Our first day in Vancouver starts with a full breakfast with bacon and eggs. We pick up our car on the Airport at Alamo's...a huge Pontiac Grand Prix and we throw ourselves straight away in the city traffic which turns out to be very easy: everyone is driving slowly and clear signs are used to mark the roads. We visit the "Look out!" (the tower offering beautiful views over the city centre), Gastown, the Waterfront and Stanley Park with the famous totem poles. Early bed time today...we still feel the jetleg in our bodies. We have 9 hours time difference to cope with!

We leave Vancouver and drive northwards to Whistler today. We take Marine Drive to avoid the busy highway. The road to Whistler is under construction for the upcoming Winter Olympics in 2010, so it takes us more time than expected. The weather is very cloudy and we even have some showers on our way up north. We make a stop for a walk to 2 impressive waterfalls: Shannon and Brandywine falls. Whistler is a very cosy place with many restaurants and shops. Though it is a typical wintersports village the number of visitors is increasing in summer, also because of the excellent mountain bike facilities. Dinner at Mongoli grill where we pick up our own food before cooks are preparing it for you while waiting. Hotel: Crystal Lodge Whistler.

We drive after a good breakfast at Starbucks's eastwards. The landscape varies a lot today, from mountains to prairies...almost deserts. The area is partly an Indian Reserve. We make a short walk to the Jaffre lakes and have a coffee in Lilloet at a German bakery. We drive through Fraser Valley passing the Canadian Pacific railroad. The trains are several kilometres long! Kamloops is a nice town along the Fraser River. Full summer here, people are swimming in the river. We have dinner at Dorian's..the best Greek food ever! Hotel: Thompson Hotel Kamloops.

One of the longest driving days today; from Kamloops to Jasper. We have breakfast in Little Fort, a charming area with the river and many farms. We have a picknick lunch today and make a stop at Mount Terry Fox, named after a young athlete who became famouse for his fight against cancer by running the whole of Canada. We visit the Information Centre in Blue Creek...an excellent salmon and trout area. Mount Robson (the highest mountain in British Columbia: 3952m) is the entrance to the National parks and the Rockey Mountains. Almost all of the mountains are over 2000m with snow on tops. We meet a lot of huge campers (RV's) with a normal car hanging behind it...a strange sight for us! On our way to our cabin, 45 min outside Jasper, we meet a group with Mountain sheep on the rocks next to the road. We have dinner on a patio at an Italian restaurant in Jasper. There are many tourists in the village and we prebook tickets for the boat tour on Maligne Lake for tomorrow. Hotel: Pocahontas Cabins Jasper 2 nights