Canmore continued....it was a busy week

Lake Louise:


So Thursday, although Bryce and I were sore and stiff after using all those unused muscles during the cross-country ski and yoga, we woke up early and headed out to Lake Louise (an hour or so outside of Banff). Bryce and Lawrence went skiing and Robyn and I went to the Lake Louise Chateau (a very fancy hotel) and enjoyed some yummy lunch, saw the gorgeous scenery at Lake Louise (including an ice sculpture like a castle on the frozen lake that people figure skate around) and then went cross country skiing again along a closed off road. Great views of the ski hill (mountain!) that the boys were skiing on. Robyn would have been fine to have been skiing with the boys but I am learning that although I would love to be a ski-bunny....it's just not in me. I will continue to ski in the future, but my heart doesn't leap at the chance to find myself at the top of a steep hill, with stiff boards secured on my feet, that don't allow me to ski parallel from the get-go, so I end up doing "awkward, knees-wobbling, tense body" snowplow all the way down the hill. I did alright and I definitely improved during the two times I skiied this trip (with much thanks to the patience of Robyn, Bryce, Lawrence and Andrew for taking time to teach me). However, I heard noises of terror escape my mouth while I negotiated the terrain and I didn't like what I heard.
After the long day, we all soaked in the hot pools in Banff and then went out for dinner. It was "Hockey Night in Banff" at this particular pub and so we were ordered to pick a team to support for the game and if "our" team scored, they would give us a free beer. Sounded pretty good to us, so we (being the good patriots we are) suppored the Ottawa Senators and booed the Buffalo Sabres. Here is a nice pic of Lawrence (Lolo) and Robyn. They were exceptional hosts for our stay and we were very grateful of their kindness to lend us equipment to borrow for our many activities during the week. I think amongst Robo, Lolo and Andrew they had 15 or so pairs of skiis in their one house!


So at this bar where we had dinner, the host/DJ/manager had a microphone and walked around between periods and asked hockey trivia questions. Just as he walked up to our table, Bryce decided he was hot and took off his sweater/jersey. However, since we had been to the hot pools earlier, Bryce and I hadn't actually been aware of what the other one was wearing. Now, let me just preface this to say that we are not one of those couples who wear matching outfits. The worst we ever get is wearing our down jackets at the same time, but that's usually forgivable. Anyway, last year, Bryce laughed when he opened his Dec 19th birthday gift only to confess that I had given him the same shirt he was giving me for Christmas. Well, at this bar in Banff, with a man with a microphone witnessing it, Bryce and I wore the same "Keep NZ Beautiful" shirts. I felt so lame. It left pretty quickly, seeing as we answered the trivia question correctly and scored some free Canadian beer. But not before the dude took the opportunity to embarass us a wee bit about dressing the same.

Us in Banff later that night:


Check out the best sunrise....from 30, 000 feet up just outside of Auckland, somewhere over the Pacific, from our window seat (which, by the way, had a heating vent underneath it so poor Bryce was sweating most of the 13hours on the flight back home!) It reminds me of a Pink Floyd album cover...


So here I am, sitting on the couch back in the Big P (Paraparaumu, New Zealand), trying to re-hydrate after 30 hours travelling from Calgary, and watching NZ women play beach volleyball against Brazil. Its great to be stationary, although my body still feels like it is actually still moving. We have had a great trip and I am blessed to have such a good network of friends in Canada. I loved catching up with everyone and seeing how everyone is growing up and moving on in their lives with new spouses (Congrats Jody and Ian!), new careers and new babies. I really enjoyed seeing my family and all the growth it has had. Being able to play with my nieces and nephews was truly a highlight on this trip and I can't wait to see them again (although they will be much bigger next time, I guess!)
Thanks everyone for such a great welcome and I promise I will be back again soon. To those who are keen, please please please come and visit. We guarantee you will love it here as much as we do and we would love to pay back some of the great hospitality we were shown this trip!
Lots of love,
Candace