So we’ve been travelling around
the Canadian West Coast for a couple of weeks now, and I think it’s safe to say
that it’s been an emotional rollercoaster from the start. Since our
enthusiastic arrival into Calgary on 7th May, we have succeeded in
destroying a rental car, hiking up our first Rocky mountain (in the snow…in
trainers…without grip), and saving the life of a little brown bear who was
taking a casual stroll along a railway track. Here’s a brief update on this
summer so far…
Calgary
Flying into Calgary with high
expectations, we were not disappointed by our lovely hosts Val and Randy, who
picked us up from the airport and ended up putting us up for three nights in
their family home. Unfortunately though, Calgary isn’t the most exciting city,
and, becoming rapidly bored of the tame Calgarian lifestyle, we decided to hire
a car and drive an hour away to supposedly the best dinosaur fossil museum in
the world. Although things started shakily as we tackled driving on the wrong
side of the highway sitting in the wrong side of the car, we soon found
ourselves sauntering around the spectacular museum, gawping at real dinosaur
fossils found in the surrounding area. Feeling pretty pleased with ourselves
for finding our way
there with no mishaps or casualties, we smugly decided to
go off-road in search of the famous Drumheller Hoodoos to take some scenic
snaps. Veering off the highway up a dirt track, we came across what can only be
described as a gargantuan crater in the road. My rash conclusion that we should “just go fast, go
fast over it, we’ll fly right over” was for some reason adhered to, and, revving the engine, we catapulted the wobbly
car towards the gigantic pothole. Sean’s high pitched screams “WE’VE BROKEN IT” caused us to
come to an abrupt halt, and we all exited the car in hysterics to inspect the
damage. It was indeed broken. Our first rental car, and we’d knocked the front
bumper off at one side. Frantically pressing it back into place, we hoped the
company wouldn’t notice, and prayed our hugely expensive insurance would cover
the damage we had done to the car on its first day of freedom. Luckily, nobody
noticed, and we decided to swiftly leave the area in search of a fresh start…
Banff
Barely making the bus to Banff with all our stuff (tents,
sleeping bags, rucksacks, car snacks etc), we arrived to the International
Hostel with slightly dampened spirits due to the wet weather (excuse the pun)
and freezing conditions at night as we realised we weren’t going to be able to
camp. However, making the most of the daytime proved worthwhile, as we
experienced some stunning scenery on both our hike up the snowy Sulphur
Mountain (that was when I decided to wear my flimsy trainers) and our cycle
ride to Lake
Minnewanka (which I soon discovered is NOT pronounced mini wanker).
Cycling out of Banff
on our third day, we hit a wrong turn. Just as we were about to turn back, someone spotted a bear on the train tracks that run alongside the highway
(thankfully with a fence between us and it). Out of nowhere, a man ran up to
us, asking if we could call 9/11 to report it. Seizing my chance to be a hero,
I immediately called up, trying not to yelp with excitement when I heard the
classic TV line “9/11,
what’s your emergency?”
Lake Louise
Having done a magnificent two-day hike and bike exploration,
we decided we had seen enough of Banff, and bussed it to Lake Louise to see
what it had to offer. On our first day we whacked on some snow shoes
and
stomped along a nature trail. We also walked to Lake Louise
itself, although, as mentioned before, Canadian weather prevailed, and the bloody
lake was frozen. On the upside, we managed to steal some ketchup from the posh
hotel on the lake, to spice up our budget home cooking. Though the surroundings of Lake Louise were
naturally very beautiful, camping was yet again not a possibility, and we were
keen to start using our top-of-the-range Walmart tents we’d been lugging about
for the past week. Therefore we decided to make our way up to Jasper in search
of an open campsite and some warmer weather. Putting up a sign in our hostel
asking if anyone could give us a ride, I surprisingly got an instant response
from a nice Belgian girl who was driving up there the next morning. So Evelyn
and Verity jumped in her car, along with a chatty French guy and a shitload of
our stuff. Cramming the car full of our camping equipment, Sean and I then set
off with two rucksacks each to attempt hitchhiking in preference to the $150
bus up to Jasper.
Watch this space for news on whether we managed to get a
hitch, where we saw the 3 subsequent bears and the moose, our first couchsurfing experience, and if we ever managed to camp in
the freezing place that is Canada…
We'd been waiting on the highway of Lake Louise for over two hours, and
it was beginning to seem like we weren't going to get a hitch. Realising we'd been a
bit ambitious in thinking some kind stranger was going to let us tag along on
their 4 hour drive up north, we started trudging back towards the town, to
catch that $150 bus we had tried so hard to avoid. Cars continued to
carelessly drive by, so as we walked I forlornly stuck my thumb out, wishing it
was my middle finger. Suddenly, a car pulled up next to us, and a smiley
Chinese couple jumped out and start shouting something about Jasper. Without
waiting to hear any more, we were piling our rucksacks into the boot and
jumping cheerfully into the backseat of their snazzy hire car. We were on our
way!
