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!