Nelson & Kaslo (Canada)

My next stop was in Nelson in British Columbia where I went to visit my Uncle Hendry and Aunt Christine. This town sits in the Selkirk Mountains on the Kookney Lake. During the Vietnam war many US draft dodgers ended up here and the town is still known for it's hippyness!! Beautiful scenery and whilst I was here a mixture of early snow and autumn days.

We went for a drive along the lake to Kaslo an old mining town which still had the old country feel to it with lots of quaint buildings including probably the smallest post office building I have ever seen!

The SS Moyie is the oldest remaining steamship in Canada and she now sits on the lake in Kaslo as a national historic site.

Christine and I went to Ainsworth Hot Springs it was cold and wet but sitting in the hot springs in the mountainside was cosy.

The raven collects some nuts.

Halloween is a big celebration here with lots of houses having been decorated and even the local shopkeepers get dressed up!!

Hendry & Christine with their granddaughter Julie who is dressed up for her Halloween party.

And some friends of Hendry & Christine bring their kids around for some 'Trick or Treating'.

Not quite sure what this strange creature on someones roof was but he looked quite permanent rather than a Halloween decoration!! Not sure how Santa is supposed to get past him though!!

Some nice old buildings in the town centre of Nelson.

Though the railway station is closed there are still freight trains passing through the town.

There was the odd sign of the Hippy heart of Nelson to be found.

It may not be the main game of the country but they were still out playing football in the cold.

Christine & Hendry's house - Hendry was getting the xmas lights put up for xmas before it gets too cold and icy but then forgot to turn them off after checking them :-)

Hendry drove me up to Whitewater a ski resort a short way from Nelson. Though only the first snow falls and no ski lifts open yet it didn't stop some skiers and snowboarders who were just walking up the slopes - keen!!

My cousins daugher Lisa took me for a short hike up Pulpit Rock, luckily we got a clear day so had some very pretty views over Nelson.

There are lots of big logging trucks on the roads over here.

Lake Kooteney is over 100km in legnth and sits between 2 mountain ranges. Several dams have been built along the lake to provide hydro power - though there is a bit of controversy surrounding these as local villages etc were displaced to build them and much of the power goes to the USA. Hendry and I took ferry accross part of the lake which was really pretty. The ferry is free and is used by locals and trucks going to work etc to reduce the time it would take them to drive all the way around.

Canadians first love of Ice Hockey - they start them young here.

Christine and I go for a walk.

My cousin Christine and her husband Alan at the airport 0ff on their holidays to Mexico.

Zuckerberg Island near Nelson - called after Alexander Zuckerberg who built the wooden Russian Orthodox Chapel here which is now a small museum.

One of the big sawmills that you see when travelling around Canada.

Sunset on Kooteney Lake

The damn near Castelgar - unfortunately it was closed when we got there so we couldn't go for a closer look.

Hendry & Christine when we went out for dinner.

We went for a nice walk along part of Kookney Lake and surrounding area. Feliz is examining the tree cut down by a beever.

A little bit of the sunset through the clouds as we drive back to Nelson.

My cousin Monica and her husband Bruce and son Kurt.

I really enjoyed visiting Hendry & Christine in Nelson and catching up with some of my cousins who live there and they all spoilt me with home cooking and taking me about. When I left on the bus to head to Banff it was still dark but it got light as we were crossing a part of the Rockies with some really nice snowy views but then when we came out of the mountains it got very flat and no snow in sight.