This weekend was a special one for me. I went to the Rockies for a 4 Day Trip and it was awesome. Let me tell you a bit more about it:
We started Friday in the morning at Waterfront, prepared to go on our journey. While sitting in bus we were listening to our tour guide introducing himself. He told us some information about our trip before he asked us where we all are from. It was very interesting out of which parts of the world the other guys are coming. We had a lot of Brazilians, Germans, Mexicans…It was a very diverse group, but this made it a unique trip and experience! However, back to the story. After stopping in Hope, Kamloops and Golden we arrived at the Mountain View Cabins for our first overnight stop. After having lunch, we stayed for a few hours near the campfire and started to learn to know each other. The first day was going to an end, so everybody went their cabin and fall asleep after this long day of travelling.
Saturday in the morning we wanted to leave the camp before the sunset, so we had to get up early. After having breakfast (it was sooooooo cold!), it was time to leave the camp towards Lake Emerald and this was by the way one of the most terrific views I had in my entire life. I saw the sun coming up behind the mountain, pushing away the fog and discovered the beautiful view on the lake. It was unbelievable awesome! After, in my opinion a too short, period at this Lake we went ahead to Lake Louise, where we had lunch. Lake Louise is also a very beautiful place with an unbelievable turquoise water. You could lose your mind in this colorful lake! In the Afternoon it was time to go Banff, where we took the Gondola to go to the peak of Sulphur Mountain. On top you had a fantastic view over Banff and the surrounding area. Back at the foot of the mountain we checked in the Hotel and prepared everything for this evenings Pub Night at the Devils Gap. We played billiard, had a lot of interesting conversation and I learned to know many new people. So this was how the Saturday came to an end, a very long ending! 😀
After having a very short night, we picked up some food at Tim Hortons and started our day “Lake”-Day. We stopped at Lake Two Jack, Lake Minnewanka, Bow Lake and the Peyto Lake. It was unbelievable to see all these wonderful places and none of them was waste of time! Afterwards we went to the Athabasca Glacier and especially for the South American Guys it was an unique experience. For some of them it was the first time they saw ice and snow and even when you know snow and you already have seen a glacier, it was a stunning view! Our last stop this day was Mount Robson. Due to the unbelievable weather conditions and the cloudless sky, we were able to the all of it. A very cool moment. Afterwards we had dinner and spend the evening sitting together and talking or playing soccer in front of our Hotel. In my opinion, a great evening!
Monday was already the last day, so we checked out, had an outdoor breakfast (-8 Degrees!!!) and started our trip back to Vancouver. After a few stops and a long journey we arrived at Waterfront. I had to hurry up, because I had an appointment in front of the Rogers Arena. It was time for my first NHL Game: the Vancouver Canucks against the Washington Capitals. The result was not the anticipated one, but the experience was very cool!
To sum my weekend up: it was amaaaaazing! I only can recommend the trip to the Rockies. It is kind of life-changing activity!
While I spend my time in the Rockies, Lukas and Julia went out with some other guys to the Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver! They hiked along the trail, stopped at some viewing points, where thy enjoyed the stunning view. At there last stop they had some lunch together. It was a successful day!
I hope your weekend was great too and maybe we will see us today for the next Pub Night at Steamworks 🙂
-Michael
INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 6N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
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just walk around the picturesque village. Aboard the coach again, we played some games, listened to music and started to get to know each other better. We had lunch in Kamloops and made a short stop at the Spahats Falls. And so, after a 9-hour drive in the bus, we finally arrived at our first night’s stay in Valemount. The evening activity there: Hockey in the Rockies. Teamed up and ready to win, both the “Pride Dragons” and “Tigers” chased the ball to score some goals.
Afterwards, we all had the chance to take beautiful pictures with this giant mountain in the background. We boarded the bus again and drove to our next stop: The Athabasca Falls. Even though we had to leave quite soon after we arrived, everyone had the chance to take a stunning picture of and/or with the falls.
The bravest among us got ready to be cooler than they’ve ever been before. Of course, you’ve always been cool, guys – but I think you know what I mean. So, to visualize it: 20 crazy INTERNeX-people running into ice-cold water, screaming at the top of their lungs and cheering with the kicking-in of adrenalin. FUN! Great job to those who did it! I really enjoyed it and can only recommend doing it.
Friday was finally the time to go to the Rockies and I was so excited that I barely slept the day beforehand. I could see that more people lacked some sleep, as a lot of people were getting coffees in Tim Hortons or tried to catch some sleep in the bus. The drive to Valemount was pretty long, so luckily we had enough stops along the way. Our first stop was at Hope, where everybody had time to get a coffee, breakfast and explore the town. We went to see the river and made a few pictures of it. After that we continued our journey to Kamloops, where we could get lunch in the mall. When all our stomachs were filled, we started driving to Spahat Falls. This is a cute little waterfall near Clearwater. As it was so small, you could take pictures with it with the water coming from your nose or mouth. Then we continued our journey to Valemount. On the way to Valemount, we were a bit unlucky, as there was a forest fire. The police blocked the road and we weren’t able to get to our hotel. According to the news, it would take about 2 hours for the road to open again, so we went back to Blue River to wait for new updates. After an hour we heard that the road would not open till the morning, so Janel tried to arrange an hotel in Kamloops. We tried to make the best out of the situation, so some of our group even started dancing on the music. When Janel could not arrange a hotel in Kamloops, he called the police for us. Apparently the road was open again, so the decision was made to get back to the hotel again. We were really happy 
that we still could get to the hotel, because if we would have gone back to Kamloops, we would have needed to wake up 3 hours earlier. This made the bus drive even longer, but not less fun. During our long bus drive we played games with the whole bus. One of the games was called “Speeddating”. Basically, one side was just switching seats and you had a short time to get to know them. It was really nice to get to know people besides our INTERNeX gang. We also played another game during our long bus ride. While playing the game, Janel would mention a certain item. This item had to be brought to the back of the bus and then back to Janel. The row that managed to do it first won. Besides that we also sang a lot together and turned the bus a bit in a party bus. When we finally got to the hotel, we still went to the Cowboy ranch where we ate dinner, did line dancing and tried to catch a bull with a lasso.
I was amazed by the amazing blue water and made some great pictures in front of the lake. Then it was time for the second lake of our big trip: Bow Lake. At Bow Lake we could do the Polar Wolf Swim. Basically, we ran with the whole group into the water, because that seemed easier. However, in my opinion the water did not get warmer while I was swimming in it, so I got out of it really soon. We all quickly changed back into our normal clothes and drove to our second hotel. We did not stay really long at that hotel, as we had to get dinner and then had to meet at the pub for pre-drinks. The drinks in the pub were really cheap, so a great place for pre-drinks for our big party in Banff. After getting some drinks we went to the club to dance the night away.
The next day a lot of people were still recovering from the day before. We already had to leave really early in order to see all the lakes that day. Our first stop was at Lake Minnewanka where we had breakfast again. After I finished my food, I decided to explore the lake for a bit and make pictures together with Lea. On the way back to the bus we also saw big horn sheep walking away and luckily I got the chance to make a picture of them as well. Then we drove further to one of the more famous lakes of the Rockies, Lake Louise. We first did a hike to a hidden spot. From this hidden spot, you could make a beautiful picture of the lake without all the tourists on it. After I got pictures from the lake, I decided to go back to the lake and enjoy the view from the bottom. However, I could not spend a lot of time there, as I already did a long hike before that. After time at the lake itself, we could either choose to go to Lake Louise village or do the Lake Louise gondola. I decided to do the Lake Louise gondola, which meant that I could also enjoy the 
all you can eat buffet beforehand. The food was really good and after I ate I was ready to go up to the top of the gondola. Franz, Alex and I took the open gondola, as we wanted to make sure that we could make nice pictures if we would spot a bear on the way to the top. Unfortunately we didn’t see any bears. Once on the top, we did a hike which took us to a really nice viewing point. From there you could see the mountains on the back and the clouds also added something mystical. As I was a bit late, I had to sing a song in front of the bus. I decided to sing “Het is een nacht”, which is a famous Dutch song. It was fun to see Danielle and Bart singing along, which made it less awkward for me. After enjoying the amazing view at the top of the gondola, it was finally time to go to the best lake in the Rockies, which I think is Moraine Lake. Moraine Lake is the most blue lake in the Rockies and great for pictures. We hiked a short time to get a better view of the lake and made a picture there. I was so amazed by the blue color of the lake. I also tried to make one on the rocks, which was really scary for me. After Moraine Lake we 
continued our way to another amazing lake, namely Emerald Lake. A lot of people decided to do canoeing. I went together with Lea and Merle. We all got a paddle and I think we were doing a pretty good job with directing the boat. On the lake we were enjoying the views of the mountains and the beautiful lake. After that we drove up to the Mountain View Cabins. There were only a few cabins, which basically meant that we were the only one at the cabins. We had a great BBQ and then I explored the area a bit. After that I played a game with Dawid, Marko, Mandy, Tess and Nathalie. I ended that night early, while others decided to party.
Japanese would say: “Gambate” which means something like “give it your all” we kept going and overcame our challenges. So, we forced ourselves out of bed to maybe catch a glimpse of some wildlife and check out yet another beautiful lake.
Afterwards came Peyto Lake which has the form of a wolf when looked upon from above. It’s pretty amazing what strange things nature does sometimes.
Before we arrived we visited the powerful waterfall at Athabasca Falls and then a park from where you had a great view on the Canadian Rockies’ highest mountain: Mount Robson.
Soo, after a great time around Lake Louise we continued to our next destination, the Banff gondola. The gondola led us to the top of the mountains where it was possible to walk around on pathways and enjoy spectacular views of the Banff mountains. Since we didn’t have too much time at the top of the mountains, some of us had a bit of exercise running up and down stairs leading from one end of the pathway to the other. When arriving back down in the valley some took the opportunity to have look a the tourist shop. We also had a lot of fun watching some of the pictures taken when entering the gondola at the top of the mountain. It was possible to buy the pictures at the tourist shop but perhaps it was a bit expensive.
local places to eat. Later during the evening some went out to dance the night away at a club, while others preferred to have a chat at some of the many great pubs that Banff has to offer.
visited Johnston’s Canyon, Bow Lake and Peyto Lake and we travelled the icefields parkway. The top attraction of the day was the Columbia icefield where we travelled with a so called SnoCoach up the glacier. A SnoCoach is a special bus specifically build for the purpose of travel up and down the glacier. As we reach the top of the glacier most of us tried to drink the ice-cold and refreshing glacial water. Water never tasted this good… very delicious!
INTERNeX Canada 