How was your weekend?

The weekend is behind us, but before we start with this week, let’s take a look at what happened this weekend.

On Friday evening some of us went out. It was Julius’ 19th birthday, which means he is finally an adult in Canada, so of course we had to celebrate it. Our original plan was to go to the Pint, but due to technical problems it closed when we got there. So instead, we went to the Met. We stayed there for a bit. Afterwards, we headed to the Roxy, where we spent the rest of the night. It was a great evening.

On Sunday we hiked up the Grouse Grind. We met at 12.15 and had to wait quite a while, as our bus was late. Finally arriving at the bottom of the mountain, we got ready and then started our hike. The trail has quarter marks and the first quarter of the trail is suppose to be easier than the second and third one, but honestly for me they were all the same. Also, if you are already exhausted after the first quarter, it is recommended to turn back around, because it is not possible later on. I’m not going to lie, I actually considered turning around after the first quarter. The trail is almost 3 km long with an  elevation gain of 850 m and over 2,800 steps. So you can imagine how challenging it was. Thus, everybody went at their own pace. All of us finished the hike in under 2 hours. Up at the peak, we enjoyed the amazing view and of course also took some pictures. On the mountain, we also looked at the grizzly bears. Afterwards, we headed back down with the gondola.

It was a very exhausting hike and to be honest, I am not planning on doing it again any time soon. Nevertheless, it was a memorable experience. Thanks to everyone who joined. I’m proud of you and now you get to say, you hiked up Grouse Mountain.

Have a good day and see you on Wednesday at PubNiGHT!

-Megan

INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 6N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

The Rocky Mountains 2019 – What to bring?

You can already notice Easter approaching, seeing all the stores filling up with Easter stuff. Even Tim Horton’s has an Easter donut now available. Yes, I ate one this morning. Yes, it was delicious. But what does Easter mean to us? Well, a trip to the Rocky Mountains of course!

Not much more than a week and we will be sitting in a buss heading to see one of the top must see locations in Canada; The Rocky Mountains. In my previous blog post about the Rockies I talked about the amazing highlights of our four-day trip. To guarantee that you will enjoy your time in the Rockies I want to make sure that you aren’t forgetting anything relevant from your backpack.

The things you need depend of course on what you decide to do during the trip, but if I were you I’d be prepared for everything. It is going to be winter weather in the Rockies so remember to bring enough warm clothes. We don’t want anyone getting sick. We also have an opportunity to visit the hot springs so that’s why you might want to be ready for a swim. Good news for the 18-year-old ones: we will be in Alberta, so you can also join the parties! Anyhow, here is a short list of some necessities:

• Warm clothes
•  Extra pairs of socks (for the ones that might get wet)
• Towel and bathing clothes
• ID (2 pieces)
• Money for snacks, 3 lunches and 1 dinner, and a night out in Banff
• Charger (+portable power bank)
• Cash for optional activities

If you wish to do any optional activities you can either book them in advance or pay on tour with cash. Prices (before Monday 15th/ on tour):

• Banff Gondola: $60 / $65
• Icefields Glacier Walk: $70/ $75
• Combo: $125 / $130

Any questions regarding to the trip? Feel free to ask, see you soon!

-Jasmin xx

INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 6N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

Rockies Review – Part 2

Wakey wakey. After our night out, it was visible on some of your faces that the departure at 7.45am from the hotel in Banff was not the easiest. But just like the two days before, we had a couple of hours on the coach to sleep. Even though this was pretty hard for you guys, ’cause the scenery was just too stunning.
We had breakfast at Lake Minnewanka and stopped shortly afterwards at the Two Jack Lake. Impressive views all over again! After another ride on the bus we came to our first active stop of the day: Lake Louise. Half of the group happily accepted the option of hiking up the trail to the Fairview Lookout. After 45 minutes of hiking uphill we ended up at a platform with an amazing view over Lake Louise and the Fairmont Chateau.

Lunch was then scheduled at the Lake Louise Gondola, where we enjoyed a delicious buffet. I really recommend it – so whenever you’re considering riding the Gondola, book it as a ride and dine. 😉 Riding the Gondola was just breathtaking. It was stunning to look around and see all the amazing scenery around you. Snowcapped mountains and Lake Louise just at the foot of the big chain of mountains behind us. Sadly, we did not see any wildlife on our ride in the Gondola – but oh well, you can’t have everything, can you?

The views were great, but we were still ready to see some more, so we took off to Moraine Lake. WOW! Turquoise-blue water surrounded by picturesque mountains and some chiselled rocks. Perfect to just reminisce, look at the beautiful nature or – for the active among us – to climb. I somehow managed to injure my hand, but don’t even ask how it happened – you’ll just get a story about a bear-fight you won’t believe anyways. 😀
Many of you asked me if we just couldn’t stay at this beautiful lake forever – just put up a tent and spend the rest of our lives at this beautiful place. Sorry, to those who wanted to and I didn’t let. But how could I let you miss out on the next stop? No chance…

So, next stop was the most peaceful part of our entire trip: Emerald Lake. Renting a canoe just paddling across the emerald-green lake. I cannot describe it with words. You must do it, to understand what I mean! After an hour of paddling around and enjoying the quiet surroundings, we headed back to the bus and already drove to our accommodation for the last night: The Mountain View Cabins.
They are literally in the middle of nowhere and offer the full nature experience. We had dinner and discovered the environment of our last night’s stay. Hammocks to look at the stars, trails that led “into nowhere”, a grill to roast s’mores and perfect views of the mountains around us. Who would want more? We chatted with each other, enjoyed the location and started playing games. With the hours passing by and the sun setting, we quickly figured what the most charming of the mountain view cabins actually was: the night sky. Just standing on a clearing between the trees – we all got stiff necks – but no regrets. Watching shooting star after shooting star, exploring the star formations and just watching satellites passing by, the milky way in the background – breathtaking!

On Tuesday we already had to say goodbye to the Rockies. We enjoyed breakfast at the Cabins and talked about last night’s fun. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the coach, so we waited about an hour for Lucien to pick us up. Even though we had a delayed departure, we caught up on the schedule quite well. We made a quick break at “The Last Spike”, where the famous Canadian Pacific Railway was finalized, had lunch in Kamloops and made it back to Vancity by 6.15pm. It was sad to say goodbye to Hayley and the rest of the Wolfpack, but I believe we will all keep the memories of this amazing trip in our minds.

I am so thankful for each and every one of you who joined this trip. I hope you enjoyed it, as much as I did. I hope to see you guys on Saturday in CRAB park, or next Wednesday for another PuB NiGHT.

– Elisabeth

INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 6N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

How was your weekend?

My weekend? Sunny, active, great!

Saturday morning, 7.45am. Prepared with hiking shoes, sunglasses and lunch packages, 16 motivated people gathered at Pacific Central to spend the day in Squamish. Everyone was ready for the big hike. Well, everyone except for our bus… Unfortunately, the bus company cancelled the ride we booked our tickets for. To be honest, that was not the best news to hear at this time of the day. Going back home? No way! So, some hot discussions later, a bus was eventually arranged for us and the adventure could start.

About an hour later, we stepped out of the bus. We stood directly in front of the gondola, the one we would take to get down after our hike (at least that is what we still thought would happen). But before heading to the trail, we had to celebrate. It was Lore’s birthday! And so, we had a chocolate cupcake for her with a candle, a birthday song, a crown and even a birthday balloon; the full package for our Belgian birthday girl.

The sky promised a lovely day and even in the shadow under the trees, it was perfect! Just like many other people, we followed the signs of the sea-to-summit trail (again, that is what we thought). The first part of the trail was quite steep with many stairs and steps of stones. No problem for our motivated group, so we made our way up along the waterfall with some breaks to enjoy the views. Every ten minutes, I heard a ‘Happy birthday’ – ‘Thank you’ conversation between Lore and some hikers on the trail. The balloon did its job, so she a lot of attention during the day.

The final part before reaching the top of the mountain was more challenging. The trail ended in rocks that we had to climb up. Ropes installed in the rocks and a ladder helped us to overcome the last metres until the top. Not being surrounded by trees anymore, finally allowed us to see where we were actually standing. Wow! The view was just amazing! After the past exhausting hours, it was time for lunch break. We found the perfect spot and could enjoy our sandwiches while looking at mountains with snowy tops. Some people took a power nap and some even came up with the great idea to use some sun cream.

Recovered and ready for the next part, we continued our trail where we spot even more
beautiful sceneries. While looking around and taking pictures, we suddenly saw it: the gondola that was supposed to be our destination of the hike. Frankly, it was still quite far away, so we better hurry up a bit. It was weird though that the trail continued downhill… That is when we became doubtful whether we were on the right trail or not. A local hiker could confirm that we actually weren’t. Without noticing, we left the official sea-to–summit trail already hours ago and hiked the Stawamus Chief instead. Next surprise of the day! There was nothing else we could do, but walking down again. So that is what we did until we reached the base of the gondola again. Since there was still time left until the last ride down, some of us decided to take the gondola up. And what a beautiful outlook we had waiting for us at the top: White Mountains, a blue sea and a green forest. Amazing! We walked over a suspension bridge and enjoyed both the sun and the landscape.

After riding down the gondola (surprisingly, no one wanted to hike), some of us took another ten minute walk to the Shannon Falls. Impressive to see how much water can come down from a mountain. We rounded the day off with dinner and laughs about this day full of surprises. At least the bus ride back to Vancouver did not have any problems and we could all get our well-deserved sleep. I had a great day and was happy that so many of you joined us on this adventure!

Sunday, it was time to relax. Well, only in the morning though, because the next active program was already planned for the afternoon. We only trained our legs Saturday, so it was time to get the arms active as well. We reserved our seats for a dragon boat session during the Community Paddling Day of the Dragon Zone Paddling. Perfect weather for that! After a short introduction, Stefan, Lisa, Lotte, Angy, Nadine and I were equipped with lifejackets and paddles. So, we spend our afternoon learning how to paddle in a dragon boat on False Creek. As a highlight of this hour, we could spot a sea lions’ head above the water. Finally, we competed with the other boats in fun races. I spent the rest of the afternoon with coffee and our paddling crew at the seaside enjoying the sun.

Take care of your sunburns and see you on Wednesday for our PuB NiGHT!

– Kerstin

INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 6N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

Stop, Squamish time!

Only one… two… three more days until we are on our way to Squamish! Although you already know what we are going to do, let me provide you with some more details.

We will meet at 7:45AM at the Pacific Central Station (1150 Station St) in Vancouver. We will arrive in Squamish at approximately 10:00AM. Then, we will walk for an hour to the base of the Sea to Sky Gondola where we will start our hike. The hike will last three hours and is filled with beautiful nature, amazing views and there will be time to enjoy a little picnic. At the end of the hike, we will be on the top of the Sea to Sky Gondola where we can find the Summit Lodge. The perfect place to treat ourselves to a drink and celebrate we made it! 

After that, it is time to go to the next activity: the Sky Pilot Suspension Bridge! The suspension bridge is 100 metres long and gives visitors a breathtaking view of the Sky Pilot Mountain and Howe Sound. When we have had enough of enjoying the sun (although honestly, could we ever?), it is time to take the gondola down again. But no worries, the trip is not over yet! When we are back at the base of the gondola, we will walk for about 20 minutes to have a look at Shannon Falls Provincial Park. Fun fact: Shannon Falls is the third tallest waterfall in British Colombia!

After visiting the waterfall, you will have the opportunity to have a Subway/A&W/McDonald’s (or bring your own) dinner before we head back on the bus. We will arrive in Vancouver at approximately 10pm. The day will consist of a lot of walking, however, it will all be worth it! According to the weather forecast it will be 26 degrees that day so don’t forget to bring your sunglasses and sunscreen! Also, make sure to bring enough food for the picnic and water to make sure you will not get dehydrated.

I hope you are just as excited as I am! See you tonight at the Beaver Bar!

– Angy

INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 6N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com