Hi all, it has been a while since my last post so i thought i should let you all know what has been happening over here in Canada.

It has been snowing most days since my last post, so i haven't had much of a chance to get out and about as it's too dangerous and i'm not taking any chances.














here are some pictures of the snow, the picture on the left is just trees on Banff avenue, i got excited because it was the most snow i had seen so far, it was so pretty, but so cold. the picture on the right is a snowman one of the guys at the hostel made in the courtyard.

A couple of days ago i went for a walk along the Fenland trail, which is a 2km trail just outside of Banff. It was really pretty there, but everything was still all white and covered in snow. Its quite funny when you go for a walk through the trees because every corner you turn around you here this really strange sound, i was told that its the chipmunks that make that noise, they are so cute.







I have been in the hostel for a little over 3 weeks now, which is a little crazy, and i must say that the people here have been great. Here is a picture of me and Lyneth, the girl I have been hanging with for the past few weeks, this chick is so awesome, she's from Ottowa, it's going to be sad when she leaves this week. This pic was taken at Hoodoos at one of the $1 highball nights, we look very happy because we did four double vodkas in just one hour, so it was a fun night, but a short night for me hehe.




The other night we went out to a ladies night where they had a fashion parade, but we really went for the free food and 25% discount off all the clothing. I won a box of chocolates which was awesome!!

I worked this morning, i am liking it there, there are three of us, me Luke and Dale that work together, we decided to call ourselves the A-team because we think we are the only three on the staff who are any good at serving.

Yesterday (Friday) and today (Saturday) it has finally decided to get sunny, so i'm excited, the ice and snow in melting, so i'm hoping to go on some decent hikes this week!!

Ok well you are all now pretty much updated on life in Canada for this week.

Karyn

Ok now I finally have free internet so I can actually put up some pictures.

Here is a picture of the pretty mountain looking down the main street of Banff

Here is the half frozen Bow river that rins through Banff.

Me and Tamare from Slavenia thought we would go for a hike up to Lake Minnewanka. After 3 hours of wandering around wonder where the lake was we finally found it. It was the first frozen lake that I had seen so it was worth the walk, but I think I will catch a bus next time. Our walk was 5 1/2 hours in total, and we were both so exhausted afterwards.

Here are the girls that were in my room for the first week, Tamara from Slavenia, Emma from England, Me and Staph from Brisbane. Here we are on our way out to Mel's for $1.75 highball night.

I went dog sledding last monday, here is a picture of me standing on the sled. It was so awesome, all the dogs were Huskies and are soo cute. They let you drive the dog sled if you want to, it was such a great experience. I recomend that everyone do it if they ever get the chance!!!

Three of us went for a hike on saturday in the mountains, it was beautiful but so exhausting. the hills that we climbed were very steep, and the rivers were starting to melt. if you look closely in this picture looking down into the valley that we hiked through you can see some large mud formations, one of the guys thought he would be daring and climbed onto the top of one of these formations, which was a bit crazy.

Yesterday, Sunday, I went for a hike with Carly from England up to the top of Tunnel mountain, where you can see the town of Banff from the top. This walk wasn't as hard as the one yesterday as there is an actual path. It was so beautiful from the top.

All weekend the weather was beautiful, it got to about 18 degrees so it was t-shit weather, and today the ground is covered in snow again its crazy.

Ok lastly here is a picture of the people at the hostel out at Hoodoos last Thursday. It was $1 highball night so everyone was pretty happy.

For those interested to know, this week i started work at the Samesun hostel that i am staying at. they let you do a few hours a week work to stay for free in return, and its pretty easy work. I went for a job interview today and got a part time job in a little restaraunt up the road, so i start training there tomorrow morning, so im looking forward to that!!!

In CANADA!!!

Ok, I am finally in Canada now!!!

It took a little longer to get here then expected. my 11am flight left Sydney at 2:45 and so we got to Vancouver at about 11am local time (4 hours late). I then had to go through immigration to get my traveling visa approved, which took about half an hour. Every one on my flight missed their connecting flights, so about 25 of us were put on standby waiting at the Vancouver airport for a connecting flight to Calgary that was not full. A few hours later I was on my way to Calgary, getting there at about 5pm. Then I got the shuttle bus to Banff, arriving at 8:30pm, sooo tired.

My first day in Banff was so awesome. Although most people in the hostel are out on the slopes during the day it wasnt too bad. I went for a walk and looked around, the rockeys are so pretty. then i had an afternoon nap and went with Steph, another girl from Aus, to some hot springs that were an hour drive through the mountains. then we got back to the hostel, got dressed and went to Hoodoos for $1 spirit night, and next door to Maggies i think it was for $3.50 cocktails. So the first day was pretty good!! Today I am thinking about looking for a job, but im not sure what i want to do yet, thinking about working at the hostel for a while, its fun and really social there so i dont know yet, have tp wait and see what happens.

Karyn