Sunday, June 01, 2008
Rocky Pool Kalamunda
After a 10 days in the Rocky Mountains in Canada, walking the hills of Kalamunda is a bit different. No ice, no snow, no frozen waterfalls. Just a quiet green beautiful bush on a sunny day, the last of Autumn 2008. The hills may not be as grand and tall, however, the pathways on the Rocky Pool walk are steep and demanding. They require perserverance going up and caution going down. The reward is to come to Piesse Brook and hear it flowing and then to sit and watch the gentle waterfalls of the Rocky Pool.
Home again - we really did it, again!
It is Sunday and we are at home on the first day of winter. This morning Jenny and I took a stroll in the sunshine from Kalamunda to Gooseberry Hill along the old railway track. The tress looked refreshed after yesterday's battering storms and green and yellow were dominant colours. The wattle was glorious and perhaps a little early. The coffee at Gooseberry Hill was good. I think Western Australian coffee is streets ahead of Canadian and Alaskan coffee.
We have been home 8 days after a month away. During the month we flew on 6 planes – the flights varied from 25 minutes (Vancouver to Victoria) to 15 hours on the way home to Sydney. In addition to the 6 planes, we caught 4 trains, 4 trams (all going up mountains – a bit different from good old Melbourne’s trams), 13 buses or coaches, 6 taxis (including one to the wrong station), 3 ferries – 2 of the ferries would have fitted into the last one we caught from Vancouver Island and we slept in 8 different beds and tried to sleep in 2 planes and 1 train. Fairmont beds are the best in the world and coupled with majestic views, gob smacking settings and friendly and prompt service makes the Fairmont stay an opportunity to turn a moment into a magic memory.
We have looked through our photos and remembered parts of our trip we have put to the back of our minds. When so much is happening in from of your eyes on a daily basis it taxes the old brain cells. A number of times I have thought: “gosh, did I actually see that, visit here and go there?”
One thing photos don’t capture is the conversations that occur along the journey. Sometimes short ones, some longer.
On the ship we met lots people we chatted with at mealtime, saw in the bar as we listened to music or just bumped into around ship.
There was the young guy from Houston. Our relationship started in queue at Vancouver Port and continued a couple of times as we met moving around the ship. Then in Anchorage, as we sipped coffee in the park we had one more chance encounter where we compared notes on our journey.
Jenny discovered a relative on the ship (there are Cochranes everywhere) while ashore at Ketchikan but we didn’t quite get to Cochrane Canada to see if there were relatives there! However, we did celebrate the end of our ship voyage with Jenny’s new rellies. We discovered how French speaking families were sent to southern USA, how the Scots & Irish influenced blues music (that bit in the steam bath!), heard about grits, discussed international skiing, were told how fascinating our accents were and had discussion with our English and Kiwi cousins. The English were all bemused by the fact that USA people thought Aussie and English accents were similar.
On the Rocky Mountaineer the Canberra guy was ecstatic about seeing a bear while the Queenslanders at Jasper Park Lodge could all talk about Aussie Rules. At dinner in jasper we chatted with a retired Perth magistrate in between Stuart’s gold plate dinner service in the Moose’s Nook. Later we danced to the 3-piece band in Jasper and I got to dance with my daughter Amy for the first time in a decade or so.
Dancing we did a lot on the ship. Some nights going from one place to the other as we improvised on small dance floors. The bands appreciated having dancers and chatted to us asking about our steps. We did lots of Rock n Roll, Cha Cha, some waltzing, some nifty Balmoral Blues and the odd Rumba. Dancing on a ship was fun and sometimes challenging as the boat swayed and I was suddenly leading Jenny uphill and down dale.
Well, I could rave on forever. Whiteouts on the mountain train out of Scagway, the Sunday markets in Anchorage, Sears – a great place for shopping, and then glorious Victoria, described by Amy as Perth in Melbourne. Buildings that were like the good ones in Melbourne with an ocean breeze like we get in Perth, and the most magnificent parliament House just across the road from the grand old Fairmont Empress.
And then we had our personal travel guide, my delightful and devoted daughter Amy who patiently educated her father about life in Canada, explained tipping brilliantly, drover us around in her car Betsy, introduced us to her wonderful friends and colleagues and generally looked after her old man well.
We are not sure where we are going for our next trip. So much world, so little time and not enough cash. However, to have done this journey meant seeing places I never imagined seeing.
Travel on people, May the journey be enriching and enlightening.
We have been home 8 days after a month away. During the month we flew on 6 planes – the flights varied from 25 minutes (Vancouver to Victoria) to 15 hours on the way home to Sydney. In addition to the 6 planes, we caught 4 trains, 4 trams (all going up mountains – a bit different from good old Melbourne’s trams), 13 buses or coaches, 6 taxis (including one to the wrong station), 3 ferries – 2 of the ferries would have fitted into the last one we caught from Vancouver Island and we slept in 8 different beds and tried to sleep in 2 planes and 1 train. Fairmont beds are the best in the world and coupled with majestic views, gob smacking settings and friendly and prompt service makes the Fairmont stay an opportunity to turn a moment into a magic memory.
We have looked through our photos and remembered parts of our trip we have put to the back of our minds. When so much is happening in from of your eyes on a daily basis it taxes the old brain cells. A number of times I have thought: “gosh, did I actually see that, visit here and go there?”
One thing photos don’t capture is the conversations that occur along the journey. Sometimes short ones, some longer.
On the ship we met lots people we chatted with at mealtime, saw in the bar as we listened to music or just bumped into around ship.
There was the young guy from Houston. Our relationship started in queue at Vancouver Port and continued a couple of times as we met moving around the ship. Then in Anchorage, as we sipped coffee in the park we had one more chance encounter where we compared notes on our journey.
Jenny discovered a relative on the ship (there are Cochranes everywhere) while ashore at Ketchikan but we didn’t quite get to Cochrane Canada to see if there were relatives there! However, we did celebrate the end of our ship voyage with Jenny’s new rellies. We discovered how French speaking families were sent to southern USA, how the Scots & Irish influenced blues music (that bit in the steam bath!), heard about grits, discussed international skiing, were told how fascinating our accents were and had discussion with our English and Kiwi cousins. The English were all bemused by the fact that USA people thought Aussie and English accents were similar.
On the Rocky Mountaineer the Canberra guy was ecstatic about seeing a bear while the Queenslanders at Jasper Park Lodge could all talk about Aussie Rules. At dinner in jasper we chatted with a retired Perth magistrate in between Stuart’s gold plate dinner service in the Moose’s Nook. Later we danced to the 3-piece band in Jasper and I got to dance with my daughter Amy for the first time in a decade or so.
Dancing we did a lot on the ship. Some nights going from one place to the other as we improvised on small dance floors. The bands appreciated having dancers and chatted to us asking about our steps. We did lots of Rock n Roll, Cha Cha, some waltzing, some nifty Balmoral Blues and the odd Rumba. Dancing on a ship was fun and sometimes challenging as the boat swayed and I was suddenly leading Jenny uphill and down dale.
Well, I could rave on forever. Whiteouts on the mountain train out of Scagway, the Sunday markets in Anchorage, Sears – a great place for shopping, and then glorious Victoria, described by Amy as Perth in Melbourne. Buildings that were like the good ones in Melbourne with an ocean breeze like we get in Perth, and the most magnificent parliament House just across the road from the grand old Fairmont Empress.
And then we had our personal travel guide, my delightful and devoted daughter Amy who patiently educated her father about life in Canada, explained tipping brilliantly, drover us around in her car Betsy, introduced us to her wonderful friends and colleagues and generally looked after her old man well.
We are not sure where we are going for our next trip. So much world, so little time and not enough cash. However, to have done this journey meant seeing places I never imagined seeing.
Travel on people, May the journey be enriching and enlightening.
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