Tag Archives: 2014

Banff National Park

Banff is Canada’s oldest national park and sits on the western side of Alberta, about a 4 hour drive from the border.  It has glaciers, mountains, lakes, and rivers that make up some of the best views you can find in North America.  And the park is completely dog-friendly.

Katie and I have been meaning to go for ages.  We got our chance over 4th of July weekend, when we took a quick roadtrip up there with Sherlock.  Joining us on this excursion are Katie’s parents, her sister Julie (I swear she follows us everywhere), and her new fiance Chris.

After 14 hours of driving, we arrived in Banff on July 5th and set out on our first hike up to a waterfall.

Katie and Justin overlooking a waterfall on our first hike
Katie and Justin overlooking a waterfall on our first hike. Sherlock was afraid of the walkway, so he didn’t join us.

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Fraser Island

After journeying to Sydney and canyoning in the Blue Mountains, Katie, Julie, Lyle, and I ventured up the west coast to a small town called Hervey Bay.  We only had a few days left in Australia at this point, and our plan was to visit Fraser Island nearby.  Fraser Island is the largest island on the east coast of Australia and a popular tourist destination for locals.  It has over 100 miles of beach and it is best explored by 4wd, so we rented our Land Rover in Hervey Bay and took an afternoon ferry to the island.

Lyle admiring the wreckage of the S.S. Maheno
Lyle admiring the wreckage of the S.S. Maheno

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Blue Mountains

From Sydney, we hopped on the train and traveled west for about an hour to the small town of Katoomba.  Here we met up with a tour guide that took us into the Blue Mountains for some cliffside traversals and rappels.  The day was broken into a morning and afternoon session.  We spent all morning learning the basics of ropework and did two rappels along a cliff.

Julie preparing for a free rappel
Julie preparing for a free rappel

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Uluru

After departing Christchurch, our group separated.  Most of us (Katie, Julie, Monica, Matt, Lyle) ventured to Cairns, Australia for a few days of scuba and snorkeling along the Great Barrier Reef.  However, Justin preferred to stay safely inland and instead opted to visit Uluru (aka Ayers Rock).  After a few days, we would all reunite in Sydney.

The group separated from Christchurch (Blue=Justin, Orange=Everyone else)
The group separated from Christchurch (Blue=Justin, Orange=Everyone else)

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Orana Wildlife Park and Christchurch

Our last full day in New Zealand was quite busy.  After waking at dawn in Arthur’s Pass we finished the two hour drive into Christchurch where our first stop was Orana Wildlife Park.

In the early days of planning the trip, Justin discovered this hidden gem and immediately made reservations, unbeknownst to rest of the party.  When we arrived for our scheduled tour, Lyle was shocked to discover that we would participate in a lion feeding.

Julie encounters a lion
Julie encounters a lion

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Fox Glacier

From the sound to a glacier we went!  Fox Glacier presented itself in a stunning manner.  We stumbled upon rocks that can only be found in New Zealand.  These have a green color to them because they are chloride schist.  Yes, we did snatch some to bring home.  Our tour guide was a fountain of knowledge!  Some of this information includes the fact that this glacier recedes about a meter a day and the height has dropped about 50 meters in the last five years.  He explained that the glacier moves like a conveyor belt, it picks up rocks and such at the bottom and then those eventually move to the top making it appear dirty at some points.  Also, he shared that as the glacier melts it takes about five years for any kind of foliage to start growing.  First, a red algae grows then a green moss starts to grow and together these two form a soil type environment for other plants.  Therefore, we can tell how long the glacier has been gone by what it growing.  That is the gist (well, everything I can remember) about the glacier.

Matt and Lyle near a crevasse
Matt and Lyle near a crevasse

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