By 10am we were on the road to Whistler. We knew that it was a long drive although it was only about 181 miles in length. The challenge was that the road was very up and down with numerous sharp bends.
Our first stop after 2 hours was at a place called Lillooet. This was an old Gold Rush town at the meeting point of 2 rivers. We found a reasonable cafe which not only had great Wifi but also served Yorkshire teabags. By now it was almost too hot to sit in the sun. We had a quick wander around the almost ghost town, popping into a little museum before getting back into the car.
The route was now very pretty. It provided the scenery that Karen had always imagined that Canada would provide. There were narrow pine tree lined valleys on both sides of busy bubbling water.
The first Lake was only a short 15 minute walk, whereas the second Lake was a 2 ½ hour walk to reach and then the same to get back. The third Lake was then even further. We both agreed that the first Lake would suffice.
From here we drove another 40 minutes to a place called Pemberton. Just after we had driven through it I suddenly saw a Black Bear walking alongside the road. I had to do a double take but sadly Karen missed it completely. I felt so bad for her as she was so keen to see one (from the safety of the car) and offered to turn round but it wasn't easy to do so and so we carried on driving. However within 2 minutes we then both saw another one nonchanterly walking through a wheat field. It was lovely and I was so pleased for Karen.
About a couple of miles up the road we stopped again at Nairn Falls. The Falls themselves were a mile walk from the car park. We decided to walk the trail but to say that Karen was nervous about a Bear encounter would be an understatement. It wasn't helped as on the local news they were reporting a story of a Bear that had made its way into a local Shopping Mall. We attached the Bear bell and set off making a lot of noise to make sure any Bears were aware of our presence.
I was very confident we would be fine as there were lots of people about. It was a very pleasant walk and the falls themselves at the end of the trail made the effort worth it.
After settling in we went for a short wander to stretch our legs again and get our bearings. I was very tired after the long drive which had been tough with the concentration needed. After locating the Starbucks which was in the building almost opposite the apartment block, we bought a bottle of wine from the Liquor Store and some milk from the large supermarket. We decided to get Pizzas to take back to and enjoy back at our base for the next 3 nights.