Canada – Page 2 – travellingzombie.com

Calgary Street Art

At the end of our trip in Canada last year, we found ourselves with a couple of hours to kill in Calgary before flying home.

We didn’t really have time to make a specific trip out to a tourist spot or take a mini city tour (something that can be a really good way of seeing places when you are short on time).

Instead we took some time to wander round the streets and soak up the atmosphere. Luckily it was nice and sunny, meaning we could meander round the streets fairly comfortably.

On our unstructured trek round the city, we found loads of interesting street art, as well as a festival celebrating different cultures.

A mix of culture, music and food was on offer and a band in the centre of the plaza had people up dancing, enjoying the sunshine.

One of the most interesting artwork we spotted was the Wonderland sculpture in downtown Calgary. This is a huge wire structure of a human head which shows different faces, depending on the angle it’s viewed from. As it’s on the main route to most places, its definitely worth a quick visit.

We stumbled on the metal horse sculpture as we were wandering through some of the shopping districts – it was great to see unique artwork in a public space and it created a talking point with other people who were stopping to look at the sculpture in more detail.

It just goes to show that you don’t have to take a tour, pay lots of money or even have a specific destination in mind to get a feel for a new place. Sometimes, a simple wander around the local streets is all you need to discover some interesting sites and experiences.

Day Trips from Jasper National Park

Places to visit from Jasper National Park

Last year, we were lucky enough to spend some time in Jasper National Park.

Waking up early one morning, we heard hushed voices right outside the cabin. Peaking out, a herd of elk were lazily wandering down the embankment. We must have watched silently with about ten other travellers as they made their way from the river to the thick tree coverage.

What a beautiful way to start the morning!

Although we weren’t in Jasper for long, we did get chance to take a couple of day trips. These are our ‘don’t miss’ suggestions:

Athabasca Falls

A furious waterfall on the upper Athabasca River, this was a great way to spend a morning. It was only around a half hour drive from our base in Jasper and was fairly easy to find. The force of the water is incredible, as is the noise as it crashes down into the gorge below. Over the years, the water has channelled a way through the softer cliff walls, creating a twisting, turning chasm.

The viewing areas for the waterfall are well thought out, jutting out at a variety of places across the water. Athabasca Falls is located just off highway 93A, making it a great little stop if you are visiting the Athabasca Glacier or driving down the Icefield Parkway.

Jasper Town Centre

If you are heading through Jasper, you can’t miss a trip to the town centre. Set out on a long stretch of road, multiple little shops await, full of the usual souvenirs and bear spray. This is not why you should visit the town centre. I have a bit of a pet hate of natural parks and remote places adding lots of shops (I’m looking at you Banff). I can completely understand the need for a couple of little stores, stocked with essentials and set up to blend in with the surrounding area – however national parks don’t need shopping complexes in my opinion. Anyway, with that in mind: go to Jasper town centre, find the shops and then turn your back on them. Look in exactly the opposite direction and you will be greeted by an incredible view of the Rockies.

I’m not sure if it was the contrast of the mountains against the shops and cars, but this was truly an amazing view. It looked just like a cardboard cut out of a storybook skyline and it was breathtaking.

Athabasca Glacier

This was a slightly longer drive from where we were staying (about two hours). Try to keep your eyes peeled on the drive down the Icefield Parkway as early morning trips are likely to reveal lots of wildlife spotting opportunities.

The weather change from Jasper town centre to the glacier is huge – we started in shorts and ended up wrapped up in layers and winter coats! You can read all about our Glacier Trip here.

Maligne Lake

This was the underdog of the day trips from Jasper. I didn’t know much about the lake and we’d not really done much research about the visit, deciding our destination on the spur-of-the-moment.

If you plan to visit the lake, it’s worth trying to have as long there as you can – you won’t want to leave! What a setting this place is! Emerald waters stretch away from the sandy shore, framed by the glacial mountains in the distance, it’s clear why this location is one of the most photographed in the Rockies.

One of the main attractions is Spirit Island – reachable by one of the many over-priced boat rides on the lake. The Stoney Nakoda First Nation believe that the Island is a spiritual place, particularly as it is overlooked by three of the glacial mountains, which they believe to be their ancestors. As you can’t actually set foot on Spirit Island, we chose to do a walk around the lake instead.

A trail follows the outline of the lake, giving glimpses of the mountain range through the tree line.

I found Jasper to be far prettier and much more relaxed (and cheaper!) than it’s much-discussed Banff neighbour. Lots of other travellers told us to spend longer in Banff than Jasper, but I’m going to be rebellious and suggest that longer in Jasper would have been better. This might have been something to do with our little log cabin stay at Jasper House Bungalows which, although fairly expensive, were in a gorgeous setting, looking out over the Athabasca River.

We had some incredible sunsets here too, it was such a tranquil setting.

Travel Tip: Get the Tent Out!

Travel tips from http://www.travellingzombie.com

When we first started to travel, I was not a camping fan. I dislike bugs, being cold and mud – so it was no surprise that I’d rather stay in a comfy, warm hotel. However, on our first trip to a National Park in the USA, I was persuaded to give it a go. I’m so glad that I did! It was the best part of our trip, with nights around the campfire firmly cemented in my memory.

One of the main reasons I was happy to give it a go was for the cost. Accommodation is one of the most expensive elements of travelling. Camping can help with that. With pitch costs of around $26 per night in Wawona, Yosemite, camping can cut your accommodation costs in half.

When we first travelled to Yosemite and Tahoe, we had no clue about what tent to get and we didn’t want to have to pay extra to fly the tent over to our destination. This meant that we visited Kmart on our first day in the USA and, after much deliberation, we ended up buying a tent that was probably more suited to a backyard sleep over than a week or so in a couple of National Parks. Our main selection criteria was that it was big enough for three of us and had a sewn-in ground sheet (I refused to camp of there was a chance that spiders could crawl into my bed – ugh). We also ended up with sleeping bags that were fairly thin, and in one person’s case – didn’t come up past their chest! To be fair, the tent and the sleeping bags did their job – they were cheep and cheerful (we were not going to pay to fly them back to England and so they would be given away at the end of our trip) and they kept us clean and dry, however, they weren’t really designed for the cold nights of Yosemite.

Learning from our first experience, the next time we camped, we purchased a huge four-man tent in the UK and counted this as one of our bags, splitting the rest of our gear between the baggage allowance for the remaining three people in our party. This actually worked out far cheaper and meant that we had a sturdy, well-made tent for our adventures. Although there was lots of room in this tent (we could fit in four large airbeds!), it took four people, a good thirty minutes and the tips of one of my fingers to put up.

The big tent is great, particularly for camping trips on the UK but it only works out cheaper to take abroad if there are a few of you with whom you can split the luggage. So what do we do if it’s just me and Wandering Beeb? We did a huge amount of research and purchased a much smaller tent. We ended up with a MSR Elixir 3 tent.

This little tent is a beauty! Firstly, it looks the business – it’s fairly low to the ground and has a curved design, giving you lots of head room whilst feeling really airy. The ground sheet is sewn-in and the two doors are well-sealed to prevent any unwanted visitors or rain getting in. Although there is a two-man version of the tent, we were sensible to go for the three-man option to get a little extra room as it’s a very snug inside. It’s small, geometric design made it really sturdy and it was unbelievably easy to put up. Usually there is a lot of swearing and sore fingers when we camp – not in this case as it’s easy enough for one person to put it up in about 10 minutes – winner!! Even better, as it’s so lightweight and can be split up into two small bags, we were able to fit it in with our usual luggage allowance, meaning that we didn’t incur any extra charges.

One of the best things about this tent had to be the option to remove the outer layer and look up through the mesh panels at the stars. The Yosemite night sky is one of the most beautiful sights we have ever seen and to be able to look up at the stars from the comfort of our sleeping bags was incredible – something you would absolutely miss out on in a hotel.

As well as incredible sights, camping brings you together as travellers like nothing else. There is something about a good campfire and nights huddled round a torch that bond you in a way nothing else can.

What tent do you use? Any good recommendations? Tell us in the comments!

An Unexpected Favourite: Whistler, Canada

A quick stop in summer-time Whistler

Before we went on our most recent trip to Canada, many people told us that Whistler wasn’t as popular or beautiful as Banff and therefore we probably shouldn’t spend as long there, if we visited it at all. Seeing as we haven’t been before, we decided to build in a day’s stay at the little ski resort on our way through to our next big stop.

The journey from Vancouver was stunning, at every curve of the road there was something to see. Deep blue lakes with imposing mountings rising upwards to transform into snow-dusted peaks. If this was scenery that people thought we could miss, then they were missing the point!

Arriving at Whistler was a really nice surprise – the little complex is really well built, hiding amongst the scenery without impacting on the surrounding landscape. We were staying at Pan Pacific Whistler Mountain which was absolutely stunning – all wooden panelling and log fires!

The immediate area around the hotel was paved to create a meandering, circular complex, full of restaurants and shops. Although it was quite commercial (it’s going to be, the whole place is designed as a ski resort), it managed to be so well designed that you almost didn’t mind. A stream cut through the centre of the stone walkway, which broke up the run of shops and ensured that the natural draw of the mountain wasn’t forgotten.

We went in the summer, so there was no skiing on the mountain, however, that didn’t mean that it was quiet. In fact, the place was bustling, with biking and dirt trails replacing the snow and ski boots.

As we were only there for a short stay (just the one night), we went in search of a short trundle to see what Whistler had to offer. It was quite late in the afternoon and so we chose to head off down towards Lost Lake, a stunning lake in the middle of Lost Lake Park and only a short walk from the hotel.

Within minutes of leaving the village complex, the trees closed in, hugging the edge of the woodland trail. It was a beautiful walk, initially requiring us to cross over a roaring stream which was captivating to watch. We made sure to create noise and check our surroundings frequently as we were the only ones on the path and we didn’t want to unintentionally creep up on an unsuspecting bear! Being bitten alive by all of the mosquitoes helped to keep us shouting!

The lake itself was beautiful. The surrounding mountains created an imposing backdrop to the calm waters. What we hadn’t expected was the beach and grassy areas surrounding the lake. As it was summer, there were people playing ball games and chilling out on the sand. Its easy to imagine a very different picture in the winter when the lake freezes over and the beach is covered in snow! It would be nice to see it in winter to compare our experiences.

Leaving Vancouver, the people we shared our route with told us to expect places to get more commercial and expensive, the closer we got to Whistler, Jasper and Banff. This felt like almost counter-intuitive advice, given that we were heading away from the big cities and towards mountains and national parks. It did hold to be true, however, which was somewhat disappointing – we like our mountains and lakes to stay rural, not to be encompassed by a shopping street! That being said, Whistler integrated the shopping areas and natural beauty well. The design of the village was well thought out to ensure that the sight of the mountains towering across the skyline wasn’t lost.

Although we loved Whistler, it was still easily one of the most expensive places that we stayed on our trip. This was partly because we’d left it fairly late to book accommodation, but also because Whistler is a fairly expensive place generally. Obviously, if you are heading there in the winter to ski, some of the cost is unavoidable. If you aren’t bothered about skiing, consider visiting in the summer instead. Although it’s not classed as ‘off peak’, there are some better deals on hotels and with a great number of trails to explore, there are lots of cheap (or free!) things to do!

Did you find Whistler expensive or cheap? What are your tips for easing the costs when staying at this location? Tell us in the comments.