“I think I can see cats” I say to my fellow travelling companions who are all similarly spaced out from the flight that we have just taken from Sydney to Edmonton. We had endured a 15 hour airline flight only to board another flight and by the end of the day we would have been up for over 24 hours. Still, there’s nothing like a Canadian welcome to help you stay awake.

I decided that the best way to beat the already too long Sydney Winter weather was to head north like the geese (or was that south? Oh well I could never fly anyway). And heading North meant another visit to one of my favourite destinations, Canada. I had previously visited Montreal, Quebec and Vancouver but this time I was destined for Edmonton and Jasper. I think that you could play spot the tourist quite easily with us in Canada. The non Canadians are the ones looking the wrong way and driving on the wrong side of the road. They’re also the ones that are stopping with excitement when they see two deer frolicking on the roadside.

Yes on the way to Jasper deer on the roadside is a common occurrence (and sadly I didn’t have camera at the ready to capture them). We take the four hour drive from Edmonton to Jasper, the beautiful mountainside area just south west of Edmonton. Built within a national park they can only have a maximum of 10,000 residents living there and each one has to earn the right to reside there. Only people that work in Jasper can live in Jasper ensuring that there aren’t empty holiday houses there during the year. At the moment there are 4,500 residents and 39 restaurants which means that there is one restaurant per 116 residents!

Jasper is a pretty town and the buildings remind us of European towns. Little boutique shops sell a variety of things and seeing the temperature has lowered quite a few degrees, I am glad that I bought my coat!

We alight the bus and are chomping at the bit to go shopping but lunch calls and we head into Earls on the Rockies which has a first floor restaurant and patio area that faces right onto The Rockies and the township below. The menu is large and I have a little trouble deciding what to order but I go for an entree and a main regretting the fact that we don’t have time to try any of the desserts (the campfire s’mores were calling to me).

Leroy’s Crispy Dry Ribs coarse salt and cracked pepper $9.75

I tried these as I had read about them but the little pieces of crispy dry ribs were a little too dry for me. I know it says dry but I thought a fattier cut of pork rib would have been better to use for this to give them a balance between juicy and dry.

Grilled Chicken and Baked Brie Ciabatta $13.50

The grilled chicken and baked brie sandwich is delicious. The chicken breast grilled and thick and the baked brie, fig jam and slices of fresh apple giving it a sweet freshness. It comes with a load of chips and sauce.

Lois Lake Cedar Planked Salmon with Yogurt Dill Sauce fresh dill, yogurt, salt and pepper, brown basmati rice and seasonal vegetables $23.00

I was trying to be healthy so I ordered the salmon which is served with a yogurt dill sauce, kipfler potatoes and roasted carrots. The salmon was a little overcooked, I do like it only just cooked through or even slightly underdone but the potatoes and carrots were well cooked and seasoned. I wasn’t a huge fan of the yogurt sauce on the salmon, usually I do like yogurt sauces but I didn’t feel that this went well with it and the salmon would have benefited from just the fresh dill and lemon.

The Italia pizza $15

Los Cabos Chicken Tacos $11.00

Now by this stage I don’t really know my fellow travellers and journalists as we have just met so I’m not ballsy enough to ask them to try their food. But give me time…

Champagne Berry and Spinach Salad with Grilled Chicken $15.75

Hunan Kung Pao $13

The view from the balcony at Earls Jasper

We are dying to have a wander around the gorgeous little town to see what they have to offer. We pass plenty of charming shops (backed by a stunning mountain backdrop) where we take a peek inside.

And what do we have here? Why cookie cutters!

I think I will definitely have to buy you Mr Moose!

And I know Mr NQN will love some chocolate elk, beaver, sheep and wolf “droppings”

Some gorgeous clothing (vintage and new) at Tea Leaf boutique

Oh hello there! A big horned sheep

Because I had managed to lose my voice the lovely Sam offered to be my interpreter as I wanted to visit a few places and do some shopping and people tend to look at your strangely if you whisper hoarse things to them. We walked into the Patricia Street deli which was voted the number 1 place to eat in Jasper according to Tripadvisor. Inside it doesn’t look like your typical Australian/Italian/European deli but there is one thing in common-a delicious smell. We watch as a queue of people who are eagerly queuing up for a bespoke sandwich of their choice.

They are known for their rotisserie chicken so I wanted to try a roll with this chicken but with whatever else they recommended. Jeanette who owns and runs the deli and along with her husband Glen asked me if there was anything on the menu list on the chalkboard above that I didn’t like and there wasn’t so they made me a fresh sandwich. I spied two trays of freshly baked chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies and ordered some for good measure (research luvvies, research!) and then spy some girl scout cookies and get excited. I know it mustn’t be exciting for Canadians or Americans but I recall seeing those on my favourite tv shows growing up and I always wondered what they were like so I buy those too for good measure.

Chicken sandwich $7.50

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My dear lovelies! Tonight we are crossing the wild plains. Actually we’re crossing from East to West and then from one end of town to another in a progressive dinner across two vastly different Vancouver restaurants!

The first Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar in Vancouver’s vibrant Yaletown district. I notice people are young and dressed up, girls are wearing their cutest frocks and heels and there is an air of fun and activity here. Blue Water cafe and raw bar is a restaurant split directly down the centre. To the left is “east”  under the direction of Yoshihiro Tabo with a sushi bar with a signed Olympic torch above it and a freezer chest of ice suspended below it.

To the right there is the “west” area which has been open for 11 years serves European and American style dishes whose chef Frank Pabst has won awards and culinary championships. The room it has to be said is very warm and inviting. In the back is the “wall of wine” which is the largest wine cellar in North America. A testament to this love of wine is the awards for the sommelier Andrea Vescovi and other wine list awards from Wine Spectator among others.

Bread with butters

The bread rolls come out with two types of butter: a wakame seaweed butter and a red pepper and chickpea blend. I particularly like the wakame seaweed butter although it is different from the one that we had at Maze and not as strong and more herbal in flavour like mint. The red pepper chickpea spread is an interesting blend, like a red pepper hommous.

Dungeness crab salad served with Sumac Ridge tribute, Brut Okanagan Valley.

We are starting off with an amuse bouche and sashimi here tonight. Our first course is the Dungeness crab salad which comes out on pretty crystal bowls (the same ones they use for desserts at Rockpool Bar & grill). It comes as a cylinder of crab salad with some slivers of slippery wide ribbons of wakame and thinly sliced cucumber on top and tastes exactly of the sea. It is served with a gorgeous white wine which just matches it perfectly. On top is tiny needles of dried red peppers which give it a spiciness.

Tsunami served with 8th generation reisling 2008, Okanagan Valley

The tsunami is fabulous and true to the name. On top of the wrapped up kingfish slices there is a paper thin slice of Jalapeno pepper and it sits in some ginger, soy and sesame oil. The jalapeno gives it a certain heat, Mr NQN thinks perhaps too much but I’m in heaven. It is hot, and true some may find it too hot so they may want to remove the pepper but I love the combining of smoky sesame, salty soy, fragrant fine whiskers of ginger and the hiramasa kingfish, one of my favourite sashimi fish.

Mr NQN urges me to try the 8th generation reisling wine with this “Go on, I think you’ll like it”. In fact I love it and it literally tingles on my tongue like bubbly. It is from the Okanagan Valley which produces great fruit and wine and is similar to Napa Valley. It is a wine made from 25 year old vines.

Halibut Tataki served with 8th generation reisling 2008, Okanagan Valley

Halibut is a fish that is in season for 2 months of the year which is why we’re seeing it on so many restaurant menus at the moment. The halibut tataki is lightly torched which you can see on the side of the slices. It comes with a ponzu sauce which is slightly tart with spring onions and red horseradish. This is too strong for me as I don’t really like horseradish and tart flavours so I swap back with Mr NQN who happily gobbles up the halibut.

Spot Prawn Bisque served with Sherry Alvear Amontillado

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Me wanty piggy!

“‘I’m SO going to steal that pig!” I whisper to Mr NQN. The pig I’m eyeing off is about piglet size and I’m dying to tuck it under my arm and race off. Sure it’s a gold coloured pig and it’s sitting on the table of a restaurant that has invited me to dinner so I’m not exactly going to carry through with my threat. I’ve never really felt the urge to steal before, until I saw this pig that is. “Just take it, I won’t say anything” whispers the Australian waiter to me with an exaggerated wink. Haha, we’re such convicts!

We’re The Salt Tasting Room on intriguingly named Blood Alley in the historical area of Gastown in Vancouver on our last leg of our Canadian trip. I’m fascinated by the name Blood Alley (yes I’m a ghoul) and they mention on the menu that they are not quite sure why it is called Blood Alley although theories suggest that it may be because of a butcher in the alley or the fact that it was a rough and tumble area in the past or the most ghoulish reason – public executions were held here!

Back to the present, less murderous time, they specialise in smoked meats and cheese tasting plates along with wine flight matchings. Diners choose three items from the ten meat or ten cheese selection on the chalkboard, then three condiments from the list of ten. Based on these selections, the staff can select wines to match or you can choose your own. The providence for cheese are marked in parentheses, whilst with meat it’s marked by supplier and with condiments it’s by country.

Beef tongue salad

Our waitress is very helpful and knowledgeable and suggests a couple of items and we leave the rest to her and the chef to choose. We start with the beef tongue salad. I know you may be thinking that tongue can be really thick (well like our tongues) but this is an exercise in lightness. There is a mixed mesclun salad, paper thin and every soft slices of beef tongue and radish and manchego cheese. it sits on a bed of gribiche sauce which is like a tartare sauce made with boiled eggs.

Tasting plate $15

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