Tuesday 23rd May
It was an early start for us today with a morning tour, Discover Banff & Its Wildlife Tour, so no early walk as our pick up was 8.15 am. It was our coldest morning for our trip thus far, at just 4oC, but the wind chill made it feel colder and we had to dredge up what remnants of cold-weather clothing we had with us.
Our guide for the small-group 3hr tour was Neil and he took us around Banff showing us key historical sites and points of interest. We discovered that Banff was the first national park in Canada and fourth in the world and the town was originally founded due to the identification of hot springs in the area. Then, like with with Jasper and Lake Louise, the rail company sought to enhance tourism in the area and built what is now know as the Fairmont Springs Banff. This one has the same chateau style as the Fairmont at Lake Louise.
We covered a fair bit off ground across Banff and found the tour to be quite worthwhile. It was around 11.30 by the time we got back to our apartment and so Mark set off on a bike ride. Once he was was home, we ventured out for a drive around Vermilion Lakes and to the Fairmont and spotted several groups of Mule Dear, so named for their large ears. Parking at the Fairmont was $13 per hour and so we gave that a miss so it was a slightly shorter outing than planned. I then went on to browse the shops and found a great jacket at Helly Hanson, that is now in my bag, and received some great restaurant suggestions from the very friendly guy that served me. Mark then came down to the shops and joined in on the shopping and he now has a nice HH item in his bag as well. After that, it was on to the Canadian Brewhouse for Mark and then to Shoku, one of the restaurant suggestions, for dinner which was great and that we’d highly recommend.
Wednesday 24th May: Hike at Johnston Canyon
I had been wondering when a hiccup might come on our five month journey and it finally arrived. Booking.com cancelled one of our bookings and for no legitimate reason. We managed to independently sort something out in the end but it did take me two hours to do so, from 6.30 to 8.30 am this morning. There went our morning walk.
It was almost 10 am by the time we managed to get away and we went down to the Farmers Markets. These markets operate on a Wednesday through the spring / summer months and today was the first day of reopening. They were much smaller than we had expected, probably about 1/5 the size of Bondi Markets but it was funny to see how Markets pretty much are the same across the globe. You still have your clothing, gemstones, jewelry, and cakes / breads etc, it was just the photography that was a bit different. You don’t see as many grizzly bears and elk in the photography back home.
It didn’t take us long to work our way through the markets so we ambled home via a cafe for Mark. They have a funny way serving coffee here in Canadian cafes; they tend to serve coffee in cups but without the saucer. It looks quite odd. One good thing that nearly all the cafes do over here is they expect you to clear away your plates and cups. They generally have a side table where you deposit waste in a bin and stack your dirty plates into a crate. I think it’s a great idea; making everyone take responsibility for the mess they make.
The only other thing we had planned for the day was to hike through Johnston Canyon and we set off at about 11:30 am. The guidebooks say to go early or late to avoid the crowds but, given it’s not peak season, we went in the middle of the day. It was still pretty busy but this didn’t detract from the experience. It was a lovely walk up through the canyon along the Johnston River with two waterfalls in the sections of the trail that we covered. It took us about two hours to cover the 6 km round trip but that included stops for photos and for lunch. I’d highly recommend this activity if you’re ever in the Banff / Lake Louise area. We got back to our apartment at around 2.30 pm and Mark headed off on a bike ride, his last for the Banff area.
The dinner recommendation we received for last night was so good that we took another of the guy’s suggestions for dinner tonight. We set off at around 6 pm to head down for a drink at the Banff Avenue Brewing Company before dinner at Zyka. Zyka is a relatively new Indian restaurant but was doing a great trade and I’m not surprised. The food was great; some of the best Indian food we’ve ever tasted so I, too, would highly recommend this as a dining option if you’re ever in Banff. The mention of Indian raises another matter that has intrigued us during our travels. Indians, or South Asians, have by far taken over from the Chinese as the dominant segment of the tourist market, at least throughout the Canadian east coast that is. I’ll keep you posted on this phenomenon as we progress through our travels to other parts of the globe.
It was after 8 pm by the time we got home and we were happy for another day well spent. We’ve loved Banff and especially loved our accommodation. We head to Calgary tomorrow and will be there for three nights.
