The Last of Lake Louise

The last week in Lake Louise seemed to have dragged on. It also happened to be the best riding conditions all season with 70cm of snowfall in one week! That meant I was constantly hearing flushed faced colleagues and customers rave on about how great a day they had and how it was the best conditions they've ever seen! *sigh* It was an appripriate way to end my stay in Lake Louise but annoying coz I couldn't take advantage of it.

Anyhow, I created my own excitement by deciding on impulse to go to Panama (central America, next to Costa Rica) for my cousin's wedding which was only a week away. It was all the more exciting coz it was such an impulsive decision, which is what I love about this trip.. the fact that there are no set plans and I have all the freedom in the world (within monetary constraints) to do or go wherever I want. And because I had so much to look forward to, my week didn't pass any faster.

Australia Day was good though. Back at home, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. We would have driven up the coast, bummed, ate and drank. But here we had a big bash... people dressed in the Aussie flag, necklaces made out of empty Vegemite bottles and VB served all round. We even had a Canadian vs Australian races, and a poor imitation of meat pie for lunch. Here in Lake Louise Canada, in the middle of winter with -30 degrees temperature, I had the biggest Australia Day ever!

Coz I had so little time left, I was determined to make the most out of my days off... so I traded sitting at home sulking, to going on a trek up Tunnel Mountain, a Mountain in Banff that gave an awesome view of the surrounding areas. The way up wasn't so bad, except that my fitness level was shocking. At the top was the expected 360 degree view. I had the town of Banff at my feet, and a section of the Rocky Mountain Range only a turn of a head away. The walk down was less enjoyable though, I focused on staying on my feet where most of it was slippery, and managed to shuffle down like an old lady.

My last day in Lake Louise was fuul of good-byes, photos and drinks. When asked whether I was sad to go, I had to lie a little. I am disappointed I didn't get to snowboard as much as planned, and I didn't get to do a lot of things like drive the Icefields Parkway up to Jasper (a very famous scenic drive), see the lakes when they were thawed, snowmobile, dog sled etc etc, but I wasn't sorry to leave work, or the people behind. Sure enough I had met some very different people and made a few really good friends, but at the end of the day, it reminded me too much of high school... and I really didn't feel it was me.

Having said that, I did have a lot of fun, and I'm really glad I came. There was a few less memorable moments, but hey, they made for good blog entries and a laugh after. As expected, my last night here was a rather drunken affair. The norm here is to get smashed on cheap grog before heading to the pub on the hills where you spend a good portion of your fresh paycheck. It was nothing like the Opera Bar.. I didn't have the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House in view... nor did I have 3 glasses of Champagne in my hand (a luxury here!)... but I did have a Kokanee (cheap Canadian beer) and was in a "I love everyone" mode, which was a nice end to my Rocky Mountain Adventure. I will definately come back to snowboard, and to see it in summer... but next time, I am going to come an live in the Chateau in luxury!