Canada - Winter 2000/1

I spent just three months doing housekeeping work in the heart of the Canadian Rockies close to the ski resort of Lake Louise.

My decision to spend winter in Canada was made as I sweat under the hot summer sun at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, USA.

I was working at Funland for my second summer and enjoying it so much that I decided I'd like to return the next summer.

So what point was there in going all the way home for the winter?

I decided to head somewhere I'd get a lot of skiing done and checked if I'd be able to get a visa.

As it turned out, I could only get a visa if I had a job offer and employers would only offer me a job if I first had a visa.

Stupid. Senseless. Annoying. Difficult.

I took the first job offer I got - in housekeeping.

I thought once I got in the country, visa in hand, I could find something better.

So, I took Amtrak up the coast from San Fransisco and spent a couple of days in Vancouver before heading over to Lake Louise.

The work wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected and the people I worked with were great to be with.

I got two days a week to ski and everything was great.

Well, not exactly.

Baker Creek Chalets, where I worked, are within stone's throw of the trans-Canada highway, but the bow river is between them.

Getting to Lake Louise or any other civilisation isn't easy without your own car and I often found myself spending days off wandering the woods instead of skiing.

No big deal really.

The skiing that year wasn't good - the least winter snowfall most locals could remember.

I enjoyed my time there and have no regrets.

I wish I could have stayed until the spring and visit the many attractions closed for winter, as well as see the Rockies and they're wildlife out of hibernation.

I traversed Canada by Greyhound to Toronto, where I spent a couple of days, before crossing the border at Niagara Falls on 7 February.