Arrival in Banff

Now I'm really here!

Today I had a bit of a dash around Calgary in the morning and managed to buy a few bits of essential ski gear, then I packed up my stuff and got myself to the Greyhound terminal for the 13.15 to Banff! Calgary, it must be said, is a city designed to be driven around and the bus stop is some distance from the end of the train line. Being car-less, it was quite a mission to make the 20 minute walk with the amount of gear that I have with me, but I made it in the end in a pool of sweat after progressively stripping off layer after layer of clothing!

I met a really nice guy on the bus who is coming to Banff for a conference. He works with the Canadian government on environmental policy and is attending a conference on water usage and licencing schemes for agriculture. Apparently there are several Austalian 'experts' in attendace to contribute to the discussion. Sounds like a good gig to land if you are the Australian expert! Anyway he has some friends who live in town and we are going to meet up for a beer later in the week.

I checked into the hostel, which is pretty nice for a hostel. The difficulty of sharing a room and keeping all your stuff in a locker is a pain, but it will only be a temporary measure until I can get myself sorted with a job and some accomodation. I have tweaked up my CV a bit and will head downtown tomorrow to start that process. Apparently a lot of Aussie uni students work at Sunshine Village, and as Uni is going back in a couple of weeks there may be some vacancies coming up there. That would suit me very well living on the piste.

Once I was checked in I went for a bit of a walk up the valley from the hostel, which is some way out of town. This is a truly amazing place. Breathtakingly beautiful sounds lke a cliche, but I can't think of a better way of describing it. I managed to scramble down a hillside to a little knoll and look out up the valley. The Bow River winds its way through the pine forest, completely frozen over. On either side spectacular mountains jut up into the sky, partially covered in snow. From where I was sitting I could only see one building and I couldn't hear a single person or car. Bliss. I just sat and soaked it up for a while, realising that I am finally here and it feels GOOD. I also managed to recieve a call from Tom T in Sydney and Faine in London while I was sitting there so they got to share my excitment of the moment.

As if I needed some further enticement, I bumped into some elk on the way home!!!!! Five feeding cows right by the side of the road. I had found some tracks and droppings in the snow on the way out, but didn't expect to find their owners so easily. They were virtually tame and didn't mind me walking past or stopping to take pictures. One of them even had a radio tracking collar on it. They are big beautiful creatures - I can't wait to get out and meet some of their more truly wild cousins in the backcountry over the coming year.

Here are some more pictures from my walk and the bus trip here.