When Positives Overshadowed The Negative

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They say that it takes 7 positives to overcome one negative, particularly if it relates to your self esteem. Well on this occasion it was approximately seven positive experiences that overshadowed the one negative experience over the course of the last two week ends.



DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK

The first of these positive experiences was when I decided to have a day trip towards the south of Alberta. My original intentions were to head past Okotoks to see the boulders and head down as close to Waterton as I could, but instead I found that I changed my mind once I stepped into the car and drove to the Dinosaur Provincial Park a good 2 hours east of Calgary. I will say it was not the most glamorous drive nor does it look like something amazing when you see the photos but trust me, some of the vantage points are quite impressive and the fact that a large number of dinosaur fossils had been found in these parts makes you imagine what once crawled this Earth over 75 million years ago. The landscape looks more like Jaba the Hut's palace in the Return of the Jedi but with a mixture of Hoodoos and ant mound like hills it still is a treasure for the geologists of the world. There was a number of short little walks that you can take, with most of them wondering through Hoodoo infested planes and valleys, but with each step you took, in the back of your mind you kept thinking dinosaurs roamed these parts.



It doesn't become real to you until you see the glass fossil exhibits of where paleontologists have preserved remains of dinosaur bones found in these parts. These lands were actually part of a large 'Dinosaur rush' where dinosaur hunters searched the area for any fossils they could find. Some of the fossils found in the early 1900's were taken back to museums but the feel is that there are still a number of undiscovered dinosaur remains still lurking underneath the grounds of the park. Infact, as silly as this sounds, I actually thought I found a small discovery of part of a bone. Yes it could have been a rock or a hard piece of dirt but this hard object was not the same colour as the the rocks and earth that surrounded it and had a similar resemblance in colour to the bones in the exhibit. I will never know as I left my archeological tool kit at home on this day to further investigate such historical findings. The small walks, some of which you can read about the history of the most well know dinosaur hunters are quite interesting, but if you go to Drumheller, you have been to the Dinosaur Provincial Park in my mind.



RIDING AROUND CALGARY

The Monday of the Victoria Day long week end I was treated to a ride with Dave the PE Coordinator through Fish Creek Provincial Park around Glenmore Reservoir along Elbow River and into Calgary where I found that Calgary had alot more hidden secrets than I realised. The ride itself did not set any cracking pace but the views along the Reservoir were pretty impressive. Hundreds of people were enjoying their time in the sun, having picnics and bbq lunches in near by parks and even the odd person could be seen kayaking or canoeing along the water ways. The views along Elbow river were extremely impressive as were the houses that are worth something in the vicinity of 2 million plus. The river flowed at alarmingly fast rate that you could place a raft in the water and just let the current take you right into Calgary. The larges suspension bridges and the green parks that accompanied the river and the houses made this section simply stunning. We also stopped to have a look in the Tailsman Centre which is a very impressive sporting complex. While on the outside, it looks like a big dome tent, inside it is a buzz of physical activity, with a large swimming complex on one side (a diving practice area with a trampoline also included in these facilities). On the other side is a two level set up made up of a number of gym areas, multipurpose courts (being used for basketball on this occasion) and a 200 metre running track on the upper level.



I was shown a nice place to just relax and chill could Eau Claire where Dave and I had a quick bite to eat and a beverage not recommended by experts for hydration. Eau Claire was set up to be quite a nice little area for markets, shops and places to hang out but apparently hasn't really taken off as first thought. Having said that there are some nice restaurants and bars in this little area and a cool little place to check out. The ride along the Bow river and through Prince's Island was also quite nice and Dave even showed me St Patrick's Island which they are renovating into a activities complex with special areas for Kayaking , Ice Skating, walking and many other activities. This is also where Dave and I got a 'cheeky' eyeful of a woman who was riding her granny bike over the bridge. She was wearing a skirt, stockings and a nice top and not traveling all that fast. Since it was a windy day, the skirt lifted up and her stockings had a big hole around her left buttocks, and when the wind intensified in inconsistent gusts, the per woman's butt was a view for all to see. Dave and I had to look twice to see if we both actually had witnessed it and it it wasn't our imaginations.



BANFF

My previous week end experiences where both relaxing and fun and I would say quite positive, this week end was one I was very much looking forward to but one that started with such a negative that I feared it was not going to turn out the way I had hoped. I was driving to Banff to play in an inaugural Banff AFL 9-A-Side competition. I didn't really know to much about it except the location and the time to approximately get there. I was a bit unorganised in the morning in packing my stuff so I was running a little later than I anticipated. For those who know me, this is not an uncommon trait of mine and one I wish I was so much better at. As I was driving past the COP (Canadian Olympic Park) I noticed that once again the Calgary drivers were going a good 20km over the speed limit. I will admit I was about 10 or so over but nothing like these cars were going. Suddenly the cars in the second and third lane, slowed right down, almost to a walk. I looked up ahead and saw no reason to slow down and the approaching traffic lights were as green as a Canadian summer lawn. I looked at both cars strangely and continued to drive through the lights that did turn yellow as I was driving through. The cars that slowed down made sure they did not make those lights. It was only a matter of moments before I knew why they were slowing down. Up ahead was a radar and once I saw it I slowed down to about 80 to 85 in the 80km zone. Suddenly the police officer walked out and waved me in. He nodded with conviction when he saw my astonished and horrified face through the windscreen and pointed me on where to stop my car. I was apparently clocked at 99 in an 80 zone. I was never going 99 as much as my dad would say 'you were son, you just didn't realise it'. I kept my eye on that speedo like a hawk to ensure I did not end up in this situation. Great lot of good that did me! I sat there, fuming at the fact I had been outwitted and outplayed by the Black RV and other cars that slowed down at the lights. I also fumed at the fact I would have to pay a $163C fine, which given the circumstances is alot cheaper than home, but money and I don't seem to be friends at the minute as every time I get close to having some it magically disappears.



I was angry, frustrated and thought of not spending the night up in Banff as I had first planned but it wasn't until I saw my friends, the mountains (for the first time in summer) that my whole attitude and feeling changed. The view is so breathtaking and so soothing that the ticket soon became a memory and all the negative feelings just disappeared. I found the place where we were to play the football tournament, the Banff Rugby Field just on the outskirts of the beautiful and well known tourist destination. The place was also the location to a horse ranch, one I have been looking into doing an over night horseback ride with to explore the back country of Banff. The oval was surrounded by mountain views that just had you in awe and I couldn't believe I was about to play the great Australian game in such a beautiful location. The day was great fun with a very high standard woman's games, mixed in with local battles against Banff and Calgary teams. I'm not one to brag, but I did kick 4 goals from the back lines in my two games and seemed to find a bit of the pig skin, but that was a small dot in the moment that we experienced that day. The friendly rivalry, mateship and the view made the day and absolute cracker. Seeing the tourists on the horseback added to such a beautiful location and I am so glad that through Liam, Clare and Danielle (who also came up for the day), I was talked into putting on the boots one last time.



Danielle had organised accommodation at the Samesun backpackers which was nicely located on Banff Avenue not far from the town centre. We shared a room with two aussies who we got to know before heading out to Wild Bills to continue the celebrations of a great afternoon of football with the Banff boys, Calgary boys and the Irish team that also entered the competition and gave the Aussie boys a good run for their money with their Gaelic background helping them no end. I now know why it was called Wild Bills after seeing some of the antics that some of the Aussie Boys were getting up to, but those stories are best left up to the imagination and not for sharing on this particular web site. I enjoyed socialising with the boys and some of the locals, one of which was a lovely girl from South of London who had been working at Sunshine over the winter season. I asked her about some of the better hikes I could look into for the next day and she suggested Tunnel Mountain was definitely one hike I should do.



Although 6 bodies amongst 3 bunk beds were sleeping in a small room with a shared bathroom, I was surprised how well I slept, but I was up early to make the most of my free breakfast and off to hike Tunnel Mountain. The girl from South London (who's name was Alex if you must know) knew her local area where she had lived for the last 2 and a half years. It is a 2.4km walk that elevated 250 to 300 feet up but the views on either side of the mountain are worth the slightly elevated raise in heart beat and shortness of breath. On one side you saw the town and continuation of the mountains, the bow river and pine tree valleys around Banff. On the other side was a beautiful view of the Banff gold course blended into the mountains and the continuation of the river which was simply an amazing sight. Again, it was another place you could just sit and relax and smile at the wonder of mother nature but I had one more activity planned for my day, one I had looked forward to for some time.



I had seen pictures of people Kayaking in Banff and, although my ultimate place to paddle would be on Lake Louise, I had decided I wanted to go for a paddle along the Bow river and admire the view of the mountains from a different perspective. I had forgotten how much I loved kayaking and enjoyed the 1 and a half hour paddle I had. Apart from the breathtaking views of the mountains, a number of people where paired up in Canoes and also enjoying the sights. Some even stopped on the river to have a picnic lunch which I thought was a clever idea. There were people walking and chatting to you on a near by path as well as bike riders and the same horse back riding company guiding tours by the rivers edge. Once again, every corner that your turned a corner in the river, you were greeted to another spectacular view. I could have kept paddling all day but it would have been a costly venture to do so and I had preparation work to do for the up and coming Track day (Sports Day) happening at Fairview Junior High later in the week.



By the end of this adventure the thought of paying the speeding fine was now just an annoying few minutes on the internet and I had allowed the more positive experiences to dominate my mood and my thoughts. This is not something I had done in the past. I would dwell on the speeding fine, let it ruin my ability to enjoy playing football and gone home straight after the game. If I had done that, I would not have found an enjoyment in football I have not remembered since playing in primary school and with my school mates at Immanuel College. It was great just to relax and just play rather than worry about results, being over competitive and emotionally impacted or critically scrutinized over every play you were involved in. I would have missed out on the views of Tunnel Mountain and I would not have rediscovered my love for Kayaking.



POUND FITNESS

One final moment I will leave you is with an activity I participated in during a Physical Education PD (personal development) day I had on the eve of the long week end. Apart from the free breakfast and lunch which was amazing, and the guest speaker who's view on teaching physical education became more intriguing and interesting the more he spoke, I participated in an activity called Pound Fitness where you are given two drum sticks and pounding them on the ground while attempting a variety of different of movement patterns and positions to the beat of a mix of songs. Now I know my great mate Dave Cav would have been horrified to see such a violation of a musical apparatus but this activity had me sweating and at times testing my threshold of pain and ability to coordinate movement patterns as I tried with inconsistent success to follow this lady out the front running the class. Concentrating on doing two things at once has never been a strong point of mine, but trying to do the pattern of beating the drum sticks on the ground, above your head or in front of your chest while holding certain poses definitely tested my components of fitness. It would be a great activity for the kids to partake in as they may find it quite fun, but when she mentioned that some classes went for an hour and a half and she could teach up to 5 hours, I felt like a helpless mortal as 45 minute session I completed couldn't come fast enough in some points of the routine. Having said that it was a good fun experience. Probably what was more entertaining than me performing this activity during the PD session was when I tried to demonstrate it in a Calgary restaurant to some of the teachers from school I had dinner with that night. The Cleaver on 17th Ave not only had great food, particularly their dessert, it appears that the waiters carry drumsticks with them. Obviously overhearing my story of the event from earlier in the day, the waiter went and got some drumsticks and got me to demonstrate some of the moves from the activity in the narrow pathways of the small but intriguingly designed restaurant. It was the first time, I really felt I was showing the true person I know myself to be and a person I had forgotten had existed. This was the silly kind of thing I would do in an earlier stage of my life and only would do when I was truly happy and comfortable with who I am and where I was in my life. While it was great to celebrate a colleagues birthday and get to know the staff that I was with a bet better it was also great to feel the fun person I tend to cage up in fear of social ridicule be expressed.

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Photos

Calgary Club Golf Course on route to Calgary
Part of the trail around the Glenmore Reservoir and Elbow River