The Fairmont Experience

The Fairmont Experience - Banff and Lake Louise

The plan for Banff and Lake Lousie wasn't meant to be very touristy, it was planned to only spend two nights at each and just enjoy the hotel.

Banff Springs, Amy's dream hotel, was literally a castle in the woods with magnificient views of the mountains and valleys.  We checked in on a Friday night, along with 600 other people, our bags were taken by the bell boy and we went inside to check in.  We expected a long wait with so many people however we only had to wait for one person to be served in front of us plus they were handing out hot apple cider and a cookie to the guests.  A very warm welcome (the apple cider was definitely great relief after the freezing cold outside) for the start of our experience at the Fairmont.  When checking in we were upgraded to the Royal suite, the wing of the hotel where the Queen and her staff stayed when they were in Banff.  The furnishings have been left as they were since the Queens visit.  Including all Royal artwork, photos and portraits, stone carved royal crest each side of the lobby.  This section of the hotel has remained in a very different decoration to the remainder of the hotel.

Fairmont Baff Springs

The Royal Wing

That night we dinned at the Waldhaus Restaurant, located just a short stroll down the mountain at the rear of the property.  The property, originally the golf club, has been converted into a fine dining restaurant.  Sitting in front of a large open fire with a Christmas tree in the corner and mounted animal heads on the wall, awesome (sorry Leanne).

The next morning we decided to check out the Banff Hot Springs.  The number one tourist desination of the area, located a short taxi ride up the mountain from the hotel.  The springs and facilities are man made however the water is 100% natural mineral water from the mountain themselves.  The water was at a constant 39 degrees C.  In major contrast to temperature outside the pool somewhere in the region of -10 degrees C, with snow lining the outside of the pool.  The view across the mountains and valley from the pool were just spectacular.

Hot Springs Banff - What a view!

That afternoon we took part in the castle tour hosted by the hotel.  Our tour guide outlining the history of the castle and guided the group around the main guest floors, including the dining and lounge rooms as well as the numerous elaborate ballrooms.  Very castle like.

Banff Springs Foyer

That evening we took a trip in to Banff village and wandered around the 3 blocks of the village street.

The view from our suite - Fairmont Banff Convention Centre

At noon the next morning we headed to the Lake Louise Chateau, my dream hotel.  Set on the edge of Lake Louise, surrounded by mountains, the Chateau is set in a winter wonderland.  Our room overlooked the lake which had almost entirely frozen over and was covered in snow.

Fairmont Lake Louise Chateau

Chateau foyer

We took a stroll to the middle of the lake for a better view of the surroundings and a view back to the magnificent Chateau.  Some people were skating on the hotel maintained rink (on the lake itself), others playing a friendly match of ice hockey, other people cross country skiing and others hiking around the edge of the lake.  After our short walk on the lake, we warmed up with a hot chocolate and a bowl of fries in the Glacier Saloon.  That night we dined in luxury at the Fairview Dining Room.  That night, for the second time in as many Fairmont's, I ordered the roast duck.  Simply devine!

On Lake Louise

The next day we went on a sleigh ride.  One of those things I just had to do! What I had always dreamed would be magical was one of the coldest experiences of my life!  It was -22 degrees C plus as we were moving the wind was blowing straight through us.  We were rugged up, with multiple layers, coats, scarfs etc. plus we had a blanket to share and we were still frozen!  We went around the edge of the lake and we able to have a short photo stop at the opposite side of the lake with a view across the lake to the Chateau, the mountains and a frozen waterfall.  Typically the sleigh ride would return back to the Chateau across the lake itself however as it was still early in the season and not cold enough for the lake to be solid enough (can you believe it, it was still too warm) so we returned down the same side of the lake.  The views despite the cold were spectacular!

Our transportation

Sleigh Ride

All rugged up on the sleigh ride

Frozen water fall

We had planned to spend the afternoon tobogganing, however we decided we needed to warm up instead and found our way to the hotels pool and spa to relax.  Having opened our mouths and the other guests hearing our accents and determining we were Australian, we started a conversation (Canadians really like our accents, which is a good thing because their accents are really good too).  We found out that the Today show (Australian morning show) were filming at the ski fields in the town that day.  We decided to rug up once again and head out to the ski slopes to take our chances at seeing them film.  By the time we arrived at the ski lodge, they had gone.  The lodge however was stunning and another beautiful example of a Canadian lodge.  The Lake Louise ski area was a bit smaller than Whistler, but allot less commercial.  We had a light dinner upstairs at the lodge before returning to the hotel for our last nights stay.

Lake Louise Ski Area Lodge

The next morning we were up before sunrise for our transfer to the Calgary airport for our last flight to Amy's new home and my stop for Christmas and New Year.

Till next time

Luv always
Heather

Skiing in Whistler

Whistler!

One of my first thoughts on Whistler Village was that it was one of the prettiest villages I have ever seen!  Everything covered in snow and decorated for Christmas, was just magical.  Appart from the one afternoon/night at Grouse Mountain this was our opportunity to see snow and this time we were staying in it.

Whistler Village

Whistler Village

The hotel, we were staying at, was called the Pinacle just off the main mall.  Our room, for the first time in our travels, had its own kitchen.  This was fantastic!  It meant home cooked meals and steamed vegetables (something we had been lacking on our travels so far).  We also had our hot tub in the room (bedroom to be exact), an essential for skiers sore muscles.

After arriving late into Whistler following delays leaving Vancouver we attempted to visit the rental shop to enquire about our prearrange rentals and lessons.  However, when we got there it was already closed for the night, we would have to visit the next morning.  We had dinner at the Mongolian Grill.  Definitely an interesting experience.  For those of you who have never been to the Mongolian Grill, dinner involves filling a bowl with your choice of vegetables, meats, noodles, sauces and spices, that are collected from a buffet.  The bowl is then weighed and billed by weight.  Then you take the bowl to chef in the open kitchen where your dinner is dramatically and spectacularly cooked infront of you.  Overall a great experience, a great dinner and a great start to our Whistler experience.

The next morning, once again we slept in... we need to work on that one.  We made our way back to the rental shop at the Carlton Lodge, to the news we were meant to start lessons that morning... whoops!  On our defence, we were never told and it wasn't in the paper work that we were due to start the first day.  After a little confusion we were easily able to push back everything one day.  We were measured up for our skis, boots and poles.  This left us with the responsibility of getting our own ski pants, ski jacket, gloves and goggles.  We spent the afternoon going up and down the village going into every store selling ski gear.  After a good 5 hours and our pockets ALOT lighter, we finally had all of our gear for the next 3 days of ski school!

So, ski school... definitely an adventure.  The boots are very big, heavy, uncomfortable and extremely hard to walk without skis.  Definitely something you need to get used to.  The slopes are just magnificent.  Snow covered mountains and the snow covering the branches of the trees, the fresh crisp air and little chipmunks running around the woods.  We spent the first two days entirely on what they call the magic carpet, as it turns out a VERY slight decline, learning the different techniques.  The final day of lessons was our most adventurous.  After a few runs on the magic carpet for practice we went up on the chair lift to complete lower Olympic and the Village run to name a few.  We then made our way back on the gondola to the top where we ate lunch.  A large lodge where we ate lunch two days running with cafeteria style service with international cuisine to cater to all guests.  We then took the peak to peak gondola over to Blackcomb Mountain (including a 3km ride over the valley between two pilons).  We managed to score a ride on one of two sliver gondolas that have a glass bottom.  The view was spectacular and the clear day made the ride over incredible.  We then took our first green slope on Blackcombe.  This is where I really understood the VERY slight slope of the Magic Carpet.  The run was called Easy Out.  NOT so easy I must say.  I took my first of several tumbles this day on one of the steepest slopes!  Now attempting to get up, on skis, on a slope was difficult.  However something I did learn to recover from quickly that day.  After our attempt of the green slope we headed back across the peak to peak back to Whistler and completed the Olympic run on a high.  By this time the cloud had really dropped and visibility was bad, however a great run to finish our ski school classes.  Sore muscles and a great experience later we are now level 3 skiers.

Day one of Ski School

Whistler Mountain

Snowboarders on the Magic Carpet

On the Peak to Peak

The low cloud also lead to snow that night.  Which meant fresh snow to build our man 'Whistle' on our balcony at the hotel.

We spent a relaxing Wednesday and enjoyed a dinner at Sushi Village.  On Thursday we decided to brave the mountains by ourselves to have one last ski.  Deciding not to be too outrageous and do anything stupid, we completed a couple of runs on the magic carpet and then lower Olympic once again.  Great end to our skiing from a great week.  We returned our ski gear to the rental store and went to the Old Spagetti Factory at the Crystal Lodge for lunch.  This was a place many people had recommend to us.  We could see why, a 4 course meal for about $12 each.  We rolled out of there by the end of the meal!  We spent a quiet night packing and an early night for our 6:45 am bus back to Vancouver for the flight to Calgary the next morning.

Adventures in Alberta next.

Luv always
Heather

Things to note about Whistler-
Even in Whistler they require snow machines to supplement the snow.
Its not just Whistler that is pretty, the drive to and from Vancouver is just stunning.

PS  Sorry for the delay on this one.  I typically have been blogging following each location and at the next two locations after Whistler we had no internet access at the hotel.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Welcome to Canada! Eh!

We flew into Vancouver at 4:45am on Monday morning and both cleared customs easily (phew!) and took a taxi into Downtown to our hotel.  We decided when in Hawaii that we had far too much luggage and spread out far too much to share with 6 others at a backpackers hostel.  The hotel also added the benefit of security, free wifi and tv.  Having dropped off our bags we had 5 hours to spend before checking in.  First stop Starbucks... sound familiar?!? We then walked across town to visit Roger Stadium.  For those of you who haven't heard of it, it is home of the Vancouver Canucks, the local ice hockey team.  Another visit to Starbucks... then checked into our hotel for an afternoon sleep.  That night we dined at the Steamworks Brewery Co in the harbour room, with a view over the harbour at night.

On Tuesday we slept in... sound familiar?!?!  Tuesday afternoon, AWESOME!  We bused in to Capilano Suspension Bridge and Park.  Absolutely beautiful!  Tall green trees, cliff faces, the Capilano river, Christmas decorations, tree houses and the suspension bridge.  This is exactly what I thought a typical Canadian forest would look like.  It was raining slightly in the area but that meant when we got half way up Grouse Mountain, it was SNOWING!!!!  After taking the cable car to the top, we arrived in a winter wonderland!  A beautiful log cabin including several restaurants, outfitters, gift shop, theatre, beautiful open fire and a decorated Christmas tree 2 storeys tall!  Outside included Santa's workshop with Santa and his Elves, two of his reindeer, ice skating on a frozen lake and the entry to the slopes.  Absolutely incredible (and freezing cold!)!

The Capilano River

Capilano Suspension Bridge and Park

Photo with Santa Billy at Santa's Workshop Grouse Mountain

Snowing at Grouse Mountain

Ice Skating on the frozen lake at Grouse Mountain

On Wednesday, we were back at Rogers Stadium for a guided tour.  As it turned out, a private tour of the stadium as we were the only ones booked in for that tour time. We even got to watch the Vancouver Canucks in training.  Great introduction to the NHL.  We also went to Canada Place right on the river for great views back across downtown and across the river to the snow capped mountains.  We also caught the bus over to visit Vancouver's Stanley Park.

Rogers Arena - Vancouver Canucks

View from Canada Place

Stanley Park

Thursday, we had another lazy day.  We spent another day sleeping in and sorting out and sending some mail.  In the afternoon we went to see 'My Week with Marilyn', a way to keep warm.  For dinner we went to Roxy's Burgers on Grandville and watched the Canucks game on the big screen.  I was secretly wearing my Montreal Canadiens shirt on underneath all my layers.

Friday morning we checked out of our hotel and taxied it to the airport for our transfer to Whistler.  Whistler to come next post!

Luv Always

Heather



PS I spent quite a bit of time attempting to track the location of the Fringe set (my favourite tv show) on twitter however the first confirmed location was on the day we were leaving for Whistler.  Plus the location was a long way from downtown, $100 each way via taxi.  Thus did not get to set this visit, I will stalk the set next time I'm in town!!

Aloha

Aloha!

Waikiki, Hawaii (where we are located) is very much a tourist base and more like a city centre than I had anticipated however the shopping and the food are so cheap!  Beyond the city however is just like I imagined it.  Since my last post we have ventured outside of the city and it is just beautiful.

On Tuesday, having planned to go to Pearl Harbour in the morning, we accidentally slept in till noon. As Pearl Harbor tickets sell out quick we decided to put it off till the next day.  We ended up deciding to hike up Diamond Head, Hawaii's state monument.  It took three hours for us to walk from Waikiki to the centre of the dormant volcano however the track to the peak was closed due to maintenance but walking into the centre of a volcano was very exciting.

Inside Diamond Head

That night we dined at Denny's, a flash back to dinners at the Grand Canyon when I was 11.  Followed by a trip to Hard Rock Cafe.  There were three Navy ships in at Pearl Harbor so the Navy boys were out in force.  We also met the lovely Amber and had a great night.

Wednesday morning we had planned to be out at Pearl Harbor at 8am to watch the Navy ships sail out however once again sleeping in (getting over jet lag was hard).  We caught a taxi out to Pearl Harbor and got there by 9:30am.  Having booked in to visit the USSArizona Memorial at the earliest time slot of 11:15am, we toured the the USS Bowfin Submarine.  11:15am saw us entering a theatre to see a 15min video on the history behind Pearl Harbor.  Not really knowing much about the details, other than from watching the movie, I found it very informative and impacting.  A ferry then took us out the memorial directly over the sunken ship.  The memorial was beautiful and seeing the ship just below the surface of the water was really surreal.  We took 'the BUS' back towards Waikiki but decided to stop off at Ala Moana once again for a spot of shopping.  That night we visited Chili's for dinner for Amy to get her Baby Back Ribs (a Big Bang Theory reference I believe).

USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor

Thursday, Thanksgiving, saw us bus it out to Hanauma Bay.  The $7.50 entry fee and the 45 minute wait was well worth it.  Hanauma Bay is a marine reserve, the beach is even closed every Tuesday for conservation purposes.  Entry also includes a mandatory video about the conservation project, the marine life and the do's and don't's of the beach.  Hanauma Bay is an ancient volcano on Oahu.  The bay was creating when the outside wall fell into the ocean and the water came in.  When we reached the beach we hired snorkels and spent about 5 hours sunbathing and snorkelling.  The reef and the fish we so beautiful.  We saw our first fish less than 1m into the water.  We saw all kinds of fish up to 1m in length.  It was an awesome experience!  Waiting for 'the BUS' to return to Waikiki we met two Aussie girls, Amanda and Amy, two nurses from Sydney.  It turned out that we were all staying at the same hotel and were both off to the Luau that night!  The Luau was a fantastic night.  Luau in the Hawaiian language means party and what a party it was.  It included a traditional Hawaiian buffet dinner and show.  We also witnessed a marriage proposal live on stage after the girl was announced as having 'won the door prize'.  Much fun was had doing the hula and experiencing 'Hawaii' with the girls.

Hanauma Bay

Luau - Beach at Sunset, West Coast, Hawaii

On Friday, Black Friday, we deliberately avoided the shops for fear of being trampled.  We ended up both having our hair done at the Diamond Head Hairdressing salon and spent the afternoon walking around the beaches of Waikiki.  That night we saw the anniversary of Pearl Harbor parade including some of the survivors from that day, December 7th, 1941.  The parade also featured marching bands and dancers from high schools all over the US and Canada as well as army and fire department vehicles of all vintages.  As the parade was on we just missed the fireworks out the front of the Hilton however we did get a night stroll along the beach.

Beaches of Waikiki

Saturday saw us on the grand island tour with Robert's Hawaii and 'cousin Ted' as our host and driver.  The stops included Hanauma bay, Halona Blow Hole, Nu'uanu Pali Lookout (the windiest spot we experienced on the island), Valley of the Temples including visiting a beautiful Japanese temple and seeing the Chinese tradition of leaving the persons favourite food and drink at the graves, a Black Coal jewellery store, Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Outlet,  Kualoa Ranch, a place I woud like to go back to one day (they have movie tours here as many movies have been filmed on this property!!), we saw Chinaman's hat, visited the North Shore beaches and then visited the Dole Plantation (pineapple farm) where Amy bought me a beautiful Pearl ring (Thanks Amy!!).  That night we did the coin laundry thing for the first time... something I think we will become very used to over the next year.

Kualoa Ranch

Chinaman's Hat

Sunday we had booked in to go parasailing at 1000ft.  However after the first two Guinea pigs, I mean participants went up, it was cancelled due to the strong and dangerous winds.  We did end up with a free boat ride off the coast of Oahu, which was still very good.  We got back to the hotel, showered and finished the last of the packing and checked out by noon.  We ate lunch at the famous Cheese Cake Factory.  So yum!  I had a Reece's peanut butter cup cheesecake.  Loved it!  Well most of it... it defeated me and I could not finish it even though it was so yummy!

On the Parasailing boat

Before

After

Keeping dry and clean prior to our pick up and flight out of Hawaii we ended up going to the Ward Mall cinemas and saw the latest Twilight instalment, Breaking Dawn Part 1.

Aloha Hawaii!  A hui hou (till we meet again).  Canada here we come!

Luv Always

Heather

Points to note about Hawaii-

There are 76 ABC stores in the state of Hawaii.  There is literally at least one on each block in Waikiki.  Originally thinking it was a store based on the US tv network ABC, we were very disappointed to find it was a pharmacy/deli/tourist shop all rolled into one.  Despite our disappointment, the stores were useful on more than one occasion over the last week.

Starbucks was visited by us at least once a day and is also found pretty much on every block in Waikiki.

'the BUS' at $2.50 each trip can take you anywhere on the island!  Extremely useful!

And the travels begin...

So I finally did it!  Yesterday, well today (I have had two Monday 21st November this year), I flew out of Brisbane.  Of course with a few tear, a boat wasn't quite necessary, but saying goodbye to Mum, Tim, Leanne, Bailey and Lily was definitely hard.  The flight from Brisbane to Sydney seemed to fly by and with no trouble at all with the transfer from the Domestic to International, met up with Amy.

Leaving home

The flight to Hawaii was long and although I attempted to sleep for about 5 hours of it, I wasn't all that successful.  I think I was too excited!  We landed about 7am Hawaii time, after going through customs and collecting our baggage (40kg checked luggage each btw plus the slightly over weight carry on bags) we were greeted by two local Hawaiians and were each given a beautiful real frangipani lai.  The transfer to our hotel including a short guided tour between from the airport pointing out the local sights.

Arriving at the International Airport in Hawaii

This morning, first stop, Starbucks for coffee!  Followed by a morning of walking around Waikiki shops and the beach and breakfast on the verandah of a nice little place.  As we are beginning to become aware food is very cheap.  Breakfast this morning for me included scrambled eggs, 2 rashes of bacon and 2 x pancakes for $4.50!  Following breakfast despite our want to continue to continue exploring, we gave into sleep.

At about 4.30pm we continued our exploration around Waikiki.  Discovering the cheap and convenient transportation of 'the Bus' for $2.50 per trip anywhere on the island (which we plan to make the most of over the next week).  We made our way to Ala Moana the largest mall in Hawaii for a spot of shopping.  I bought a pair of jeans on clearance for $8.99!  We ate a late dinner at an Italian place at the food court of the mall, $6.50 for both of us!

Back at the hotel now, we are attempting to get our sleeping patterns into Hawaii time.  Lots planned for the rest of the week!  Very exciting!

Luv always

Heather

Welcome to my blog!

Hi All,

Welcome to my new blog!  I am going away for all of next year so I thought this blog would be a good way of keeping a journal and at the same time keep anyone who is interested informed as to what I'm doing.

I leave in three weeks to embark on an adventure of a lifetime!  I have been accepted to study at HEC Montreal next year.  So I will be living and studying in Montreal and fitting in as much travel as I possibly can.

On the 19th October (easy to remember because it's my birthday) I flew to Sydney to arrange my USA travel visa.  I originally didn't think I would require this visa as I would be in the USA for less than 90 days at a time however as I later found out the USA visa also covers Canada and as I will be in Canada for more than 90 days I was going to need one.  The visa will allow me to stay in the USA, Canada and Mexico as a tourist for up to 5 years!

The birthday girl in Sydney

My Quebec and Canadian visas are still not sorted.  I am waiting for my revised acceptance letter from HEC Montreal before I can even apply for these visas.  I have resigned myself to the fact that these will not be complete before I leave.  I will have to enter Canada as a tourist and once the visas come through I will have to exit and reenter.  Unfortunately, I may have to take a trip to New York... what a shame!

So three weeks from today, I will be flying out of Brisbane to meet Amy in Sydney (that reminds me I really need to book that flight!!) and then together we fly out of Australia.  First to Hawaii for a week, then to Vancouver for a week, skiing in Whistler for another week, 2 nights at the beautiful Lake Louise and 2 nights in Banff.  From there we hope to fly to Toronto and then for me onto Montreal for early January (this part still needs to be confirmed also).  I have accommodation arranged with the University from January 5th and classes then start on the 7th.

It is so close now and so exciting (and scary all at the same time)!  I still have to get through my exams but then I will be off.

That's all from me for now.

Luv always

Heather