Lake Louise

The last week of our holiday was spent after a hard two day drive from Ucluelet at Lake Louise in the Rockies. We stayed at Lake Louise Inn which we had stayed at five years earlier. We were disappointed on the first night to find out that the cookout season was over and the large gazebo where we had previously sat in front of an open fire and ate burgers and sweetcorn was closed. However most evening we took some drinks to the gazebo while the kids played at the treehouse and made wigwams from branches, grass and leaves. Most mornings we swam in the pool and in the afternoon went to the lake. One day we took to the lake in canoes. Kirsten, Adam and I reached the end of the lake. Meris and Hannah said they could've done had they wanted to....One morning I got up at 5am and went to take sunrise shots of the lake. Another day I hiked from Lake Louise up to Lake Agnes and then ran the three miles back down the mountain. Apparently deck shoes are not best suited to fell running and I gained a nice blister. The end of our trip came far too soon and we drove to Calgary and flew back to a grey Gatwick. The 17kg of excess baggage indicates we probably bought too much stuff while we were away but it will give us good memories of a fantastic summer.

Ucluelet and Tofino

On the last day of our stay at UBC I picked up a mini-van and on Saturday we drove out to Horseshoe Bay where we caught the ferry to Nanimo on Vancouver Island. We then drove three hours to Ucluelet which is on a small prominatory which faces the Pacific. We stayed at the Nor Wester Haven (http://www.uclueletbandb.com/) in a beautiful cabin facing the in inlet. The cabin is run by an excellent artist Wendy and her naval architect companion, John. They made us most welcome and recommended the Driftwood fish bar/restaurant which was great. I even played Wendy's 30 year old acoustic flatop. We spent time collecting shells on the beach right by the cabin (and brought most home). The next mornning we went to Chesterman Beach near Tofino. We spent a lovely day there playing on the beach, and also in Tofino itself. I cannot begin to explain the beauty of this place and I know my pictures didn't do it justice. THe next morning we were up early (again) to drive back to Nanimo. We caught the ferry at lunctime and then drove the 5 hour drive to Kamloops.