This morning I woke just as the first match of the season at Carrow Road kicked off. I found the live stream and the picture quality was quite good. I messaged the boys who were at the game. Amusingly Barry responded and mentioned our first goal which I hadn’t seen as the stream was a couple minutes behind the Live action. I was then able to watch with even greater anticipation. When we went behind we decided to go down for breakfast to try and change our luck.
By 10am we were on the road to Whistler. We knew that it was a long drive although it was only about 181 miles in length. The challenge was that the road was very up and down with numerous sharp bends.
As before we listened to a Podcast and some other music as the Radio was non existent in the mountains. The scenery was quite gentle rolling hills to start the journey but got much more spectacular the further we drove. Many people had mentioned that the roads were full of drivers driving far too fast for the conditions so we were happy just to keep moving at the recommended speed limit. The temperature difference was remarkable, a full 20c difference at one point from the day before. There were regular swings of 10c at different parts of the drive.
Our first stop after 2 hours was at a place called Lillooet. This was an old Gold Rush town at the meeting point of 2 rivers. We found a reasonable cafe which not only had great Wifi but also served Yorkshire teabags. By now it was almost too hot to sit in the sun. We had a quick wander around the almost ghost town, popping into a little museum before getting back into the car.
The route was now very pretty. It provided the scenery that Karen had always imagined that Canada would provide. There were narrow pine tree lined valleys on both sides of busy bubbling water.
After driving for another hour we stopped again at Joffre Falls. We were lucky to find a spot as my research had shown that the car park was always jammed full. We ate some lunch in the car before initially setting off in the wrong direction to find the Lakes.
The first Lake was only a short 15 minute walk, whereas the second Lake was a 2 ½ hour walk to reach and then the same to get back. The third Lake was then even further. We both agreed that the first Lake would suffice.
It was actually very pretty. It was also quite busy by the time we reached it and it was difficult to take some photos that not only showed the beautiful colours but not have some random strangers in the way.
From here we drove another 40 minutes to a place called Pemberton. Just after we had driven through it I suddenly saw a Black Bear walking alongside the road. I had to do a double take but sadly Karen missed it completely. I felt so bad for her as she was so keen to see one (from the safety of the car) and offered to turn round but it wasn’t easy to do so and so we carried on driving. However within 2 minutes we then both saw another one nonchanterly walking through a wheat field. It was lovely and I was so pleased for Karen.
About a couple of miles up the road we stopped again at Nairn Falls. The Falls themselves were a mile walk from the car park. We decided to walk the trail but to say that Karen was nervous about a Bear encounter would be an understatement. It wasn’t helped as on the local news they were reporting a story of a Bear that had made its way into a local Shopping Mall. We attached the Bear bell and set off making a lot of noise to make sure any Bears were aware of our presence.
I was very confident we would be fine as there were lots of people about. It was a very pleasant walk and the falls themselves at the end of the trail made the effort worth it.
We then finished the 25 minute drive into Whistler itself. Our first impressions were very favourable. I had booked a small studio apartment slap bang in the middle of Main Street. It had an underground car park and we were pleased with the apartment itself.
After settling in we went for a short wander to stretch our legs again and get our bearings. I was very tired after the long drive which had been tough with the concentration needed. After locating the Starbucks which was in the building almost opposite the apartment block, we bought a bottle of wine from the Liquor Store and some milk from the large supermarket. We decided to get Pizzas to take back to and enjoy back at our base for the next 3 nights.
