Banff

Hi guys :)

On Friday we spent our first full day in Banff. There were so many Australians in this town! One of the Aussie store workers told us that 60% of the work force in Banff is Australian! There was also 'Help Wanted' signs in almost every store. We drove to Bow Falls, then went to the Banff Gondola and went up to the top of Sulphur Mountain. There was really great views of the town and the mountains from up there.

After this, we went to Lake Minnewanka (pronounced mini-wonka). The lake was such a gorgeous green colour. We walked along the side of the lake.

We then started a hike to Stewart Canyon. Apparently there is a pretty waterfall at the end, but after walking for miles and miles, we never found it. We were on the trail by ourselves and were starting to get scared we'd get attacked by a bear! So we turned around and walked back. The only wildlife we saw were a few squirrels (which are still so cute!). We were so hot, sweaty and exhausted from the hike, so we went back to the hotel and got Subway for a late lunch at about 3pm (yep, long hike!). We then had a bit of a rest before driving to Johnston Canyon. We hiked about 1km to the Lower Falls. They were so awesome. You could duck under this rock and stand on a section that was so close to the falls that you got sprayed by the water!

Later that day, we went souvenir shopping in downtown Banff before going to a really nice Italian restaurant for dinner. Afterwards, we shopped a bit more before going to Cow's Icecreamery, which is a chain of ice-cream stores in Canada. Their ice-cream is so amazing! And apparently their Prince Edward Island store is ratest the world's best ice-cream! They also sell hilarious merchandise, where they change things and make them related to cows. I ended up getting the Fifty Shades of Hay shirt in light blue ;) haha

Saturday, Dad and I woke up early to get ready for white water rafting! We waited in the lobby of a nearby hotel to be picked up by the bus. Across the road we saw two squirrels chasing each other around a tree, kind of playing hide and seek. They did it for ages, and it was so cute and funny. We got picked up by the Chinook Rafting bus, which already had quite a few people on it. It was about a 40 minute bus ride to their base camp. On the bus we got given forms and had to sign our lives away (which reminded us of skydiving!) Once we arrived at base camp, we got given wetsuit booties, a wetsuit and a spray jacket. We had to get changed in this large tent that had a sheet up in the middle to separate men and women. The tent had no light in there, so it was hard to see what you were doing! We then got our helmets and life jackets and went on the school bus down to the Horseshoe Canyon.

We had to walk down to the river and each got a paddle. We heard the safety instructions about what to do if you fall overboard or if the raft capsizes. It made us feel so nervous and scared! There was so many different instructions, I was worried I would forget it all if I happened to fall out! There was 8 rafts on the tour in total and we were then assigned to our raft. Our guide was Peruvian and the other groups in our raft were a family from Pennsylvania, a man from England, and two women from Canada. When we were approaching the first rapid, our guide started singing the Jaws theme song to make us more nervous! The rapids were a lot of fun and quite intense, but there wasn't as many rapids as I thought. Next time I want to do the more intense rapids :)

We stopped along the way for a group photo of all 8 rafts. We also had the opportunity to do either an 8ft cliff jump, or a 25ft cliff jump. Dad and I chickened out and just went the 8ft which was pretty scary actually! The water was absolutely freezing! They took photos of us jumping but my photo is so embarrassing so I don't want to share it here, sorry!

The guides were talking up how many bears they usually on their tours which made Dad and I so excited, but unfortunately we didn't see any. We headed back to base camp, got changed, and got a free cookie and hot chocolate. We bought the CD with all the photos they took of us. We then caught the bus back to Banff and relaxed for a bit. We went for lunch at Eddie's burger bar which was really great. Me and mum then went shopping in downtown while Dad had a nap. On the way back we saw a mountie taking photos with people but I didn't have my camera! Bummer! Lesson #1: must take camera EVERYWHERE! We then went to a really nice Greek restaurant for dinner.

On our last day in Banff we used the GyPSy guide, which is like a GPS with a personal tour guide that you can use in your own car. It figures out your location and tells you awesome places to stop at, along with interesting facts and history about the area you're driving through. We went to the Lake Louise gondola and rode up the chairlift to the lookout. Along the way from the chairlift we saw a grizzly bear eating in the open woods area! It was so awesome and we got so excited!!

The view from the lookout was really pretty. At the bottom of the mountain is Lake Louise in the distance.

We went back down the chairlift and saw the grizzly bear again :) We then went to Lake Louise which was absolutely packed with tourists. It was really beautiful, and we walked around the side of the lake for awhile.

We then checked out the lobby of the very expensive Chateau hotel that's right on Lake Louise. We then drove to Moraine Lake, which was even more gorgeous. We stopped to have homemade sandwiches near a hiking trail. There was a bear warning sign to hike in groups of four or more. It's enforceable by law and you could get fined $5000! We then climbed the stairs to the lookout of the lake which was amazing.

When we were at the lookout, Mum put down the lunch bag and a squirrel came up so close to us by surprise! But it ran away before I could get a photo :( We then drove and crossed the border back into British Columbia and went to Takakkaw Falls. These falls were seriously so spectacular and impressive. They were so powerful and loud, and you could get so close that you got sprayed from the falls. It was freezing being that close and we didn't have our jackets.

We then drove to Emerald Lake which was really pretty.

We then stopped at Natural Bridge on the way back, before driving back into the state of Alberta and into Banff. We went to Cow's Icecreamery again for dessert :)

There's still more for me to blog about, but it's time for bed!

Love,

Emily