From a young age I travelled a lot with my parents, mainly to the usual family places like Spain, Italy, Austria and various other places within Europe but reaching 17 was a turning point in my travels.
Over the next 3 years I travelled to the Maldives, Mauritius, Kenya, South Africa and Brazil for the summer holidays but it was the winter of 2009 when I discovered Canada. Banff was my home for 3 weeks in January; Banff Springs Castle is possibly the most monumental hotel I have ever seen, not to mention the views, immediate access to the ski slopes and a great town full of evening entertainment.
Carp fishing in Canada
I loved Canada, the food, the culture, the people, the hiking opportunities and the country as a whole and for that reason I decided to take my love of carp fishing and see how Canada’s reputation for having huge shoals of carps patrolling the river stood up to my expectations. Needless to say it was again an amazing experience, I document a lot of what happened on the trip on my carp fishing blog but in brief, the carps were huge, the scenery was amazing, the experience was out of this world and I was again totally enchanted by Canada.
So here I sit, counting down the days until I return to Canada and then I am heading back to my ‘neverland’ for 3 months come September, to once again sample the glorious outdoors that Canada has to offer. Firstly I will be based on the St Lawrence River in Ontario, a small town called Peterborough to be exact, for 6 weeks again carp fishing and sampling the autumn air for the first time.
Banff and the Rockies
For the second stage of my trip I am heading over to the Rocky Mountains, unfortunately not to Banff this time but I’ll be not too far away. Skiing is on the agenda; the Rockies offer an amazing ski environment, and deep snow falls for several months of the year, amazing scenery and wildlife and above all some great ham and cheese Panini’s available all over the mountain!
I can only speak highly of Canada as a country; the spring, summer, autumn and winter offer completely different experiences that cater for the whole family. The balance of a new, huge world to discover but the home comforts of English Speaking residents and recognizable menus is just perfect for me.
2 tips
A couple of tips when heading over to Canada:
- Be sure to take some spare cash, the Ralph Lauren shops offer top quality merchandise for the equivalent of Matalan prices here.
- Take some trousers a waist size bigger than your current; the food is enormous and cheap!
So anyway, there you have it, why I love Canada so much. I can’t recommend Banff enough for skiers, the slopes and variety of runs available are second to none in my experience and far eclipse the quality of their European equivalents.