Canada 2017 – Day 2 – A visit to the Banff Gondola

Sunrise, Jet lag and the Banff Gondola. This is pretty much what our day has consisted of. I woke at 2am, Max and Suzanne weren’t far behind at 3am.

We (I, to be more accurate) wanted to go to Vermilion Lakes to catch the sunrise. At 6.30 we made our way there, arriving after a quick stop at a MacDonaldsy type place called Tim Hortons for a breakfast bite.

We arrived at the lakes, beaten by a gaggle of photographers who all wanted to get the best view. I was happy with my plot, but my, it was cold, only a little over freezing at 3 degrees. About 40 minutes later we decided we had seen all we wanted to. Unfortunately, the colours weren’t what we’d hoped for but a pretty sight nonetheless.

Touloulou’s was our next stop for a more substantial breakfast, and substantial would turn out to be correct. A chocolate chip waffle, with chocolate sauce for Max and I to devour. Oh and covered in cream. Did I forget to mention the cream? There was a token blackberry on the side though. Suzanne had the blackberry. I mean, why ruin a perfectly good waffle!

Then it was off to the Banff Gondola, our first main attraction of the trip.

It was only about 9am at this point, and although our tickets had been booked for 10, we were allowed up. If you are thinking of visiting, booking ahead gets your tickets but also, saves 10% on the $62 entrance.

Up we go on the Banff Gondola

We piled into our car on the Banff Gondola. Forced to put all our faith in a metal and glass box not much bigger than a large toilet cubicle. We started our ascent, dangling and swaying from the metal cables above.

The large cubicle continued skyward. We gained more confidence that our nominated emergency contacts wouldn’t be receiving a phone call, we started to marvel at the views.

Disappointedly, mother nature decided the Chubb’s wouldn’t have unrestricted views of the town and valley below, blanketing most of our mountain in cloud. There was the occasional break when we could take some photos, but it seemed the side of the mountain I wanted to photograph down, would be forever clouded. At least for our visit anyway.

Weather update! If it was about 5 degrees at the bottom of the mountain, you can start to imagine how chilly it was, 7486 foot at the top!

Assisted by being deliriously tired, Max felt the need to walk up to a couple of random strangers ask their name, and then break out into impromptu singing. Hopefully, the strangers found this as endearing as we did!

After an hour or so it was back down with an ever increasingly tired Max. A quick photo shoot with George the Bear, and it was back to the car, confident Max would snooze once we started driving.

After the Banff Gondola, it was Bow Falls

Over an hour later, we were parked up at Bow Falls, Max was now awake, and we had enjoyed some lunch. It was now time to sample some more of mother nature that Banff had to offer.

Other than the mildly thunderous noise, the actual falls themselves did very little to excite me. Situated on the Bow River, the falls, for me anyway, was a side dish for the main course of views like these.

It is views and photographs like these we were hoping to enjoy on our visit and so far we haven’t been disappointed. We enjoyed a walk on the very easy paths running alongside the falls, with steps being the only real hindrance to our journey.

Eventually, we had seen enough, and it was back to the hotel for an early tea. The Old Spaghetti house was our establishment of choice. Simple Spaghetti for me and Max, Spaghetti with Clams for Suzanne.

It was only when Suzanne was a couple of forkfuls in, she realised she didn’t have spaghetti at all. It was tasty enough so nothing was said, but eventually, the waiter realised, apologised and we carried on. Suzanne enjoying the meal that she didn’t order!

With jet-lag still playing a major factor in our trip thus far, we were tucked up in bed by 8.30pm.

The Wild Chubb’s touring Canada!

Until we write again, Richard, Suzanne and Max

Distance covered today – 22 km