Sunday
31st July – Sunday 11th September
Wow,
has it really been that long?! Now my
time here in Canada has come to an end and I shall be leaving on a jetplane
tonight back to the fine, fair land of New Zealand (which would be tomorrow
afternoon for those of you already there…).
So what have I been up to for the last month and a ½…
Well,
the last three weeks of Summer Camp were a blast with the teenage groups –
full-on but well worth every ounce of energy spent (and believe me, every ounce
was definitely spent by the end! LOL).
After
camp I had a couple of days off and then spent the next two weeks working in
housekeeping again at the camp to put a little extra money in the pocket.
In
the last block of camp there were a few sightings of black bears but I did not
get to see them. In fact, as I often ventured
up into the woods by myself in the morning to set up the ziplines bears were
the last thing I wanted to encounter.
There was also a black bobcat spotted one weekend but it didn’t seem to
stick around for long.
Each
weekend during the Summer I stayed with different people from camp whose parents
very generously opened their homes to me.
Thank you to you all, you are a blessing. During these weekends I had the pleasure
of: visiting neighbouring towns, going
to Vancouver to watch the ‘Celebration of Light’ fireworks, hiking up Elk
Mountain, and going to the Abbotsford Airshow for FREE. The airshow is the largest of its kind in
Canada, although I think the one at Wanaka is still larger. My friend from camp had a carload pass and I
was invited to go with so I jumped at the chance. What a great day it was – my favourite plane
was there (P-51 Mustang) and I got to sit in the cockpit of a giant US Herc and
learn a bit about how they fly - fun!
My
last Friday at camp, a couple of us went into Vancouver to check out the salsa
scene. It was okay and fun enough, but
it made me miss Cuba oh so much. It’s
just not the same here and the style’s completely different. It’s all about the moves rather than just
enjoying dancing with your partner, sigh…
On a bright note, we did see coyotes in the middle of Vancouver, some
raccoons and a skunk on our way home so all was not lost :)
Come
Saturday the 3rd September I said my farewells and have spent the
last week at the Snelgroves as my base, travelling to Banff for a couple of
days in between. My goodness travel and
accommodation is expensive in this country!
$252 return for a ‘cheap’ Greyhound bus ticket for an 11hr journey! I just booked my bus back home from Chch and
it only cost $15 bucks for 5hrs! The
hostel in Banff was $37 too so a word of warning to anyone thinking of
travelling Canada – make sure you save a lot before you come here!
The
scenery in Banff is lovely and lovelier if you make the effort to hike up
Sulphur Mountain for the views from the top (it’s not very strenuous – at the
moment I am completely unfit and was full of the worst cold I’ve had in about 5
years and still managed to make it up okay so there’s hope for you all out
there…). Of course, for those with more
money and less inclination for exercise there is always the option of the
Gondola too… ;P
Saw
the fattest chipmunks you will ever see up the top. They are so fat because silly tourists keep
feeding them (kind of like the keas back home).
They are as cheeky as can be.
Just check out the photos and you will see what I mean.
Speaking
of photos, I will get on to them soon.
My computer was hating on me today (again!) so things didn’t quite go to
plan in the photo upload department. I’ll let you all know when they’re up and
ready for viewing.
Other
than chipmunks, squirrels and a mule deer stag, the closest I came to seeing ‘wild’life
was on the wall of the Indian Fur Trading Post.
Most trails where you would see wildlife were unfortunately closed due
to Grizzlies in the area, so although there seems to be a lot of wildlife
around I never seem to be in the right spot to ‘spot’ them.
Righto,
I think that’s all from me. Now it’s
time to go home and face driving the North Island amidst all the crazies on our
roads for the RWC. Yey, go ABs! :D
