The Last of Canada

It has been some time since my last posting, but days in Peru are buissy. Before I go on about Peru, I would like to share with you some final words about my stay in Canda, and post some fun pictures :o)

At the end of my stay in Golden BC, it started to snow really heavily. Rheal, who owns the motel I stayed at, said he hadn´t seen this much snow in many many years. It´s not necessary to say that we were extremely happy about this :o) Me, Charlotte and Cody had some good runs one of the last days I was there, and ofcourse, we had to take some pictures.

Charlotte and Cody got some really cool pictures!!

Nice camouflage, Cody;o)

The great thing about Kicking Horse Mountain Resort is that if you want to, you can explore new paths every time you go for a run. The mountain is enormous. Since I am not used to go snowboarding in awsome powdersnow-conditions (new word?), I fall a lot. The best thing about this is that it gets really funny (especially for those watching) since it does not hurt at all.. most of the time.

Sometimes, at the end of our day uphill, we went for a beer. Now, close your eyes and imagine this beautiful beer after a day of snowboarding. That´s right, were talking about a really good and tastful beer!!

The last night I had in Golden (Thursdag 13th), Charlotte, Trond and Cody took me to jamnight. There were some really talented people playing this night and there were a lot of fun and nice people. It was a fun night, and I really felt that I was sorry to leave the next day. 

The next day (Friday 14th) we went up snowboarding, and in the gondola some people told me that because of the snow, every road out of Golden towards Calgary (where my flight was the next day, Saturday 15th) were closed. I could not do anything but laugh and enjoy the rest of the day. After all, Golden is not the worst place to be stuck at ;o) After the day uphill was finished and after a hot shower and some food, I went to Grayhound (buscompany) to ask them if they had any thoughts about when the roads would open up again. On my way I met a policeofficer who told me that he did not think the roads would open until Sunday...Oh no!! At the busstop I met a stranded busdriver who said that he had absolutely no idea because he had been given all kinds of different information the entire day, but if I left my phone number with him he would give me a call if a bus was leaving for Calgary. I went back to the motel, and wrote and e-mail to the people who was expecting me in Peru that I did not think I would be able to make the flight. 5 minutes later, Rheal stormed in and said that if I wanted to leave for Calgary, I had 5 minutes to get to the busstop. He would drive me (thanks!!). The fantastic busdriver had called the motel. I packed most of my things in a hurry, forgot my telephone, and 5 minutes later I was on the bus and on my way to Calgary :o)

Byebye great Golden BC, Charlotte, Trond and Cody. 

Can you find Charlotte?

  

My days in Golden BC

A few hours of sleep after arriving Golden I started to try to get in touch with Charlotte, my good friend whom I'm visiting in Golden. This turned out to be a difficult task since her telephone didn't work as it was suppose to, and I had no idea where in the town she was staying. My thoughts were: "How stupid is it, to travel to Canada so that I can spend new years eve all by myself??" This thought stayed with me for a few hours until a local woman at the supermarket nearby told me that it was only the 30th of December, and Charlotte was expecting me the next day. Good thinking on my behalf, I must say! :o) Charlottes phone started working again after a little while and we met up the next day :o)

On new years I met up with Charlotte, and then with Trond (Charlottes brother) and Cody (Tronds girlfriend). We ate, drank some beer, did a lot of Jeger-bombs and went to a party somewhere in town. When a taxi came to pick me up somtime in the morning, I was really thankfull, cause as soon as the taxi started going I realised that I had no idea where I was. All of the streets in this area of Golden looks the same to a new eye ;o)

We've been up snowboarding at the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and had some really great days up there!!!! It is the most awsome place I've ever been snowboarding!!! Trond works up at the resort, fixing and waxing skiis, snowboards and stuff like that, while Cody works in the kitchen at the Eagle's Eye (not nest as I keep saying) which is a restaurant at the top of the mountain.

 

The Eagle's Eye

My days in Golden are occupied with snowboarding, hanging out with Charlotte, Trond and Cody and meeting new people =)

Canada, here I come!!

My journey began the 29th of December, 2010. All the preperations and waiting was at an end, and I was ready to move away from my regular and familiar life and into a new one.

My wonderful dad drove me to Sola airport, nearby my hometown Stavanger, and before I knew it I was on a plane and on my way. My first stop was Oslo, the capitol of Norway. I did not look forward to wait for four hours by myself at the airport, but fortunately my dear friend Elisabeth came along and saved the day by keeping me company.

My plane was suppose to leave at 14.05, but it ended up leaving closer to 15.30, which caused me to run like a champion through Reykjavik airport in order to catch my next flight. From Reykjavik the journey went to Seattle. After 4 movies and some episodes of How I met Your mother adn Family Guy, the plane arrived Seattle. Since the plane was already delayed, the crew announced that if we were travelling further, we ought to hurry to reach the passport control. The reason was that a plane from China with 500 Chineese was landing at the same time as us, and apparently American passport-control takes like forever. Stressed? No, not at all.. Fortunately it all ended well. I got to my next plane in time and I arrived Calgary at 22.50 local time (Canada is about 8 hours behind Norway) on the 29th of December. 

I was planning on sleeping at the airport in Calgary, but it seems that Fortuna is watching over me. I started talking with Francois who was sitting next to me at the plane. Francois is not a fan of sleeping at airports after doing so himself a few times, so he offered me to spend the night at his place. I could not believe my luck, and certainly not when he offered to drive me to the busstation in the morning as well. Thank you, Francois!!!  

So, there I was the next morning, on the bus on my way to Golden BC. The busride was amazing as it took me trough the incredibly beautiful National Park of Banff. The nature in Canada is absolutely stunning.

Upon my arrival in Golden BC, I found out that I had forgotten the telephone number to the motel I'm staying at, which meant that I had to carry my nearly 40 kilos from the busstop to Brookside Motel. Good exercising. After a couple hundred metres (which felt like way more) Fortuna came to my rescue again, and I got a ride to the motel. The door was open, and the heat was turned on. YAY!

It's a really nice place, Brookside Motel, and the owner, Rheal, is super!!! I have my own bed, sofa, TV, kitchen, shower and toilet. Who can ask for more? =) Good night! =) 

                                                       

Brookside Motel: I'm renting one half of the house in the middle of the picture

I made it!!

I guess I can now call myself an official blogger :o) 

Hopefully, I will be able to share with you my impressions, thoughts and experiences on this journey to Canada and South-America, so that you unfortunate souls back home can have something to look forward to. Unfortunately, I'm not the most disiplined person, but I will give it my best shot.