"OUR TOUR OF BRITISH COLUMBIA BY HIRE CAR" Top 5 Page for this destination Province of British Columbia by balhannah

British Columbia, and what a beautiful part of the world it is!

For Australian's like us, the "Rocky Mountains" were a sight to behold.

I only wish I had a digital camera, afraid, all the photo's are scanned, so
are not the best!

I am writing my pages as how we did our tour by hire car around BC.

All you will have to do, is click on the BLUE link if the town is listed on its own.

The rest of the tips will take you to each days travels.

Some times we stayed 2 days at one Town, and did a day trip out.

As we came from Australia, we wanted to see the most possible,
in the time we had, so it was on the go pretty well, quite ok. with us,
as we are used to travelling a lot in Australia.

So, how about hopping in the passenger seat of the Virtual Tourist Car,

and we will begin our scenic tour of British Columbia.

DAY 1 & 2............................

We are in.........
Vancouver,

staying at the Holiday Inn Hotel, quite nice and in a good position near the Burrard Bridge.
We had 2 days here, and both of them were completely full.

Day 3

We departed Vancouver, and headed to RICHMOND and the most
beautiful Buddhist Temple.

Then, it was onto WHITE ROCK, a pretty seaside town, and to the
PEACE ARCH on the America/Canada border.

From here, we followed back roads to Abbotsord, passing through nice
farm land, with lots of Horse studs, Cows, Sheep, and Blueberries &
Vineyards.

We called into MISSION, went onto CHILLAWICK, stopping at the
beautiful MINTER GARDENS.

Our final stop was at the town of HOPE, where
we stayed at the Holiday Motel & RV Resort for 2 nights.

Day 4

HOPE, and a drive around the town..............
found many, excellent, Chainsaw carvings..........

They were good, so well done!

A round day trip from Hope today, starting with the
OTHELLO-QUINTETTE TUNNELS. Beside these, is a raging gorge,
its a lovely, pretty walk.

Next stop was at MERRITT.... the country music capital.

Returning back to Hope, was via, Spences Bridge, Lytton ,
with a stop at HELLS GATE AND ALEXANDRA BRIDGE.

Day 5

On our way again, with our 1st stop not far from Hope,
at the "HOPE SLIDE" A huge section of Mountain fell away,
and killed four people.

We then entered the MANNING PARK, this was where we saw our 1st wildlife.

Some White tail Deer, Chipmunks, and Mule Deer.

We passed through the SIMILKAMEEN VALLEY, and saw a huge Copper Mine.
Another old goldmining town was HEDLEY, not a lot here,
but a Town I liked, as it was old and interesting to me!

KEREMEOS, and this area was fruit growing.

OSOYOOS what a pretty spot, we were glad we came here, even though it meant doubling back!

It has the warmest lake, and the only Desert in Canada!

Turning back, we passed through many Grape & Fruit growing areas to
OLIVER, which was located by the Okanagan River.

We stayed the night at GALLAGHER LAKE for 1 night.

Day 6

We woke up to a lovely fine & sunny day.
Today, is what I called a drive along a valley of Lakes.

From Gallagher Lake, we went to the small township of
OKANAGAN FALLS, which was located in a very pretty area.
The town was located on the edge of Skaha Lake.

The road followed the lake, so we had great lake views all the way to
PENTICTON, SUMMERLAND, PEACHLAND, WESTLAND
& KELOWNA,
where we stopped at a B&B for 2 nights.

Day 7

Was spent in Kelowna.

We visited the Mission Hill winery, Knox Hill, Elysium gardens,
Kasugai Japanese gardens, did some Lakeside walking, and visited
historical sites.

Elk

Day 8

On another fine & sunny morning, we left Kelowna, and headed onto
VERNON, passing by the beautiful green coloured KALAMALKA LAKE

FALKLAND was a small, pretty country town.

The SHUSWAP LAKES, and here we visited the towns of CHASE,
SORRENTO, SALMON ARM & SICAMOUS

Our overnight stop was at 7Acres B&B at REVELSTOKE

Day 9

After a nice, quiet night in Revelstoke, we were on our way.

We had hoped to drive to a top of a Mountain here [The Meadows to the
Sky Parkway] but couldn't as the road was still closed through snow, this was 4th June.

Never mind, we headed on, passing through ROGERS PASS to GOLDEN
& Kicking Horse Mountain Resort.

We stopped at the most beautiful EMERALD LAKE and
NATURAL BRIDGE, this was another wonderful area!

Our final stop, and location for the next 3 nights, was at Odenthal's B&B
in BANFF. Alberta, so my tips will continue on my .............

ALBERTA PAGES, [DAYS...10-14]...........then return to here,

as we re-enter British Columbia again....

Day 15.............

We are back in British Columbia after 6 days in Alberta.

We have arrived in SPARWOOD home of the World's largest dump-truck.
We are following highway 3, which leads us through
FERNIE & CRANBROOK CRESTON where
we stayed for 2 nights.

Day 16

Today, a wonderful scenic drive from Creston.

We went to SALMO, TRAIL, ROSSLAND, CASTLEGAR, and
NELSON and
saw some wildlife, and fantastic scenery, this was an excellent day's drive!

Day 17

Leaving Creston today, and going to CRANBROOK, where we
stopped at Jim Smith Lake. Lots of nice reflections, and lots of Mozzies!

KIMBERLEY and
what a pretty town this was, all done in the Bavarian style, loved it!

MARYSVILLE FALLS were good, Canal Flats, Lake Columbia, and
the Purcell Mountains were all scenic. We stopped and had a look at
FAIRMONT SPRINGS, and passed through WINDERMERE
and onto INVERMERE, where we stayed the night.

Day 18

Heading through the KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARK today, passing through RADIUM HOT SPRINGS, the SINCLAIR CANYON onto the Icelands Parkway to JASPER in Alberta.

After spending another 3 rainy days at Jasper in Alberta, it was time to head back into British Columbia and back to Vancouver.

View Columbia river near Trail & Rossland

Day 21

YES, You guessed it, a nice sunny morning the day we departed Jasper,
this was after 3 days of miserable weather!

Moving on, we passed through the YELLOWHEAD PASS
and onto MOUNT ROBSON which we couldn't see properly,
as its head was in the clouds!

A boring drive from Jasper to Clearwater, mile upon mile of Pine forest.

Once at CLEARWATER and booked into accommodation,
a drive to WELLS GRAY NATIONAL PARK, one well worth
visiting....plenty of wildlife in these surroundings.

Day 22

Moving on with the big Thompson river running alongside the road. We passed through a pretty valley with Horse's and Hay, and then the road climbed a big Mountain to LAC DES ROCHES.
We saw more Black Bears, and lots of Pine dying because of Pine Beetles. Lone Butte, aptly named as a Butte is here. A stop at 100 MILE HOUSE for lunch, then to PAINTED CHASM, past some Hoodoo's on the way to CLINTON and ASHCROFT The scenery to LILLOOET was fantastic, the drive along the scenic Duffy road, was slow going, as it was a windy, scenic road. Our overnight stay was at PEMBERTON.

Day 23

And we leave Pemberton where we saw heaps of Black Bears. The scenic drive takes us to WHISTLER and SQUAMISH where we stayed, as it was much cheaper than Whistler.

Day 24

From Squamish, we travelled down the "Sea to the Sky" highway to Horseshoe Bay where we caught the Ferry across to VANCOUVER ISLAND

THIS CONCLUDED OUR TOUR OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
What a great time we had in this beautiful area of Canada!

• Pros:Scenic, easy to get around.
• Cons:Very slow windy roads, allow plenty of time
• In a nutshell:Beautiful Scenery, Lots of wildlife......FANTASTIC!