Arriving in a winter wonderland in Alberta
Christmas is one of my favourite times of year. This Christmas, Josh went all out and surprised me with a trip to Canada. I can still remember the shock so clearly - and then just this crazy rush of excitement. Josh has been going to Canada a few times a year for a few years now for work however I have never been able to go (we usually find out he's leaving a little too late for me to be able to afford to book tickets over). So, he organised for me to meet him in Canada for ten whole days after he went over for work. He has been to Canada many times now, but this would be the first time he had gone to Alberta, too! We both always love travelling in itself however there is definitely something really special about getting to explore a new place together for the first time. And even more exciting (if that is even possible) was the fact that I was going just under a month after Christmas (and he a little earlier), so we didn't even have to wait long before flying over!
Josh booked us the tickets and the apartment and I got free rein to plan out our week! (we actually had eleven days all up but including flight time and transfers it equated to seven days on the ground). So, after a few weeks (and a lot of hyper excited planning) I finished up work for the month and I packed a few days before (I am always guilty of getting super excited and packing days before I need to), caught an Uber to the airport, and caught my flights to meet him in Alberta! Going from the middle of an Australian summer to the middle of a frozen Canadian winter was obviously going to be an adjustment, so I tried to find a happy medium with what I wore on the planes and wore jeans and a shirt with a jacket. To be safe, I packed my thermals in my backpack so that if I needed to add layers (which I knew I probably would) at Vancouver airport, I could do so easily. I definitely needed to do that so thankfully I planned ahead.
I love flying. It is one of my favourite things to do. I honestly slept most of both of my flights and watched a few movies in between nodding off. Now, I have seen snow from the sky before when I flew to New Zealand in 2015, however Canada looks definitively different from the sky than New Zealand does. I am so happy that I was awake to see the rockies from the sky. I ended up being in a window seat and having the seat next to me free which was awesome! Seeing the rockies from that window, I was so excited to get there and to see Josh. I will never get tired of the views from an airplane window and this was a view unlike any other that I had ever seen before. Canada was already well and truly exceeding any and all of my expectations. When the first plane landed in Vancouver I got my first taste of what Canadian cold was like...and it was awesome. And it was also my first time seeing flurry snow all over the airstrip and airport surrounds. It genuinely feels like a winter wonderland, like something out of an American Christmas movie!
'I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.'
Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
After I caught my connecting flight and landed at Calgary airport, I had a solid seven hours to kill before Josh arrived to meet me. So, I set myself up next to a powerpoint, bought some snacks and water, and called my family to check in and let them know that I had gotten there safely. And then I decided to take a short little walk outside to walk on the snow...so. fluffy! New Zealand obviously has snow too but the snow in Calgary was so light and fluffy! When I was in New Zealand in 2015, there were not that many destinations that I went to on my road trip where the snow was all fluff and no ice. Here, it was already proving to be quite the opposite. And I loved it. An elderly man sat down next to me when I went back inside and set myself back up at that same powerpoint and we had a nice chat. I read my book and eventually, finally, Josh was there. His flight was slightly delayed so we did not book the airport transfer to Canmore until he got there (the right move, in hindsight).
By the time Josh got there, the shuttle we booked to take us to Canmore was still a little way off arriving so we got some food and drinks and told one another about our week and our flights. It felt so surreal to finally be there with Josh after having talked so much about how we would go to Canada together soon. I could not wipe the smile off my face. And it was so wonderfully cold. Josh doesn't mind the cold. I genuinely love it (so long as I am wearing at the very least a nice warm jacket and jeans). Our shuttle arrived - with warm blankets and the perfect heating! - and off we went! Seeing highways surrounded by snow and animal footprints was magic. I never even imagined what it would feel like to see something as happenstance as a highway surrounded by fluffy white snow, I had no idea how exciting it would be (though, to be fair, in hindsight, it makes perfect sense that I would get that psyched about it). The shuttle had to make multiple stops, so we put in Josh's earphones, listened to music, and enjoyed the ride.
When we finally got there, it was well into the night. Even so, as we carefully navigated the frozen sidewalk to get to our apartment, you could see the snowy mountains that surround the town (including, as it turned out, the Three Sisters!). Our faces were so cold. It was the kind of cold that bites right through your clothes (thank goodness for thermals, right?). That did not matter though. It was so exciting to finally be there! We got to reception and crazily enough, the receptionist was from Brisbane too! Small world. The apartment was on the ground floor and it was so epic. A fireplace with cement embedded with ammonite fossil imprints (ummm, amazing!), the biggest and snuggliest bed, a huge bath, and a perfect view of the surrounding snowy mountains and the lights of the surrounding buildings (and, as it turns out, fluffy little bunnies). It had been such a long time getting there and we finally were here!
We got a good night's sleep and then the next morning we woke up, enquired about a hire car, and had my first Canadian breakfast! Canadian bacon, potato gems, eggs benedict, toast, an amazing sauce, and the most delicious hot chocolate ever. Josh got a big breakfast and a coffee. And while we waited...popcorn with a special surprise seasoning! This restaurant had a different flavour of popcorn every day (I will try to find the name of it because it is an amazing restaurant/bar and we ended up going a few times...you have to go!). We enjoyed a delicious breakfast and talked about everything that we had coming up on the trip...with so many bucket list experiences and Canadian adventures in mind and a few tours booked in, we were both so excited. We generally only book in a few experiences and then spend the rest of the time exploring and seeing where we end up, so this was the perfect mixture of planned activities and spontaneous adventure for us both. The trip was off to such an incredibly exciting start.
As soon as we stepped foot outside the restaurant after breakfast, the cold blasted into us and we started to walk back up the street. We ended up walking back after breakfast and getting some snacks and drinks and, best of all, hiring a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross from an awesome hire place off the main street near our apartment. While Ubers and the like are great and all, we always prefer to have our own form of transportation so that we can do what we want to do on our own time. The flip side of this is that we often, if not nearly always, do not book our transport ahead of time. So, sometimes you run the risk of not having anything available. Funnily enough, this is actually what the hire place initially said when we stopped in before breakfast. He said to check in later on and when we did, we were fortunate enough to get there as he had a car being returned. So, we paid and got in the Eclipse and drove back to the apartment, organising our parking in the locked garage and getting ready to explore for the first time...
We took some supplies and snacks (always an important part of any trip) and then we were off on the road, driving around to simply explore what Canmore has to offer. Taking that time to just drive around with nowhere in particular in mind was so nice. We put on some music and got used to driving on the opposite side of the road (and in the snow, no less!). Canmore is a beautiful town surrounded by the Canadian Rockies. There is something so special about this place. The view of the Rockies from the apartment is perfect - and from the sidewalk it is even more stunning, if you can believe it. From walking the streets to driving through the town and everything in between and beyond, I was falling in love with Canada already. And Josh loved it just as much as I did. He had been to Canada multiple times, as I mentioned earlier, however even he said that Alberta already felt and looked a little different to anywhere he had been prior.
Arriving in a winter wonderland was an incredibly exciting beginning to what proved to be an unforgettable adventure. One of my favourite memories from this trip (aside from exploring Canada with Josh and all our adventures, of course) is without a doubt coming back to the apartment, turning on the fire place, and having some snacks while we watched Netflix. We did not take work with us on this trip and we enjoyed the quality time together in the apartment, on the road, and everywhere in between. We had a week of adventure ahead of us, including a day with snow dogs (a dream come true!), snow mobiling up in the Rockies, road tripping the Icefield Parkways, and exploring the little gems of Alberta. And we were so, so excited! In Canada, everything feels like a snow-covered fairytale. I left a piece of my heart in Canada and I already cannot wait to go back.
