Welcome to our little home on the net. We are Steve & Rosemary and live in Buckinghamshire, UK. This is a blog of our life, sometimes interesting, but mainly boring. It is very picture orientated as Steve loves to take pictures, especially of wildlife. Sometimes he has his arm twisted by Rosemary and takes the odd snap of a weed.
Glastonbury 2025 Music PlayLists
These playlists have been created by Glastopia, a Glastonbury fanatic. They have been created on Spotify, and I have converted them to YouTube Music. There is a complete lineup playlist, and a stage by stage playlist. Check Glastopia’s Blue Sky account for new playlists and updates. The YouTube Music playlists nearly match the Spotify playlists. The are the occasional missing tracks where the software was unable to match the track.
Onward Travel to West Kelowna
24th May 2025
Yes, the showers definitely had stinky water, and the 4 minutes of hot water was rather too short a period of time. R had to rush back to the van, for more money, before racing back to finish showering off the conditioner.
Today we head on down south to see R’s niece & her chap in West Kelowna. I had planned a couple of stops on route. The first was the rail heritage site at Kamloops. Turns out not open to the public and was firmly closed. A woman nearby said it was never open.
Fueled up with $100 of petrol and headed south. Next stop was the Falkland Museum and Heritage Park. It looked decidedly closed as we drove past.
The final planned stop was the Historic O’Keefe Ranch. Again, not open, apparently starting to open on the 7th June. At least the restaurant was open, where we had a coffee and a slither of cheesecake.
We lucked out at the Swan Lake Nature reserve where there was an Osprey and her chick. Even managed to get some shots of her coming in to land on her nest. Fabulous. Ospreys seem to be quite numerous in Canada. Unfortunately, we walked through some rather boggy, wet ground.
We backtracked a little and drove down the west side of Okanagan Lake. A windy narrow road, with everyone exceeding the speed limit. Apparently, it claims a life every year as a vehicle goes into the lake. No Armco barriers to protect you from a watery fate.
We arrive at Anne & Peter’s for supper, parking on the road. Their drive was too steep. Our CruiseCanada van lowered the tone of the road. We arrived saying we needed to wash our feet before we could come in. Feet washed & dried, we entered their house
They had a deer living part-time in the garden, presumably keeping out of the sun, along with quails.
Pinegrove Campsite
23rd May 2025
We dumped the tanks at the allotted place in the Campsite. R went to pay for the dump. The campsite manager was quite surprised, she said she would never have known. Just as R was saying how delighted she was seeing the hummingbird, two arrived at the manager’s hummingbird feeders whereupon a large cat came out of the manager’s cottage, ignoring the hummingbirds.
Today it was quite a short drive, the intention being to stop at sights on the way. Actually, there were few of these. Stopped at the metropolis of Clearwater where we bought lunch and provisions for the evening. Nice stop at the North Thompson River Provincial Park, where we sat by the river eating our lunch and watching the trains go by on the other side. Very well laid out area, including a camping ground, and lots of men with STIHL strimmers, neatening the area up for the summer. By the by, there are masses of dandelions along the roads. R’s brother, just like their dad, hates them and dug several out of his lawn when we stayed. Some roads would have been a major challenge for him.
We continued the drive at a sedate 85kph and made the campsite, Pinegrove Campground and RV park. Smallish campsite, very pleasant staff. Road quite near, and train line on the other side, but annoyingly out of view.
As is usual, we had our own picnic bench where we could lay out supper.
The showers had a warning notice about the stinky, but harmless, water, and yes, the water truly was stinky. It was some Sulphur mineral in the water which caused the smell.
R again spotted a cat. He was staying in a large RV, but was flaunting the regulations about being on a leash “at all times”. Or did that apply only to dogs?
Washing was performed, at what seems the standard $7 CAN price.
Canoe River Campsite Encore
22nd May 2025
Cold morning, while Rosemary went for a shower, I sneaked on the heating. The day warmed up, then became overcast with rain showers.
Lazy day today, reading and writing stuff. We saw a humming bird, but alas it was not around long enough to get the camera on to it. It liked the van’s wing-mirror. Very small and when it flew near, there was indeed a humming sound from his wings. I had at first thought it was a very large, noisy insect.
Some of the small, dark red squirrels were around. They are much smaller than our grey squirrels.
On the track a little way away and above us, we watched several freight trains go by. The longest we counted was 216 trucks with two locomotives.
We were also privileged to see the Rocky Mountaineer train heading south to Kamloops. We waved and waved. Hope someone saw us.
Tonight was steak night with tomatoes, and mushrooms.
Canoe River Campsite
21st May 2025
Today we left Whistler leaving behind the millions of marmots. I did take some photographs of them, plus some of a duck flying overhead, to show that there are some birds in Canada. Not many though. We headed off to the dump station and dumped our fould water tanks contents. Then into town to fill up with some petrol. Apparently, it is much cheaper here in Alberta than in BC, where extra tax is loaded on.
Headed west to BC, stopping at a few sites on route. We missed stopping at the border, and the time changed by an hour. Thankfully, our phones corrected themselves, but my camera does not, needing a manual adjustment.
We stopped at the eastern end of Moose Lake to take some photographs, A chap passed me a camera to take a photo of himself & his mate, asking if I knew how to use it. It was a film camera! We also met a couple, in a saloon car, who were driving from Ottawa.
Next stop was a café, where we could view Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Some coffee and a cake.
We stopped at some rapids on the Fraser River. This apparently is the highest point where Salmon come inland on this river. It is 500 miles from the coast. The rapids are used by rafters and kayakers, as was demonstrated to us. R met a man who was carrying a (fully harnessed) tabby cat, down to the river. Cat did not seem happy. Was it our presence or all the noise from the water?
Our route followed the train track from Hinton, through Jasper, to Kamloops. I suppose geography dictates this.
We stopped at a grocery shop in Valemount. Picked up gin in the liquor store, but this one didn’t sell mixers, so it was back to the grocery to buy tonic. (Next door.)
Campsite, Canoe River Campground, was a couple of miles down the road. A very large, wooded ground but spread out. Nice spot. Lit up the log fire. Burgers and asparagus for supper, with several canned ales.
Not many toilets on the site. The men’s loo was being rebuilt. The river runs along one edge of the campsite. They seem to be trying to reclaim some of the land back from the river.
Rainy Day in Jasper
20th May 2025
Today was a pretty miserable day with rain. (This fell as snow on the hills, there was a definite whitening of the slopes.) We tried a morning walk to the other end of the campsite on a footpath which crosses the centre. This failed because at a third of the way across, some of the bridges across swampy land and streams had been burnt out last year by the fire and had yet to be replaced.
Back at the van, it started to rain. After a brief pause in the rain, I went for an afternoon walk along the river. I ended up walking up a 100m high hill, called Old Fort Point and managed more than 7K walking, 17,000 steps and 82 heart points. Total for the day 11K. From the top of the hill I could just see the van. Photo to prove it.
The river I had followed is the Athabasca River, which comes from the Columbia Icefield. This river flows North to the Arctic. An interesting fact was that a drop of water/snow falling on the Columbia Icefield could end up in the Arctic, Pacific or Atlantic Ocean. The river here, is a lovely glacial blue, and is used by kyakers and rafters
As soon as I was back it started to rain quite heavily. Evening came out sunny, so we we were able to eat outside.
Back at the van, we realise we must be careful with water. The grey water was almost flowing into the shower. (I reckon R is a bit gung ho with the washing-up water.)
One of our marmot friends seems to have made a bad decision, digging a new, starter home in the road just where car tracks go.
Tomorrow we move on, a short 90-minute drive, but a few stops along the way.
Jasper National Park Icefield
19th May 2025
The day started off sunny as we drove in the direction of Banff. We were on our way to the Jasper National Park Icefield to see a glacier. It was more than an hour’s drive. We arrived in the nick of time. Not even time to buy a coffee. There was a short coach trip, across the road and up a dirt track to the base of the glacier. Here we transferred to an off-road vehicle, designed for travel on the ice and used in the arctic. We continued a little way up the Glacier Moraine and then down a steep hill to the Glacier. We disembarked to be herded into a small safe area. This is to ensure we do not fall into a crevasse and pop out in a stream at the bottom. You may laugh, but this did happen to an explorer here, and it seems to have happened recently to a skier. After 20 minutes on the Glacier, we returned to the transport, ground our way up the hill, and then onto the coach. Next stop was the Skywalk.
The Jasper Icefield Skywalk is a platform that overhangs the valley complete with a glass floor. It is meant to be scary, but it is not as scary as the Calgary Tower we subsequently visited which also had a piece of glass floor. I think this is because on the Calgary Tower you can see objects below that you can relate to, while on the Skywalk, scale is not so apparent in the rock formations below. There was an attendent there who kept the glass sparkling clean. They apparently change the top “sacrificial” layer of glass every year to maintain a clear view.
Back to the centre’s café for a Starbucks. We watched a film which showed interesting views of the mountain. But they had to wind a story into it of an old man and children who were in the mountains. A lost stone, picked up by the man, placed in the stream and picked up by the children. Why do they do this?
Outside it had started to snow, but thankfully very lightly.
Back we drove to Jasper, parked in a small carpark and bought some food also visiting a liquor store for gin and beer. We went to the campsite’s foul water dump, where we discharged our tanks. All went well.
Sausages for supper. Odd number in a pack. Five.
The campsite looks pretty empty now the weekend holiday is over. The smell of burning seemed more intense.
Some elk in the campsite. Our little furry animals, being sensible creatures, were not out in the cold weather. We had seen them this morning.
Whistler Campsite
18th May 2025
Said our emotional goodbyes and headed on to Whistler. First stop was the Hinton supermarket, Freson Bros, a little like a Waitrose. They also did a good range of coffee cups, with pro Canadian slogans, see the pictures. We also filled with fuel.
We next stopped and admired the river Athabasca / Jasper Lake. One huge plain of wet sand. Next stop was Maligne Canyon, but alas the actual canyon was still sealed off after last year’s fire. Stopped at a viewing spot where we could look over all the burnt trees. Very sad. On the outskirts of Jasper, there were large parks of trailer type accommodation. Not sure if they were for workers trying to tidy up after the fires or for displaced residents.
In Jasper we went to pick up our National Park passes. We should have stopped at the entrance to the park with our temporary pass, but unfortunately, we were confused and slid through in the wrong lane. I am fearful we may have picked up a fine, although nothing has come through yet. I dropped R off up to pick up the pre-ordered passes. I drove around, so that I did not have to pay for parking, nor, more importantly, work out how to do so.
Then we drove to Whistler’s Campsite. It showed the aftermath of the dreadful forest fires. Burnt trunks and ground, with just the odd tree standing. We had an off-grid pitch (for those boring campers who wanted electric hookup, there was a huge area for them as well). I love the basics; not sure R does. Let us see how the van’s solar panel keeps the fridge and lights going for the next few days. Actually, thinking about it, the van was fine for three nights parked in Hinton. There was a toilet and shower block very nearby, which also, to R’s delight (!), had two washing-up sinks. The block caters for around 20-30 pitches. More utility blocks around the campsite cater for other clusters of pitches. The whole site is pretty well-organized.
Come evening everybody seemed to be lighting their fire pits. Pitch fees include firewood, which must be bought at each campsite to avoid disease.
We now started to sleep above the cab, leaving the table erected. The first time, R needed my help & guidance to get into bed, but from then on was very adept at getting up and down. She reckoned she couldn’t have done it before her new hip. The second “step” was higher than her waist, so I suppose using it presented difficulties.
R fell in love with our pitch neighbours. Lots of marmots ( Hoary ones? ), sitting up on their hind legs on look out, squeaking, digging and other such cute activities.
Hinton and around about
17th May 2025
Today, there was no driving for us, Stephen (R’s brother) took us all on a tour of the sites around Hinton. First up was the Solomon Lookout to view the Black Cat Mountain. There were good views of the mountains, and down below the valley. As luck would have it, there was a long goods train passing up the valley.
Why Black Cat Mountain? One mountain side had once been spectacular, but there had been the inevitable forest fire, and when the forest regenerated, the trees were a different colour to the surrounding ones. They created an image which looked like a high backed, scared black cat. Years later, like now, you need a particularly good imagination to see it.
Then on to Switzer Provincial Park, where there is a lake. Some trees showed evidence of claw damage. Here there were some birds flying around. I managed to get a photo of a dark-eyed Junco, an American Tree Sparrow, a Yellow Rumped Warbler and of course a Canada Goose.
Back at Hinton we stopped at a café for coffee, before going on to the Northern Rockies Museum of Culture and Heritage.
Back at Steve & Marilynn’s, we had a chicken BBQ supper. Bit too chilly to sit out on their deck, so we ended up eating indoors, after BIL Steve had braved the elements to be chef-of-the-day.
Hinton and Beaver Boardwalk
16/05/2025
A tour of the house now meant R could picture Steve and Marilynn at home.
Much talking & reminiscing.
A short walk from their home is the Beaver Boardwalk. The very boardwalk which Michael Portillo walked on a few years ago on his Canadian train trip! Since then, the boardwalk had started to fall into disrepair but was now being renewed. We didn’t see any beavers, but did see their home, their dam, and various trees which had been chewed down. Not only is there the boardwalk, but there are miles and miles of tracks through the forest. An incredibly special place.
We discovered the local squirrels chatter rather like a petrol engine starting up. We also discovered that many Canadian squirrels are small & red! (Later we were told by others that Canadian folklore says it is the nasty European grey squirrels who cause problems!)
We sat on their rather splendid deck watching the local birds & squirrels.
Supper out at a local diner, specializing in European foods, including Greek. R had souvlaki, while I ate prawns.
The weather had started out dry but was rather wet when we exited the restaurant. A drive around the town seeing the sights of Hinton after dark.
Driving to Hinton
15/05/2025
Up an out quickly, we decided to head straight on to Hinton, where we were staying three nights visiting R’s brother and sister-in-law. I would have liked to have visited the museum in Rocky Mountain House, and the brewery, but as events turned out, luckily, we did not. I had found an off-the-beaten route to drive to Hinton. It was the shortest route but did not follow the Canadian grid system of main roads.
First off, we stopped at some small shops in Nordegg, one of which was a community shop. R wanted a washing-up sponge for the van, but no luck. She was told perhaps they’d have them later in the year. (The van came with no method of cleaning the crockery or cooking utensils, nor a tea-towel to dry anything with.) There was also a small ‘Shell Fuel’ shop, and that sold them. Next door there was a liquor store, where I popped in and bought some beers, brewed in Rocky Mountain House itself. The beers were displayed in a chilled room, so I was rather quick in buying them, cos it was rather cold wearing just shorts and T-shirt.
Back to the road, we drove another 1000 meters before taking my off-the-beaten route right-hand turn to Hinton. Hinton was signed as being another 170K. But there was something funny about this road; oops, it was a dirt track! Apparently, a forest track and looked to be all dirt. Not only was it dirt but it was also wet dirt after a heavy overnight rainfall. It was quite slippery, so progress was slow. I noticed that no other vehicles were using it. We went this way for about another 5K, where there were signs warning that further on the road was under water. We (ie R) thought better of it (I thought we could have done it, I swear the water didn’t look that deep) and so turned around. Was not going to be a good trip. After this small detour, we found the van (and parts of R who’d directed my U-turn) were caked in mud, 25mm thick, which subsequently baked on with the hot sunshine.
Back on the main road we headed on towards the snowfields and took a right-hand turn onto the 93. Yes, this route was longer at 260K, and not the 170K of the dirt road. Very pretty though. We will be back on that route another day.
Continuing along highway 11 we followed the Abraham Lake, and the North Saskatchewan River. There were many small seven site campsites along the route administered by the Albertan authorities. In my planning I had thought about these camp sites, but I unsure how you paid, and whether they would be full. They were empty and there were even toilets on site (long drop). The views were f especially as we approached the ice road.
As we drew near the Ice Road, we passed through the toll gate for the park. Thankfully we had a season ticket for the park, and duely sailed through with no additional charge. We then headed North on highway 93 (The Ice Road), towards Jasper. On route we stopped at a viewing site, near Panther Falls, this allowed us to see the road we had driven down.
On route we passed the Columbia Icefield, where there was a mobile signal and we were able to phone to give our ETA. We would be visiting here in a few days time. Further on, as we approached Jasper, we passed the campsite we would be staying at in a few days time. Here we could see the burnt out forest from the fires last year. We then headed out from Jasper toward Hinton., arriving at Hinton at 17:40.
Rosmarys borther had not warned us not to take the dirt road, cos nobody would do that.
