Banff Trip Thanksgiving Weekend

Over the Canadian thanksgiving weekend, me and four our cool peeps left on a very last minute trip to Banff national park. Somehow I'd never really picked up on this very famous place and what it was but I'm so glad I decided to take the plunge and head out, at the expense of my study for midterms. YOEO (you only exchange once).

The drive was a nasty 10 hours, winding through the rocky mountain ranges from the coast to Alberta province. The drive wasn't actually that bad, as on account of waking up at 3 am to get picked up by the other guys I managed to sleep through most of it. The car we rented was a sleek Chrysler, but not really designed to fit 3 large guys on the back seat.

Unfortunately winter has come early for Banff and we arrived amidst snow storms and sub zero temperatures. Luckily we had a short hike to the spectacular Wapta falls a few hour outside of Banff in good weather.

The next day was pretty dissapointing, as we kept getting glimpses of the colossal mountains towering above us, only for them to be swallowed up the next instant by clouds. The snow was unabated and our hike yielded a view of only grey. I also had only packed shorts for some reason, which got a lot of comments and strange looks from passersby. I deeply regret not bringing my hiking pants.

The next day made all of our troubles worthwhile though. The sky opened up and I can honestly say that Banff is one of the most beautiful places I have been. Nowhere in the world has terrain like it. I think the mountains trump event those in Nepal for beauty. We hiked as long as we could and it was worth it.

Every evening over the weekend we drove through scenic backroads to on the way to our hostel in an attempt to see a bear. Despite trying so hard and seeing many deer, elk and even a coyote, not bear. Luckily I have already seen one whilst I've been in Canada so I wasn't as dissapointed as the other guys were.

The drive back was unpleasant due to cramped seats, but we did see 50? 100? bald eagles along maybe 10 km of road outside of Kamloops on the way through, which was pretty bizare. Real life really caught up to me once I was back, but I think my time in Banff will be something that stays with me for the rest of my life.

Not where we stayed!

Why You Should Come on Exchange to UBC (Anywhere in Canada will do)

[This post is written for the Beacon Travel Grant programme, which encourages students who go on exchange to document their experiences for the benefit of prospective students]

I'm going to assume that you want to go on an exchange. Trust me, its a good i
dea. It may be a lot of work, it may not really fit into your study plan, and it may not fit with your finances, but really if there is any way you can make it happen go for it. You do not want to miss out on this.


Anyway, UBC. The University of British Columbia (UBC from here on in) is situated to the west of central Vancouver, on its own little peninsular. It looks out across Salish Sea to Vancouver Island and the province's capital city, Victoria. If you are going on exchange, you should come to UBC and I'm going to explain to you why.

UBC seen from the top of local Grouse Mountain

Everyone going on exchange is planning to make friends. The vast majority of people are anxious to varying degrees about it as well. I know that I certainly was before I left. The good news is that I shouldn't have been worried and you shouldn't either, as there are so many opportunities to meet people and make friends you'd have to actively try to avoid coming to know a whole bunch of different people.

First up, nearly every exchange student will get a place living on campus. Depending on your situation you might not be looking for student house living with others, but its one of the best ways to meet other students. You will get to know your other roommates, whether you like it or not ;). I am personally in a 6 person shared apartment in a tower housing 408 other students, but there are a plethora of different options. Its not an experience that many Adelaide uni students will have had unless they have lived in a college or similar.

The view from my window, facing the 'worst' direction.

 Living on campus, you'll come to realise there are a whole hoard of other exchange students about. These guys are your first port of call when it comes to making friends, to state it in a mercenary fashion. While some permanent students may have groups of friends and mainly be focused on studying, all the other exchange students are going to want to meet people, travel and just generally have a good time.

While I'm on the point, I have to mention the ESC (exchange student club). A small team of Canadian students organise events for others on exchange, including hiking trips, camping trips, bar crawls etc. If you just turn up, you will have a good time, I guarantee it. Some of their events have resulted in some of my poorer decisions regarding alcohol...

Another thing I highly reccommend is joining a club at UBC. You'll quickly realise that there are many, many more clubs to choose from than at Adelaide University, almost overwhelmingly so. There is also so much more happening on the campus and in the residences in general, almost every night there will be multiple things to do.

Speaking of the campus, the experience at UBC is way different to a university like UoA. UBC exists on its own little area, separated from suburbia by the Pacific Spirit Parklands. It really is like a self contained town, with its own grocery shops, bars, restaurants and neighbourhoods. The campus is sure to give you a kick. Just walking across it takes me nearly 30 minutes!

The teaching style is also a bit more 'traditional' than my lectures in Adelaide. In my maths lectures they even still use blackboards for the entire course. No lecture recordings hurts pretty bad, especially when you have 8 am lectures like I do. The good news is, UBC is one of the highest ranked Universities in Canada and among the top 40 un
iversities in the world. It really shows with the quality of the lecturers a facilities available.

I'm sure you didn't want to go on exchange because of uni work though, at least not entirely. You are in luck in Vancouver, as there is tonnes to see and do. The public transport system is good (at least better than Adelaide) which you'll be needing to get around on a budget. For outdoor activities especially, the Vancouver area is basically the best in the world. Yes, I said it! My poison of choice is mountain biking, where you'd be hard pressed to find a more famous area for riding. I also dabble in skiing and Whistler is frequently voted the best ski resort in North America. But whatever your preference you are pretty much guaranteed to have a long time as long as its outdoors. I didn't realise but apparently its one of the best places for fishing, rock climbing, hiking, Frisbee golf(?) and I'm sure many others. Make sure you go explore the mountains, as the views are breathtaking whether you are in Banff national park or just driving up the coast from Vancouver.

Finally, we get to Canadians themselves. One of the best things about going on exchange is that you can immerse yourself in another culture. Admittedly, the Canadian culture won't be the most foreign to you amongst the rest of the world, but you'll pick up lots of little differences through your time here. Canadians are really friendly and at the risk of reinforcing stereotypes, polite. Go to an Ice Hockey match though and you'll see a completely different side to them.

Vancouver is a beautiful, magical place. I'll end this here to avoid ranting about how much I love it anymore, but I truly hope you at least consider UBC as your host while on exchange. Trust me, its the right choice.

Exchange Student Club Sunshine Coast Trip

On Friday the 30th of September I left downtown Vancouver for a weekend that I am still recovering from. The Sunshine Coast trip was much lauded in the weeks leading up to the trip so it was on many a person's must do lists.

Leaving Vancouver, weather fantastic

Unfortunately the queues for tickets were so lengthy that I missed my chance for a ticket, until just one day before leaving a flood of tickets were being sold by last minute cancelers. For the not so modest price of $230 I snagged a place on the boat.

Camp Potlatch was the site of this expedition and it is only accessible by sea. I didn't manage to get a good photo of the rusty tub that ferried us up. The camp itself is straight out of an American summer movie, complete with dining room songs and cabin names, mine being called 'Chilkat'.

The food also similarly camp oriented, by which I mean bad, although it was at least plentiful. I dare not question the composition of the cheeseburgers we ate for lunch on Saturday. The weather cooperated intermittently and for the remainder of the time it rained. The huts also were basic, with no electricity and the toilet a treacherous dark staircase away.

If it sounds like I had a bad weekend, then you have been fooled (which was my intention)! It was honestly the best $230 I've spent in Canada so far. The days I attempted to jam full of whatever activity was available at the time. We spent one morning kayaking far further than we were to supposed to, until the staff had to come get us. Two of us got badly lost on a hike and ended up walking through the forest with no trail, having walked past the massive and spectacular Potlach falls somehow without noticing them.

And at night, there were fires, music and unlimited alcohol. Unfortunately breakfast was served early and I wanted to fit as many activities in as possible, so I got very little sleep. Crossing a fast flowing river up to your knees is a bad idea with minimal sleep but hey I survived.

Special mention goes out to the global village which sounded like the worst idea ever (think school camp performances for each country) but was actually great and all the awesome people that I met. Also smores are the greatest. Assorted photos from the group photographer follow.

Queuing in Canada

So far I've just talked about the things I like in Canada, which is all fair and good, we want to keep this positive after all. However, I just can't go on without venting about all the queuing I've been doing.

My original plan was to take a photo of every queue I was in, post it to this blog and impress everyone who read it with how much time I've wasted standing in line. However, I was in so many queues that I gave up and besides I would have filled my phone by now.

I've thought about why this is. I mean, understandably if you do touristy things then you'll have to queue, but it just seems inescapable. As if Vancouver is somehow crowded despite being quite visually not much more crowded than Adelaide. The  Maybe everything is just slower, not enough for me to realise but enough to notice the queue.

Buses, supermarkets, events, tickets to said events, food of all descriptions whether free or paid for and Tim Horton's especially, toilets, lifts, alcohol, you name it I've queued for it.

The sad thing is I've just grown to expect and except it. Maybe that's the real reason I didn't take any photos, as it seems so pedestrian now that it isn't worth documenting.