Back to Vancouver

So, I've decided to keep a diary of funny events that happen throughout my trip and I pretty much have something per day which I will share on my next blog!!! (look forward to people. . !)

I'm in Vancouver at the moment which is around 12degrees and so much warmer than the Rockies thank goodness!!! However . . . . I feel so scruffy! I have non of my city clothes and only warm stuff I've been hiking in!!!! I look a tad out of place but whatever!!!!! I'm kinda back into citymode, trying to sort my finances as I have Canadian money I need to transfer etc etc and I need to decide clothes to get rid of to make my bag lighter etc etc, all drama!!!!! I'm sure it'll all be fine!!

One stupidly funny thing though, which I guess is the second stupid part of our trip is that I pulled my tickets out of my stuff being all sensible and prepared and popped them on Steph's window cill. What I failed to see was the small heater below it, which has now burnt and turned black the edges of all of my flight tickets by about 3 inches!!!! I really reallt hope I can fly on Tuesday or its gonna be a pissed off and angry Caz who blogs next!!!!!!

Fingers crossed for me people!!!

lots of love XXXX

The Rockies . . . Columbia Icefields link here too

I've finally started the trekking part of my adventure and am currently in Banff surrounded by huge mountains and lakes, and wildlife galore!!!! I have seen so many elk now that they seem like a regular old deer and are no big deal anymore.

We stayed at Jasper for 4 days and hiked around Patricia Lake, the Old Fort Point and back to the hostel, which is in the middle of nowhere and damn in convenient! If you head to Jasper make sure you either have a car or stay in a hotel in the main town. The area is beautiful though. We had an amazing time and met a few interesting characters.
A friend came to visit us too and had a car so we made the most of it and headed to the Columbia Icefields and took the tour onto the Athabasca glacier which was pretty cool. Our tour guide was hilarious which always helps. We also drove to Pyramid Lake which is beautiful and has some lovely accommodation along but looks pricey. I have heaps of pictures but not sure I can attach it to this computer so can't attach them. Maybe I can make a slide show to bore everyone when I return!!!

As we left for Banff and were sitting on the bus, Helen suddenly realised she's left all of her money, passport and flight tickets in the hostel. I tried not to laugh but really!!!! A holiday rep making a classic mistake!!!! Luckily the bus driver was really nice and drove up to the hostel to get them. I'm not a good friend and just told her not to worry until we don't find them, then we can panic!! Could have been a great first disaster for the trip!!!

Banff is really pretty. We went for a run yesterday morning by the Cave and Basin and then took a small hike along the Tunnel Mountain trail which zigzags up the front of a small mountain and you can see the whole of downtown and the river behind. It was nicely set out and a good walk after a 6K run. There's an older English guy in the hostel we're staying in who is nice and a bit lonely, we're surrounded by crazy drunks, so we went for a few beverages last night and just had a good old chat.

Today the temperature has suddenly dropped so we're planning on catching up on the internet, as you can see, taking a small hour long walk in the main area of Banff and just seeing what the day brings.

Its a bit of a shock to the system to not be in our lovely condo any more but we're adapting well ;-)

Happy Thanks Giving Canada

Tmrw (Monday) is Thanks Giving in Canada, and we were kindly invited to Kursten's mam's for a big dinner tonight!!! It was loooverly!!! So much food though that we got back and all crashed and watched a movie. Linda wanted us to have a good meal before we move on, and Kursten bought us a DQ ice cream cake as a leaving gift.

It felt slightly sad as we were leaving as Edmonton is almost over for me. I've met some great people who I really hope to stay in touch with and you never know, I may return and visit some day!!!

We have so much to cram into tomorrow as we're leaving on Tuesday to head to the Rockies. We're gonna head to West Ed, go ice skating, take some touristy pictures and buy a gift for Kursten for putting up with us. Still need to pack and arrange stuff to go to the post office, but hey, Helen doesn't call me lastminute.com for nothing!!!

Pig Roast

On Saturday there was a pig roast at the rugby club. I wasn't too sure about this being an ex-veggie and all but it was funny. I half expected a pig to be running around when I got there but luckily it was cooked elsewhere,

The pig still had everything, face, ears, body hair. It was quite gross so I just pretended I didn't see all that and tucked in to some of its thigh! I have to say it was yummy, although I was a little disappointed that there wasn't an apple stuffed in its mouth all medievil style.

I took my camera but only took one picture of the pig as I forgot I had it with me (as usual!)

Me, Helen and Kursten also took the hugest cake ever to share with everyone, and managed to end up bringing some home too, along with a whole freezer full of left overs. Kursten is gonna have buns until next year!!!

Now its holiday time!!!

Friday was my final day at Sport Chek, houray!!!! So I am now officially back on holiday and ready to relax again!!! They got me a card and gave me an Under Armour sweatshirt, which is a huge and expensive brand in Canada . . . I thought this was really sweet, however, they have written messages all over it so I can't actually wear the damn thing!!! And its a bright white sweater too!!! I guess its one more thing to ship home as a souvenir. I also have the nightmare of trying to cram all the crap I've acquired into my backpack! Mam, expect a package in 2 months or so!!! How do I accumulate so much crap in such a short amount of time.