Alberta-British Columbia Boundary.

Probably not!

On the subject of Scandinavian cheeses: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21141244 is an interesting item. I'd like to try some of this cheese - but maybe not on the grill.

Wow! what an unusual story June.
Who would have guessed Goats Cheese could be so flammable.

I use a lot Danish Blue on My Pizzas instead of Feta.
I find Feta won't melt even at 700° C.
I also use Pumpkins ,Mushrooms, Pineapples, Sun dried Tomatoes, Capsicums, Olives, Pine Nuts, and other Nuts.

And this is what it looks like when finished after 1½ minutes.

Mmmm! Is anyone else feeling hungry now? I gotta go eat!

Nice one June. ^_^


This is not meant to stir or upset any Canadians.
But I have a personal choice when it comes to Capitol Cities in Canada.
I really love Vancouver.
I have spent more time in Vancouver than any where else in the whole World.
Except My home town that is.

Does anyone know this Lighthouse ?

This is probably a better Picture.
You have to have patience in these locations.
There are people walking through 'My Frame' all the time.

I have no clue where the lighthouse is. I agree with you about Vancouver, although I've only been there a couple of times. The city's setting - by the sea, and so close to the mountains - is beautiful.

A slightly different angle.
These Pictures were taken from inside a National Park.
Growin from Vancouver will most likely know what it's called.

Does anyone know this Band ?
Pictures taken at Vancouver.

This is the Bus they turned up in.
Looks like a School Bus to Me.
The Band was very good, and they looked OK as well.

I wonder if anyone knows what the pink and white curly things are on this Welcoming Desert Plate ?
I found out by eating them, but I had not seen them before.

I feel as if the older I get, the less I know. I never heard of The Niche band! And what are those pink and white curly things? Do tell! I like to be adventurous with food - I wanted to try guinea pig in Peru, but when I was in the high Andes unfortunately I was too ill from the altitude to eat anything but yogurt.

Wow June, You have been to the High Andes ?
PLEASE do tell a little about your adventure.
I would just love to do an Adventure in the Alps.
But it will have to wait a few more years till I exhaust My thirst for Canada.

I'm not really sure why this dugout was up on top of this Mountain ?
I always thought you needed water to get about in one of these.
Maybe it was an Offering to the Mountain Gods.

Ooops, I forgot to mention what the pink and white Desert was!
It is/was 'Marzipan'. (till I ate it)
Marzipan is a very popular Danish Desert ingredient.

http://mydanishkitchen.com/tag/marzipan/
I notice the Wedding Cake also has American flags on it.
Another perfect union. ^_^^_^

Do you use “Lurpac”Butter.

I don't use Lurpac butter - is it one of those fake butters that scientists said were good for you, and then they said it wasn't? If I use butter at all, I use unsalted dairy butter - and then only for cooking. I prefer olive oil.

Marzipan is very popular in Italy, where I have seen some amazing fruits, vegetables, and animals all made out of marzipan. My mother (British) only used marzipan at Christmas, when she made us a traditional fruit cake topped with a layer of marzipan and then sugar icing on top of that. She would also buy a box of dates, replace the date stones with little chunks of marzipan, and serve them as snacks in case you weren't already full of Christmas turkey, pudding, cake, mince-pies, etc.

OK, you asked for just a little about my trip to the Andes. It was about 10 years ago. Landed in Lima, drank some bad water, got upset stomach. Visited the Inquisition Museum. Flew from Lima (sea level) to Cuzco (11,000 ft), developed throbbing pain in back of head, worse when I lay down, so spent most nights walking around my hotel room when not throwing up. Coca tea did not help. Was able to see some Inca architecture - amazing stonework! Train to Machu Picchu, hotel at 8,000 ft so got some respite from the headache - saw more amazing architecture and mountain scenery - then back to Cuzco and the pain. Tried green coca chocolate - not very nice, although some tour members ate a too much and became hyper. Bus across the High Plains to Lake Titicaca - saw the reed islands, took a ride on a reed boat, blew up my hairdryer (didn't notice the electric current was different) - then on across the plains to the Bolivian border. Ended up in La Paz (13,000 ft) at New Year's. The whole city was drunk and wearing red underwear. Next day, city was deserted, apart from a few folks who hadn't made it home. On the city tour, our bus driver was pepper-sprayed when he tried to remove a drunk from in front of our bus and a policeman strolled up and sprayed both of them. Flew home very thin, but soon regained all the weight I lost. I will never go above 10,000 ft again, but I'm glad I went.

June, great short story, I enjoyed reading about your adventure!. I get migranes and totaly get the can't lay down but can thow up thing, yuck. And that is exactly why it scares me to go to Machu Pichu.
Alberta Ann

Ann, don't let my horror story put you off going to Machu Picchu as it truly is a magical place, and the hotels are down in the valley below, so no problems with altitude sickness while there. I stayed at the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, where the rooms were in cabins set in a wonderful garden, with little streams running through it, and orchids growing on the trees, and full of birds singing, like a little bit of heaven.

Thank you June for your great description of your trip to the High Andes.
I hope there was no long term illness after your trip.
Do you have any pictures of Machu Picchu.

As a young High School student I made a paper mache model of Machu Picchu.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-make-paper-mache-volcano.html
So my love for Machu Picchu and Mountains in general goes back a long long time.

I have decided to add this Picture for the reflection in the water.

I had no lasting ill-effects from my Andean trip. As soon as I was back at sea-level, I felt fine. I had no digital camera at that time, so my trip pics are mouldering away in a photo album stored somewhere in a cupboard.

By co-incidence, I did a high school essay on the geography of Peru. I picked it because I had a fascination with Incas, and it was a far away, exotic country. I never dreamed I would actually go there one day! I've never made a paper mache volcano, but I've visited a few: Etna, Vesuvius, and one in Iceland - I can't remember the name (or spell it if I could). I also visited the Rotorua area in NZ, but nothing was erupting at the time. The Kiwis have some live ones at the moment, don't they?

I love the reflection pic. It's the sort of view that you want to lose yourself in.

Life is just full of coincidences. ^_^

This reflection Picture is back at Lake Louise.
I wonder if the Lake bottom is really painted each year ?

Wow, what a perfect reflection. Incredible pic. If you are not a professional photographer, you ought to be.

Thanks June,
Photography is just a hobby for Me.
But I am a full time Artist, so maybe that is rubbing off ?

This Picture was taken one minute after than last one.
Reflection was not as good but I was trying to capture all the Ski runs behind the Château.
As Yall already know, that is Banff in Summer in the background.

A very popular destination on one of the Summer hikes at Banff is the Plain of Six Glaciers
http://www.banfflakelouise.com/Things-To-Do/Summer-Adventures/Tea-Houses/Plain-of-Six-Glaciers-Tea-House
They make a great Lemonade at this Tea House.

What an interesting structure! Is there a road, or do all the supplies for the tea house have to be carried in on the walking trail? (I envisage people with backpacks full of lemons for the lemonade.)

No June, there are no roads anywhere near here.
The track rises far to quickly even for a Quad Bike.
Supplies are bought in on Horse back.
http://www.albertawow.com/hikes/Plain_of_Six_Glaciers/Plain%20of%20Six%20Glaciers.htm
http://hikebiketravel.com/19465/hike-plain-glaciers-lake-louise-tea-house/

This Picture is of Lake Agnes with the Tea House up at the other end.
Lake Agnes is not fed by any Glaciers so the water is a beautiful blue colour.
There are Hiking Tracks all the way around Lake Agnes.

Another perfect shot! Did you encounter any marmots or bears on your hike? Do you carry binoculars and look around for birds, or do you walk looking downwards to look for alpine flowers? I once went with a combined birding and botanizing group to the French Pyrenees and we never got anywhere on our hikes because everyone stopped walking whenever a bird or a flower was spotted. (It was in 1998, before I had a digital camera, so I don't have any pics unfortunately.)

Never saw any wild Bears.
But we did see some tracks.
And to be honest compared to Australia there are very few birds in Canada.
I could count the number of bird sightings on one hand.

This was the highest point above Lake Agnes that the hiking trail takes us too.
The walking trail on the far side is very easy to see from here.

Canada has more than 400 species of birds, and they're not all geese!

In this winter pic, there are goldfinches, a cardinal, a slate junco, a chickadee, and two different woodpeckers - downy and hairy.

Many Canadian birds are migratory, summering in the north and wintering in the south. Ones that we see mostly in winter include pine siskin, redpoll, junco, nuthatch, grosbeak, and tree sparrow. Many waterfowl, such as this merganser duck that got curious about what the squirrel was eating, we see only in passing as they use local ponds as rest stops on their long journeys in spring and fall. Other birds, such as red-winged blackbird, cowbird, grackle, swallows (various), warblers (various), robin, wren, flicker, oriole, bluebird, indigo bunting, sparrows (various), wood ducks, mallard, trumpeter swan, herons (green and great blue), kingfisher, osprey, vultures (black and turkey), and ruby-throated hummingbird are summer residents of this area. Those that stay here all year include blue jay, mourning dove, cardinal, turkey, chickadee, goldfinch, crow, raven, red-tailed hawk, woodpeckers (3 kinds). Bird populations are somewhat different east and west of the Rockies, though.

This message was edited Jan 26, 2013 9:38 AM

This message was edited Jan 26, 2013 12:19 PM

I forgot to list Canada's most famous bird - the mosquito!

But I digress. Lovely pic of Lake Agnes, ginger.

We did see two Bears but only from the Train.
We all thought there was only a Brown Bear.

We were all surprised that this Black Bear appeared from no where.
Maybe he came out of a hole ?

From a vehicle is probably the best way to see bears - certainly the safest way!

By the way, ginger, happy Australia Day! I hope you're not in the flooded part of Queensland.

Thank you June.

Our Creek is still not running.
But they are saying the Cyclone is heading our way and will get here today.
As you said June, Yesterday was 'Australia Day' for us. (26-1-2013)
I decided to fly the Flag for the first time to show my colours.
This is My front gate with the two Canadian street signs on the piers.

We saw this kind of thing in USA and Canada every day.
For next year I will install a proper Flag Pole.

I thought it was amazing these Goats were walking so close to the Hikers walking Tracks around Banff.
But it got even better later on.

I have a bunch of questions:
Is that a cattle-grid on your gateway, and if, so what animals are you keeping out?
What do you have mounted on top of your gate posts?
What is that shrub with the pink flowers by your gateway?
And lastly, are those goats or sheep near Banff? I have a faint memory of seeing big-horned sheep on my long-ago trip to the Rockies.

P.S. Great flag display!

This message was edited Jan 26, 2013 4:26 PM