interesting science stuff as well as amazing scenery - marvellous!! Lunch was the next thing on the agenda, and we were overjoyed to find a café bar which served up hefty portions of veggie burger and fish and chips - just the thing to soak up the last of the previous night‘s beer!!

Banff’s other attraction which appealed was the hot springs. It was the discovery of hot springs in the area which led to the creation of the town of Banff, and the routing of the railway through it. The famous Banff hotel was built for Victorian tourists who came to soak away their aches and pains. There are still several rather exclusive and expensive resort style hot springs, but luckily there is also a public one, much closer to our price range!! It was pretty busy there, but was totally amazing!! The water was at about bath temperature, and the views of the towering peaks just couldn’t be beat!! It was the

third time we’d sat in heated water outside gazing at snow!! There’s a prize for the first e-mail telling us where the other two places were - let’s see how much attention you lot pay to our diaries and photos!! J Much as us adults had a great time in the pool, the kids absolutely loved it, and had to be dragged out kicking and screaming when it was time to leave.

Much as we could have stayed around every place we went to for a good long time, there were many more places to see in only twelve days so the next morning it was time to move on. Jasper was the next stop, but after more food and beer shopping it was decided that it was too far to drive in a single day, so after another drive through incredible scenery, we decided to stop over in Mosquito Creek, just on the edge of the Columbian Icefields, a vast lake of ice which sits on top of the Rockies and has countless glaciers protruding