Six Days -- Beautiful Banff

We need to go to Banff, Lake Louise is gorgeous but there is so much more to do in Banff! Its a real tourist town and is so beautiful.

Because we had some free passes, we decided to take advantage and go for an adventure up to the Banff Hot Springs. We weren't intending to spend and hour and a half there because we wanted to ride the Banff Gondola, the day had cleared for beautiful sights at the top and I was so excited but unfortunately the Gondola is closed until the 17th of January due to maintenance. Its a little disappointing but we just had to do more with our new found adventure time!

So we swam around an empty natural hot spring pool for an hour! It was so ridiculously relaxing. There was ice around the pool as well, so we could pick large portions of ice off and rub it on our shoulders when we got too hot. I will mention that they only recommend swimming in the pools for 10 minutes due to the heat --- not for us Aussies though! We are use to it.

After feeling very relaxed with loosened shoulder muscles we ran to catch our bus back into town. We once again just walked through all the shops we loved, bought some maple syrup flavoured fudge, a Canada shirt from Roots Canada, and looked at all the beautiful art galleries that hold some amazing pieces of the native wildlife! A very relaxed day.

For lunch we went to Tony Roma's. The only reason we went there was because they claimed to make the best ribs! So we had to see if it were true, Colin and Scott both got ribs, I had the pulled pork sandwich. It was incredibly delicious and amazing! I highly recommend going there if you like ribs! They were juicy and falling off the bone! For dessert we had a 3 dessert taste tester, we chose one each -- the red velvet cake is my recommendation! But it was really strange, as we were waiting for the bill, a random man sat down with us and just starred for ages -- we were a bit freaked out -- he then snatched up the last little bit of cake and ate it in front of us before running off. It was the WEIRDEST experience EVER!!

At home we just relaxed with our friends and amped ourselves up for an awesome day of snowboarding.

Our Fairytale ...

The past week Colin was getting me all excited for my Christmas present - a night in Banff!! I knew that much but I didn't know where we were staying or going out to dinner. I was so very very excited to spend a night with him somewhere relaxing!

The night before - our Friday night - we set our night with drinks. I was happy just sipping on something light and reading Game of Thrones but Colin had other plans. One game of normal beer pong turned into the Vietnam War beer pong (full cups and everyone just gets wasted). SO Colin got wasted! He was so drunk he told me that our group of friends were making me a birthday cake (my birthday was over a month ago). After a lot of badgering, Colin finally got me to come upstairs. Apparently he was in 303 talking about cooking me dinner, went to the shops and bought a ridiculous amount of snack foods! Here we watched tv and laughed at Colin's drunken speak. It went for hours but the funniest quote was, "Everyone here just wants salmon cookies… but Gill is just flashing her tuna fish at everyone"… I know, absolutely no sense! I managed to talk him into going to bed, it didn't stop me from being social for a bit longer though. When I finally decided to call it a night, Colin was passed out on top of everything! I managed to move most of the stuff off the bed and climb in around him. Just as I was about to close my eyes, Colin moved and rolled straight on the floor! I was laughing my head off but he still didn't wake up! I tried moving him, with no luck he finally came to slightly, this was bad! He decided that our room was the bathroom!!!! I did manage to prevent anything messy and getting him to the bathroom! Lucky from there, he was keen to sleep on the couch after doing a sexy dance in the lounge room! Was such a funny night! Colin woke up at 5:30am worried that I had put him on the couch but was relieved when I just started laughing at him for all the stupid stuff he'd done.

We were up fairly early to catch our bus to Banff, I was so excited! The first place we went was the beautiful Hot Springs! We hired out retro swimsuits styled from 1886, we looked like goofballs but it was hilarious and a lot of fun! Its so interesting of to into a hot pool whilst in the outside cold. You dehydrate very quickly. I loved it, we are going to try and organise a trip up with everyone next time.

We then wandered around the Gardens, not too much garden but so very beautiful, luscious tall trees covered in fluffy snow!! We were hoping to see a deer or elk but I could settle for the gorgeous squirrels! I got such a good photo of one, they are so funny to watch.

Our walk extended out towards "the middle of nowhere" - I had no idea where we were going but Colin seemed sure of himself. We walked for about 15-20minutes in windy -30 degrees. We finally reached a stable house. I thought we were going  horse riding but then I saw the sleighs! We hopped into our one horse open sleigh for our magical experience. We were taken through the gorgeous trees and around the beautiful snow until the carriage came to a halt. Our driver told us we could take some photos around outside the carriage and wander through the trees. Colin was keen so we walked until we came to the Bow Valley River, frozen over. We walked half way across the beautiful river when Colin turned me around and told me he loved me. I, being a massive ditz, just kept taking photos. Colin then told me that he was in love with me, I was confused as to why he was so serious. I told him that I was in love with him and thats when he went down on one knee and said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He pulled a box from his pocket and opened it so I could see the most beautiful ring I will ever lay my eyes on! At this point my heart was fluttering and I was crying with a smile. "Will you do me the honour of marrying me?"

I said YES!!!

I know! We are engaged! I cannot believe this happened!!! Especially after the night before, I just didn't expect it (apparently it was all apart of his plan)! Coming back on the sleigh with massive smiles, we took our horse and chariot back to the stables. They gave us liqueurs and chocolates to begin our celebrations!

From there Colin had more surprises up his sleeve. We caught a bus to the Banff Springs Hotel, the most amazing hotel I have ever stayed in! A giant castle to add to our fairy tale. We had a booking with a photographer at 5:45 and then a beautiful dinner at the Wauldhaus. We celebrated with drinks and champagne!! Our dinner was spectacular! An exquisite three course meal that will have us returning for sure!

Finally, we went to our room for more champagne and to call our families!

The next morning we had a magnificent breakfast! A gorgeous buffet to fill our bellies with delicious goodness! Our amazing server Barry found out we had just gotten engaged and got everyone's attention to announce our news and give us a platter of cake and chocolates with a Congratulations note!

It was the most amazing day of my life! I am incredibly happy to announce that I am engaged to Colin E. Martin! My best friend and my soul mate!! Thank you to everyone for your well wishes and celebratory messages! I am in love and will marry the most amazing man I know!

Our fairytale had everything except for a knight in shining armour - because he left his armour in his castle.