Sunday June 13th, Peter and Lynne’s, Calgary AB

10 Miles

The Calgary people we have met have been so pleased we have come….this weekend the weather has been the best all summer! Evidently it has been a particularly grotty spring and early summer. Today it was 29 degrees, and after complaining about the cold, now we are pleased to find some air conditioning or a shady tree to sit under.

Another farewell this morning, can’t believe how lucky we were to hit Calgary for Joanie’s 50^th and celebrate with her. Joanie is a great fibre artist and I departed with some extra yarns for my “Memory blanket”…real Joanie colours in bright blues, oranges and turquoises and also some yarn that has been made from torn up Indian sari’s. Keen to knit them up.

It was a short drive across town to our other Calgary friends, Peter and Lynne Macklon. We met them on a ferry during our trip to Nova Scotia in 2008, really enjoyed their company and continued our friendship by email. They were planning a trip to NZ and we were able to give them ideas for the 6 weeks they intended to spend in our country. Last year we visited them here on our way south, and then in December they arrived in NZ and spent a bit of time with us in Rotorua before renting a car and heading off on their travels. Great to be able to visit again and hear all the news of their kiwi experience and see some great photos.

Sadly Lynne’s mother passed away on Friday but they were adamant that we must spend the day here with them.

They suggested we have lunch at a local Vietnamese restaurant owned by an ex colleague of Lynne’s….I could see Ian’s eyebrows rise as Asian food is not one of his favourites, but we dragged him along, and surprise, surprise, he thoroughly enjoyed it. The food was excellent.

We seem to have talked to so many people about our trip north and the thing everyone mentioned was the mosquitoes, and it does concern me as I am prime tucker for them. We needed to get something to cover us up, and after discussing it with Peter he went online and found some great bug jackets at the local outdoor store in downtown Calgary. So after lunch Peter drove us all down there. What a place, everything you could ever need for the great outdoors. The jackets are just perfect, not the tops in the fashion stakes though. I promise you some photos in due course! They have drawstring closures on the sleeves and bottom and a hood with a fully enclosed mesh face area. No way the little suckers will be able to get in. We also bought a can of bear spray….hopefully we will not need to use it, but evidently a good addition to the kit. Ian also found a good pair of hiking boots, walking is high on the list especially after the way we have been fed over the past 10 days. Now we really feel prepared for our travels in the north.

Peter and Lynne cooked us a great barbecue followed by a rhubarb and strawberry crumble for desert.…met their 2 children, Katie and Ian as well. We walked it all off with an amble around the neighbourhood. They live in a great area near the university and it overlooks the city.. a fantastic view with the late afternoon sun making the high rise buildings, just glow.