Copperstone Resort Canmore

Hello from a cold and snowy Canada. This is Tony, back on the blog after a 3-month absence. I flew from Tokyo last Saturday, and met up with Clare at Vancouver airport the following afternoon. The first 3 nights in Vancouver left us feeling as grey as the city buildings and the sky. It was not unbearably cold there - a bit like Melbourne in August - but there was precious little to see. The only place of interest we visited was a smallish ...

... following the discovery which lead to the establishment of the first national park in Canada. We headed back into town where I met Kerry who is from Kent. We had a good chat about things and then Judy our other room mate joined us (I had met her after lunch earlier). Judy is from Ohio and is nearly 70 if my estimations are correct!!! I got into bed at 8.30pm as I was so cold. Judy returned from watching a presidential debate and we discussed the American elections!!

... work, Ellie met us and we caught the bus up to the Banff Gondola - another freebie for me! Another beautiful summer's day in the Rocky Mountains! Perfect for the gondola and the sights of Banff and beyond. I was glad that Mum and Dad got to see those sights before they left, I have a feeling they had fallen in love with the Rocky Mountains like I had!! In the afternoon we wandered the streets of Banff and Mum bought herself a nice pair ...

... Anyway, we left and I enjoyed my dinner without him, at the table to the right, making immediately probably more noise than before. After dinner, it was almost time for the Duhks. When they came on, I wanted to go dance. Let me tell you a little bit about over-regulation of a music festival. You can find it in Canmore. At the right side of the stage, there was a small fenced off dance area where you could see the band, but hearing it was a different story. Nice dance ...

... white water rafting and canoeing are fun!). The number of potential animals you get to see here is also pretty exciting. We've seen cheeky ground squirrels, elk, eagles, deer and even brief glimpses of bears (from the safety of the car)! There are also cougars, big horned sheep and mountain goats, but I haven't see any of those yet. Needless to say my camera is full of pictures of lakes, mountains, more mountains, some more lakes, many rivers and even the odd ...

... Barossa Valley come to Banff. It was great to catch up with him for dinner and drinks and talk about our experiences (he spent the season at Whistler) and people from back home. 21st July saw me move back into staff accommodation, but with Max this time. Luckily I had got along with the residential manager reasonably well, so she found a spot for us but unfortunately not in the nice new accommodation like last time. This time we were situated at 413 Beaver ...

I am happy to say that I am now Starbuckless! No more shifts for me....they did try to schedule me on, but I gave plenty of notice so decided that I wasn't going to do them. What a relief to have more spare time! I went boarding again last Thursday for a couple of hours. Rachel was going to come with me again, but was still feeling sick, so I tackled it myself. I had a really good couple ...

... the person I needed to speak to was not in or positions had been filled. I gave myself a slap in the face and told myself it was only day 1 on foot and to get over it. I proceeded to find the job resource centre in town. While at the job resource centre I got a phone call from Jim at the Banff Caribou Lodge and Spa asking if I would like to come in for a chat that afternoon - obviously I did. I spent well over an hour with him chatting about the ...

Im in Banff for two nights and so far it seems like a cool place. Way more to do at least then there was in Lake Louise, they even have shops here. lol. The majority of people here seem to be about 40-65 years old and all wear their tour name pin with pride. I think that most of the tourists in this area are retiried, not so many people my age in the street at all. Today i actually managed to get a taxi to take me ...

I've been in the country more than a week now, so I've reached the stage where I've got a few perceptions of Canada. I've finally got my university timetable sorted out, and am really enthusiastic about some of my subjects. I might have even lined up a job as a volleyball umpire, if I can take that dormant year twelve accreditation and put it to use. I'm up at Canmore again this weekend for a party, having a great relaxing time in the mountains. Not that I have ...