Gabi's Travel's to Canada

Sunday started with a sleep in, followed by a short dip in the hot tub. It was a super lazy day, and was concluded with several drinks and games of pool at Trappers. I actually managed to win a few games of pool, I was amazed (even if a couple of them were by default). When last call was sounded, and we lost the pool table, I decided it was time to go home. It was followed by a rather uneventful Monday, although Mum did finally set up her skype account, so now I can see my parents when I'm talking to them which is nice.

Tuesday was another late day of work, so I managed to sleep in. After work went to the hot tub with Skye and Adam, and joined them for a hot chocolate afterwards also. It was a pretty quiet night otherwise. I think everyone was resting up before the big event...

Wednesday, the first day of December, apparently called for a party. It was the white party, which everyone was excited about. So after work, I went back to nap, but ended up in the hot tub for a while. Then I had dinner, and began to get ready for the party. After a little while I headed upstairs to paint my face in Cindy and Bec's room. There was a few other guys in there who had 'borrowed' sheets from one of the hostels in town, and were joyfully ripping them up for everyone to wear (which is where my skirt came from). I ended up making about 20 snowflakes also, so we could look a little more white. We were drinking the entire time we got ready, so it is really no surprise that I was drunk already upon entering the pub, where I ended up ordering a few more drinks. All in all it was a very fun and messy night. And to prove it:

I again left at about 12 because I started at 6.30 the next morning. When I woke up, I knew the day wasn't going to go to well. I was so sick all day, I ended up taking my 45 minute lunch break to nap instead. Hmmmm. I left work a bit early and slept some more, and while I felt better when I woke up, I was still sick - although this was not a hangover illness. I was supposed to go into town on Friday to buy a second hand board, but because of my MASSIVE cold I didn't wake up until right when I was supposed to be on the bus. I still went into town later, but had a few more important errands to run so skipped the board part. I figured I would come in on my next day off, which was supposed to be Saturday, but I was asked to hostess at the restaurant.

So my Saturday was spent gulping down cough syrup, showing customers to their tables and napping. Later in the afternoon, I went to visit Cindy who said she was going to have a few drinks later, and asked me to join her for a Hat Party. When it began it consisted of Amy and Cindy, and then I was leant a hat, and it kind of grew from there. I wasn't drinking, because I didn't think that cough syrup was a good mixer. I told the girls that I wanted to dance, and they agreed, and after a few Rocky Horror renditions in Cindy's room, we headed out. Fae and Alex joined us, as we went to Laryx, and then we headed over to Trappers, where we had a few drinks and few stupid dance moments, and also met a few of the new folk on hill. All in all a pretty good night!

This week was my first that I actually had proper work shifts, so it was very exciting for me to start with, despite the 6.30am starts. My first day of work was Sunday, although nothing much else really happened that day. Monday however was a completely different story, as it was a couple of peoples birthdays, including Ben (Australia). We spent a good few hours in one of the guys rooms drinking (well, some people did), and then headed over to Trappers. By the way, thongs are not a good idea in the snow, not even if you're drunk, learnt by a true Australian (not me). I only ended up staying out until 12.00 because I started at 6.30 again the next morning. But I had a lot of fun out, and I think many others did as well.

When I walked to work on Tuesday morning (the whole 3 minutes of it) the temperature was -33.8 Degrees Celcius... This is something I never dreamed I would endure. It was... cold. Because of the temperature the Gondola wasn't operating, which meant that the Java Lift was super quiet. I was only in to train Ylva how to open, and then I was supposed to start again later, but because of the weather (and lack of customers) we closed early. Which gave me the perfect opportunity to explore the hot tub. While it might sound crazy to go into an outdoor hot tub in -30, and snow, it was actually too hot. It was funny watching everyone's hair freeze though. I didn't last long in there because it was a bit too warm for me. The dip I took kept me warm for the next 2 hours though. Lol.

Wednesday was another day at work, and then off to the pub to celebrate Christina's birthday. I rocked up early, thinking they'd already be there, but no. In fact since I was to start early again the next morning I had set myself another 12.00am limit, and just as I was about to leave is when Christina and Ylva showed up. So I gave them each a hug, talked for 2 minutes and then left.

I had a nice shift on Thursday and met some of the crazy ski instructors ("Come to my German Sparkle Party" was all they would say) lol. After work I got ready to head into town for the Food Drive. On the way down to the base, the Gondola stopped about 4 times, mostly at the high windy points. For the food drive we basically split into 7 teams and each team had an area to door knock in in Canmore. When the bus had collected everyone and their food, we went back to the fundraising base, dropped stuff off, and then went to a new area. Our group got through three different areas, and although it was minus 15 it was still a lot of fun. Then we dropped our stuff off at the HI, before heading into Banff. There was an after party at the Dancing Sasquatch in town, at which I stayed until closing. I had so much fun. And then I went to grab my gear, and my beanie was missing. It made me a little depressed!

Friday was quite uneventful, I spent the day in town just doing some grocery shopping etc. However Saturday was much more fun. I spent the morning at work, the afternoon completing some chores, and then I spoke to Dad, for about 20 minutes, which was fantastic. At 6.00 pm I went toboganning. There were two types of toboggans and after flying down backwards on the plastic one, I decided I liked the wooden ones. I went down double with Susan, and she came off pretty badly and hurt her arm (I felt so bad). On my last go down I actually slid sideways off the toboggan, and gave myself a lovely bruise on my elbow. Although my stack was definitely not the worst. I spent the rest of the night just chatting to others. It was good.

Sunday:
This was the day for recovery, not from the night before (which had been a big night), but from the cold which had reared its ugly head when I woke up on Sunday morning. Because I could barely breathe I wasn't able to go to the hot springs with Lauren J, Ylva & Christina. I spent a while just waking up and trying to recover. Then I went and visited Bec upstairs, to thank her for taking care of me the night before. We ended up walking all around Arnica finding different people to talk to. We saw a deer outside of someones window... exciting. As everyone was in pretty bad shape from the night before, everyone was very relaxed for the rest of the night.

Monday:
What is this? I believe it's work! Ok, so I didn't work for long, but at least I worked. When I got back the power went out in the building, which resulted in Bec and I just walking around looking for something to do. We took a ride on the Gondola, a bit pointless to be honest, but as it took up about 40 minutes of time it wasn't too bad. When we got back everyone was at a bit of a loss of what to do because the cable is out on the TV, which means nobody can watch anything! Argh!! We went to Trappers for a drink, and played a game of darts, which wasn't too bad. All in all a quiet night.

Tuesday:
Not much went on... the Starbucks lady who was supposed to be training us on Coffee was snowed in so we had yet another day off. Did absolutely nothing else all day long apart from the general time-wasting procedures.

Wednesday:
Again no work, so just chatted to people, watched TV etc, for most of the day. At about 6.00 we decided to start getting ready for the staff accom challenge, on at Trappers. Arnica was split into levels, so I was on the black team. I pulled out the face paint again and lent my red to the 3rd level. It was fun getting ready, and Trappers was soooo full when we got there. We played 3 different games, and our level ended up coming equal second with Laryx. The 3rd level of Arnica won... Grrrr. I had a great night.

Thursday:
Yay, work again. Yes I know I'm excited about work, but not working gets old very quickly around here. At work we did some basic cleaning and then started making some coffees. It was fun, I had a hot chocolate, which was pretty good. We went home a bit earlier than expected because our supervisor got called to train some others in coffee making. So yet again bummed around all afternoon, but that's fine because everyone was excited about opening the next day!

Friday:
OPENING DAY... What can I say about it? A lot of things went on. I woke up early to have a look at boards and either buy or rent something. The rental store was a fun experience *cough cough* and I walked away with the (rented) gear I needed to go boarding, all I needed was a teacher. I had lunch with Bec who promised to take me out when she finished work, which was shortly after lunch. We met up with a friend of hers and headed to the top of Standish (Bad Idea #1), when I got off the lift we started down the hill (Bad idea #2) and I managed to make it a whole 100 metres and numerous faceplants before deciding to catch the lift back down. I was so sore, I could barely stand up. I came back to my room and then went with Bec to get a Hot Chocolate. I did some inventory at work later that night, and then headed to Trappers for some games of pool. I'm not very good but hopefully will get better throughout the season.

Saturday:
So I was on hill all day because of the possibly huge amount of people who were supposed to arrive. (I was on call) But this was unnecessary, as there wasn't as many people as expected. Basically I spent the whole day lounging around (because my body was still dying from the day before). We spent the night lounging around the common room, and then went to Trappers later, for a few games of pool. I only stayed until 10.30 because I had to start at 6.30 the next morning!

Sunday:
Because we'd been on hill all week, Sunday morning wasn't particularly exciting. Our supervisor Andreia had offered to take us (Ylva, Christina & I) on a hike later in the afternoon, which was good because otherwise I would have spent the entire day doing nothing. At about 1.00 I headed down to meet the others for our hike. It was heaps of fun, but hard work. We had to stop a few times on the way up because we were out of breath (altitude = grrrr). The views were amazing though. We ended up going to Rock Isle Lake. On the way back (which was much easier by the way) we stopped to make a snowman, which turned into a snow monkey. We named him Sam. After we got back I did a few things before Fae and I went to make dinner, however there was an issue. We went searching for our sausages and cheese and some animal had stolen it from Fae's crate and eaten both of them. We were really sad. So I ended up having vegemite toast for dinner, a disappointing second.

Monday:
I had another day off today, so I went to visit some others from Laryx. I found Lauren J, and we went out to make a snowman. We tried to recruit some others into joining us and only managed to get Christina to join us, which I suppose was a good thing because the rain had made the snow quite hard, and we were unable to make another snowman. So then I went back to Arnica and bummed around for ages. It wasn't until after dinner that people started to show up, and we played Things in a Box, before heading over to Trappers. I spent the rest of the night just chatting to people.

Tuesday:
Basically just bummed around talking to people, and watching TV. Pretty much everyone else was working...

Wednesday:
I met up with some of the others from Arnica in the common room who were going hiking, and I decided to join them. We hiked to Rock Isle Lake, the same one I did the other day, but this time we crossed the lake. I must admit I was a bit nervous not knowing exactly how frozen the lake was before we walked on it, but the others did some tests (if throwing massive rocks at the ice counts as a test... but it actually broke the rocks not the ice). . After ensuring that the lake was quite frozen we walked to the other side, and then trekked back. I had dinner with some of the others at Staff Cafe, and upon returning to Arnica found a helmets and goggles going on at our floor… again. I hung out at the party for a while which was fun, just dancing and laughing at all the drunks. Then we headed over to Trappers, and although there wasn't many people there at first I had great fun just talking to everyone. I played a game of pool with Chris, and epically failed at contributing to the team effort, we lost!!!

Thursday:
I got on a Gondola with Sarah (Aussie) from upstairs, and I met Lauren, Ylva, Christina and Emily (Canada - Lauren's roommate) on the bus. We had decided to go to Canmore the day before because they have better grocery stores. So we hired a car when we got to town and headed off. We stopped at Tim Hortons for breakfast, I had a muffin and didn't end up drinking my hot chocolate because it was too hot, so I left it in the car, and when I got back it was too cold. We went to Sobeys for groceries, and I bought way too much stuff. Anyway after a massive shopping trip we decided to visit LAke Louise, because we had the car. I was in the back with the German girls. They are soooooo funny. They made it a really fun trip. Anyway when we got there, because it was so cold, we only stayed a little while and took some weird photos. So we headed back to Banff, which was probably a good thing because we made it back to the top of the mountain for about 4.30. After dinner I went to the common room to chat to BJ (I was so excited to be talking to her), where there happened to be a game of kings developing. I was watching but didn't play because of my cold. Although there was no lack of trying on the others part.

Friday:
Was supposed to go boarding with a couple of people today, but when I was eventually ready I couldn't end up finding them. As there wasn't much else to do we (Fae, Sarah & Nic) decided to play a game of Monopoly, which more importantly I won. Anyway after that we just chilled out in front off the TV for ages. Then headed off to Trappers. I played a game of pool with Skye, and we lost but at least we sunk some balls!! Then I just spent the rest of the night talking to a bunch of different people. There were some super drunk people in the bar that night, which definitely made it entertaining, if nothing else.

Saturday:
Had to get up early today to drive in to Calgary, I really wanted an electric frypan. I also knocked on Fae's and Alex (Nova Scotia) & Evan's (Perth) doors as they were coming too. Anyway we made it to the base at about 8 but Ben's car had gotten quite cold and wasn't starting. We managed to get a jump from another car and headed off to Calgary. We stopped in Canmore to get some brekkie and fuel, and then continued. We went to the Chinook Mall, which was really nice. It didn't have a walmart so we spent the next cpl of hrs searching for one, but it never came. After getting back I had some dinner, and then started drinking for the staff bonfire. I apparently mixed them quite strong, because I got quite drunk (someone was blaming the altitude so I'm gonna follow this logic). Bec (Australia) ended up walking me home from Trappers quite early, for which I was extremely grateful!

Sunday:
HALLOWEEN!!! Having never experienced a proper Halloween (except for a few parties when we lived in Perth) I was very excited about celebrating this holiday here, where everyone goes all out on their costumes. I didn't have a costume yet, I figured I'd just get some basic things and make it up from there. We got up a bit late Sunday because of the night out on Saturday, so we missed out on brekkie. I stayed up to do a few things, while Lauren was asleep, but I got bored so I went for a walk, got some breakfast and ended up buying a costume (if a skirt and fairy wings counts, lol). Lauren had just finished getting ready when I walked in, so then we headed back to get her a costume. She decided on clown. On the way back we visited Dwayne, because we were supposed to walk up Tunnel Mountain with him earlier that morning, but had overslept, so we thought we'd go apologise. We stayed there and chatted for a while, and then headed back to the hostel. I started to get ready straight after dinner, because I was so excited, but it was way too early, so I watched some TV and then went back to it. I put some face paint on, and then I had to do Laurens also. Once we were ready we headed off to the Beaver (downstairs). We had a couple of drinks, and then made our way into town so we could use our free tickets Dwayne had given us. First we went to a Pub, and then went downstairs to Aurora a nightclub. We had a drink at each, but since Lauren doesn't really like dancing she went back upstairs to talk to some people we had met there. I ended up finding some people I had met earlier to dance with. But since I was mostly drinking water, I got bored at about 12.30 and went back home. Here are some memories from the night!!

Monday:
Due to a poor sleep I got up late on Monday. I didn't really have a lot left to organise before going on hill except for a bit of washing. However the laundry (2 machines to service 100+ people is maybe a bit ambitious), was occupied - the hostel was washing the linens!! I tried several times throughout the day, with the in between occasions being filled with TV, walking down the street and studying for the ProServe thing. Lauren wanted to do the test together, and went out at about 4.00pm to use the internet down the road but didn't get back until about 11.30. Apparently had got caught up having a few drinks and then dinner. Anyway when she got back we both managed to pass the test - which was easy as!!

Tuesday:
Woke up early to catch the bus to Sunshine Village, I was so excited to be seeing where I will be spending the next 6 months! We had both packed up on Monday, so that wasn't really an issue. However dragging our luggage down the stairs and then down the road was a bit of an issue. There was about 7 other people at the bus stop, and we all had to fit our stuff on the bus, it was an interesting seating arrangement. There were also people on the bus who weren't moving on hill. The bus ride to the hill took about 20-30 mins, and then we spent about 3 hours doing paperwork and being signed in. When we were finally done with that, they began the Gondola, so we could go up hill. This ride also took about 20 minutes, and the Gondola was packed with stuff. I then had to drag this stuff over freshly fallen snow to my room. Probably the hardest thing I have done in the past two weeks, thankfully someone helped me with my suitcase on the stairs - eternally grateful! I am in a room with Hayley (England I think) she's nice. After lunch we went to the hotel, and were given a tour to show us what the guests will be living in and have access to etc. Then two other girls (Christina and Ilve - Germany) and I were taken downstairs to the Java Lift (coffee shop) to see where we would be working. Our manager, Andrea, was really nice and just went through a few things about what we would be doing, and also gave us some inside tips!! Then I went back, finally did my laundry and ended up playing cards with some of my new housemates (btw - I'm staying in Arnica). After dinner I went to visit Lauren (who is in a house on the other side of the hill called Laryx) and ended up playing more cards for a little while. Fun fun... Just so you know this it the view from my window, I know it's a hard life!

Wednesday:
I began work today, nothing in the hotel is really set up yet, so I spent about 2 hours cleaning windows and then another hour or so just wiping stuff down. Since there is a lot left to be fixed up, we got sent home early. So I bummed around watching TV, walking around etc. for a while, I was pretty bored because everyone else was still at work. Around 4.00 or 5.00 I went out onto the balcony where there was a small group of people chatting and I met Fay (England) who lives right across the hall from me. We chatted for a while, then the girls from HR invited us down to play a game, and I figured I would since I wasn't doing anything else. It was called things in a box, and was pretty funny. Everyone who was playing ended up going to dinner together, and then we went back to play for a bit longer. We played until about 8.30 when we headed over to Trappers to have a few drinks. I just had a beer and chatted to a few people with Lauren and Lauren J (Adelaide). They started to play a game called flippy cup, which I wanted to stay away from, but was enticed to play when handed a beer. I flipped it on the second go, yay me! I headed off to bed pretty early though because of work on Thursday. But at least I got a good nights sleep!!

Thursday:
Basically had a day of lectures today, down at the base of the hill. Breakfast and lunch were included with Sunshine Gold, the course we did, so it was fantastic. The information wasn't too bad either but it was harder to listen to because I was so uncomfortable on the bench I was sitting on. We had a basic history of Sunshine, information on the facilities available in and around Banff, info on workplace health and safety, snow safety, and also wildlife and Banff geography. It was nice to learn about it, but a very long day. The pizza was good though. When we got back I just walked around and chatted to people, and then ended up sharing dinner with Lauren J, because they are SO massive! Then I pretty much just watched some TV and went to bed - very boring night, as no-one was around!

Friday:
So we started off work today with a basic information session, which resulted in me volunteering to be the Java Lift safety rep (hmmm). Then we cleaned for a couple of hours. We had a long lunch, but when we returned we finished vacuuming and then were sent back, because we still need to get that stuff installed. Grrrrrr. So I ended up spending some time just walking around Arnica, talked to Fay for a little while. Ended up watching TV in her room for a while, before a whole bunch of people barged in to have a chat/hall party. It was fun. I don't think we headed off to Trappers until about 9.00. Pretty much everyone else had already been drinking, but I had one beer in Trappers and just kept talking to different people. Which was great. I did head home early again (I know I'm boring) because of the bus Saturday morning.

Saturday:
I headed into Banff with a whole bunch of other people, because I really needed to get some of my own food. Fay and I ended up spending the day in there together, which was fun. We had breakfast, went phone shopping, then went to get our groceries - maybe a bit too early. After buying them, we realised we still had 4 hours before the bus came, so we went and saw Due Date, which was funny. When we got back that night we cooked Hot Dogs for dinner, yummmm. There was probably about 10 people left in our building for the weekend, so we were just watching a movie in the common room, and then headed over to Trappers, I just had lemonade, because I wasn't feeling well. But we talked to people for ages, and then headed back. I'm turning into the early night girl I think, although it was understandable on this occasion as I wasn't well and there was only about 20 people in the bar!

Please SNOW...
Much love - Gabi xx