Alberta Day 1 - 17th June

On our first full day in Canada we ventured out into the Rocky Mountains along the main East-West Trans-Canadian Highway (Number 1).  We headed into Canmore, then onto Banff where we had lunch before heading further into the mountains in search of lake Louise and Lake Moraine and the Valley of the 10 Peaks, that tower over the crystal clear  glacier water.  The view took our breath away and after the torrential downpour with accompanying thunder and lightening in Banff, the sun shone and it really was spectacular! 

We were lucky enough to see this little fellow at Lake Moraine a young male Grizzly beer, just grazing grass near the car park, completely unmoved or disinterested with the 50 or so lenses pointed at him.  He looked up occasionally but decided dandelion's were a better option than tourists!  Just as well as they can run at 60Km/hr and with huge claws they obviously need to be treated with respect.

We headed back to Calgary via the Bow Valley Parkway which runs through the National Park and is a stunning drive, twisty roads, fabulous views and probably the longest train I have seen!  This train was  empty heading East to the Potash mines in Saskatchewan.  It was about 170 carriages long and was doing  about 60Km/Ha. There could have been over 10,000 T of Potash fertiliser on the train when full, with a farm gate value of over £3.5 million!

The Dodge Charger was just the beast for taming the twisty roads!  No number plates on the front though which we thought was strange.

We rounded the evening off down at the local pub with our Nuffield Scholar host Ryan Bonnett, his girlfriend Helaina and room mate Scotty.  Early start tomorrow to surrender the Charger, get a local mobile phone and head out East into some fields.

Welcome to Calgary

Well we have finally left the country!  After a farewell at the airport with Andrea, we headed into Terminal 3 at Heathrow for our flight.  As we checked in the lady asked us if we minded taking a later flight as the flight we were booked onto was over sold.  We looked, and thought and finally agreed, the compensation was to be about £500, another trip somewhere we thought; but as it turned out we weren't required to 'volunteer' to be delayed.  There was no upgrade either!  The flight took about 9 hours and when we arrived and headed onto the road the first thing that struck me was the space.  Wide open space, except for the huge mall's but a big blue sky.  I'm sure the photo's this trip won't do it justice but we're underway.

Our host for the first couple of nights is 2012 Nuffield Scholar Ryan Bonnett who works for BASF and is based just outside of Calgary in a town called Airdrie.  After settling in, meeting Scott and Helaina and unwinding with a game of 'throw the bean bag in a hole' (which we got thrashed at)

and chatting constantly we headed to the pub; just around the corner for a beer before turning in for the night.  Tomorrow is another day with lots more to discover.

Nuffield Adventures Part 2

So it's finally here, take off day.  The first leg of my Nuffield personal study to investigate whether or not it is possible to grow a 20T/Ha wheat crop in the UK in the next 20 years.  It's been a long time in the planning stages with e-mails and skype messages, even finding contacts through twitter, but today is the day I head to Heathrow to set off for the first stop Calgary.  So if you are in Calgary and see a couple of lost Nuffield Scholars do stop us and hello!  I am travelling with Andrew Williamson from Bridgnorth in Shropshire for the first few days which I'm looking forward too.  It will be great to share some of the experience with a mate.

I'll be looking at growing wheat in the Canadian Prairies, the Great Plaines, the Palouse and the Dakota's of America, talking to farmers, scientists and agronomists.  It will be a great adventure as well as bringing some important messages back to UK Agriculture and new ideas for the home farm.  I will try and update the blog as much as I can to keep you all posted about the journey I'm about to embark on!