Monday May 9th

After six months and four days in Canada, it was finally time to leave. I woke at 6:15am to quickly shower and say good-bye to Amanda and Luke, and then I was on my way to Calgary. I had been a little concerned about driving by myself – more about getting out of the city, as the streets were quite narrow and there were cars parked on the streets – but I made it out fine. Once I hit the highway, I was cruising – until the fog set in, and followed me almost all the way to Calgary. I desperately needed petrol but wasn’t keen on pulling off the highway, not being able to see in the fog.

I ended up getting petrol on ‘Gas Drive’ near Red Deer and also stopped in at McDonalds for breakfast (the very weird McGriddle again). By 10:30, I had made it to the Calgary airport, with the car still in one piece. After dropping it back I made my way into the terminal to check-in for my flight to Vancouver, the first of two flights for the day.

I had expected to pass US customs in Calgary, which is why I had allowed so much spare time at the airport (my flight wasn’t until 2:08pm, and I was checked in by 11am), but I was informed I would need to clear it at Vancouver airport – where I had only an hour before my next flight!

The next few hours passed quickly with the help of a trashy magazine, and before I knew it I was on my way to Vancouver. I rushed off the plane and followed the numerous signs to US Customs. Luckily, there was no queue and I had a nice officer, who didn’t interrogate me like the one arriving into L.A. had. It’s a weird concept, officially entering into a new country before physically arriving into the country (the sign read, “Welcome to the USA!”, when I was actually in Vancouver!), but it meant the flight was treated as a domestic flight in L.A., and I simply had to pick-up my bag once at LAX.

For once, my bag was the first off the flight, and I made my way out to the Super Shuttle waiting area to catch a shared van to the hostel. Some of the areas we went through on the way to the hostel were dodgy – L.A. is a lot like that, extreme wealth in some areas and extreme poverty in others. One thing I was very stoked about was that I saw a celebrity from the car – Paul Walker (of Fast and the Furious fame) was walking along the road just out of Santa Monica.

The hostel was amazing. It had a beautiful courtyard; massive kitchen; and numerous TV and chill-out rooms. The dorm itself consisted of three bunk beds, which with my arrival were now all occupied; and I was stoked to find two good pillows, nice linen and a king size towel waiting for me on my bed.


As it was still relatively early, I headed out to check out the surroundings. I was not disappointed – Santa Monica is beautiful, picture-postcard worthy with palm trees lining the street, cloudless blue skies and wide clean streets. Of course, I was ecstatic to find that the next street over from the hostel was shopping heaven – Zara, Kitson, Forever 21 and H and M all had large stores. There were also several English pubs/shops near the hostel which promised Australian and English sweets – I made a mental note to return the next day to check them out.


I had a quick dinner of Subway and then made my way back to my dorm room, where I met Harriet, one of my dorm mates. She was returning to England after living in Australia for 12 months. Shortly after I also met my other dorm mates, four German girls travelling long-term in the USA. It seems no one holidays for a week anymore – go long or go home!!

Saturday May 7th


It was back to West Edmonton Mall we go – round two. I’d bought clothes the previous day but nothing actually made an outfit, so I’d written a list of items I required to complete the outfits, and was on a mission to find them. My first (and only!) port of call was Forever 21 (again!), where I scored a skirt, sleeveless dress, singlet and t-shirt. The dress turned out to be the bargain of the century – the already cheap price of $23.80 was discounted to $4.80!

Since today was supposed to be a day of fun … and we were quite exhausted from yesterday’s shopping efforts … we made our way to the movies to see ‘Water for Elephants’. It was something we’d been talking about doing in each city we’d visited, and finally made it to a screening. The movie was really good – I’d read the book prior, and it didn’t destroy the original plot much at all!

We’d spoken about playing putt-putt and attending the theme park at the mall, but after another six-hour stay we were kind of over it, and made our way back to the hostel for a rest and some time in the common room, playing on our laptops.

Sunday May 8th

I had decided I’d like to start my last day off with a nice breakfast. The girl at the hostel reception recommended a place called ‘SugarBow’, about a 15 minute walk away, so off we headed. When we arrived, there was a queue of locals waiting for tables – always a good sign! After about twenty minutes we were seated, and then had the hard decision of what to order for breakfast. Everything on the menu looked good (rare for me to find so many options), and we all chose completely different options, myself having French toast on home-made cinnamon toast.


We enjoyed the café’s ambience for an hour, salivating over the beautiful meals (the French toast is a tie with the French toast served at Gus’ in Canberra as the best ever), and then headed out for a walk along Whyte Avenue. Whyte Avenue was very much a Chapel Street, with trendy shops and cafes. Luke headed back to the hostel for a nap whilst Amanda and I looked in at the stores. I finally scored a pair of stirrup leggings at American Apparel (they are impossible to find!) and found an amazing pair of shorts in Lululemon, but unfortunately they didn’t have my size.

Heading back to the hostel, I needed to start tackling the list of things to do before I left for Calgary the next morning (and a whole new country, USA, in the afternoon!). Whilst Amanda and Luke went for a walk into the city, I tackled the job of packing. Since we’d had the car since leaving Whistler, the three of us had bought additional items with us – for example, snow boots, jackets, and food. The leftover food went in the ‘free food’ cupboard in the hostel kitchen and the boots and jacket were discarded, and I worked my way through the rest of my clothes and make-up, working out what would be coming and what would be staying.

I then retreated to the common room to use the internet. This was a real down-fall of the hostel – internet wasn’t available in the bedrooms. (There were plenty of other downfalls – no free breakfast; only one washing machine and dryer; thin, old towels; etc). I loaded all of my photos onto the laptop; synced my iPhone with my iTunes library; and even booked my flight home to Australia, having spotted a bargain flight on Expedia. (I was starting to get worried as the flights were hovering around $1200, which was much more than I expected to pay!)

When Luke and Amanda returned, we headed out for an early dinner – we’d skipped lunch, as breakfast had been so good (and big). During the past few days, every time we’d walked past a certain Mexican restaurant on Whyte Avenue there had been hoards of people waiting for tables. Since a queue of locals is always the best sign of a good restaurant, we were keen to try it, and at 5:30pm we were granted immediate entry. The food came out amazingly quickly but was a bit hit and miss – Amanda and my burritos were fairly average, but Luke’s enchilada was good.


Back at the hostel, the Monopoly cards came out for one last play before we retreated to our room to entertain ourselves. Let’s just say there could be some video evidence of me and some very crazy dancing!! Then it was time for bed, ready for my early start the next day …

Friday May 6th

The day Amanda and I had been waiting for was here …. West Edmonton Mall day! After weeks (months!) of no shopping and living out of the crappy winter clothes in our bag, it was time to buy new summer wardrobes! We had been refining our shopping lists for weeks whilst on the road, and today was the day to shop, shop, shop!

We wanted to be there for opening (10am – nothing opens early anywhere in the world except Australia!) and we arrived promptly at 9:58am, thanks to some good driving from Luke and good navigating from me (I had become designated navigator).


Walking through the foul smelling Chinese supermarket near where we had parked the car (lot 55C – there are 20,000 car parks at the mall, easy to lose the car!) we arrived in ‘Bourbon Street’, one of the three themed streets in the mall. Knowing Luke wouldn’t be keen on coming clothes shopping with us, we arranged to meet him at 12:30 for lunch, and off Amanda and I went to our first stop – Forever 21! The store was so massive it was almost too intimidating to shop in. We both did a lap of the store first, checking out the scene, and then started again. I had a system to ensure I didn’t miss a rack of clothes, and I knew I had a lot when one of the sales assistants came over with a big shopping bag, saying, “I think you need this!”


Once I’d exhausted the store (or rather, couldn’t hold any more clothes in the bag), I headed for the change room. I needed Amanda’s opinion on one dress – a very figure hugging black dress, which would be great for Vegas but I wasn’t sure if I could pull off. I ultimately ended up with 4 pieces after a solid hour and a half in the store, and Amanda bought a few pieces as well.


With less than an hour until we had to meet Luke, we headed to our next most important stops – Zara and H and M. Zara was extremely disappointing, but we purchased a few more pieces at H and M, ultimately meeting up with Luke 10 minutes late.


With our stomachs full, we were ready for take 2. This consisted of systematically walking every inch of the mall, heading into any stores that took our fancy. I bought some perfume ($15!!) and we both purchased make-up at Clinique, as it was ‘gift time’. A US guidebook for me, a bag for Amanda … before we knew it, it was 4pm and time to meet Luke!

It was 5pm by the time we finally left the mall, all exhausted. We had a fashion show in our room, showing the others what we’d bought; and then had dinner at a nearby pizza place.

Thursday May 5^th

On our first full day in Edmonton, we decided to go for a walk into the CBD and explore. It was about a 40 minute walk, across the river and through a park, before we made it to the city’s core. Of course, we managed to find a cupcake shop, and feasted on a red velvet cupcake.


After that, Amanda and Luke headed back to the hostel, but I remained to check out the CBD more. This mainly consisted of checking out the shops, which I was disappointed with … plus, I really wanted to save myself for West Edmonton Mall the next day.

I made it back to the hostel at about 3:30pm and had a bit of a nothing afternoon – playing on the internet; going for a run; etc. A very slow news day indeed!

Wednesday May 4th


We could sleep in a little today, as our first stop for the morning – the Royal Tyrrell Museum – didn’t open until 10. We again had breakfast at McDonalds, where I sampled a ‘McGriddle’. It looked like an English Muffin with egg and cheese in it, but it was definitely not an English Muffin – it tasted like a maple flavoured pancake encompassing the egg and cheese!


On the way to the Museum we stopped in at the Visitor’s Information Centre. Unfortunately it wasn’t open yet, but we were still able to take photos with the world’s largest dinosaur, which stood guard outside its door. We also took photos with the hire car, both pretending to drive it and milling about outside.


The Museum was only a short drive away, and we were one of the first to enter. What an absolutely magnificent museum – the best I’ve ever been to. The scale of the dinosaur bones on display was incredible, and it was obvious that a lot of hard work and money had gone into the museum. One of the coolest things was knowing that most of the bones and fossils had been found in the surrounding national park, the most dinosaur rich area in the world. Reading the stories about how the bones had been found was also interesting – most about been found by normal citizens doing everyday activities, like hiking or rock-climbing. Imagine going on a hike and finding a Tyrannosaurus Rex skull staring out at you! Every day, more and more bones come to the surface due to erosion.


Next we decided to check out the ghost town of Wayne, which was just south of Drumheller. ‘Ghost town’ is a bit misleading, as it is still called home by 27 residents. We called in at the local saloon to look at the memorabilia on the wall – Amanda wasn’t keen to stay due to all of the taxidermy on the wall!


After lunch at Subway (we thought we better eat in town as if the drive north was anything like yesterday’s, it could be many hours before we saw another town), we commenced the drive north to Edmonton. Again, the drive through the prairies was extremely boring, but luckily we kept things interested with impersonations (all of mind sounded like a cat) and questions (what would you do if you won one million dollars?)


We knew we’d hit Edmonton once we saw all of the traffic – we’d arrived just in time for peak hour. Luckily Luke had the shift of driving into town, with Amanda and I helping navigate through the tight and busy streets. Parking at the hostel was in short supply but we were lucky to find one out the back and checked into our room. What a disappointment – the room was old and small with squeaky bunkframes and not even the TV we’d been promised! HI’s normally have a reputation for nice and clean hostels – we’re not particularly looking forward to staying here for the next 5 days!

Safeway was only a few blocks away, so we walked down popular Whyte Street (kind of like a Lygon Street or Glenferrie Road, littered with cafes and funky shops) and bought some supplies for breakfast for the next few days. We also stopped in at a Noodle Box for dinner – I didn’t even get through half of my noodles!

We’ve now retired to our rooms for a quiet one watching movies and generally catching up on things. I have the top bunk and Amanda and Luke are sharing the double bunk below – there’s not much room to manoeuvre at all in here!

Tuesday May 3rd

We woke at 6:30 this morning – amazing! We were all showered and breakfasted (McDonalds – we were sick of Tim’s) and on our way by 8am.

We had planned a big day, thus the early start. We wanted to explore the Dinosaur Provincial Park about two hours north of Medicine Hat; wander the Royal Tyrrell Dinosaur Museum in Drumheller; get lost in the Lacombe Corn Maze; and then make our way to Edmonton. It was a big ask, but with the three of us taking it in turns driving, we were confident we could do it.


We made it to Dinosaur Provincial Park a bit after 10am. It was really fascinating – all these amazing hills and mounds that looked straight out of Jurassic Park. There was also an outshoot of the Royal Tyrrell Museum – a field post – which we wandered through for half an hour, apparently the only ones to have visited that day.


As we all hopped back in the car and discussed whose turn it was to play music, Amanda realised she’d left her iPhone at the hotel in Medicine Hat. She was happy to leave it behind, but Luke and I both thought it was crazy – a $900 phone! First thing we needed to do was ensure it was actually at the hotel though, for which we required the hotel’s phone number. I stopped in at the nearest hotel, about 20km from the park, and Luke ran in to ask if they could look up the hotel’s number. Amanda then called and received confirmation that the phone was indeed where she had left it – under the pillow in the room. So began a 1.5 hour journey back to the hotel – back to the one city which we had really hated in our trip. So much for our plans to make it to Edmonton that night!


Having already driven the road towards Drumheller twice that morning, I looked at the map and noticed an alternative road. It was a slightly longer route, but it would take us close to the Saskatchewan border – we could make a quick border run, snap a photo with a ‘Welcome to Saskatchewan sign’, and add Saskatchewan as a place we had visited. A few nights ago, we had been seriously considering going to Saskatchewan for a night or two (we’d decided not to when we found out there was absolutely nothing to do in Saskatchewan.

That road was possibly the most boring road in history. The prairies are deathly boring – straight roads surrounded by plain paddocks. We cheered whenever there was a slight bend in the road or a hill! We did eventually detour into Saskatchewan – funnily there wasn’t a sign saying ‘Welcome to Saskatchewan’ at the actual border, but we could tell we’d changed provinces as the bitumen road suddenly stopped and a gravel road began!


Near 7pm we made it into Drumheller. What a cool little place – there were Dinosaurs everywhere! There is the world’s largest dinosaur; there’s a dinosaur on every street corner; even the waste disposal company has a dinosaur logo! After obtaining our three quotes we decided on a local family run motel, which was conveniently located near O’Shea’s Irish Pub. I enjoyed dinner of soup and spinach salad whilst watching the first two periods of the Canucks match; before we retired to our room to watch the end of the match. It had been a long day of driving – about 12 hours!

Monday May 2nd

After a dream-filled night, I woke up at about 8:30am, showered, and headed for the breakfast buffet by the indoor pool. Breakfast was great – there was even a chef making waffles! We loaded up on waffles and bagels and then jumped in the car – me in the driver’s seat – for our first destination of the day, ‘Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump’.


I’d had a brief drive the previous evening, but this was my first real attempt at driving on the right hand side of the road. It’s really odd – it takes you back to when you were learning to drive, having to concentrate on each little thing. At first I kept turning the windscreen wipers on instead of the indicators, since they’re on the opposite side to Australia. It would probably help to be left-handed when driving here, since everything is reversed. The one thing we all had a problem with was the positioning of the car in the road – we kept veering dangerously close to the cars parked on the side of the road. That’s why we had agreed that the person in the passenger’s seat had to be the navigator – one less thing for the driver to worry about – and also give comments on where the car was positioned.


The driving became easier after a while, and after 45 minutes we had arrived at Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump, a UNESCO listed site 16km from Fort MacLeod. Thousands of years ago, the First Nation people used to trick buffalo herds into running over cliffs. The dead bodies would provide food, shelter and clothing through the coming winter.

We watched a fascinating movie about the hunt, and then walked along the trail to the cliff where the buffalos had died. As we walked through the indoor exhibits, one of the First Nations’ employees approached us and spoke at length about the story and the First Nations culture, even teaching us some of the language. He was quite confused about Australia though – he asked if we went skiing in Austria!


We filled up the car with gas and Amanda and Luke had lunch at the A&W, which has horrific American style service. Luke got the iPods working in the car via Bluetooth – the stereo is amazing, as it’s voice controlled – and we sang tunes whilst we made our way back through Lethbridge and onto Medicine Hat. We were in prairie country, with nothing but flat fields lining the road for 100s of kms.

We arrived into Medicine Hat at about 4:30pm, and then searched for a hotel. We got a few quotes on the outside of town, but decided to move into the city centre, following the signs for the ‘Historic Medicine Hat Downtown’. We paid for a room at a central hotel, although perhaps we should have looked closer – there was a sign on one of the windows saying, ‘Henry doesn’t live here anymore. Please stop throwing rocks at the window’ and the tyre on one of the cars in the parking lot was slashed.

Almost every shop in the downtown area was closed, with only a few tattoo parlours remaining and a $1 store which offered layaway (doesn’t that tell you something about the quality of town?) We quickly decided this was a dodgy town and we’d escape first thing tomorrow morning, trying to make Edmonton whilst also seeing the Dinosaur Museum at Drumheller.

Amanda was the only one of us with experience driving on the wrong side of the road, so she took the first turn in driving. We had to first stop off at the hotel to pick-up our bags, and then the road-trip was on! We drove for about an hour (after getting slightly lost in the city), eventually pulling in at a small town off the highway for lunch. We drove around the town for 15 minute without finding the city centre or anywhere to eat, so we gave up and went to find the highway again. Of course, that was when we found all the restaurants – Subway for lunch!


Our pit-stop for the night was Lethbridge, a town of about 80,000 people know for its amazing railway bridge. We pulled in at Days Inn for the night after having a spin around town, and spent a few hours settling in and playing on the net before having dinner at Earls. The three of us then returned to the hotel to watch the sunset whilst having a drink – although the weather was quite cold, so we didn`t spent too long outside!

Saturday April 30th

After a marvellous sleep, I woke up at 7:45am to purchase tickets to the Britney concert. I prepared by logging into my Ticketmaster account and making sure I had my credit cards in reach. However, 8am passed and the tickets weren't on sale. It turned out that the tickets for the West Coast concerts (which included the Sacramento concert I wanted to attend) went on sale at 10am PDT - which was actually 11am here! (I though it was 10am EST, which was 8am here). That was fine - I simply went back to sleep for an hour and a half, and re-awaoke at 9:45. I'd expected huge traffic on the site once it hit 10am, but I was able to purchase a ticket with ease. Watch out Sacramento, here I come! I'm determined to get to this concert as well, given I had tickets to her Melbourne concert but was unable to go due to my assault in Thailand in 2009.


Today was a very uneventful day. We made it to breakfast shortly before Tim Horton's stopped serving breakfast at 12, then went for a walk around the city for an hour or two. Calgary really is a boring town and th CBD is very bland. We made our way to a cinema to watch Water for Elephants at 3:30, but the cinema turned out to be on 8th Street in another suburb, not in the city where we had walked!


The rest of the day consisted of vegging out in the hotel, having dinner at an Indian restaurant, and watching the Canucks play (seriously, is there a sport that plays more often and a play-off series that is more time-consuming that hockey?)

Friday April 29th

My alarm went off at 2:30am, and I jumped onto my laptop to watch the official live streaming of the royal wedding. The coverage started with the arrival of the 'normal' guests like Posh and David Beckham (Posh looked gorgeous!!) - you know it's a VIP guest list when those two are the 'normal' guests! Of course, the moment we were all waiting for was the first glimpse of the dress, and wasn't it gorgeous! Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton really stole the show for me - both were absolutely gorgeous. Maybe I'll take up British citizenship and aim to be the next princess with Harry :-)


I went back to sleep shortly before 6am and caught a few more hours of sleep before waking at 9am. The boys looked like zombies after their big night - Alan was absolutely hysterical, only able to take baby steps and looking identical to a zombie! We all managed to make it down  to breakfast before it closed at 10am, where I gave everyone an update on the royal wedding. Then it was time to pack and check-out, ready for our next destination: Calgary.

Calgary was only 127kms from Banff, and within an hour we were on the outskirts of the city. It was really unlike any city I've been to. It covers a massive area with very low density housing, considering it's a city of 1.2 million people. The city itself is very industrial and boring. Luke and I were trying to put our finger on exactly what was missing - unlike most cities of the world, it doesn't have a pool of water or large park as a centrepiece of the CBD. It's also missing greenery, with trees unable to grow well giving the cold climate; and is dominated by ugly concrete buildings, headquarters of gas/oil/energy companies. (Seriously, even 2nd office is for an energy company, with the industry dominating the province).

Whilst in the car we used a brochure and the phone to scour accommodation options, eventually deciding n the Ramada Downtown. We checked in and then headed out for lunch, a simple baguette at a coffee shop nearby. Then it was time to farewell Alan. He was heading out to stay with his family for the night before making his way back to Whistler for the summer season. This also left us car-less for a few days, until we picked up the rental car on Sunday.

Luke and Amanda headed back to the hotel whilst I decided to check out the CBD. Using my finely-tuned shopping radar, I found the mall within minutes, and spent a few hours perusing H&M, The Bay, and Holt Renfrew. I spent half an hour alone looking at socks in The Bay, buying a few funky pairs of anklets to wear with heels.  I could have spent soo much money, but I was good - we will be at West Edmonton Mall in a week after all, with 800+ stores to choose from!

We were all exhausted in the evening, after the last night (or early start, in my case), so ordered room service for dinner and did our laundry. Doing laundry is an effort when travelling, but also very rewarding - it's so nice to have clean clothes, especially when you only have a few oufits to choose from everyday, and all of mine were dirty!

Thursday April 28th

This morning I was insistent on finally hiring a mountain bike and going for a ride. I left the others at the hotel at about 10:30 and walked into the village to the bike hire store. The lady there gave me a trail map and recommended a few good rides, so I put on my helmet, hopped on the bike, and started riding.

Riding a bike on the road was a good headstart for driving in Canada, as it got me familiar with driving on the right hand side of the road. I didn't stay too long in town though, heading out to Vermillion Lakes as had been recommended to me. The trails weren't in any condition to ride on, being still covered in snow, so I kept on the (empty) road for the 5.7km ride out. It was beautiful - icy lakes against a back-drop of snow-capped mountains.


Next, I decided to ride to the other side of town and over the bridge, first turning right and riding past the museum, which was constructed from sharpened logs. I started to head towards the hot springs when it was started snowing. These weren't the normal snowflakes which fell delicately like works of art; this was more like being pelted with heavy bean-bag balls! It was almost painful to be riding around in the snow, but after taking refuge in a tunnel for awhile I decided to continue on - hey, it's another experience, right?


This time I headed down to the Bow Falls, a small waterfall and rapids system with an outlook of the Fairmont Banff Springs. I must have looked so idiotic to all the tourists who had pulled up in their fancy cars, chauffered from the Fairmont to take a snap from the warmth of their car. I was dirty and saturated, riding a bike out in a snowstorm in a jumper and thermals, taking photos of the waterfalls. Stupid Australian!!


After a couple of hours riding, I returned the bike and spent an hour shopping in town. A few people commented on my attire - "Have you been riding a bike?", I was asked. I purchased a new travel towel (a luxurious material that I hadn't found in Australia) and a few souvenir items, including a Canadian Rockies snowdome and an inukshuk pendant (inukshuks are believed to keep you safe on your travels - something I need!). On my way to get some lunch, I ran into the others so we grabbed some Subway for lunch before returning to the hotel.


The others decided to go to the hot springs, but not being a water baby I stayed and watched The Social Network on my laptop instead, and caught up on my blogs. Once they'd returned and showered, we headed out to Boston Pizza for dinner and to watch the Canucks match. I headed home after the second period of the hockey, as I needed to get some sleep before my 2:30am wake-up call to watch the royal wedding. The others continued on for a few hours, and then the boys continued on even longer at the nearby hostel, coming in shortly before I woke up the next morning.

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!