Day 11 ~ Tuesday 1st September - 1st Day of Fall

Well our night at the YWCA wasn't as bad as we thought – both got a good nights rest & slept in. We jumped in the car and headed up to the Banff Gondola to the top of the mountain to see the epic views. (CA$39)

The weather wasn't too bad – we had a bit of drizzle, but all in all, it was fine. I had been warned about being up at altitude with my asthma. Was fine until I had to cough – yeah I could tell the lack of oxygen just by coughing.

It wasn't the view Steven was hoping for – he got this Gondola mixed up with the one at Lake Louise. Never mind, we can hopefully nip back into Lake Louise for that soon. There are gondola rides everywhere – well, it makes sense – you don't want to the walking up these mountains (even though plenty hikers do!)

We walked out to a platform and a chipmunck showed his face and then scampered off. I had the wrong camera lens on, so no photo. We waited around hoping he would come back, but alas not.

After the gondola ride, we came back into Banff and walked the streets and had some lunch, then headed back to the YWCA to update our blog and edit some photos and to have a nanna-nap.

The big thing of the day was the present Steve bought me – a hair dryer!! Mine from Australia is the wrong voltage, so even with a convertor it isn't really working. So no hair dryer for days and I wasn't happy & Steve was sick of me whinging about it…. so I now have a pretty blue one that blasts my hair dry & straight – YAY!! Honestly – its the little things that make you happy! I look and feel normal again!! :)

Steve's cold seems to be getting worse, so a lazy day wasn't such a bad idea. Today was the first day for me since leaving China that I feel normal, bright and alert. A few extra lazy days won't hurt me either.

We walked into town around 7pm and ate dinner at a little italian restaurant and of course Steve had Chicken parma!! He was happy.

Was a stunning night – hardly any wind and no rain. But the weather is due to change in the coming days and they are expecting snow here, so its going to get very ugly very quickly apparently! All the shop keepers are talking about it to the tourists, making sure we are all aware of the change thats coming. I almost bought a down jacket (Killertec – German brand) but the damn thing was too warm – but I might change my mind by the weekend and buy that AND a Canada Goose one too! lol

Tomorrow we are heading off to Canmore to stay for a couple of days before the OOAK trip starts. We are going to take it easy as the following 12 days are going to take it out of us and with us not being 100% healthy, we feel it is the priority. I might push my luck and go window shopping if I can get away with it!

SQUIRRELS: 0

CHIPMUNKS: 1

MOOSE: 0

BEARS: 0