Wednesday 27th April

It took us a few hours to get going this morning, but we eventually made it up to the Sally Borland Recreation Centre, where we enjoyed a game of badminton. I've never played before, but picked it up quickly, teaming up with Luke in our doubles match. We didn't keep score - we might have just been out-played by Amanda and Alan - but was it good fun.


We had to rush back to the hotel to shower and get changed, as we were joining a tour of the Fairmont Banff Springs at 3pm. As the snow started to fall, we parked the car and rushed inside to join the hotel's historian, who had worked at the hotel for 49 years.

After a 15 minute presentation talking about the history of the hotel, we started exploring the hotel, taking in ballrooms that had hosted everything from UN meetings to weddings. It wasn't just the size and extravagance of the hotel that contributed to its fairytale status, but the history behind it. Everywhere we walked, the historian had another story about a party that had taken place; or a celebrity/royal/politician that had stayed at the hotel  (everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Wayne Gretzky and King George VI.

The creme de la creme of the afternoon was a tour of the presidential suite. Taking a private glass elevator to the 12th floor, the suite took up the whole floor, with the lift opening straight onto a foyer that lead to the front door. Inside, the suite consisted of 9 rooms, including a master suite and lounge room with grand piano. Truth be told, the suite was a little disappointing - understated elegance and size rather than obvious luxuriness.

Wrapping up the tour, our eccentric (possibly drunk - he almost stumbled upon everyone in the tour) tour guide snapped photos of us on the balcony of the presidential suite, before we made our way back to the lobby of the hotel and back to the car. (Ok, I might admit - I did have a look in the numerous shops on the ground floor, but am proud to say I didn't purchase anything.)

Game 7 in the Montreal vs Boston series was on when we returned to the hotel, so Alan was glued to the TV for the next few hours whilst the rest of us went into town for dinner. I spent some time walking around before calling into Tim Horton's for a quick dinner, then returned to change and head back out to the gym for a session with Alan. 1 1/4 hours of weights and 15 minutes on the indoor running track later, it was time for bed.  

Tuesday April 26th

After enjoying the buffet breakfast, which we were happy to find included eggs and waffles, we decided to go for a walk. There was a trail to the top of Tunnel Mountain that was supposed to be quite easy, and which provided a spectacular view of the city from the top, so we headed there. As the others were walking quite slowly, I whipped ahead. I was very glad to have worn my snow boots, with the path extremely muddy and snowy.


The uphill trail proved quite difficult near the top, but the hike was well worth it, being rewarded with magnificent 270 degree view of Banff, including views of both the city and the Fairmont Banff Springs. The Fairmont estate was huge - much bigger than the Chateau at Lake Louise.

The hike down was more difficult than the hike to the top - the black ice made it very slippery in places. At the bottom, Alan and I headed to the nearby Sally Borland Recreation Centre, which was part of the 'Banff Centre', seemingly a corporate University like campus, encompassing theatres, accommodations, and lecture halls. The recreation centre was amazing - a basketball court; indoor running track; squash and badminton facilities; as well as a pool and new weights room. At only $10 for a day pass, Alan and I agreed we would be back the next day to try it out.

Re-joining Amanda and Luke at the bottom of the trail, we headed into the village for lunch. The Japanese restaurant we wanted to eat at was closed, so we ended up at the Chinese restaurant next door. Then it was back to the hotel for a bit of R&R, including watching the Montreal Canadiens (yes, that is the correct spelling!) vs Boston.


A win by the Canadiens had us in fine spirits for an evening out. Amanda and I both dressed up in our Aritzia outfits and headed, along with the boys, to the Irish Pub to watch the Canucks and have dinner. The Canucks were playing in the 7th and final match of their series against Chicago, and it was a must-win match for them to move into the next round of the play-offs.

With the Canucks ahead 1-0 after the first-period, we decided to move onto the Pump and Tap, a local pub recommended by the Aussie maintenance man at the hotel, for a better view of the match. The pub featured 10 flavours of vodka at only $2.99 a drink, and Luke had challenged Amanda to sample them all. Whilst she didn't get through them all (I was extremely lame, only having one drink), we did manage to cheer the Canucks to a 2-1 victory in over-time after some very nail-biting minutes!!

Monday April 25th

Happy ANZAC Day! It's important for me to celebrate ANZAC Day with Mark being in the Army (and shortly to be deployed again), so after breakfast we sat in the hostel room and watched a Youtube clip that contained the Last Post etc. I'd spent ages the night before trying to find the 'perfect' clip that incorporated everything that normally went into an ANZAC Day tribute, and we actually ended up watching a clip from the AFL ANZAC Day match! Tim Tams and Aussie Flag tattoos contribued to our Aussie pride as well.

Our destination today was Banff, which was only 57km away and took less than 45 minutes to arrive at. As normal, the first order of business was to secure accommodation. We had looked on the internet the night before and compiled a 'top 3' list. We had realised that it pays not to book accommodation in advance. For example, booking a room for 4 through Travelocity might cost $99, but then the site charges $25 for the extra 2 people + tax, which makes the total expensive. If we turned up at the hotel instead, they would normally give us a cheaper price than advertised online, and waive the additional guests fee.

Working for the government, Luke has a '3 quotes' policy, so we looked at a few hotels to compare prices and facilities. We ended up staying at the Best Western again - about a five minute walk from the centre of Banff, and with free breakfast.


We headed out for a walk, in the direction of Tim Horton's - for which we had excitedly been told had recently opened in Banff. 'Tim's' is an institution in Canada, known for it's cheap coffee and donuts, and it's round the clock hours. Even more exciting for Amanda and I was the discovery of a 'Cold Stone Creamery' - a rip-off of Cold Rock Ice-Creamery in Australia. It was too early for lunch but not for a snack, so Amanda and I enjoyed ice-cream - mine being mint chocolate ice-cream with brownie pieces and chocolate chips - yum!


The others decided to walk back to the hotel, but I was keen to explore the town - we'd only just arrived! I spent about two hours walking the streets of Banff and checking out the stores. It was amazing - bigger than Whistler, and more set out as a town, rather than the hidden enclaves which made up Whistler. I could definitely have done a season here!

Back at the hotel, the boys headed down to the hot tubs whilst Amanda and I stayed in, playing on the internet. As we'd skipped lunch in favour of ice-cream, we were hungry early, so we headed into town at 6pm. It was pouring and cold, so we headed straight for the Old Spaghetti Factory as it was the closest restaurant to us. They have an amazing deal where for $12.95 you get a main (sorry, 'entree' in Canada - very confusing!) and salad or soup, dessert, and unlimited bread. Amanda, Luke and I all ordered lasagna, which consisted mainly of cheese - way to much cheese for one person to ever consume. Luke even wrote a comment on the comment card telling them to ease up on the cheese!

We were considering watching a movie at the cinema in town but decided to pay for an in-room movie instead. What a waste of $11.99 - it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen, seemingly dragging on for ever!

Sunday April 24th

Easter Sunday!! I know the Easter Bunny has already visited me back in Australia ... and I cannot wait to eat Aussie chocolate again ... but he also made a small pitstop and Lake Louise, leaving a small Easter egg for the four of us.

We were keen on going to the Easter Egg hunt at 9am, but in the lobby there were only little kids, and it felt wrong to be challenging them for chocolate so we opted out of it. Breakfast instead at the hostel's cafe - French toast for me, yum!

I was keen on finding a mountain bike and cycle out to the Fairmont Chateau, but the others chose to walk instead. I stayed in the room for a few hours, enjoying the luxury of time by myself - not something I've had much of when I've shared a room for the last six months, and have been travelling with 3 others for the past week. At about 1pm I decided to head out, stopping in at the local sports store to hike a bike.


Alas, I was two weeks too early to hire a bike, so I had to walk instead. We'd been told that the hike was about 4km each way and on a 'good' path. Knowing what a Canadian 'good' meant, I wisely wore my snow boots, and was extremely glad I did when the path turned out to be snow-covered the whole way! It was quite steep in parts as well, and I kept looking over my shoulder for signs of bears or deer.


The Fairmont was an astonishing sight. Lake Louise, on which it rested, was iced over. Tourists were ignoring the 'thin ice' sign, walking all the way across the lake to take photos, with either the Rockies as the backdrop facing north; or the majestic Chateau to the south.


After a few happy snaps, I headed inside the Chateau, exploring the shops that littered the ground floor. There was even a Christmas store - a surprisingly common sight in all of the Canadian towns we'd visited so far!! The 24 hour gourmet deli was also located on the floor, which is where I headed for lunch. My Easter Sunday lunch (which was supposed to be a brunch at the Fairmont, but at $59 + tax we had ruled it out) ended up being a vegan butternut squash soup and chocolate cake.


I took a different path on the way back to the hostel called 'The Tramline'. All was going well until the very end, when there didn't seem to be an obvious way to get off the path and onto the road. I started to walk to my left, but ended up sinking in snow up to my waist. I was a little panicked at this stage - all alone on the path, and who knows how deep the snow was? I decided to tackle the massive snowheap directly in front of me, as it seemed the quickest way out. Fortunately I was able to 'leap it', and made my way back to the hostel safely.


Wanting some quiet time in the hostel, I headed upstairs to the 'lounge' room and watched 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' - Russell Brand is hysterical!! Just before I left Whistler I'd copied a heap of movies from Kat's computer, so I'd have plenty to watch  whilst on the road.

Dinner was again at our 'local' (the hostel's cafe), before retiring to our room for blogging/surfing/reading.

Saturday 23rd April

I awoke before the others, sneaking downstairs to watch a replay of the Crows match through liveafl.tv. I logged on, and the first video that was shown to me was titled, "Crows lose by one goal". I was sooooooooooo annoyed - this was a website aimed at people living overseas, who couldn't watch the matches live - why would you title the video with the result??

After another breakfast of rolled oats and milo, we packed up and checked out of our luxurious accommodation. After a few pit-stops in town, we were on the road. Today's drive would be an amazing one, along the Icefields Parkway. This road, between Jasper and Banff, is regarded as one of the most scenic drives in the world. The road is flanked by one snow-capped mountain after another, and just when you thought you've seen all the Rockies has to offer a new sight takes your breathe away.

We pulled over a number of times to take photos and make snow angels, before we reached the Columbian Icefields. This was one of my must-dos in Canada. Rugging up in all our cold weather gear, we went to purchase tickets for the one hour twenty minute tour. We were so lucky to score tickets for free, as Alan knew a guy working behind the desk - although we were a bit afraid he got in trouble for it, as a manager came running after us, asking to see our tickets.

After a quick cafeteria lunch, we boarded our 1:30pm bus and then swapped buses for exploring the glacie. Basically, the tour is a drive onto the Athabasca Glacier, a glacier that is as thick as the Eiffel Tower is tall. What an amazing experience - even the bus is cool, as it's specially built for driving on the Glacier and only used in two other places in the world: the Antarctic and some oil fields in Canada. These buses can drive on the most severe gradients in the world, with inclines of up to 32 degrees.

Needless to say, the glacier was gorgeous and freezing. We spent about 15 minutes outside in the cold taking photos before heading back into the bus and then back into the car for another's drive, arriving into Lake Louise.

The initial plan was for us to drive to Banff that day, but accommodation in Banff for that night was scarce and expensive, as it was Easter Saturday, so we'd decided to make an overnight pitstop in Lake Louise instead, booking into the youth hostel for the night. The hostel was amazing - we had the dorm to ourselves, staying in a loft room which had a double bed in the loft upstairs. The cafe was also recommended by the Lonely Planet as one of the best places to eat in town, and we ended up eating there for almost all our meals!!


Once we'd checked in - all famished - we went for a walk to check out the town. Um - town was too strong a word - there was a 'mall', which consisted of 5 shops  - and that was it. Not even a main street. We ended up walking back to the hostel and eating there, as it was the best choice!

Friday 22nd April
After a few drinks the night before, we enjoyed  another sleep-in in our luxurious hotel 'room'. Vegemite on toast and milo for breakfast again, before we finally headed into the village at about 10:30am. Taxis  were in short supply, but we managed to flag one down near the gas station, and commandeered a ride to the Jasper Tramway.

It was opening day at the Tramway, but there wasn't a queue, and we boarded the first 'flight' up. It was expensive at  $33, but it gave a spectacular view of the surrounding area, inlcuding the brilliant blue lakes and far-reaching mountains. We enjoyed lunch at the top - my favourite, sweet potato fries - before returning to the bottom and back into the village, again via taxi.

We ducked into a few stores in town to purchase supplies for a picnic, and returned to the apartment for a rest. I managed to sneak in 'First Daughter' - a straight to DVD movie starring Katie Holmes that I loved. We then assembled our supplies and headed out to Pyramid Lake at about 6pm. We thought it was a great idea - have a picnic and watch the sun set over Pyramid Lake, which was supposed to glow red in the evening, reflecting the sun. The 'island' was connected to the 'mainland' by a small bridge over the snow-encrusted lake, and we sat down to enjoy our picnic of wine, cheese and crackers, and fresh sandwiches. Just one problem... it was FREEZING!! Here were us crazy Aussies, in the middle of the snow and surrounded by the Rockies, attempting to have a picnic in literally freezing conditions! We munched on the crackers and cheese and had a quick sandwich each before deciding to bolt back to the car before we froze to death.


Laughing at our stupidity, we lit a fire once back at the apartment and poured some drinks, cranked the tunes, and had ourselves a merry old time. I hit the sack early though - Crows were playing tomorrow morning!!

Wednesday April 20

Waking up in a single, unshared, bunkless bed for the first time in six months was nice. We would have slept longer except we knew we had the voucher for breakfast, which finished at 9:30am. (Hey – we’re on holidays – and after 6am starts in Whistler, it was nice to get up in our own time). Luke, Amanda and I utilised the coupon – I wasn’t too keen on the breakfast, just having a (stale) croissant and rolled oats, but at least it was free.

Alan headed out skiing, leaving us car-less, so the three of us headed out for a hike. There was an 8km trail around the village, so we headed out the back of the hotel and joined in about halfway along. Almost instantly we got side-tracked, heading onto a different trail that saw us in snow and mud – not appreciated by Amanda’s new black shoes or my white mesh running shoes! In some parts, the trail was extremely dangerous, covered in black ice.


We bathed in the sun at one point, taking in the magnificent view of the Rockies on all sides, before finally re-joining the initial trail, which ran parallel to the railway tracks. At this point, the wind really picked up – my hoody and ¾ length pants were no match!! We sought refuge once we were back in town at Café Mondo, although lunch was a bit of a disappointment – the ‘Pita Melt’ I had ordered turned out to be a greasy cheese pizza!

We vegged out on the couch for a while back at the apartment, but then I headed off to the nearby gym for a workout. The activity centre which housed the gym was amazing – we’d already asked if curling was available, but they’d already taken out the ice. That would have been a good Canadian experience!


Back at the apartment, we utilised the kitchen for a second night in a row – this time making nachos with a corn and black bean salsa. Like many things, Canadian sour cream is not up to scratch to Australian – more like Greek yoghurt. The three of us had also purchased treats at the Bear Paw Bakery in town so we munched on those for desserts – mine was a java cheesecake brownie (I got confused, thinking ‘java’ was actually ‘jaffa’).

Thursday 21st April

Our second full day in Jasper started late. It was nice to sleep-in, and it’s not like we had to get up at 6am for work! Again, we didn’t have access to the car – quite frustrating, when one person only thinks of themself– so Amanda and I were left at the hotel wondering what we could do. Everything around here requires a car – there is no public transport, and the tours don’t start until next month, when the summer season kicks in. We were really keen on checking out Maligne Lake, but there was no way for us to get out there without the car; the Jasper Tramway doesn’t start until tomorrow; and we didn’t want to ski or board.


We were thinking about hiring a mountain bike to ride out to the Fairmont, but we first decided to hit up the Information Centre to see about options for getting to Maligne Lake, or nice ‘groomed’ bike trails (I was definitely in Whistler for too long, applying ski terms to everyday things!) We were told that the cruises and the hiking trails hadn’t yet opened yet at Maligne Lake, but the scenery on the way was absolutely beautiful. When we told her we couldn’t get access to the car, the lady at the desk told us we should have made the boys hitchhike, and we should drive out there ourselves! Since there were no other options to get out there, we asked about bike trails. She showed us heaps of trails on the map, and suggested Pyramid Lake for a picnic and the hike out near the Fairmont.

Amanda and I decided that instead of hiring bikes we would walk out to the Fairmont Lodge and spend the money we would have spent on hiring bikes on a nice meal instead. It took us about two hours to get there, navigating for a short way along the Icefields Parkway. The scenery, like all of the Canadian Rockies, was beautiful – stunning emerald lakes and backdrops of snow-capped mountains.


We were happy to make it to the Fairmont, and ate lunch at the Emerald Lounge in front of the well stoked fireplace. We both decided on burgers with sweet potato fries – sooo tasty and fresh – and an alcoholic beverage each (the perfect ratio of Malibu to coke!!). We decided to walk back to our hotel via the north route, which saw us walking along the highway for most of the way, being entertained by mountain goats grazing on a traffic island and deer munching on the side of the road.


We were glad to make it back to the hotel, estimating we’d walked over 15km, and rewarded ourselves with a few beverages. The boys returned home and we spent a few hours playing on the internet, uploading photos and updating blogs. I’ve introduced Amanda and Luke to the concept of flashpackers, of which we definitely are – we each have a laptop, camera, phone and iPod, and free wi-fi has been a ‘must-have’ for us!

As everyone was stuffed from a big day, pizza sounded like a good idea for dinner. Looking at the various menus online, we decided to settle on Pizza Hut, knowing it would be cheap and quick – it was past 7 and Amanda particularly was ravenous. After an extremely excruciating yet entertaining conversation with the Pizza Hut employee, she informed us the total for 3 pizzas (no garlic bread – apparently they don’t do garlic bread!) was over $60. What!!!!!!!! We politely told her to stick it, and piled into the car to look for alternatives. We ended up at a different pizza place, watching the hockey (Montreal vs Boston), returning home to watch the Canucks get flogged by Chicago (again!) The itinerary for the next few days was also decided – the Jasper Tramway tomorrow followed by a picnic at Pyramid Lake; the Columbia Icefields Glacier tour on Saturday, staying in the Lake Louise HI on Saturday night; and an Easter brunch on Easter Sunday.

Tuesday 19th April

In our deal of the century, our $85 hotel room also included continental breakfast. Amanda, Luke and I all decided to enjoy it, with lots of fresh bakery items (a bagel and rolled oats for me - some of the cream cheese packets made their way into my pocket …)

We decided we were far enough north so instead of continuing onto Alaska, we made our way to Jasper, part of the famous ‘Jasper-Lake Louise-Banff’ trio in the Canadian Rockies. As we’d left quite late, we didn’t stop for lunch, powering right on through. We stopped at the welcome sign for Mount Robson Park – the largest mountain in Canada – and performed some shenanigans with the mountain goat statue. It was hysterical watching Amanda trying to run from the car to the statue before the timer on her camera went off!

400 kilometres from our day’s starting point of Prince George, we arrived into Jasper. All famished, we pulled up in front of ‘The Other Bear Paw Bakery’, having read that it was a highly rated lunch spot, and snacked on fresh sandwiches. Mojo re-invigorated, next action point was to find somewhere to stay. The visitor’s information centre was located nearby, so we utilised the free phone to call a number of accommodation options. The Best Western sounded promising, so we headed down to take a look.


What an amazing place! For $150 a night, we could have a two-storey condo. Upstairs was a bedroom with 3 single beds and TV; whilst downstairs was a bedroom with a queen bed, a fully equipped kitchen with stove, oven, fridge and microwave (including all utensils), and a large lounge room with a fireplace and colour TV. It even included free wi-fi! It didn’t take much to convince us, and keen to stay in the one place for a few nights, I put my credit card down for a 4 night stay. With tax, it might work out slightly more expensive than a hostel, but we had our own massive apartment with a kitchen!


The boys went to fetch the car whilst Amanda and I went to the local grocery store to do a shop. Since we had a kitchen, we were going to make use of it, having breakfast at home along with several dinners. The grocery store was quite small and it was a little difficult trying to make decisions for meals for all 4 of us, but we made it in the end – and were stoked to find there was no HST here, only GST of 5%.

Back at the apartment, there were a few issues with the room, which resulted in us scoring a voucher for a complimentary breakfast the next morning – score! We settled in for the night, enjoying a massive pasta with lots of fresh vegetables whilst watching the hockey and – my favourite – Glee!!

Monday 18th April

I started off the morning with a run – up to the Information Centre and then returning via the back streets of 100 Mile House. After showering we ignored the call of Tim Horton’s across the road and headed for the hotel’s restaurant, which had $5.99 specials. The servings, typical for North America, were massive!

About 10:30am we were in the car, heading to the Information Centre. After a touristy photo with the ‘World’s Largest Cross Country Skis’, we headed inside to ask for advice on where to go next. We had initially planned on heading east via Well’s Grey Provincial Park, but we weren’t sure on whether the road’s would be open or there’d be anything to do. The lady behind the desk assured us it was fine, and said we could actually make it to Jasper within 4-5 hours. Amanda and I pushed for heading north instead – we had plenty of time scheduled for the Rockies, so why not head somewhere different for a day or two?

Prince George was a 4 hour drive north, so it was agreed it would be our next stop. We started dreaming about heading all the way to Prince Rupert, or even further up to Alaska – what a cool road-trip that would be!

First stop was Quesnel, an industrial town with hundreds of coal burners blowing smoke across the town. We walked along the main street of town, all going separate ways for lunch. I was keen on buying some fresh bread to put my Vegemite on (can you believe, we have 4 jars of Vegemite between us?) but of course, being Canada, there was no fresh bread to be found. I settled for salad instead, eating it at Subway with Amanda and Luke.

Back in the car, we continued onto Prince George. It was really the last output before entering the northern Canada wilderness, a town of 70,000 odd people. We called in at the Travelodge downtown, settling for a large room with 2 queen beds for only $85 – so much cheaper than staying in a hostel! I headed out to explore the town whilst the others chilled out - the streets were amazingly deserted. I called in at the nearby mall and purchased a travel cutlery set and plastic plate – I found a knife in particular an extremely valuable travelling tool whilst in Asia, as it enabled me to make sandwiches for meals on the road.

The hotel had recommended a nice restaurant in town, but it sounded a little bit expensive – and like we’d have to dress up – so TripAdvisor guided us to an Indian restaurant. It didn’t look like a restaurant, and the service was extremely slow, with a doey waiter, but the 45 minute wait was worth it. I had a dosai (savoury pancake), which I don’t think I’ve eaten since I was in India – whilst the others sweated through their curries. We played tunes (Barbara Streisand has become the theme song to our trip) whilst playing cards, using the Monopoly cards from our Christmas crackers, as the sun set (being so far north, the sun sets extremely late).

Let the road-trip begin!

I woke up bright and early .. even though I was all packed and ready to go ... eager to get on the road. I was showered and breakfasted by 8am, and then  had a few hours to kill whilst I waited for the gang to arrive. I spent the time watching Say Yes to the Dress, a favourite of Kat and mine. We loved bitching about the dresses - we now considered ourselves experts!

Amanda and Alan finally knocked on my door at 11am, and I was out the door in a flash, having already say good-bye to Kat. Before leaving Whistler, we had to check out of House - receiving overpaid rent back - and I ducked in to Sammy's Snacks to purchase a couple of packets of Tim Tams, as snacks. We also bade farewell to Larissa, who had run over from the Res Centre, and took a last few photos before eventually getting on the road.

We made it to Pemberton before stopping for our first break - lunch. We pulled into a little cafe and enjoyed some freshly made sandwiches, ducking into the liquor store for some supplies. Back on the road, we finally started to leave the comfort zone surrounding Whistler, passing some spectacular scenery. There was beautiful snow-capped mountains; massive mountain ranges of granite and emerald coloured lakes bordered by railway tracks. We took several pit-stops to take photos of the scenery (and a few funny ones - like the 'Golden Nugget' sign), and all took turns in playing songs from our iPhones (strictly one hour each - with one veto per hour each).

We made it into 100 Mile House at 5pm, all starving. Now fully entrenched Canadians, we ducked into Tim Hortons for a donut and coffee to re-energise. Energy levels up, we sent the boys into the local motels to negotiate deals (Amanda and I are laughing all the time at what the receptionists were thinking, with 2 guys asking for a hotel room!) All the prices were pretty much the same, but we ended up at the 'Red Coach Inn' paying $25 each to share 2 queen beds. The room included a fridge and free wi-fi, and hot tub and pool facilities.

After unpacking the car, Amanda was keen for dinner, and we headed back up to the Mexican restaurant we had spotted on the way into town. The food was amazing - lots of veges, and rice and frijoles - and we rolled back into the car. The boys decided to have a walk to work off dinner (albeit a quick one - it was only 1 degree outside), whilst Amanda and I ventured to Save on Foods. Back in the hotel room, the boys ventured out again for a hot spa, whilst we blew the circuits in the room with a hairdryer (we blame Luke, plugging in 6 appliances to charge).

Time for bed now ... we're having a sleep-in tomorrow, which will be well deserved after our massive season and first day of driving.

After a settled five and a half months in the bubble that is Whistler, it's time to say good-bye and get back on the road. My experience in Whistler was exactly what I was looking for - a break from work; extended ski lesson; belated Uni experience (share houses, including share bedrooms) and, most importantly, the formation of many great friendships with people all over the world.

When I first left Australia for this trip, I hadn't planned anything past arriving in Whistler. The options were bountiful - would I move to Vancouver and get a 'real' job? Perhaps travel to Africa or South America? Or maybe even come straight back to Australia, wrought with homesickness?

On a trip into Squamish one day, a random comment was made regarding how cool it would be to do a road-trip in Canada. Although it started off as a passing comment, Amanda, Luke and I started discussing the idea seriously. With the three of us in agreement over timeframes and itinerary, we looked for a fourth party to join us. Alan was an obvious choice (his car was a driving factor, literally and figuratively), and so the road-trip gang was finalised. We held two meetings to discuss itinerary and decide on various topics (i.e. how would we decide what music would get played?), and told our respective bosses the date we would be leaving Whistler.

The plan was to leave on Sunday, April 17th, driving north to 100 Mile House and then crossing over to the Rockies. We would traverse from Jasper to Banff, then cross over to Calgary. From Calgary, Alan would return to Whistler (he was staying for the summer season) whilst Amanda, Luke and I would hire a car to explore the area between Calgary and Edmonton. We would then go our separate ways on May 9th, when I would fly to LA and Amanda and Luke would fly to Europe via Toronto and Iceland.

I would then spend approx 6 weeks in the US, starting in LA for a week before flying up to San Francisco. From here, I had booked onto a 2 week tour of the national parks (i.e. Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Monument Valley) ending in Las Vegas, for a wild 4 nights. A cheap flight would then deliver me to Buffalo to experience Niagara Falls, before a few days in Boston for the Glee concert. A few more days in Washington DC, to experience some history, and then the creme de la creme, New York!! Amy would meet me here for the NKOTBSB concert (platinum tickets!!) and 5 days of fun. I was supposed to fly home after New York, but Britney has just announced her tour, so if I can get tickets to her show in Sacramento then my flight home will be delayed a few more days ....