version of Nessie.

Kamloops

Heading south from Jasper, we landed in Kamloops in time to board the 2141 Kamloops Steam Railway for an evening drive. We were entertained by dancing girls and then got robbed by female outlaws. I also got to drive a vintage car.

Mount Robson

A lovely sunny day, we crossed the state line from Alberta to British Columbia on the Yellowhead Highway and stopped off for a magnificent view of Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.

Only downside was there was no whacky baccy allowed....