I had some time to kill in Edmonton as I waited on my connecting bus between Fort McMurray and Smithers so I dumped my bags in a locker at the station and went out to explore.
Edmonton is the capital of the State of Alberta and I did a tour of the State Legislative building which was beautiful inside. What I found out was that the state of Alberta is called after Princess Alberta - Queen Victoria's daughter who was married to the Governor General of Canada and the bottom photo is a painting of the first Native American State Premier.
There are lots of biker gangs in Canada but I am not sure if this is the type of bike they would drive it doesn't look tough enough to me!!
I took a walk accross the river which was pretty with the ice clumps floating down it.
Some warning signs around Edmonton.
Edmonton might not have been the prettiest place I have visited but I loved the colours during sunset.
As it was getting cold I headed to West Edmonton Mall - this is the biggest Mall in North America and the 5th biggest in the world and also lays claim to the worlds largest indoor waterpark along with an ice rink and various theme park like decorations.
The 2 hour ferry trip between Vancouver and Victoria on Vancouver Island was nice, mid day mid week ferry was empty (unlike the extremely busy one on the way back) and as it had stopped raining there was some really pretty scenery.
I stayed with my cousin Kim in Victoria which was great we hadn't seen each other since we were 4 - this is her little boy Colin who loves puzzles.
Kim and I went for a walk up a small hill with some nice views over the city.
Kim's daughter's Megan & Cassandra are characters and kept me very entertained during my visit. Here Megan is washing her mum's car.
But it was all too much for her and she later had to have a nap when we headed out.
Casandra finds a xmas tree with her name on it!
The local hotel have a sponsored xmas tree display every year for xmas and the kids were all excited to go explore them , Kim's kids are joined here with my cousin Marks twins Jackson & Brendan and of course baby Kaya.
One xmas tree had all the wishes of the local kids on it - there were some really interesting one's - like everyone should have food etc and then some real funnies like this one wishing everyone had a flat screen TV....kids are funny :-)
Some nice yachts in the harbour in Victoria.
Megan tries to get this fortune telling bear to tell her what Santa is brining for xmas!
Mark and baby Kaya.
Mark and Hendry carry the kids back to the car as they are tired out after all the excitement.
Cassandra
Kim & Colin
Megan gives me a makeover whilst Casandra practices her fashion photography!!
We all go to watch Cassandra playing in her Saturday football game and as you can see there was a bit of a downpour but it didn't stop up having some fun. Though it did mean Megan's game which should have been a bit later was cancelled!!
Colin crashes our for his afternoon nap after all the running about in the rain.
We all headed to the Christmas Parade which I loved as much as the kids and not just for the very cute firemen who were there!! A lot of effort had gone into decorating all these floats.
I think Kim was a bit worried about how excited Colin was to get his hands on his cousins drum kit it might just be on next years list for santa!!
Megan & Jackson playing horses.
Brendan in all his ice hockey gear - never to young to start ice hockey in Canada.
Mark, Shawn and Brendan, Me Kim and Scott.
Megan and Cassandra take part in their Girls Guide Christmas Parade whilst Colin looks out for Santa.
Kaya wearing her Auntie Kim's hat.
Megan gives Feliz a goodbye hug before they all drop Feliz & me off at the ferry port.
My last stop in Canada was back in Vancouver where the sun was out and there were still quite a few tributes on memorials from rememberence day.
The owner of this restaurant obviously has a sense of humour.
Vancouver was certainly preparing for the upcoming Winter Olympics which they are hosting in Feb 2010 with the olympic village just about complete, the recent opening of new train link from the city straight to the airport and the shops full of Olympic souveigners all that is rest is for the athletes and fans to turn up and spend their money.
British Columbia Hall of Fame had quite a few musicians, actors etc listed but I have to be honest and say I didn't find a star with a name on it I recognised - my favourite famous Canadians Michael J Fox & Bryan Adams are obviously from other states.
Vancouver was also getting ready for christmas....
My last morning in Canada and I caught a nice sunrise on the train trip to the airport.
At the airport the nice guy at the check in desk transferred me to a direct flight to San Francisco rather than the cheaper flight I had booked via Seatle - so even though it left 2 hours laters I still arrived 3 hours earlier!! And there was enough going on at Vancouver airport to entertain me - Feliz was pleased to see a Mouse as he had been disappointed not to run into one in the wild!!!
As it was a nice clear morning I had some great views from the plane over the snowy mountains as we flew south to the states.
I know this was a mammoth update for Canada as I have been way behind on my blog I though I would just do all of Canada at one time (well it has taken a few sittings but your getting it all at once!).
Another country I loved, I even enjoyed the snow as it has been a while since I have seen any. I had a great time catching up with and meeting family in Canada and everyone was very hospitable and made me feel very welcome and I loved all the home cooking I kept getting 'forced' to eat :-).
Though not as much differences in culture etc than home here are a few things that I will remember about my trip to Canada:-
- The lack of litter - has to be one of the cleanest countries I have seen except perhaps Singapore.
- Snow covered mountains.
- Deer
- Poutine - chips (or french fries to these guys) covered in gravy and cheese - delicous if just a little unhealthy!
- The beautiful and varied autumn colours of the trees and plants - red, green, gold etc and lots of red berries.
- Lots and lots of space even in the cities.
- Huge lakes - many frozen over.
- Ice Hockey - everywhere.
- Ducks & Geese
- Lots of women working in road crews.
- People always take their shoes off at the front door.
- Very polite and helpful locals.
- The outdoor life - people in Canada are much more active and outdoory than the UK, teenage kids will take part in sports rather than hang about street corners getting pissed!!
- Lots of Halloween and Christmas festivities and decorations.
- Spending time hanging out with my nephews & niece, Aunts, Uncles & Cousins - it was fun and good to get to know them all a bit better.
So that was Canada sure there are lots of other things that I will remember but these are the one's that come to my mind right now.
As most of you know I am now on my last stop in the USA before heading home on the 14th of January so I will see some of you very soon.
I hope you all have a great Christmas and that 2010 brings you all a little adventure and lots of everything else you hope for.
lots of festive mushy stuff.
Jack xx
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