A few days ago we came back from our amazing trip to the Rockies. It was one of the best trips I have ever had, so thanks to all of you, Discover Canada and our great tour guide Chris for making my Easter weekend great.
On Friday we finally went to the Rockies. I have been looking forward to going there since I arrived and was way too excited on the day we left Vancouver. We all conquered seats for everybody in the back of the bus. Soon after we turned into little INTERNeX bunnies with our new bunny ears. During our trip we saw all kinds of weather in just one day. The weather went from rain to sun and from sun to snow. That sometimes confused me in a way. We made a short stop in Hope, the city where people were hoping to find gold. 
After that we continued our journey to Kamloops. In Kamloops we went to the BC Wildlife Park where I learned about the difference between a spirit bear and a polar bear. I also had time to do some shopping in the souvenir shop with my $5 gift card. A bit later we got into the bus again and drove up to Chase. We spent the night at a First Nation’s hotel. It was a beautiful hotel with hot tub and a swimming pool. We quickly settled in and went up to the lake to make beautiful pictures. After exploring the surroundings a bit, we went up to the campfire, made smores and listened to stories of the First Nations. As I am not really handy at all, I already expected that my s’mores would not turn out to be that great. The first one was not melted enough and on the second one I just had too much marshmallow. However, it was great to try it out. It was pretty cold at the campfire, as we were sitting next to a lake. So we ended up going to the hot tub and the swimming pool to warm up. Here we got to talk with a few people from our bus and learned about the different cultures. In the end we all went to Janel and Danielle’s room for a few drinks.
The next day we had still quite a drive to get to the Rockies. Luckily we still had stops at beautiful places such as Emerald lake and Roger’s Pass. Once we were at Emerald lake, we all walked on the frozen lake and some people even got wet shoes after our little stop. Of course we had to be the typical tourist, so we made lots of pictures and videos at this beautiful lake. Our tour guide also told us lots of stories about the little villages that we passed. 
Most of them were mainly built because of the train passing through it. It was great getting to know more about Canada and its cute little villages. Along the way to the Rockies we had to change our time on the watches as we got into mountain time. This meant that the clock would go one hour forward. It was really strange to hear about mountain time. I first did not believe our tour guide and thought he was fooling everybody in the bus. However, my phone proved it to me that mountain time actually exists. We drove all the way up to Lake Louise where we could either walk to the other side of the lake or go to the Fairmont hotel. The choice was not that hard to make anymore when our tour guide told us that we could see a frozen waterfall. It was a bit strange that the lake was frozen enough again, as our tour guide told us that they did it a few weeks ago too and then they heard the ice crack underneath their feet. Many people walked on the lake, so we were not that scared that the ice would break. Luckily it was solid ice again and we did not have any troubles on our way to the frozen waterfall. After we reached the frozen waterfall we walked back around the lake and back to the bus. I think this walk was a good practice for my ice walk the day after, as it could be slippery at and around the lake too. Then we drove to Banff and checked in at our second hotel. A lot of us were hungry again so we went back into the city to find a good restaurant. We all had a great laugh at the bus stop, as we were with so many people and it took forever to get onto the bus. When we were in the city, it was quite hard to find a spot for so many people. However, we managed to fit us all in Earls. After we filled our stomachs again, we went to Janel’s room and waited for cabs. We did not want to make the bus drivers in Banff too annoyed, right? We ended our night with a great night out at one of Banff’s clubs.
On Sunday it was finally time to do the optional activities. I already booked the ice walk before I went to the Rockies and therefore only had a short amount 
of sleep. However, it was good that I was forced to get out of bed, because the fresh air and me being active really helped. Another guide picked us up at the hotel in a small bus. On the way to Johnston Canyon he talked about the nature of Canada. He also did a small quiz with us. If you answered the questions right, you would get a cookie. Everybody was actively participating in it and tried their hardest to come up with the answer. To me that was quite logical, because who does not like to get a cookie? When we reached our final destination we had to put on spikes on our shoes for the really icy parts. Of course I was the person who got two different sizes. As I already asked to change the size, I did not want to bother him anymore and therefore just let it be. He already mentioned that it did not matter if the spikes would not totally fit and therefore I thought it would not matter for me too. On our way we walked passed frozen waterfalls, fossils and even some animals. I was acting like a tourist again and kept asking questions. The whole walk was sometimes a bit rough, as we had to walk up and down on hills and had some icy parts. According to our tour guide you can even be short of breath if you are fit, as the altitude in the mountains is way different than the altitude in Vancouver or even the Netherlands. This gave me a much better feeling, as I already thought I was not in shape at all. Our guide also showed us how to hike down an icy hill. He said that you have to bend your knees and stamp your feet into the ground. In the end we all looked like tiny elephants walking around at Johnston Canyon. On the way back we could enjoy the scenery again and look if there were any animals. In the
afternoon we decided to do a hike on the Sulphur mountain. We were supposed to be at the top in one hour, but were only able to get half way because of all the ice and snow. However, the views were still really great. Every time we kept looking down to see how much we already completed to keep us motivated to get to the top. At the end of our hike we walked 16.7 km in total, so we were definitely able to make up for all the unhealthy food we have been eating. After being so active, we were happy to sit in the bus again for our journey to Golden. Here we spent our last night around the campfire. It was really cosy and warm around the fire. Sometimes it was so hot that I had to switch with others to let my legs cool off a little bit.
The last day we drove back to Vancouver again and had a few stops along the way. One was at Craigellachie where I made a few crazy pictures at the wagon. We also played the game 2 truths and 1 lie. It was hard to come up with a lie about myself, but in the end I went up there and was trying to convince everybody that my lie was true. The game was a fun way to get to know others from the bus and from the INTERNeX group. After a bit time in the bus we also had a stop at the Aberdeen mall. Here I had my very first hamburger wrapped in a lettuce wrap. I have to admit that it felt good to have some veggies after all the unhealthy food in the Easter weekend. After we arrived in Vancouver again, I was in for some sleep and immediately went home.
I hope you all had an awesome weekend and catched some sleep, so that you are ready to do activities in the weekend again!
– Iris
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