Whitehorse, Yukon

Hey everyone!

 

So it looks like I do have some time to blog a bit!

 

On the 6th I had two final exams. My one for Canadian Social Structure went alright. I got back my film assignment for that class and I got 83.7%. That night I had my Sociology of the Family exam which went really well. I already have my mark for that whole course. I got 84 :) Such better marks over here than Sydney uni!

 

The next day Sally and I flew to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory in Canada. We checked in and then ate some brunch because we didn't think we were going to get food on our short flight. Turns out that we did get free food on the plane, and it was really good! We even got a slice of cheesecake. We definitely recommend Air North. When we were coming in to land we were watching beautiful snow covered mountains and trees. It was amazing to see, and we had a really smooth landing too!

 

 

We were met at the airport by our tour guide who had a sign with our names on it. I've always wanted that to happen, just like on the movies! I didn't get a photo of me with him and the sign because that would have been too awkward. We collected out bags and then walked like 5 metres to his van in -26 degrees. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! But maybe that's because we weren't out there for that long. We got dropped off at the Beez Kneez Bakpakers hostel and we met the owner, Nancy, who was so lovely. It's basically her home that has a few rooms full of bunkbeds. It was great to be in a real home again.

 

 

We talked to our guide and he said we had a better chance of seeing the Northern Lights that night, instead of the next night which we had booked. So we changed it to the Friday night.

 

We then left to explore the town of Whitehorse. We walked to the end of the road that our hostel is on, then Sally realised that she wasn't warm enough, so we had to go back so she could put on more layers. We then did attempt number two! Walking the 20 minutes into town was so freezing. We were both so cold but were laughing so hard at our situation. Sally's hair, eyebrows, and glasses were freezing over! It was so cold that our snot was freezing!

 

 

We got onto Main St and checked out a few souvenir stores. The people there were so nice. In one store the lady gave us free hot apple cider! I got myself a snowflake necklace, a Canada flag iron-on patch to start my collection of flags on my backpack, and a little keyring for Kurtis. We found a cafe and had hot chocolate and cookies, while I used their wi-fi to led Mum and Dad know that I was okay.

 

 

We walked around a bit more, then checked out the menus of a few restaurants. We found an Italian restaurant called Allegro that we wanted to come back to for dinner. But first we went to get groceries for breakfasts and lunches for the next two days. We went back and ate dinner which was really nice and warm. Even though we were already pretty full from all the other food we ate during the day, it was essential to eat more to keep us warm. Develop another layer of fat for warmth haha!

 

We got a cab back to the hostel as we didn't want to walk back in the cold. We relaxed in the hostel for awhile then had to get dressed up extremely warmly for the Northern Lights viewing. Here's a list of everything I wore that night: ankle socks, wool socks, ski socks, undies, thermal leggings, jeans, rental overalls, bra, singlet, long sleeved top, thermal top, sweater, fleece jumper, ski coat, rental coat, scarf, neck gator, rental toque (Canadian word for beanie), and rental mitts. I felt like Joey from the TV show Friends when he wears all of Chandler's clothes. It was like I was wearing a fat suit! It was so hard to walk and lift my arms. It was hilarious.

 

 

We got picked up in the bus, collected about 14 others for the tour, then headed out to the viewing site which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere! There was a giant constructed tent with a fireplace.

 

 

It was -33 degrees out there that night. It was absolutely freezing, despite all my layers, and the fireplace was doing nothing! The sky was full of stars out there. I had never seen so many stars before. I also saw a shooting star for the first time in my life, which was so exciting! We waited in the tent for awhile and had hot chocolate to warm up. I have never been that cold before, it was insane.

 

 

There was always a couple of people outside watching for the Northern Lights. Whenever someone came inside yelling, we all ran outside. For me, it was a bit disappointing. We only saw a faint white greenish glow on the horizon. We couldn't figure out our cameras to change the shutter speed and other options so we could take photos, so our photos turned out to be of just blackness. The tour guide's camera was on the right settings and you you actually see them better through a camera than with the human eye. They looked much more green and purple. They took a photo of Sally and I with the Northern Lights in the background. We paid to have it sent to us in Australia. We stayed out there until about 1am. By the end we were so cold and rugged up that we felt like we could fall asleep and eventually die. Sally and I were quoting Titanic when Jack is dying and saying "No. Don't give up. You're going to die and old, old lady warm in her bed" haha! We finally got the bus back and got back at 2:30am. I showered for ages to defrost my fingers and toes.

 

We woke up at 9am the next day and it was so dark because the sun doesn't rise there in winter until 10am! Sally made us scrambled eggs for breakfast. We got a call from the tour company that it was -38 degrees and too cold for dogsledding. Sally and I were so disappointed. They told us there were still going to take us to the Wildlife Preserve and Takhini Hot Springs in the afternoon. Nancy, the hostel owner, attempted to sort an alternative out for us but unfortunately that didn't work out. Sally called the company and explained to them that dogsledding was our top priority. They managed to get us on the half day dogsledding tour that afternoon as it would have warmed up a bit by then! It meant that we didn't get to do the wildlife preserve or the hot springs, but we were okay with that.

 

With that organised, we bunbled up and walked to the S.S. Klondike historical paddle boat and got some great photos.

 

 

We came back, had lunch and hot chocolate, and then got ready for dogsledding. We got picked up and were with two other groups. We got driven to the site and there was so many dogs in kennels. They were all howling like crazy.

 

 

We got given heat pads for our hands and feet, and proper boots and mittens. We got given our instructions then went to our sled. Sally was driving and I was riding first. We had 6 dogs and they were so excited to run. They were howling and jumping and pulling against the ropes. Our guide went first on the trail on a snowmobile to lead us. The 3 other sleds went ahead of us, and we were last. It was sooo incredible and so much fun. It was so cold that my eyebrows and eyelashes had icicles on them!! If I took my hand out of my mitten to take a photo, my hand was in pain straight away from the cold. So I hope you appreciate that I was sacrificing my hand when I took these photos!

 

 

After awhile we swapped over and I was driving, which was also so much fun. We didn't have to call at the dogs, just control their speed with the slower and brake. The scenery was picturesque and breathtaking. It was the most amazing experience.

 

 

We swapped over again for the last time, so Sally drove twice. The last quarter of the whole tour, once we were heading back, was like death. I think it dropped to -38 degrees or even lower. My feet had gone numb and I was short of breath and felt like I was dying. I had to keep my feet moving so I didn't get frostbite. I've never been that cold before and I don't think I've ever been in that much pain before. You don't understand it until it happens to you.

 

 

The dogs were so cold and exhausted and were going slow. We felt so bad for them. It felt like hours passed until we finally made it back. Then I could barely walk because my feet were numb, so Sally had to practically drag me inside. I had to keep them moving to heat them up. Good news guys, I didn't get frostbite and I still have all ten toes! We were then given hot chocolate and brownies while we sat in front of the fireplace.

 

Our guide then dropped us off in town. We went and ate dinner, then we were craving apple pie. We asked a local where to go, then walked 5 mins to a restaurant in a hotel and we each had a slice of warm apple pie with icecream. It was amazing. We got a taxi back to the hostel, then stayed up for awhile chatting with Nancy and other travellers.

 

 

On the Sunday we got picked up to go snowmobiling! Our guide Andre was so nice. We picked up a couple from Singapore who were doing the tour with us. We drove out about 30 mins to the site which is right by Fish Lake. We got into their proper gear including a jacket, boots, mitts, balaclava, goggles, and helmet. It was only about -16 degrees. Warm for us compared to the days before! There was one snowmobile per couple.

 

 

Sally tested it out around the cabin while I sat on the back, then I tested it out. It's not too hard to use, you just have to get the hang of leaning your body to help it during turns and stuff. We started off and I was driving. It was incredible and so much fun! We got to drive over Fish Lake because it was frozen, then there was a thick layer of deep snow on top. The sun was still rising over the mountains and it was such a gorgeous sight. We then drove halfway up a mountain. Sally and I took turns driving. We stopped along the way and saw animal tracks in the snow like from rabbits and lynx. We walked through some knee deep snow! It was awesome.

 

 

The further we got up the mountain, the deeper the snow became because there was a snow storm overnight that dumped a lot of fresh fluffy snow. Andre was on his snowmobile leading the way and creating a trail for us to follow. At one stage the snow got so deep his snowmobile got stuck and he had to get a shovel in order to get it out!

 

 

 

Even with the trail it was hard for us to drive up it. We stopped at two lookouts on the mountain to take photos of the gorgeous view of the surrounding mountains and Fish Lake.

 

 

At one point I was driving through the deep snow and we tipped over!! I fell off into the deep snow. It was hilarious and I was laughing so much. Andre was like "Good work ladies!" and gave is high-fives! We got off and he helped us get it out. Sally and I alternated driving for the rest of the way.

 

 

After getting dropped back off at our hostel, we had some hot chocolate (I think I overdosed on hot chocolate over this weekend), then we walked into downtown for some last minute shopping in the stores we hadn't gone into. I got some postcards, a sachet of candy cane flavoured hot chocolate, a sachet of gingerbread flavoured hot chocolate, and a Christmas/birthday/thank you present for Mum! We then flew back into Vancouver and made our way back to UBC. It was such a memorable trip and I'm so glad I got to experience everything I did!

 

Much more to blog about!

 

Love,

Emily



The end is near...

Hi everyone!

 

My university exchange at UBC, Vancouver is coming to an end.

 

I have so much to tell you about my weekend trip to Whitehorse, Yukon, and my last two weeks here. Unfortunately, I won't have time to blog about this. I still have to study for my very last final exam on Wednesday, and I want to spend as much time with my loved ones here while I still can. I hope you all understand. I've had the time of my life here, and I don't want it to end.

 

On the 19th I'll be leaving Vancouver and flying to the U.S. where I'll be starting my Contiki trip in New Orleans. From there, I'm travelling to Memphis, Dallas, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Cortez, Durango, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. I'll be spending Christmas in Texas, and New Years Eve in Vegas! On the 3rd of January I'll be leaving L.A. and flying to Toronto, where I get to see my beautiful family again. We'll be spending some time in Toronto before travelling around Mont Tremblant, Montreal, and Quebec City. I will be home on the 25th of January, right in time for Australia Day!

 

Once I'm home I will blog all about my travels around the U.S. and Eastern Canada.

 

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

I love you all so much and I can't wait to see you soon!!

 

Love,
Emily

Whistler, baby!

Hey everyone!

 

So Friday was my last day of Canadian classes. Most of them were just spent going over what is in the final exams. I got 74% in my Crime and Society essay :) At the end of the day I wasn't expecting how sad I would feel to finish my classes here at UBC. I know back home I would be really happy to finish classes, but here it's the beginning of the end :(

 

In happier news, I spent the weekend in Whistler on a trip with UBC's Exchange Student Club. There was about 60 of us all up. We left on Friday afternoon and the bus arrived at our hostel at about 7:30 that night. Our hostel was really nice! It was only built in 2010, and for the Winter Olympians. The only problem was that it was a 20 minute bus ride from Whistler Village. I roomed with Rikki, Sally and Patrick.

 

That night we ate in the hostel's cafe, before being put into teams and doing team bonding games! Most of them were drinking games, so I wasn't really having a good time. There were also games where the teams had to verse each other in passing a mango, a cucumber, and a penny to each other without using your hands down the line of team members the fastest. Those games were very... interesting. Afterwards a bunch of us went outside the hostel for a snowball fight which was pretty fun until you get hit with an icy snowball in the boob. Ouch.

 



 

 

On Saturday we all woke up early and got ready for a day on the slopes! This was the view out our window on Saturday morning.

 

 

A few of us who had professional lessons booked caught the bus into the village to collect our lesson vouchers. We then met up with everyone else and collected our ski tickets and rental equipment. I had booked a full day level one skiing lesson, and so had my friend Alejandro, who is on exchange from Mexico. We went together so we were put into the same lesson. We were with a young couple from Vancouver, and our instructor's name was Dominique and he was from Montreal. He was really nice and liked cracking lots of jokes.

 

 

We took the gondola up then learn all about our skiing equipment before starting. At first I didn't like it because I wasn't getting it straight away. I'm a perfectionist, so it was frustrating me, but I slowly started getting the hang of it and started enjoying it. It was snowing the whole time we were there. I had never actually seen snow falling from the sky before. It was amazing and I looked up, stuck my tongue out, and ate some :) We did little slopes, learning to stop and turn. We then went on the "magic carpet" conveyor belt and got off and did the beginner slope a few times which was fun. Dominique then took us down a little but steeper slope to get to the gondola. I did it twice during the day but I always lost control and went too fast. We all caught the gondola to the top of Whistler mountain and had a break for lunch. I had definitely worked up an appetite by then!

 

 

 

 



After lunch we got the gondola back down and did the magic carpet a few more times. We even did it once without our ski poles. I was nervous about that but it was fine! We got the gondola back down to the base of the mountain at the end of our lesson. We were able to put our skis and poles in free storage which was great, and I bought myself a touristy Whistler shirt :) I met up with some other exchange students and we went to a cafe and had delicious hot chocolates, which was what I was craving! I was also craving a bubble bath, but that wasn't likely to happen. I was so proud that I didn't fall down at all that day, despite running into a couple of people haha! I didn't knock them over or anything though! We all then went to the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant for our free dinner provided by the Exchange Student Club. It was good meeting and hanging out with more exchange students. Everyone went out that night but I was so tired and sore so I just stayed in and had an early night. Here's some photos of the village at night in the snow!

 



 

This was the view out our window on Sunday, so much snow fell overnight!

 



Here are some photos of the snow around our hostel

 





 

On Sunday I went into the village with Hayley and Sally to do some touristy exploring. The village is gorgeous with all the snow around. I bought some postcards and a shirt for Dad. We were carrying around our ski boots and helmets so it was hard to shop.

 

 

We got our skis and poles out of storage, then caught the gondola up to ski the baby slopes a few times together. We caught the gondola up to the top of the mountain to have lunch, and I met up with Philippa and Rikki, who also had half day lessons booked. We caught the gondola all the way to the base of the mountain to join our lesson. My instructor's name was Marcel and he was from Switzerland. He was quite old but really nice. I was with a couple from Conneticut. We did the magic carpet slope a few times and he helped me to do my turns better. The weather was gorgeous at the beginning of the day.

 



 

Then I graduated from the baby slopes as Marcel took us on the chairlift up to do the Olympic Chair run. The couple went on the chairlift and Marcel and I went on the next one. I have to admit I was nervous to do this run, even though it's meant to be easy! When you got off the chairlift, the slope was really steep and it wasn't meant to be like that. Everyone was falling. Lucky I was with Marcel because he linked arms with me and kept me upright. Then we all did the run! It was pretty fun, but some parts were what I would consider steep and were a bit scary. But I'm so glad that I did it. At one steep part I was going too fast and losing control so I had to fall over into deep snow! My first and only fall of the weekend! Woo! My skis were buried in snow so I had to take them off in order to get up, and then put them back on and finish the run.

 

 

We were heading to the gondola and there was a steep hill. Marcel told the others to just take off their skis and walk down, but he was going to give me a free run. I had to hold both my ski poles horizontally at my tummy, then he stood behind me and put his pole handles on the ends of my poles, and held onto his poles. That way he could ski right behind me and control my speed. We went down and it was a lot of fun. We got the gondola down and the lesson was over!

 

I returned all my equipment and then met up with the others. We went for hot chocolate and tried Beavertails! They are a warm flat kind of pastry that they put different toppings on. I shared a chocolate hazelnut one with Jess and it was soo good!!

 

 

A few of us then looked around in the shops. I got a Whistler sweater. It's so soft and amazing :) We went to the grocery store and got some food for dinner. We then caught the bus back to the hostel and got our bags out of storage because we had already checked out in the monring. We got changed and then heated up our dinner before catching the bus back to UBC. Everyone was so exhausted from the weekend that they just slept on the bus. Despite feeling so tired and sore for the next couple of days after, I had an amazing weekend in Whistler. But it feels like I didn't spend enough time there to really get the feel for the town! I'd love to go back one day.

 

I've spent the past three days studying for my final exams. Last night Clara, Abby, Marie and I went free food hunting as a break from studying. We had hot chocolate, cookies, cupcakes, and pancakes as our dinner, all for free! It was a fun, and random adventure. I had my first two exams tomorrow, and I don't finish til 9pm! I really should be studying right now, but oh well ;)

 

On Friday I'm leaving with Sally for our weekend in Whitehorse, Yukon! We're so excited and cannot wait! But apparently the weather on Friday will be a low of -26 degrees! Pretty sure I'm going to freeze to death guys!!

 

I can't believe I only have exactly two weeks left at UBC. I never want it to end :(

 

I love and miss you all so much!

 

Love,

Emily