Hola! Around South America on LAN

[TomVexille]

Star Alliance lounge in EZE, United Club in IAH.

Sorry, should have been clearer. At IAH, was that Terminal E?

 

[RooFlyer]

I think so. I arrived Terminal E and remember looking up and seeing that my departure was also from Terminal E, so I would have gone straight to the nearest lounge after I came out of Customs.

It was all a bit of a blur at 6 in the morning.

 

[love_the_life]

OK, can you imagine opening your hotel room door, after a big night out, and seeing THIS: :shock:

View attachment 50029

Hotel Arts, Calgary.

Only one thing to say, "Oh my Lord What were they thinking?" (or is that two things?)

 

[RooFlyer]

After a night in Calgary I hit the road west. There was a day at the mine site and then a long weekend, where I planned to spend at Kelowna, in the Okanagan Valley, BC, home of some of Canada's best wines. This is the route. Starting off in Calgary, about an hour to Canmore and the park boundary (the '2'); a stop at Lake Louise (not marked), then the mine site at Golden and spending the night at a condo at Kicking Horse ski resort (the 4 and 6 markers respectively), then up through the Rogers Pass (the single 6), then down into the valley via Revelstoke, Sicamous, Vernon and ultimately Kelowna (the 36 marker).




3.5 hrs to Golden and another 3.75 to Kelowna. It was the first big long weekend of spring, so traffic was expected to be horrendous, but with early starts, and the much improved highway (lots of double lane-ing over the past 5 years) I avoided most of it.



First, a quick stop at Lake Louise. Been here many times, but I wanted to pop in to make sure it was still there, as JohnM and +1 are going to be here at Christmas (and follow a lot of my routing I think). Yup, still there and colours as extraordinary as usual. There will be a bit more white about at Christmas, JohnM .




Overnight at a place at the Kicking Horse ski resort that the mine uses. Nice views of the mountains, my work place across the valley (they should cut down the trees to improve the view, though) and a local mooching for breakfast outside.






Then its on the road again, still on Canada Highway 1 at this point in the Columbia River Valley, about to go up to Rogers Pass. The highway is double laned until a bit after Lake Louise, then regularly at places such as hill inclines (and descents) and there is a relatively new freeway quality road the last hour into Kelowna. Lots more to do, but much improved during the 8 years I've been coming here regularly.

 

[kpc]

You don't want me to say this but really enjoying your Canadian TR sector more...maybe because i've not been to the parts of Canada you are travelling through (must get to Lake Loiuse...is summer or winter more beautiful?)

 

[JohnM]

You don't want me to say this but really enjoying your Canadian TR sector more...maybe because i've not been to the parts of Canada you are travelling through (must get to Lake Loiuse...is summer or winter more beautiful?)

I've previously been in June, which was just beautiful. As RF says, PJM & I are having Xmas at the Fairmont Lake Louise this year, so I'll be able to make a judgement after that. My guess will be that it will be stunning in both seasons.

 

[RooFlyer]

Up to the mountain pass .. going through a number of avalanche shelters on the way. No risk this time of year, though.




Its a pleasant drive then down the other side and through the lakes to Kelowna in the Okanagan (OK-an-ar-gan) valley. My destination was the Delta Okanagan Resort lake side at Kelowna. I was after a deal of comfort that weekend, what with all the gadding about, and having fore-gone my Mendoza digs! It was C$400/night :shock: but I split it 50/50 with the client, who, after all had to put me up somewhere. Not sure if this price was because of the popular long weekend or normal. The Okanagan Valley has much in common with the Hunter Valley re wine country and 'resorts' - and similarly priced!!

That's it in the middle of the RH pic.




Its a sprawling thing, with condos, hotel and casino. I was in the main tower, near the top. Nice views out.




The room was pretty good; a 'suite' in their parlance. It had a great work desk, which would come in handy .




The resort is on the lake-side; lots of water sports in evidence.

 

[TomVexille]

I've driven that in the other direction. It's a stunning part of the world

 

[JohnM]

Are you going to get in any of the wineries up on the hills outside Kelowna, RF?

 

[RooFlyer]

Why yes .

There are about 5 Wine trails around Kelowna, each with about 4 to 5 wineries on them. On the day I arrived I went to tackle the Western trail, which is over the other side of the lake and south a bit. First stop was Mission Hill Winery and, um, I didn't get any further .

Over the lake and after about 30 mins drive you come to manicured hedges, a neat car park and this entrance to the grounds. Already you could tell this was a bit different from your regular Oz winery.



Mission Hill has a huge reputation in western Canada; its won a number of awards in Nth America and I think internationally.

Going through the entry arch you see the Terrace restaurant on the left, the lookout and bell tower straight ahead and to the right is, oh, yes, there are some tasting rooms off to the right as well!




The tasting room is massive 9thats about half of it in the LH pic), with benches at either end and lots and lots and lots of merchandise in between! $8 for a taste of 4 wines. Comes off the total if you buy a couple of bottles.



For $10 you can have a tasting (private in my case) of their good stuff or 'Legacy Collection': 2011 Perpetua Chardonnay (which has little oak which made to much to my liking), 2011 Quatrain (54% Merlot, 21% Syrah, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc); 2011 Compendium (44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc) and the 'biggie' 2011 Oculus (71% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc).

So much merlot!! I bought a bottle of Oculus and will be opening it this weekend, so we'll see how it goes.




The views from the winery are spectacular.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Nice report. Had a bottle of the Perpetua Chardonnay at restaurant in Victoria (Vancouver Is) recently and was excellent.

 

[JohnM]

And I thought you had to high-tail it back to Canada for work .

 

[kpc]

And I thought you had to high-tail it back to Canada for work .

I too was wondering about that...what happened to your Scl-Syd ticket?

 

[docjames]

OK, can you imagine opening your hotel room door, after a big night out, and seeing THIS: :shock:

View attachment 50029

Hotel Arts, Calgary.

What curtains did they get to match with that?

 

[RooFlyer]

And I thought you had to high-tail it back to Canada for work .

I too was wondering about that...what happened to your Scl-Syd ticket?

Strewth! I think I'll continue with my current client rather than you slave drivers!

I was Victoria Day long weekend, the first one of spring after their long and bloody cold winter, so the whole country gets out to 'cottage country' (shacks). No point me staying in a deserted Calgary.

Plus, and I wasn't going to mention this, on the Sunday, I was bound to the desk in my $400/night room, editing reports . Not super happy, Jan but the show had to go on. Sob, sob. (And the weather was lousy anyway.)

The SCL-SYD leg of my ticket wasn't able to be credited to me (super sale fare), so it got upgraded in J fare bucket by client and I used it LAX-MEL coming back. Don't worry, these facts were made very well known to the client!

Last night I turned my mind to a DONE5 or similar for next year that includes Mendoza, Patagonia and may extend to the Antarctic, so out of adversity may come opportunity :mrgreen:

 

[RooFlyer]

What curtains did they get to match with that?

Something in burnt orange IIRC - but check out the textured brown-grey wallpaper. Even worse.

 

[Bindibuys]

I will put my New York hotel walls Vs your carpet. (FYI every floor was a different colour/pattern)





Hotel en Nueva York Room Mate Grace

 

[RooFlyer]

Speechless ... but I think our 2 hotels should get together ...

 

[TomVexille]

Speechless ... but I think our 2 hotels should get together ...

I cant get the image out of my mind :shock::shock:

 

[RooFlyer]

After walking about the grounds and having the 2 rounds of tastings, and done the merchandise thing, it was 2pm and I realised I hadn't had lunch. So it was over to The Terrace restaurant where there were serving some nice alfresco type dishes in an unbeatable setting.




Finally I wandered back to the car park and picked up the wheels. No, that was mine on the right




Kelowna has grown hugely since I was last there about 6 years ago. Houses have colonised up and down the hills and way along the lake. in fact they are now very much crowding the vineyards. I'd love one of the lakeside 'cottages' in the LH pic.




I was intending to visit a couple more wineries on this trail but I had spend so much at Mission Hill, and probably drunk as much as I dared I went back to the hotel. The rest of the stay involved work, walking round the lakeside near the hotel etc, so that's it for the Kelowna part of the trip

One more thing about the Delta Okanagan Resort. Its restaurants and food choices were pretty crook - very downmarket. The walk to downtown was only 10 minutes, so I went there, but even there you had to pick between the burgers and rib joints to get anything decent. At the Delta, there's a bar called 'The Vines'. In the premier wine producing area of Canada, you'd think they would have a bit of a selection. Nope. I wouldn't bother with the Delta Okanagan Resort again.