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 ....