So here I am..

Finally I get round to doing a blog! Who knows how it will turn out but if it's a means of letting you know that I'm still here and travelling then it must be a good thing.

I've been in Calgary since Thursday last week and I' still trying to get over that reality that it's 11pm here but 6am back home. Thankfully this is not a real worry and have been enjoying myself immensely here. It has been eight years since I was last here and I am overdue spending some time with my uncle Alun, my aunt Patricia and my four great cousins: Pete (who's actually in Quebec), Glyn, Cathy and Stephen. I'm glad to say that it feels like little time has past but I can't help feel that it would have been made all the better if I had kept in touch.

This last week I had a trial run at backpacking and travelling by myself. I went to the Rocky Mountains which start just 60km West from Calgary. After leaving the city on the Greyhound bus (yes, it felt exciting to be catching a bus from the famous company), the rolling hills begin and we passed some Native Indian Reservations. Even though the Indians have these reservations I'm not too sure if they are still being treated fairly and I'm sure that they have not been compensated for all of the harm done to them by the settlers and post governments. The mountains were impressive with snow covering all the peaks. Lower down fir, pine and spruce forests covered the valley floor.

I spent a couple of days in Banff which is a small, posh town nestled in the mountains. There wasn't too much too see in the town, except for the numerous Japanese tourists buying the most ridiculous things such a bear dolls, Canadian hockey shirts and other tack. All the action was in the mountains. I went for a big walk on my second day, climbing through the forests to 2700m. It was windy and cold at the peak of Sulphur mountain but the 360 degree view of the mountains was spectacular. At the end of the walk I treated myself a dip in the hot pools. My 20 minute sessions turned into longer and an hour later I stumbled out in need of a long sit down.

I then spent a couple of days in Lake Louise which I liked much more. Whilst everybody in Banff seemed to be pre-occupied with finding work for the ski season and generally looking too cool for school, the youth hostel in Lake Lousie was occupied by people looking for a taste of the outdoor. There I bumped into two Swiss girls who I had met in Banff and a Japanese couple with whom I'd shared a room with in Banff. I get the impression that this happens a lot when backpacking. The big attraction at Lake Louise, is unsurprisingly the lake which has an amazing turquoise colour which is a result of the glacier grinding of rock form the mountain and this glacial dust absorbing and reflecting light. The six glaciers at the valley head made the place into something spectacular. I went for another two days walking. What a shame I had no camera and no one with whom to share all the views and scenery. I did however bump into another walker who said to me: 'I'm so glad I'm here' and so was I.

I would have also appreciated some company in order to stay safe from the bears. Yes, the black bears and the grizzlies were still out gorging on berries trying to tuck away 35,000 calories a day. I had read that they were omnivores and I had no intention of providing the extra few thousand calories. So my tactic was to sing out loudly, yes it turned out to be a karaoke holiday and to speak out loudly as possible. It seemed to work as I didn't bump into one bear, but I must admit that I was in tension all the times I was in the mountains. Being a cheap skate I didn't buy the bear mase that I had been recommended. However, I did see some nice wildlife including red squirrels (which are now getting rarer) a whiskey jack and a white-tailed ptarmigan which changes its feathers to white in the winter.

As I made it back to Calgary on Friday evening Stephen dragged me out for a couple of beers which turned into a few more. In the morning we woke up to find a receipt saying we'd drunk 10 and 11 beers (bottles) respectively. We thought we'd been ripped off but since we couldn't remember..... Anyway we thought off it as a donation to the waitresses university fund.

So a few lessons I've learnt so far:

Patience-you will miss the bus and have to wait a few hours for the next one.

Patience-you will make friends in the youth hostel.

Always pay for each beer when you order it. Don't run up a tab!

Advice from my cousin Peter:

Mistakes are made because of what you don't know, not what you do.

Ask questions of yourself, not others.

Remember why you're going.

Writing this has been fun. If you've got to the end then I hope you've enjoyed it. Lots of love Alexis