It is Monday, already a week after our Big Rockies trip and I am still a bit in the clouds of it because it was so amazing to experience with you!
So on that Friday morning when we left for the Rockies, I had some struggles. It is typical me to not have everything prepared like I wanted it to be, so before I catched my bus it was an hour of stress with taking a shower, baking eggs for sandwiches (like my mom always did when we went on trips), straighten my hair and filling the other half of my bag with clothes. Because of that I had to ran and wave to the buss driver with my entire luggage to get on it. Luckily the buss driver was so nice to stop for me and let me in and I could relax for a bit.
When I arrived at Canada place my hair was already not straight anymore because of the pouring rain, but I was glad to see all of you! Luckily everybody showed up on time and we were good to go. It was a long drive, but I had lots of fun in the back of the bus and luckily we had some nice stops along the way.
The first big stop was in the BC Wildlife Park in Kamloops and although I was excited to see bears I felt a bit sorry for the animals. I normally don’t like to go to zoos and stuff because I rather see the animals in the wild but I am glad we had fun together there. After that we went further to our hotel next to Little Shuswap Lake.
I loved the view there from my hotel room and the nice breeze it had. It was time to sit around the campfire and listen to the First Nations stories. I was really amazed by all the stories he told us, especially by the fact that they don’ t tell stories from other tribes. It sounds really respectful. Besides that, like many of you, I totally fell in love with the little puppy and I think one day he will be a 
great hunting dog. After the campfire we had a little party in the hotel room where I introduced a drinking game I often play with my friends back home. And this is actually really funny since I don’t like drinking games at all, except for this one. So back home we call it “Skull” but we made it into a more English version here and called it “cheers”. So we all counted to 21 or cheers and made up the most ridiculous rules along the way. Maybe we can try to do it again sometime on PuB NiGHT. ☺
So the next day was the big day: we were heading to Banff and I was so excited for this one. After walking on Emerald Lake and seeing some people falling a bit through it I was 
glad to sit in the bus again. We went for lunch, just before we went to Lake Louise. It was quite a new lunch for me since I tried the Elk / Wapiti stew. I thought it would be a really different kind of flavour then the meat I am used to, but it actually kind of tastes like beef. After this new adventure I was ready to walk all across Lake Louise. I think it is really amazing that the lakes are still frozen this time of the year, but it also gives you an awesome perspective 
when you stand in the middle of it. It was a long and slippery walk to the frozen waterfall and of course I fell down on the ice, but once I reached it I was really amazed by the view. Oh and from that point you could also see the Fairmont Hotel really well, which really looks like a Disney castle to me haha.
When we finally arrived in Banff after that, I immediately fell in love. I think it is just a 
really cute town, with the beautiful mountains surrounding it. I really liked we all went out for dinner together because you could really feel the bond of the group. After some quick clothing changes and a view pre-drinks we were ready to party! I was so excited, especially because my friend was able to go too since there is another drinking age in Alberta. It was so good to finally be in a place where you can dance and just be a little bit crazy. I really laughed my ass of and stayed till the really end.
Because it was such a long night out for us, we didn’t had much time to sleep really, since we had some horseback-riding to do in the morning. When the alarm went off I thought “ Nooo please” but once I had some breakfast and saw how nice the weather was outside I was super excited. And especially when we drove up the ranch and we saw the horses, I knew it was going to be a great day. And it was! The only thing I was thinking every five seconds was “WAUW”. Those views were truly amazing and the horses were really nice. Along the way we even saw an Elk standing behind the trees and I really felt sorry for eating it for lunch the day before, but luckily it is normal to eat it in Canada.
After the lovely ride it was time for the Banff gondola. I decided to go
up there the very
last moment when I got off the horse actually. Because I am a snowboarder I felt like I already had seen these views from many mountains but I was so wrong and so happy I still spend the money. It is really different then the views you get from ski areas and although it is a busy attraction, it feels so peaceful up there.
After this beautiful scene it was time to say goodbye to Banff and go to Golden, our final stop. I felt a bit sad to leave this amazing town but I was also excited for the campfire and to end the trip in good harmony. When we arrived at the hotel I first chilled out in the hot tub for a little while. When my hands started to look like a grandma and my stomach started rumbling it was time to get out and get some take-out pizza. After going to Boston Pizza, my roommates and me joined the campfire with some drinks and very delicious slices. We played the counting game again and we all had a big laugh. It was just the perfect ending for me and I was very happy I had enough time to catch some sleep on the bus the next day.
I want to thank you all for joining us on this amazing trip. It is definitely one I would never forget.
– Tess
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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.
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.
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.
some time. The BC Wildlife Park was a great start of our weekend. We got to see Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, Cougars, Coyotes and many more. Sometimes I felt bad for some of the animals because their cases are pretty small, but we were told that they all got hurt and are being looked after in the park, so that’s great. After the wildlife park we continued our journey to Chase and ended up at a beautiful hotel next to a lake. They made a campfire and someone from the First Nation was telling us their stories and legends. I don’t know a lot about the First Nation, so it was very interesting to hear all the stories. Unfortunately it was getting really cold really fast, so we decided to go inside and have a little party in our room. In the end we had 14 people in our room and we were drinking, playing games and having fun. It was a great night to start of our weekend.
pictures there. Then we walked back on the side of the lake, which wasn’t any easier than walking on the lake itself. We got back to the bus just in time and continued our journey to Banff. When we got there we first had dinner at Earls and then headed back to the hotel to have a little pre party before going to the club. The club night was amazing, almost everybody came along and we were all dancing and having fun. We also met up with 2 INTERNeX guys who are working in Banff and it was great to see them again. The night was really good and I didn’t come back to the hotel until 5:30 am.
Luckily I didn’t have any optional activities on Sunday morning, so I got to sleep in. After checking out of the hotel Sebastian, Max and I went to get some lunch in town and decided to eat it outside in the sun. After lunch we went up with the Gondola and the view was just amazing. We walked from one peak to the other and the view was incredible. After spending a good amount of time on top of the mountain, it was time to go back down again. We spent our last night in Golden. When we got there everybody just crashed on the bed and felt really tired. Most of you went in the hot tub to relax for a little bit, but we decided to get some food and get ready for the campfire. At the campfire we started playing our game again and a lot of people joined in. The game is that the whole group counts to 21, with everyone saying just one number. When you reach 21, a number becomes a rule. In the beginning the game is easy, but as you get more rules (and more drinks) it’s hard to remember all of them.
When we arrived in Kamloops we went to the BC Wildlife Park. It was great to see all those animals that I had never seen before, like grizzly bears, black bears, cougars and coyotes. After the park we drove to our resort. It was an amazing hotel next to the beautiful Shuswap Lake. In the evening we started with a campfire and an amazing story from the first nations cultural host of the resort. He told us really interesting stories and I learned a lot more about the first nations. After the campfire we decided to do some drinks in our room. Almost the whole group came and our room was fully packed with 16 people. We played some games, told stories and were having lots of fun!!
Louise, which was also still totally frozen. We walked on the ice to the other side of the lake to see a beautiful big frozen waterfall. The ice was really slippery and it was really difficult to not fall, but we all managed to get to the other side of the lake without falling. When we finally arrived in Banff, we checked into the hotel and went out for dinner right away. As we were with such a big group it was hard to find a restaurant where we could all fit, but we found one and had amazing dinner at Earls together. After dinner we went back to the hotel and again had some drinks in our room to get ready for the big party in Banff that night. We called cabs for 15 people and were at the club around 10:30. The club was really nice, we danced all night and had a great time with each other and the other people from our bus. We also met up with two other people from INTERNeX, who are living in Banff. It was amazing to see them again and we had lots of fun! 🙂 Some of us left earlier and some of us only slept around 2 hours, but we all had a great night!
Almost everybody from our group went up the mountain in the gondola. The sun was shining and there were almost no clouds, which made the view amazingly beautiful. We saw all the mountains around Sulphur Mountain and went to the second peak to have an even better view! After a big day of activities we all went back to the bus and started our drive to our hotel in Golden. We had dinner and got drinks again for the campfire. Around 7.30 PM the campfire started. The whole group went to the campfire and we all had lots of fun with the tour guides, bus driver and the other people from the busses. We played some music, played a game and sang Dutch and German songs at the same time. At 1AM everybody started to feel tired and we went to bed.
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