Dec 23-27 Banff for Christmas
Well we finally made it! It was a long and packed bus trip but the Chalet at Douglas Fir Resort (DFR) was spectacular and damn saucy for Christmas (that was Duncan's adjective use).
Dec 23: Got in, unpacked, walked down Tunnel Mountain and bought some snacks, and hitched back up to DFR with two Candadian ladies. Matt and Maggie got in about 10:30.
Dec 24: Got up early-ish and went downtown so Matt and Mags could hire some snowboard stuff. We got our lift passes and headed up to Sunshine Mountain. It was packed!! (But not as packed as NZ) From the carpark where the shuttle bus drops you, to the chairlift you have to spend about 15minutes in a gondola. The views were fantabulous.
Hit the bunny hill to give Mags a quick lesson, and refresh Matt's snowboard legs, as he has tried it once before.
Did some green runs, but we weren't impressed with them, visibility was poor and it was so crowded. Maggie decided snowboarding wasn't really her thing. She waited for us to finish up and we headed back to Banff.
Went to dinner at a pub, ran into an American who about 10 years ago was the coach of the Geelong Supercats (bball) and then went to TonyRomas for desert (which we got for free coz the waitress liked us). Before we went back to DFR we went to midnight mass at the local Presbyterian church. Being a minister in a church of a tourist town, he was very used to a multinational and multi-denominational congregation, it was a lovely service.
Dec 25: Christmas started with a small sleep in and a big cooked breakfast. mm mmm! We had decided as a group not to go boarding today, but thought we would still catch the shuttle from Banff to the ski slope at Lake Louise and then another shuttle from there to Chateau Lake Louise (http://www.fairmont.com/lakelouise/), one of the most beautiful and famous places of the Canadian Rockies, that always appears on postcards. It is just a picturesque in winter white and frozen. We looked at the ice sculptures and intended to do some iceskating on the lake, but got sidetracked. We made a 7 foot snowman called Simon. What was so amazing, was the amount of toursits from all over who wanted a photo with Simon. At one point there would have been at least 50 people standing around getting photos. We tried to make money out of it, but there were no takers. We walked from the Chateau towards town a little bit to Deer Lodge where we had the most scrumptious lunch, with the most amazing service, and not for many $$$ all things considered. Daddy can we please go here for christmas 2006? :)
Once back at DFR we exchanged gifts before going out for Turkey Dinner at a local resturaunt. It was good. Damn good (that adjective also belongs to Duncan). We went to bed soooooo full.
Dec 26: Matt, Duncan and Gemma went snowboarding at Lake Louise slopes very early in the morning. The runs were much better and less crowded, but there wasn't as much snow so it was a little bit more icy. This means it is a bit faster, you have a little less control, and it hurts more when you stack it. Fortunately we are getting much better and did not have any major stacks. Yay :)
Maggie slept in (lucky duck) went to the gym and broke the oven (not really just the knob). All in all everyone had a good day. Upon our return we went to the pool and the indoor waterslides at DFR for some recreation. The boys then headed downtown to a pub to watch a hockey game that they thought started at 7, but actually finished at 7, so we met them down there and went to dinner instead.
Dec 27: Matt and Maggie left early this morning back to Vancouver, they had packed last night. We are currently sitting in the lobby of DFR trying to catch up on all of our personal administration. We are catching a bus to Calgary this afternoon.
We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Hopefully we will update this again before the New Year.
Love D&G
Dec 23: Got in, unpacked, walked down Tunnel Mountain and bought some snacks, and hitched back up to DFR with two Candadian ladies. Matt and Maggie got in about 10:30.
Dec 24: Got up early-ish and went downtown so Matt and Mags could hire some snowboard stuff. We got our lift passes and headed up to Sunshine Mountain. It was packed!! (But not as packed as NZ) From the carpark where the shuttle bus drops you, to the chairlift you have to spend about 15minutes in a gondola. The views were fantabulous.
Hit the bunny hill to give Mags a quick lesson, and refresh Matt's snowboard legs, as he has tried it once before.
Did some green runs, but we weren't impressed with them, visibility was poor and it was so crowded. Maggie decided snowboarding wasn't really her thing. She waited for us to finish up and we headed back to Banff.
Went to dinner at a pub, ran into an American who about 10 years ago was the coach of the Geelong Supercats (bball) and then went to TonyRomas for desert (which we got for free coz the waitress liked us). Before we went back to DFR we went to midnight mass at the local Presbyterian church. Being a minister in a church of a tourist town, he was very used to a multinational and multi-denominational congregation, it was a lovely service.
Dec 25: Christmas started with a small sleep in and a big cooked breakfast. mm mmm! We had decided as a group not to go boarding today, but thought we would still catch the shuttle from Banff to the ski slope at Lake Louise and then another shuttle from there to Chateau Lake Louise (http://www.fairmont.com/lakelouise/), one of the most beautiful and famous places of the Canadian Rockies, that always appears on postcards. It is just a picturesque in winter white and frozen. We looked at the ice sculptures and intended to do some iceskating on the lake, but got sidetracked. We made a 7 foot snowman called Simon. What was so amazing, was the amount of toursits from all over who wanted a photo with Simon. At one point there would have been at least 50 people standing around getting photos. We tried to make money out of it, but there were no takers. We walked from the Chateau towards town a little bit to Deer Lodge where we had the most scrumptious lunch, with the most amazing service, and not for many $$$ all things considered. Daddy can we please go here for christmas 2006? :)Once back at DFR we exchanged gifts before going out for Turkey Dinner at a local resturaunt. It was good. Damn good (that adjective also belongs to Duncan). We went to bed soooooo full.
Dec 26: Matt, Duncan and Gemma went snowboarding at Lake Louise slopes very early in the morning. The runs were much better and less crowded, but there wasn't as much snow so it was a little bit more icy. This means it is a bit faster, you have a little less control, and it hurts more when you stack it. Fortunately we are getting much better and did not have any major stacks. Yay :)
Maggie slept in (lucky duck) went to the gym and broke the oven (not really just the knob). All in all everyone had a good day. Upon our return we went to the pool and the indoor waterslides at DFR for some recreation. The boys then headed downtown to a pub to watch a hockey game that they thought started at 7, but actually finished at 7, so we met them down there and went to dinner instead.
Dec 27: Matt and Maggie left early this morning back to Vancouver, they had packed last night. We are currently sitting in the lobby of DFR trying to catch up on all of our personal administration. We are catching a bus to Calgary this afternoon.
We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Hopefully we will update this again before the New Year.
Love D&G
posted by Gemma at
4:04 AM
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