You, Me and Vitamin D

I returned 'home' to Cranbrook last week to spend a few days with the lovely Steph Murray.

There's something about Cranbrook. There's not much too it but it has the small-town goodness that you don't find in big cities. It reminds me alot of Gympie which is a comforting thing when you're on the other side of the world. Returning to C-Brook after being in Banff is like coming home from work and pulling on a pair of comfy old sweats. It just fits.

The sun was shining in B.C so I made the most of it by lying in the sun and getting my first sunburn of the summer - my back and my bum are now two different colours! Hurrah! There are no words to express how it feels to have the sun back in my life and be able to lie in it wearing minimal clothing. Instead of wearing thermals, jeans, a singlet, a t-shirt, a long-sleeved t-shirt, three sweaters, my snow jacket and a beanie and still be freezing my kahootz off.

Cranbrook's local professional junior ice-hockey team, the Kootenay Ice, were playing two home games while I was there so I was very willingly dragged along to watch with Steph and her ice-hockey enthusiast father. Both games were pretty important in the series, determining the Ice's lead up to the Memorial Cup so the whole town was packed into Cranbrook's stadium. Now that I've got the hang of watching ice hockey (penalties, power plays - I've got the jargon down pat), I don't know if I can ever go back to watching the cricket.  All the skating and the slamming and the violent throw-downs on the ice - it's just so damn addictive.

I did all the things typical of my trips to Cranbrook - went to Boston Pizza, drank a lot of ceasers, went to the movies, went shopping, played Steph's out-of-tune piano and painted my toenails. It was lovely to feel like I was back in the 'real' world, rather than the Banff bubble. It felt like I had crawled out of my winter hibernation like a bleary-eyed bear and was feeling those first welcome effects after a healthy dose of Vitamin D.

Ciao for now. xo

To Cranbrook, With Love

As much as I love Banff - living in the ski town, working on a ski hill, snowboarding down Angel run in the sunny afternoons, seeing the snow pile up on our balcony, playing foosball at the Gap, even finding a kind of satisfaction in slipping over on the icy walkways - sometimes a girl can get a bit tired of it all. The incestuous nature of living in a ski town, dragging my tired ass one hour up a hill to go to work where I get stiffed the tip off a $100 bill, falling on my ass too many times as I come down Angel run on a windy afternoon, the water leaking into my bedroom as the snow on the balcony melts, being refused entry to the Gap because it's too crowded and not being able to walk out the front door without wearing a pair of iceskates.

So when Banff loses its sunny appeal, I pack up and return 'home' to Steph Murray in Cranbrook.

It had been four months since my initial visit to Cranbrook and while little had changed in my favourite Canadian town, it was a relief to see Cranbrook's fast-food strip and somehow feel like I had returned home. But my trip back wasn't without effort. After a few days of epic snowing, Mother Nature smighted my attempts to leave Banff and caused an avalanche on the BC/Alberta border. What should have been an easy four hour journey on the Greyhound (my favourite form of transport in Northern America), I ended up spending nine very mind-numbing and sinus-aggravating hours travelling the long way through Calgary and Fernie before finally making it to C-Brook at 5am in the morning.

Another memorable trip to add to my list of Greyhound adventures.

But after a long sleep (in my OWN room) and a shower (in my OWN bathroom) the slog was definitely made worthwhile. As Steph went to school and work, I set up permanent residence on the couch were I wasted my way through the third season of The Hills and played her out-of-tune piano like it was a Broadwood Grand and I was Billy Joel. I went to Boston Pizza, ate some Dairy Queen, went to a junior league hockey game and spent some quality time enjoying life outside of the Banff bubble.

And I got my hair cut - every tired, down-and-out girl's saving grace.

So I returned to Banff feeling relaxed, renewed and rejuvenated and like I'd missed it - just the tiniest bit.

Ciao for now. xo

(Not Quite) Walking on Sunshine

My apologies for the lack of blogging. It's been a tough ol' week and with all the stress of trying to find work, blogging about it has been the last thing I've felt like doing.

After travelling four hours to Banff and spending five days there, I did not return to Cranbrook a very happy camper. I attended the Sunshine Mountain job fair and interviewed for two positions - one as a liftie and one in hospitality. I felt pretty confident about how the interviews went and was told that I would hear back about the liftie position on Friday and the hospitality position on the 25th. After almost dying of anticipation, Friday came and went and I didn't recieve any exciting email in my inbox. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - still nothing. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed and kicking myself that I had put all my eggs in the one Sunshine Mountain basket. I now have one shot left to work on the mountain or start looking for a job in Banff itself and believe me, there are plenty of other people in that particular search party.

The real highlight of Banff - other than the breathe-taking views and the cool people I met - was for the first time in my life, I saw snow. Snow, actually coming out of the sky like confetti. Some girlfriends and myself had planned on doing a hike but on our way through town, the street suddenly clouded over and from out of nowhere, white fluffy flakes started falling from the sky. They danced their way down and dissolved as soon as they hit the pavement. It was pretty cool and I'm assured there is plenty more where they came from.

On a more upbeat note, it has been nice to return to Cranbrook for a few days. The hostel room I was staying in at the Samesun Hostel in Banff was a mixed-dorm in which I was the only girl and the snoring that issued from the other five beds could have moved mountains. Back at Steph's, I have the comfort of my own smooshy double bed, my own bathroom and the first two seasons of Laguna Beach.

Steph and her family and friends have been very attentive in ensuring I am having the ultimate Canadian experience. Steph's dad took me to an ice hockey game last night between the Kootenay Ice and the Edmonton Oil Kings, the junior league which is one level below professional. Thankfully, I had watched The Mighty Ducks (1, 2 and 3) enough times to understand most of what was going on and any of my questions were answered in detail by Steph's dad. The whole experience was very exciting, especially the parts where the 20 year-old boys smashed each other into the glass panels surrounding the rink and then got sin-binned for brawling. It's like rugby league but on ice with sticks and pucks and padding.

Okay, so nothing like rugby league but a good night out none the less.

I'm hanging out in Cranbrook for two more nights and then heading back to Banff on Friday with my can-do attitude a-blazing. There's a job out there in the snow with my name on it.

Ciao for now. xo

If You Love Canada, Put Your Hands Up!

USA. Shmoo-SA.

Canada is where it's at.

I hate to play favourites, especially given all the amazing and diverse places I've been in the last four months, but I'm sorry US of A, if you and Canada where in a beauty pagent, Canada would win the crown.

I am not even going to attempt to describe how beautiful this country is. I feel like no cliches or original lines of immaculate verse could do justice to the picturesque views that reveal themselves around every bend in the road. Since I arrived in Cranbrook, British Columbia on Saturday, I've been literally dragging my jaw behind me like a stubborn puppy. Every window I look out of, every hill I reach the top of, every valley which appears before me leaves me speechless. There is nothing in Australia and nothing I have seen in the last four months which compares to the towering mountains and kilometre after kilometre of green and gold pine trees which cover the country side. It's so beautiful, it feels like I've fallen into a postcard.

The mind-numbing, 14-hour trip to get across the American border to Canada was all worth it when I touched down in Cranbrook and was met by the happy face of Stephanie Murray, long-time friend who I met in high school while she was on exchange. As always, it felt nice to be back in the company of someone I'd known for more than a few days and even nicer when she took me back to her house and welcomed me into my own room, with a private bathroom. Is this resort living, or what?

In a wicked twist of fate, I managed to time my arrival in Canada on the weekend of Thanksgiving so Saturday and Sunday nights were spent in the company of Steph's family who introduced me to the festive holiday that celebrates the harvest. In a few words, Thanksgiving is like Christmas, but without the presents. All you do is eat. Turkey, lamb, ham, potatoes, yams, cranberries, vegetable casserole, gravy and of course, pumpkin pie. All this goes down with a few glasses of red wine and a much needed nap after the feasting is done.

While I'm calling Cranbrook home-base for now, I left today to pursue the reason I came to Canada in the first place. Work. After a four hour bus drive to Alberta which wound through even more mind-bogglingly beautiful countryside - I'm talking streams so icy blue they could be made of glass and mountains covered in the skeletons of wind-burnt pine trees - I arrived in Banff. Tomorrow, I head to my interview at the Banff Job Fair, where fingers, toes and fallopian tubes crossed, I secure myself a job and accommodation at Sunshine Mountain, where the next snowy part of my journey begins.

Everytime I arrive in a new place, I think my travels can not get any better, that my current experience can not be trumped. After arriving in Banff, anything more and I think I might die of aesthetic happiness.

PS. Except that it is FREAKING COLD!

Ciao for now. xo