22 June 2008 - Canada

Day 252 - Off to the next national park - Kootenay. This was more of a drive through the park as many of the trails were closed due to snow. As we entered the park we saw lots of mountain goats up a very steep hill. We were also lucky enough again to see two more black bears (not at the same time) whilst we were driving down the road. There were lots of deer and the usual squirrels! We spent the night in a town called Golden.

Day 253 - We were suffering from National Park overload so decided to visit a nearby Wolf Centre. We were given a bit of background into the "history" of the wolf and saw a couple of the wolves that were looked after at the centre.

Day 254 - We left the town of Golden and stopped briefly at a couple of smaller National Parks - Glacier and Mt Revelstoke. Again, not much was open so we just did a couple of short walks and drives.

Day 255 - A day of driving to our next overnight stop - Kamloops.

Day 256 - More driving and a night in Lillooet.

Day 257 - A couple more hours of driving and then into Whistler (host city with Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics) where

we were staying for the next three nights. We checked into our hotel and then went for a walk round the town. It's a very nice looking town and you can imagine how pretty it must look in the snowy months. We treated ourselves to a decent lunch as

our recent diet mainly consisted of cereal! Activities in the town are very expensive (and mainly restricted to the winter months) so we took the opportunity to catch up on the latest releases at the cinema and saw Indiana Jones IV (not as bad as

the reviews make out!).

Day 258 - It was quite warm in the morning so we decided to go up to the glacier for some sightseeing. You're able to ski pretty much all year round up there but unfortunately we couldn't due to costs (and lack of appropriate clothing!). To get

to the glacier you need to take three chairlifts and a bus but it was worth it for the views and for watching the

snowboarders in action. It was zero degrees at the peak so we didn't stick around for too long! On the way down on the final chairlift we saw a black bear walking across the hill which we weren't expecting. Still, it's always cool to see bears in their natural habitat. In the evening we went to see "The Happening' (as bad as the reviews make out!).

Day 259 - A non-eventful day of playing mini-golf (you could tell Ricky hadn't played proper golf for nine months as his putting was appalling!) and watching the crazy BMX bikers in a competition.

Day 260 - After a fun couple of days in Whistler (we hope to go back in the winter months one day) it was time to head on to Vancouver where we returned the car. We had a bit of a walk round the town centre but it was pretty cold so we didn't stay outside for long. We were staying in a hostel for the next two nights and our room was unfortunately above the on-site bar so we were kept awake by incredibly loud music most of the night! (boy do we sound old!).

Day 261 - We took a bus to Stanley Park as it is the biggest city park in Vancouver and you can get some good views of the city when walking round the 10km sea wall. We walked back towards the town and had lunch in a place called "Ricky's Diner"! To get out of the rain and cold we went to the IMAX and watched "Whales and Dolphins 3D" - it was quite moving and very sad to know that even common dolphins are at risk from extinction.

Day 262 - Up at 6am (after lack of sleep again!), we got two buses to the ferry port of Tsasswassen for our trip to Vancouver Island. The ferry ride was very slow but nice and smooth. We had to get a taxi to the airport where we were picking up our (final) hire car - this time a Toyota Yaris (which still cost as much as our monster car in the US!). It was about midday by this time and as we (well Ricky!) had nearly a six hour drive ahead of him we hit the road straight away. We arrived in the coastal town of Tofino and checked into our cute room in the "Paddlers Inn".

Day 263 - We woke up to grey skies and rain which wasn't ideal as we were due to go Whale Watching. Unfortunately it turned out to be "trying to see the whale" rather than actually watching. It's not easy to see a grey whale in grey seas and grey skies! We could see the spouting of a female whale and her calf but not much else. Bit disappointing but luckily we had seen whales in New Zealand.

Day 264 - Typically, today we woke up to blue skies (would have been great for whale watching!) but were leaving Tofino. We drove down to the southern part of the island and stopped in a town called Sooke. We hadn't booked anywhere to stay that night but managed to find a bargain - $60 for a whole cabin right by the sea. It was a beautiful location and we were able to cook dinner in our own little kitchen.

Day 265 - We visited the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park and whilst at Botanical Beach we saw our first mink (we had actually just missed a black bear on the beach by a few minutes - but that could have been a good thing!). After a look around it was

time to head back to the ferry for the trip to the mainland. It was then off to an airport hotel for our final night in Canada.

Day 266 - Flight to New York.