Hello! I apologise for abandoning my blog for the last few weeks, I've been off exploring (again). You may or may not know (I'd be surprised if you didn't) that I spent the first half of September travelling around Western Canada. If you follow me on
Instagram you will have seen lots of photos from my trip. It truly was an experience of a lifetime, and I couldn't recommend visiting the country more. Myself and my boyfriend visited Vancouver, Whistler, Jasper, Banff and Calgary. All places were completely different, but I have to admit I absolutely fell in love with Vancouver. I've always been a City person, but somewhere like London is just too busy for me. Vancouver seemed like the perfect City... parks, beaches, a harbour, mountains, and a lot more laid-back and less populated than your usual. It was a trip I will never forget, and I hope to visit the country again in the future. You may be thinking 5 destinations in 2 provinces over two weeks seems a bit busy, and it was. We did a lot in a short space of time, so I thought the best way to show you what I got up to in Canada would be through photos. Of course if you have any questions on any of the places we visited, I would be more than happy to answer them and provide you with more in-depth information.
As a photography lover, Canada couldn't have been a more perfect location to experiment more with my camera skills. I think I filled two memory cards, so I apologise in advance for bombarding you with lots of photos. Looking back at them now makes me incredibly happy, and makes me miss it like crazy! It really is the most amazing country I have ever visited, and if it isn't already on your bucket list, I hope it is after you've read this post!
Day 1-2: Vancouver
Beautiful sunset over Vancouver's waterfront.
View of Stanley Park whilst on the boat.
Whale watching tour with
Wild Whales, an amazing day trip with amazing staff. Well worth the money even though it is expensive. If I could recommend to you one thing to do whilst in Canada, it would most definitely be Whale watching.
The Whale watching tour also featured visiting the seals that are usually bathing on these logs, especially on a sunny day.
Day 3: Vancouver to Whistler
Beautiful Shannon Falls in Squamish. Definitely worth stopping at on the drive to Whistler.
The walk from Shannon Falls to the Sea to Sky Gondola.
Next door to Shannon Falls is the
Sea to Sky Gondola, which provides you with the most incredible views. Out of all the Gondola's we went on in Canada, I would say this was my favourite. With several walking trails, you could spend hours up there.
The perfect photo backdrop.
The suspension bridge up on the mountain.
Day 4: Whistler
Ziplining across mountain valleys with
Superfly Ziplines. A truly incredible experience, run by an amazing company. Whistler offers so many different activities, if you're visiting this one has to be on your to do list!
Looking back on the first zipline 600 feet high.
Day 5: Whistler to Jasper
We were lucky enough to receive an upgrade on our rental car, so we had the pleasure of driving round Canada in this Dodge.
Driving past Mount Robson.
Day 6-7: Jasper
One of my favourite things about the country is the huge amount of beautiful animals that inhabit it. We had a close encounter with this Deer at Maligne Canyon. We did in fact see a Black Bear whilst in Fairmont Hot Springs (to my delight... I had been waiting all holiday!) in our accommodations back garden, but unfortunately didn't get the chance to photograph it.
Has water ever looked so beautiful?
Another shot of the incredible Maligne Canyon. A must see for anyone visiting Jasper.
The perfect place to spend hours wondering.
A very hazy Maligne Lake. Something to note which we did not realise until we were there, was that in order to visit Spirit Island you have to book onto a boat tour which takes around 2 hours or rent a kayak/canoe which takes 8-9 hours. Because we didn't realise you couldn't access Spirit Island by foot, the boat tours were unfortunately booked up for the day when we were visiting, so definitely book this in advance.
Sunwapta Falls.
Athabasca Falls.
Wondering around the area of Athabasca Falls, my personal favourite out of the two waterfalls.
Honeymoon Lake. Somewhere we never even knew existed, but were pleasantly surprised when we decided to take a detour from the main road. If you're ever on a road trip and passing Jasper, this would be a lovely spot to camp at.
Day 8: Jasper to Fairmont Hot Springs
Mount Athabasca.
The
Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure, where we were driven onto the Athabasca Glacier. An experience I would recommend, but bear in mind you are only on the actual glacier for around 20 minutes. The adventure also includes the Glacier Skywalk, which is great, but not the most fun in the rain!
Day 9: Fairmont Hot Springs/Banff
The most incredible scenic drive from Fairmont Hot Springs into Banff.
Probably the most hyped up place that we visited on our trip, and it definitely lived up to it's expectations. Lake Louise is truly beautiful. Full of tourists, but completely worth seeing.
The glacier fed water is the most amazing shade of green.
I completely fell in love with Lake Louise, my only regret is not having enough time to go out on the lake with a canoe.
Sorry... another photo of Lake Louise.
Banff Gondola takes you up to Sulphur Mountain where you can experience some breath-taking views of Banff and the Rockies. It's pricey, but the views are certainly worth it.
Amazing views on such a bright, clear day.
We were incredibly lucky with the weather whilst visiting Banff. The previous few days had been so smokey from the wild fires, that we weren't entirely sure the views would be that clear. But as you can see, you could quite literally see for miles.
Sulphur Mountain.
Another amazing lake, Moraine Lake. This time the most beautiful turquoise blue. Be aware that this lake has a lot less parking and access than Lake Louise does. When we originally tried to visit the road down to it, it was actually shut off. We returned later on in the day, which we found to be less busy.
An amazing sunset whilst driving back to our accommodation from Banff.
Day 10: Fairmont Hot Springs
Kinsmen Beach in Invermere, a few minutes down the road from Fairmont Hot Springs (where we were staying). We also visited the actual Fairmont Hot Springs that morning, which was nice and relaxing. This was our one day of the trip that we took some time to really chill out, and it was lovely weather. Kinsmen Beach is basically a small strip of sand around part of a very large lake, it's actually quite surreal sunbathing with mountains in the background.
Day 11: Fairmont Hot Springs to Calgary (stopping in Banff)
Lake Minnewanka... yes it really is pronounced the way it's spelt! We visited hoping to rent a boat for a couple hours, but unfortunately due to the wind we were unable to do so.
Despite the cold winds, it was a very beautiful lake, once again that amazing shade of blue.
Day 12: Calgary
This is the Simpson River, a beautiful area we spotted on the side of the road and just had to stop at. Unfortunately, as we were in Calgary for such a short amount of time and the weather wasn't great, I didn't get any particularly good photos (not blog worthy ones anyway). So, instead I thought I'd show you something amazing we saw on the drive there from Banff. But just for some information, whilst in Calgary we visited the Olympic Park, which we didn't find as exciting as we thought we would. We spent the rest of the day exploring the city centre which is really lovely and has some great shops! I just wish we had more time to really discover Calgary and all it has to offer.
Day 13: Calgary to Vancouver
We caught an extremely early flight back to Vancouver, where we spent the last couple days of our trip.
Day 14-15: Vancouver
Cycling around Stanley Park. A really lovely way to spend a sunny day and take in how beautiful the city of Vancouver is.
View from Stanley Park.
It really is hard to believe that this photo was taken in a City.
Vancouver Skyline.
Vancouver waterfront. One of my favourite spots, where you can watch all the sea planes taking off.
Even the high-rises look beautiful in Vancouver.
We spent our last evening watching the sunset up the
Lookout Tower. The views really are pretty spectacular. I'd recommend booking your tickets in advance as they are slightly cheaper, as with any activity/excursion that you want to do in Canada.
As you can see the weather was up and down the whole trip. Vancouver both at the beginning and end was warm and beautiful sunshine. However, a big chunk of our trip including Whistler and Jasper was interrupted by a very smokey sky due to local forest fires. Of course this is something that couldn't have been helped and it was horrible seeing some of the devastation, but that will be why some of the photos seem a bit more hazy.
So, finally we have come to the end of this post... hopefully you managed to get this far! I hope you enjoyed seeing my photos of Canada, I certainly enjoyed taking them. If you're planning on visiting any of these wonderful places (you really should), and would like any more recommendations on restaurants etc. I am more than happy to answer any questions below.
Thank-you for reading!
