Rocky Top: Jasper

Yuko and I drove 450 kms to Jasper from Edmonton for the first time in our lives this week and I've seen more moose, elk, caribou and big horn sheep than I've seen in a decade.

It cost $20 to enter the park, the largest in the Canadian Rockies, and as soon as you cross into the hallowed grounds you can feel a change in the air and witness the transformation of the landscape.

The slate-grey mountains burst through the placid prairie and pierce the sky with the immediacy of an earthquake. It's a stunning and beautiful sight to see.

Living in Hong Kong over the past decade makes it easy to appreciate the Rockies' cataclysmic wonder - it's a natural paradox that's calming to behold.