Le Tour D'Alberta and assorted other places.

[Cool Cat Phil]

A short stop in hinton mainly because in the 70s and 80s I spent many years playing cricket for Hinton in the Hunter valley.

So much in Common.... I Grew up as a Kid in Maitland..... I went to Scouts in Morpeth, Hinton was across the river & through the Corn/potato fields if I remember correctly.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Thanks RB.I found out that Alberta is indeed worth a visit with literally something for everyone.Mrsdrron though found Canada a poor shopping destination.We even found that Identical brands of Canadian maple syrup were cheaper in Dallas than Alberta.
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Shopping In Canada over the US is more expensive Yes, although Alberta is the only Province in Canada without a provincial sales tax which gets added onto everything.
5% GST is still payable though in Alberta like all other Province's. Therefore Alberta is the cheapest province to shop for high value items within Canada.

Maple Syrup..... So the Best Maple Syrup comes from Quebec. Quebec & Alberta are not exactly the best of friends politically speaking, so that may explain the discrepancy. lol

Having been to a "Sugar Shack" (Where Maple Syrup is Harvested)..... I was told the real deal with Maple Syrup is to only buy the stuff that comes in a tin, anything in glass is not authentic , well that's what the Quebecois told me anyway.


Keep posting those Pictures , I love hearing those stories.

Red Deer...... cant wait to here what you have to say about that place.

 

[drron]

You do remember correctly.I worked at The Maitland hospital from 1975-1992.
The maple syrup we priced was indeed in a tin from Quebec.My knowledge of maple syrup comes from several places in Vermont.I think they would disagree with Quebec's claim!

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

I was born at Maitland Hospital in one of those years you worked there. Next you'll be telling me you worked in the Maternity Department


Absolutely Maple Syrup is also Harvested in Ontario & in the New England Region of the US...... But the Quebecois are pretty fierce in claiming it as theirs!

Tell me about Red Neck.... Red Deer ( Oops not very PC of me)

 

[drron]

So we continue on our tour.Thursday and we are off to Red Deer.A short drive so we decided to detour via Devon and stop at the Devonian Botanic gardens which is part of the University of Alberta.We were pleased we did.well worth a visit.They have a Japanese Garden which we were told is overseen by a retired gentleman in his eighties.A fantastic job and one of the better Japanese Gardens outside Japan.We took lots of photos so here goes-

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[drron]

We then noticed this little fellow-

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A muskrat.

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[drron]

And finally the last of the Japanese Garden-

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[craven morehead]

I have just informed the good wife we will be going to Canada next year after following this TR :mrgreen:

 

[drron]

As well as the Japanese gardens there are several enclosed areas with butterflies,tropical garden,desert garden and an orchid house-

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And then a large open area plus there were woodlands and wetlands which we didn't get to.

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Interesting that in the herb garden were gum trees-

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So definitely worth the detour.They do have a café and a small shop.great Japanese garden,lots of places for picnics and even a display of the predators locally.Great place to wear out the kids.
So then it was on to Red Deer and the Sheraton.Review here-
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....nces-and-reviews/sheraton-red-deer-54369.html

 

[drron]

Sorry to disappoint people but the only reason we were stopping in Red Deer was because it had a Sheraton.Our real interest was in Drumheller with it's dinosaur fossils and the Canadian badlands.When looking at this trip and our accommodation I did look at Drumheller but for very down market accommodation they wanted ~ $150 a night.The Sheraton was $160 a night though nearly every other day of the week it was $80 a night.
All was revealed when we arrived in Red Deer.There were pro cycling team vehicles in the hotel's parking lot and they all had desks in the hotel lobby.then about 15 minutes after our arrival was the finish of the second stage of the inaugural Tour D'alberta.When we got to our room every room on the floor had suitcases outside all with BMC tags.Reading them I found that directly over the hall from us was a bag belonging to mr.C.Evans.
After unpacking we went to the lounge which was pretty decent by North American standards.Even had complimentary beer and wine though you had to ask for it.The woman attendant picked the Australian accent and asked if we were family of a cyclist as there were several Aussie riders.In the lounge then were all the team managers.

We were feeling a bit tired so decided to eat in the restaurant.Always some trepidation doing this but we didn't have to worry.mrsdrron started off with butter lobster with an avocado salsa-she declared it fantastic.Great value too at $10.I had the roasted root veggie salad and it was also very good-

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I then had the lamb shank which was done perfectly and mrsdrron had the lamb chops which were good.We also shared a side of mushrooms with basil and garlic which was great.

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So with a bottle of Stoneleigh SB,tax and tip it came to $125.Went over to the open kitchen and complimented the chefs.told them quite truthfully that their food was better than at the Fairmonts in Lake Louise and jasper.had them beaming.

So back to the room.heard Cadel Evans going to his room(after many years of watching Le Tour on SBS it is easy to recognise his voice) but as I was completely undressed I decided against opening the door and saying hello.
Next-Drumheller.

 

[drron]

Friday and a leisurely start.Our first day of rain in Alberta.Rained all the way to Drumheller(aka Palmer Paradise).Dinosaurs all over town.We went to the Royal Tyrrell museum.If you are into dinosaurs then this place is a must see.The first two pictures are on our way to the museum.The rest are at the museum.

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The last fossil is an ammonite.These are mined around here for ammolite sold as jewellery.Many of the dinosaur fossils are found during this mining.

 

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Dinosaur eggs and where the fossils are processed-

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From when we left the Rockies until here the countryside consisted of undulating country mostly with broadacre cereal crops.Here it was totally different-

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This little fellow certainly wasn't scared.

 

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And this is a very common sight in this part of Alberta-

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