John Lethlean gives his verdict on Canada, Banff and Fairmont Hotels

Canada, 2023, feels a little bit American (with an extra dollop of politeness). And a little bit British. It’s possibly why Australians like the place so much. John Lethlean reports.

The Fairmont at Banff Springs, Canada.

Oh, Canada. How could you do it to me? Fifty years of chuckling about Ze Burglar of Banff-f-f. The Singing Mountie and his dog sled in America’s wild west. Lucky Pierre, the Quebecois fur trapper.

Fifty years since my childhood introduction to the other North American nation via the satire of Hollywood’s ridiculous-yet-enduring F-Troop.

And now here I am – finally – in Banff, at the heart of the majestic Canadian Rockies, and indeed in Canada for the very first time. Oh yes. I’ll share a nostalgic giggle with those of a certain vintage who grew up with this enduring nonsense. I’ll say “Banff-f-f” to a local who will roll his or her eyes.

And yet, nothing. Crickets.

By day seven in Canada, a trip that started in the gateway West coast capital of British Columbia, Vancouver, and finished in Calgary, Alberta, not a Canadian with whom I’ve broached the subject – and I’ll talk to a lamp post – has the faintest idea about Ze Burglar of Banff-f-f. By the time I’ve left after an all-too-brief February visit, I’m convinced the show wasn’t even broadcast here. Too close to the bone, perhaps?

Quelle disappointment. No shared chuckles. With so much on the positive side of the Canadian ledger this small dose of personal humiliation is bearable.

Pre-departure advice from those in the know?

“It’s big.” Like, much bigger than Australia. “You’ll like Vancouver, it’s urbane.” Indeed it feels that way: good retail and restaurants, cafes and bars, a progressive society, a bit like Melbourne in winter. “Canadians are extremely polite.” Extremely. “Be prepared to tip.” Yes, America’s only a few hours south – something like 80 per cent of Canadians live within three hours of the US border – and tipping is a thing, particularly in restaurants (think between 15-20 per cent). And “eat poutine”.

Four out of five ain’t bad.

Poutine: chips, beef gravy and curd cheese.

A Canadian acquaintance in WA has a Vegemite tattoo on her right bicep but it’s difficult to imagine a reciprocal gesture of an Aussie in Canada with sufficient food and cultural passion to involve ink, and chips, gravy, and cheese. Poutine’s international reputation is a mystery, although the aficionados reckon Montreal’s the place. Another trip perhaps.

But Vancouver’s the place, unless you’re a skier heading for Whistler/Blackcomb, you’d probably visit in summer/spring specifically to get yourself over to Vancouver Island and take in the extraordinary wildlife and natural beauty. Even a vineyard or two.

But not in February.

I fly into Vancouver direct with Air Canada from Sydney, 14 hours in a tin can but worth it to finally touchdown without a petrol stop. And apart from being a modern, compact, multicultural northern hemisphere seaboard city, Vancouver midwinter might pass for many others.

It’s my first time here and the sights, sounds, smells are all new to me. The accents, speech mannerisms and bleak landscape, particularly around Edmonton, put me on set for what feels like the movie version of Fargo. You’ll need to make an effort to tap into the country’s iconic alpine beauty.

My first meal is in a bar at the grand Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, a historic landmark in the centre of town. Everyone at the bar has their eyes glued to the Super Bowl several thousand kilometres south, in Arizona. Me, I’m enjoying a little booth to myself at the hotel’s Notch8 restaurant and on the plate, a fabulously thick slice of Alberta prime rib beef, horseradish and an individual Yorkshire pudding. I’m not gonna pretend one anecdote can sum up a place, but this will do: Canada, 2023, feels a little bit American (with an extra dollop of politeness). And a little bit British.

It’s possibly why Australians like the place so much.

Lake Louise, Canada. Pictuee: Andrea Chidu/Unsplash

Vancouver has much to offer, particularly if you can get on the water, but in winter you head east, fly into Calgary or Edmonton, and get yourself into the mountains asap: nothing on the small screen, be it comedy or doco, could prepare you for the wide-screen, surround-sound, staggering beauty of the Canadian Rockies midwinter.

As our walking guide through Johnston Canyon near Banff, a spectacular two hours that takes in frozen waterfalls, unbelievable scenery, the odd elk and red squirrel – Mike – says with conviction as we admire apparently sane locals climbing ice cliffs for “recreation”: “Nature will always blow your mind if you allow it to.”

From raging mountain peaks to frozen lakes, endless forests of spruce to massive skies, consider it blown. The Rockies are a geological phenomenon, unlike anything on our little island, and most of it unspoilt wilderness.

And the top of a mountain – Sulphur Mountain at Banff, serviced by a fast modern gondola, will do – is a pretty good place for a reality check. With six mountain ranges and the sweep of the Bow Valley below, views from the Sulphur Mountain summit are nothing short of mesmerising. And if holidays abroad are all about removing yourself from the everyday, the routine, then the snow-covered Rockies, with villages like Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper, will pretty much do it.

And be it Jasper, Lake Louise or Banff – all set in national parks – the Fairmont brand is synonymous with Canada, although you’ll find them elsewhere. The properties themselves vary in modernity and grandeur; however, a fastidious approach to service is consistent across the five I stayed at. But Banff Springs is the big Kahuna. If you stay at just one smart hotel in Canada, this is it.

Athabasca falls during winter. Picture: Adam Greenberg

Many of the Fairmonts have a connection to the establishment of an east-west rail line across this massive nation and Banff’s, inspired by a Scottish castle and opened in 1888, is the jewel in the crown. It has been built, rebuilt, expanded and modified almost continuously since to become a proper resort property – high season is summer, not winter – and along the way has become one of the most photographed hotels in the world.

Banff itself is a valley town with plenty of ski fields nearby. In winter, it’s alpine and cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, curling and skating. Fanging around on snowmobiles. In summer, when alpine tourism ramps up, it’s golf and tennis, hiking, spa treatments and mindfulness. Whatever that is. And whatever the season, it’s fresh air, outstanding natural beauty, and getting away from it all.

Finally, the actual day I leave Canada after this whirlwind introduction, an idle chat with a stranger on a bus reveals someone who just loved F Troop (I’m persistent) and remembers fondly Ze Burglar. We chuckle. We reminisce on the political incorrectness of the show. We hum the Wrangler Jane song together.

He’s an American.

EAT Dinner at Botanist, the signature bar/restaurant at Vancouver’s Fairmont Pacific Rim, for cocktails and beautifully executed contemporary Canadian food.

DO Maligne Canyon ice walk, Jasper, for spectacular frozen waterfalls.

STAY Fairmont hotels are the pick; fairmont.com

DRINK Canadian wine. Western Canada’s Okanagan Valley is home to a range of varietals. Look for labels such as Painted Rock (Syrah) and Quail’s Gate (pinot noir) as well as some Alsace-like rieslings.