While Japan remains one of my favourite countries in the world to visit, Canada has to be a close second. I first got the opportunity to visit the USA's neighbours to the north in the middle of 2012, and then again later in the same year. As yet, I haven't had the chance to return since then, but the Rocky Mountains outside Calgary are still one of the most beautiful places I have been lucky enough to see in my travels to date.
I guess it's fair enough though - I told them I had come to Canada for work, but wasn't in possession of a work visa. When Canada got added to my schedule, I suppose nobody back home checked if I would need one! The Canadian Immigration staff were essentially checking that I wasn't there to steal a job from a Canadian citizen, understandably! But, unfortunately, this process meant I was sitting in Immigration for 3 hours while they tried to get in touch with my managers back in Australia. Eventually, they did and they let me on my way, albeit, a little begrudgingly. Not a great first impression for me, but it didn't dampen my excitement too much!
My job for this first visit was in a little town called Elkford, about 3 hours' drive from Calgary. The photo above is taken from the road up towards the mine where I was working (Fording River Road), showing Elkford in the distance on the left, nestled snugly at the foot of the Rockies, capped with a just touch of snow in the middle of July.
Breath-taking!
Elkford, like a lot of the places I visit, is a town that, best I can tell, only really exists because of the mines in the local area. Workers of the mines and their families live there, and so services and entertainment are somewhat limited.
For my stay, I hung my hat at Elkford Motor Inn for about 5 nights. As far as Motor Inn's go, it was fine. Nothing special, but I wasn't exactly spoiled for choice! Worth a mention, though, is the breakfast that comes with the room. Served up in the adjoining diner next door to the Inn, they sure know how to calorie you up for day of hard work on the mine! Hashbrowns, eggs, sausages... all that super healthy stuff! Ridiculously tasty, but my heart probably was glad to be leaving at the end of the week!
At the end of the job, I drove back to Calgary to jump on a plane to the next destination. But the drive back was made longer by stopping to take photos on a regular basis; I just couldn't get over the natural beauty that is around every corner.
On my return visit in December 2012, I visited the same area, but this time made camp in a town called Sparwood, a little further south than Elkford. Slightly larger in size, Sparwood has a little more to offer, but I was actually only there for one or two nights, so I didn't get time to do any exploring. One of the town's claims to fame, though, is that it is home to the (now, formerly) World's Largest Truck; a mining truck, as you'd expect. The truck sits proudly just off the highway that leads into town. I had a quick look at it in the morning before I left back for Calgary, and yes... it's quite a monster! I stand at about 6'3" (191cm), and my head was about up to the axle of the tyres. The axle!
On this visit, I managed to squeeze in a couple of nights in Calgary before I left so that I could actually have a look around the city. I can't recall where I stayed, but it was not a long way out of the downtown area; probably somewhere near the airport! I drove into the city, on the south side of the Bow River, and spent a day walking around, seeing what there was to be seen. I took a walk along the river, making a nice big loop, eventually coming across Fort Calgary. I checked that out, learning a bit about the history of Calgary and how the settlement grew from a minor outpost. I then wandered back into the city and went up the Calgary Tower to check out the view.
I apologise for the following onslaught of pictures, but I hope you enjoy them!
At the top of the tower, you can take a step out onto the glass for that "standing on nothing" feeling. It's weird - I knew the glass was inches and inches thick and never going to break, but it still took a bit of psyching up to step out onto it!
My final quest before departing from the wonderful land of Canada was put to me by a Canadian friend who, at the time, lived further east in Saskatchewan. She told me that I could not leave Canada without having eaten a "poutine": a Canadian delicacy of fries covered in a variety of chunky, meaty sauces (whatever takes your fancy, really). I was licking my lips at just the thought!
I asked at my hotel about it - they advised me to look out for street vendors in the downtown area. But just my luck, there were no vendors to be seen on my day of exploring! I continued looking around and eventually found the closest thing I could find: while technically a poutine, it was purchased from New York Fries... so you can't really say it was particularly authentic! Tasty, as it was, I do look forward to trying a real one on a future return trip! I've since been informed that they may be a bit more common in French Canada, on the eastern side of the country. To Montreal!!
And so, with that, I bid farewell to Canada. It's now been 3 years since I visited, so I do hope it's not too long before I get to visit again. There's so much more aboot Canada that I haven't experienced yet, eh!
(Sorry, I had to!)
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