Blogs from Banff, Alberta, Canada, North America - page 30

Ahh Smores ... they are indeed a beautiful thing. I was lucky enough to be introduced to this delicious camping tradition twice over summer in Banff. The first time we improvised using the oven. The second time we managed to light up a decent fire on the deck for a more traditional marshmallow cremating session. All with pleasing results. For those not in the know, this is a brief sum-up of the Smore: A piece of chocolate is placed on a Graham cracker. The best chocolate is Hershey's dark (although Aussie cadbury would also be great) or Aero as the bubbles make it melt better. A marshmallow is roasted to varied levels of crispness, depending on personal preference, and placed on top of the cracker with the chocolate. A top layer cracker is then placed on ... read more

Started looking for work on the monday and had a job at a new restaurant in town by the Tuesday but ended up taking a job at The Banff Centre, a big function and conference type place up near Tunnel Mountain. Im working as a food and beverage server and the perks are great, with $5 accommodation per night, free meals when working, cheap gym etc etc. My flat mate is from Toronto and she is great. Most of the workers here are Canadian which makes a nice change from all the Aussies in most of Banff. Loads of the people have come over from Ontario and Quebec for their summer university holidays to work. It's going to be a fun summer here and Banff is such a party town that there is always plenty to ... read more

We have just finished our second day at a takeaway Sri Lankan restaurant stall - James as chef and Julie as cashier girl (putting our education to fine use). James has mastered the art of making samosas and fried rice, plus some other menu items and Julie just stands up the front and takes orders. Our boss thinks we're the bee's knees and wants us to stay and manage the place - she also said that the Bellingham team can officially start up our own Sri Lankan takeaway joint in New Zealand!! We just smiled and silently thought that would be very unlikely. We have this job for the next 2 1/2 weeks until we leave and in the mean time we get very yummy food. We can also wave to our friends Philly and Steve ... read more

Left Vancouver on the Tuesday and headed out to Banff on the Moose Tour. It was definitley a good way to see everything rather than sitting on the Greyhound bus for 12 hours straight. We had four night stops - Shuswap Lake in a very bad hostel. A friend who did the same trip later on actually got bed bugs from the place! - Banff - Jasper in a great 'rustic' hostel where we had a big campfire without the marshmallows because of the bears! - then back to Banff where I stayed. It was really beautiful scenery especially when we got out into the Rockies. Unfortunatley all the lakes were frozen but I hope to see them all again in summer when have melted and are the turquoise blue they are so famous for. Of ... read more

Had a leisurely morning, getting up late and having a bowl of Lucky Charms before heading out for the day. Today we were just concentrating our sightseeing in and around Banff, stopping first at the still frozen Lake Minnewanka - ‘Lake of the Water Spirits.’ It was pretty, and after stopping for a short period we then drove further on to Two Jack Lake. Rounding a corner, there in the middle of the road, were three Big Horn Sheep busily licking the minerals off the asphalt. Can’t imagine that would be very tasty mixed in with car oil and the rest! Took some pictures before moving slowly on, and then rounded another corner and came across two big boys with very large horns, again with tongues lapping away at the road. They gave us a curious ... read more