Holy moly Alberta, Canada is paradise on earth Part One of Two

When I heard I was going to Canada, I could not quite believe the opportunity I was being given - all paid for too. I mean, a once in a life time opportunity to see this amazing country, what more could I have asked for. This was in 2011. My role was to complete a Mountain Bike Instructors Course, and I thought hell, this can't be hard....(not physically that is, skill wise- a different story)

When we got there, I thought ok driving a van here with a trailer would not be hard, the roads are large, plenty of room and no traffic to worry about other than the Mooses or wild animals that had the potential to slam into you.. Anyway, got to Kananaskis, Alberta and I swear, I have never seen views quite like this before, spectacular is one word for it. The snow was melting away and all I could see were the Canadian Rocky Mountains, the marvellous greenery, and the crystal clear lakes, that were so calm, you could actually see the mirage of the mountains on them. (see pictures attached). We were staying in a campsite full of tents, teepees and caravans, we went for the full camping experience. What was strange was the safety brief I received, if you see a Bear, play dead or if you can use Bear spray, now really? Well, I soon found out what they meant by bear country...I just did not think that Bears would come up so close and boy did they! On our first night, a Bear came into our camp rummishing through the bins, it was quite entertaining to say the least, even though these animals are scary! I am sure I started singing Bear necessity song from Jungle Book just to add to the comical scene I was witnessing. I made should the doors were locked and every night we also made sure no food was left anywhere, we were not taking any chances!

So lets begin with mountain biking, yes mountains are fine, but not the ones we were using, the smallest of forest paths with sheer drops on the one side and on the other side the risk of Bears, Mooses, Wolves and apparently Mountain Cats, what's not to think about here. Well, I can ride a bike but it soon became apparent that I needed some remedial training on how to handle mountain bikes going down vertical drops and over large boulders, yeah if there ever was a 'you have been framed moment', these moments were it, I would have won the trophy of how not to ride a mountain bike, sheer reckless! The first group I had to lead as a Mountain Bike Instructor was the funniest, I was demonstrating how to go down a vertical drop and well, yep I rolled over head first, and landed on my face, to the amusement of my then students lol well at least it broke the ice...That was then the decision to somewhat move from those crazy mountains every so often and find some good old flat routes for speed and sightseeing (Bears of course).

On another day, mountain biking my flat route, which took me to a massive path with forests and fields around, it was honestly magical to see, we came across some grizzly bears, baby ones and well, where there are babies there is one very large mother, and she clocked us, so the chase began and I swear my heart was in my mouth, I truly did not know that I could pedal that fast, I am sure I could have given Sir Chris Hoy a run for his money! These Bears were going nuts and I had visions of my head being pulled off lol Anyway, we managed to lose them after cycling for what seemed ages! We stopped, laughed in shocked and carried on until....we saw something behind a tree. I thought at first it was perhaps a deer, or something like that, until it came right for us and it was a freaking Moose, have you seen the size of them...They are no doubt the size of a camper van, and it chased us like you would not believe and guess what? Right in the direction of mummy Bear, I could not make this stuff up! Thus, one way or another one animal was going to kill us that day! In the end, we had to do a sharp turn into the woods, with no path there to cycle on, but we could hide...we waited a while in silence and when we thought the route was clear, we got straight back on and cycled hard towards the main road - look my group may not have done mountain biking but they sure got some adrenalin in a different way!

I always go running everyday, and we were told to run on the main roads, on the sides that is to avoid the wild animals. On one day, I noticed a wolf following me on the other side of the road, and it seemed to parallel me for about 4 miles - quite unearthing as I found out later that, that is how they hunt their prey by paralleling them. And then to top it off, a car pulled over and said, 'there is a bear not far from you on this side of the road, would you like to get in the car for safety?' and my answer was 'eh no thanks' - I mean hello stranger as if I would! Well, kid you not the brown bear was literally no more than 15 feet from me, I got in the car! I just loved my encounters and there are so many to mention.

Kananaskis is just amazing, and for some reason it reminded me of the old Cowboy films, because of the landscape and the people who wore those Cowboy hats. It really is such a unique place, one has to visit! Of course we decided to go horse riding - me all the gear no idea. I recall as a child, I was bitten by a horse and so I am nervous around them. Anyway, we got dressed in full leathers and the Cowgirl hat and off we went on our group of horses. Now, at first slow and controlled but then the fabulous Instructor decided to not gallop but sprint his horse and well, when he went off so did all of our horses, and I swear I thought I was going to die! I must of hit every branch going in that forest on my face, the pain of being hit by branches as I could not control my sprinting horse was immense! I thought, oh no stitches! And my horse decided to jump in the air, I held on to dear life, until the instructor came, and deep inside I wanted to whack him in the face for this! No one noticed until they saw my face and yes I can see the funny side now but I was not keen on this kind of adventure anymore!

To add on to my wonderful adventures in Kananaskis, my boss asked us who could ski, as it was closing season in Banff for skiing, so it was the last chance to get on the ski slopes at Sunshine Village slopes (I think that was the name) and of course I said yes, I can ski and really was excited to get on the slopes in Banff and practice my ski skills again. So we got to the main ski shop to collect our skis and boots. The thing was, I never recalled my skis being that thick or my boots being that solid. Anyway we get to the ski slopes, and got onto the ski lifts and up we went. I was looking around, thinking where are the classic ski paths, where are the langlaufers? (cross-country skiers). All I could see was the Alpine skiers... I then realised that is what we were doing!!!! I have never done that, and my heart was in my mouth as there were so many different levels of downhill routes and I did not even know which one was which! Oh heck here we go again! Please, you have got to be joking..seeing kids alpine down the slope as I am side stepping like an idiot because I had no clue as to what I was doing. In the end, I thought go for it, well it was no Bridget Jones moment but I snowploughed to the very end, bumping into women who were skiing in their bikinis as they were trying to raise money for breast cancer. So, I mean it could have been a comical scene for sure here! Needless to say, I stayed at the bottom, had a hot chocolate and watched kids do amazingly well! I still love skiing, just not Alpine skiing! And maybe next time, I actually ask the question, what type of skiing lol...

So, another amazing offer was to have a go at static parachute jumping, and well for me personally planes are for landing, not jumping out of, especially on my own with my luck! I have done Tandem Parachuting, of which I really enjoyed so I thought, this is one challenge I must do, get out of my comfort zone! So we did a few days of training, preparing and a lot of praying on my part! The day came, all 4 of us on this tiny plane. Now, what I forgot to mention was we were not jumping out of the plane immediately, oh no that would be simple, we actually had to grab hold of a bar by the wings, shimmy across, hang there for a few seconds, then let go! Talk about adrenalin! So the individual before me, his lines got twisted, and that freaked me out, as there are drills to do when that happens however, if that happened to me, I am not sure I would remember which side to twist myself to untangle, I most likely would have panicked and pulled the reserve instead! Anyway, we were being videoed and I am seen constantly praying lol Time came for me to jump, at first I literally could not put my hands out to the bar as the wind kept blowing me back in so the Instructor peels my hands off the door and forces me onto the bar, I simply hang there for what seemed like ages, and then hell yes, I let go and off I went. I can honestly say, that all drills went out the window, parachute opened well and I just leisurely did what I was told as we had earpieces on, and the instructor was telling me to turn left, right, pull down and stop still in the sky! I have to say it was breathtaking, the views were out of this world and simply the feeling of being in the sky. I actually did a perfect landing, (landed on my feet and walked away - James Bond eat your heart out!) unlike the lad from another plane who decided to land in a lake, he was a non-swimmer! I still can't believe I did this, but I am glad I did, as I have never shied away from a personal challenge, remember these challenges are what makes us!

Canada, is simply a wonderful country, its people are full of life and are very welcoming. I am so glad I went and I urge anyone who goes to Canada, to consider Alberta, Kananaskis, because it simply is magical! More to come in part 2 where more of my own personal stories were had and some information for you if you ever do go.

Thanks for reading as always,

Toni xx

(please subscribe :-))