Tuesday 8th July Sunpeaks - Lillooet to Whistler

As we headed south we noticed the vegetation changing and it was a lot drier and warmer. We drove through Kamloops to Cache Creek . Cache Creek is a historic transportation junction. It is on the Trans-Canada Highway in the province of British Columbia at a junction with Highway 97. We had morning tea at Hat Creek Ranch which is located 14 kms north of Cache Creek. This ranch has a historic landscape which comprises some 130 hectares of farmyards, fields and range land, and includes twenty historic wooden domestic and farm buildings dating from 1861 into the 20th century. This historic place also includes the confluence of Hat Creek and the Bonaparte River, a portion of the original Cariboo Wagon Road, and prehistoric archaeological sites. We were greeted by a woman on horseback and entertained with horse and carriage rides. We continued to follow the once treacherous Cariboo Wagon Trail via Lillooet - "Mile 0 of the Gold Rush Route" - we stopped here for lunch (boring town).

We then followed the shores of Seton and Duffey Lakes with a late-afternoon arrival in Whistler. Our bus dropped some of us off at Creekside where we boarded a Float Plane for an awesome flight over the majestic glaciers, rugged peaks, unique volcanic formations and lush alpine meadows that surround the turquoise waters of the 1000 foot deep Garibaldi Lake. Our Pilot was an Australian from Wagga and our plane was a beaver. We flew over two magnificent golf courses, one designed by Jack Nicklaus and the other by Arnold Palmer. After our flight we were chauffer driven to the Listel hotel, our accommodation for the next two nights.

Whistler was home to the 2010 Winter Olympics hosting most of the alpine, Nordic, luge, skeleton, and bobsled events. Pete and I walked around Whistler Village which was full of restaurants, shop, bars and cafes. It was an exciting place and the ambience was fantastic. We watched mountain bikers flying down the Whistler Blackcomb bike park from the base of the chairlift. Some of the riders were going so fast it was crazy!! We had tea at the Spaghetti Factory and had a few drinks in a Karaoke Bar.