Lovelly

On the 30th December 2007 I ventured off to the wilderness of Canada! Unknowing, unprepared and unbelievably excited..... little did I know what was in store!

Ok, so it wasn't quite as dramatic as that but I did head to Canada to do a short season working in the ski fields. This is how it all began!

After finishing my first year of uni in November 2007 and passing all subjects with flying colours, much to my surprise after an extremely stressful semester, I was ready to start my adventure. I wanted to originally leave at the end of November but due to lack of funds and short notice of planning I decided to stay in Australia through December to maximise the $$$. Also I was looking forward to catching up with friends and having a family christmas as I had missed out the year before.

 
The original plan was to go to Banff near Calgary.However after a quick chat with my friend Liz who had ended up in Big White and reported back that it was amazing, works easy to find and that I would love it,  I was tempted to change the plan. She then added more importantly that if I went there, I would have a friend and a place to crash at the start - DONE AND DONE! Big White Won!

 
I arrived on the 29th of December. Strangely we had left Sydney the same day meaning in effect you go back in time. Weird. On the plane from Taiwan ( the plane has to refuel halfway) to Vancouver I started chatting to a couple of guys sitting together who had also only met one another on the first flight and we just chatted about Canada and travel which was nice to have some company. I then found out that they didn't have a hostel booked so I, being the friendly and accomodating girl I am, suggested they come to mine and see if there was availability.

So we all travelled together, which was cheaper and safer, Mum would be proud. We got to the hostel and it was all good for the boys to stay. Rob, Justin and I went exploring in Vancouver and of course first stop was the pizza joint under the hostel- it's the national dish apparently, and to be totally typical and do exactly as I had seen in the movies, I had Pepperoni. YUM! When in Rome!

We then went to 2 irish pubs and strolled up the main street. It was cool. Strange layout for a city but I only got to see a very small part of it and it was t night. I hoped to explore it more when I would fly back home. Justin was staying in Vancouver but Rob was actually going to Big White as well and knew how to get up there, so I changed my bus time and decided to travel with him.

The next day we were up at 5am, caught a bus at 6.30am for 6 hours. I managed to get a little bit of sleep but the view out of the window was just incredible and too good to sleep through. It was so gorgeous, just looking at all the wide open space and the Okanagan mountains. I was very happy with the decision to take the $50 bus rather than an impersonal and swift flight. 

 
We got to Kelowna, the closest town to Big white about 1pm and according to Rob we had until 3pm to get to where the bus picked people up to take them up to Big White. In the meantime we went to Wal - mart and saw about 50 other depot type stores. Everything in Canada is huge and spread out. It's rather different to what I was used to. Big White was then an hour bus trip up the mountain and it was very lucky Rob knew the times as otherwise, we would have been pretty stuffed for the night. 2 or 3 buses go up a day and if you miss those, which are free for workers, then it's a $100 cab fare. OR Hitch-hiking which is apparently common.... no thanks!

 
After 48 hours of pretty much straight travel, including the last hour bus trip actually to Big white, I had arrived! THE MOUNTAIN WAS AMAZING! I just said to Rob, it truly is a winter wonderland. It's so exciting. I had been to quite a few snowy places but never have I seen so much snow, it's everywhere, the trees look incredible. Completely overwhelming and a sense of elation comes as soon as you touchdown on the white gold.

Rob was going to be staying about 10 mins down the hill with his Brother but we will def be catching up again. I got directions to Liz's but I really had no idea so got as much advice as possible and then ended up calling and demandiong that she come and find me and proceeded to sit on my suitcase and shiver in the snow. Liz was literally around the corner and she was sooooooo happy to see me! She leapt on me! We hugged and hugged, the Sydney girls together again, it was fantastic.