Strathmore Stampede

During Harvest week we took a break over the August long weekend on the 4th and headed to the annual Strathmore Stampede. There is around $300,000 in prize money up for grabs for the competitors and it's one of the major rodeo events held in Canada. They have the chuckwagon races, rodeo and a pretty awesome motorcross show but the highlight is the running of the bulls! This year was the 10th year and 85 competitors ran with the bulls. It was pretty neat to watch and because it's a smaller rodeo than Calgary we were actually right next to the pit where they ran with the bulls.

Pecker and I doing our best cowboy impersonations

The motorcross boys

Waiting for the bulls to come round

DC, Pecker and me

Watch out for that bull!

Jumping onto the stands to get away from the bull

Interesting attire for running with the bulls!

After the rodeo we went to the rodeo dance and tried our hand at two step, which is really popular in country Alberta. Adam and I managed a few twists and turns but when James starting falling asleep it was time to call it a night, definitely worth the trip!

First week on the Farm

After a few weeks of leisurely enjoying Alberta, we decided it was time to get back to the real world. We packed up our belongings (somehow a lot more than what we arrived with), said good bye to our fantastic Canadian parents Janice and Jim and made the long trip, ok the super short hour long trip, down the road to Mesabi Ranches.
Mesabi Ranches/Feedlot is owned by Mike & Jo Sears and managed by their son Tyrell, who lives at the feedlot with his wife Danielle. We were shown our new home for the next few months, a nice old house on the feedlot which we share with 3 others, Bryher, a kiwi girl from the South Island who has been living here for a few years and is going for her Canadian residency, Adam (or otherwise known as Pecker, Piglet or Straya), an Aussie builder from Aubury/Wodonga and Chris, otherwise known as Jonesy, a kiwi bloke from the South Island. Also I should mention the 30 odd resident barn cats that live in the barn next door, Spike the Border Collie and Duke the huge Pyrenees cross Border Collie who keeps the coyotes at bay at night by howling his lungs out!
We settled in and were put to work the next day and so started my farming career! Here are some pics of our first week of work, I'll try and get organised and take some more pictures of our house and the farm over the coming weeks...enjoy!

James fixing up some fencing

Mike & Jonesy fencing on the Ranch

The house at the Ranch where Mike & Jo live

Jonesy & Ty moving some cattle on the Ranch

James and I cutting some tyres for the silage pit

 

 

Last winter strong winds blew woodchips all through the tyre pile so James got the tractor out to shake out a few of tyres that were completed covered at the bottom of the pile. Turns out a skunk family had decided to make the tyre pile their home and when James lifted up a load of tyres a skunk got his tail stuck between two tyres and was scrambling to get free. Bryher and I jumped up and down to get James attention so he wouldn't dump them right by where we were cutting, I've been told the smell is not a pleasant one! Luckily this time the skunk was a baby one and must have been so scared it took off, next time we might not be so lucky!

James putting his newly acquired welding skills to work

The Feedlot

Spike on the lookout for Mice

Lake Moraine

If you think Lake Louise is beautiful then you HAVE to see Lake Moraine! It's only 14km out of Lake Louise and it's in the Valley of the Ten Peaks. It's also the picture on the Canadian $20 bill. We went for a walk along the shoreline to the end of the lake, the place is seriously so incredible that the pictures speak for themselves :)

Lake Moraine

Walking along the edge of the lake

View from the walk at the end of the Lake

Glacier at the edge of the mountain by Lake Moraine

If you look hard you can see James on the right shore line :)

Lake Louise

From Banff we made the beautiful drive up to Lake Louise, James happy as Larry in our new truck and me happy to see some beautiful sights along the way. We arrived at Lake Louise along with the hundreds of others tourists eager to see the well talked up Lake Louise, and it certainly didn't disappoint. The day was a little bit cloudy but the pics still manage to capture the natural beauty that is Lake Louise.

About to explore the infamous Fairmont

We decided to be ambitious, so set off on a short hike to one of the tea houses that are renown for their ability to serve a tasty beverage after a well earned walk. After a forested 3.5km walk and an elevation gain of about 400m we were treated to these pretty amazing sites. Also just a quick note that there are no roads up to the Tea House so everything that is served on the menu has to be either hiked or brought up by horse back!

Enjoying the walk up the hill (and posing for the camera...ok so the walk wasn't that hard!)

One of the beehives you can walk to.

Lake Agnes

View from Lake Agnes Tea House

Lake Agnes Tea House

DC in Lake Louise

After our hike we headed back to our camp ground which we had set up nicely earlier in the day and enjoyed a toasty Marshmallow (or ten!).

Our camp ground set up

Toasting Marshmallows

Beautiful Banff

After purchasing our new ride (Ford F-150) we got organised to make the mission to see the much anticipated Banff. Making plans to live there for the winter, we were more than eager to explore Banff and the surrounds and find out whether we wanted to call the place home for a few short months. On our arrival (slightly delayed after I forgot to tell James to make the turnoff!) we were greeted by breathtaking mountain ranges which encapsulated the small and quaint town.

Our arrival into Banff

Once arrived we organised accommodation at the Banff HI Alpine Centre. Not too bad perhaps on the slightly expensive side for a hostel but after what I've been told about Banff that didn't actually surprise me too much! We set out to explore the shops and the sights and ended up in a beautiful rooftop pub the 'Elk and Oarsman' for dinner (recommended by one of the locals) which much to our pleasant surprise only set us back about $30 for dinner and drinks. 

My view from the dinner table....what a lucky lady I am :)

The next morning we set out to explore Johnston Canyon, just a short drive from Banff. Over the years rushing water has carved a path through the limestone and potholes have been formed by the ever present waterfalls. It was such a beautiful walk, we managed to get out there quite early so we didn't have to contend with the overwhelming crowds of tourists (pretty much unavoidable around Banff, but if you can get up early then you will be rewarded!) The walk was incredible and as always there were our ever present friends the squirrels and chipmunks - love them! Here are some the pictures we captured during our walk.

Taken at the entrance to Johnston Canyon

One of my wee little friends

Feeling the waterfall spray!

 

A cave right next to one of the waterfalls

Feeling good after our beautiful walk