Banff Ambassador Tour.

I mentioned a while ago that I attended the Banff Ambassador Course part one at the Whyte Museum, so today was the day that we finally got ourselves booked onto the second part of the course which was a lovely little tour around Banff. Unfortunately it meant getting up at 7.30am but it was nice to take a visit to parts of the town that we haven't yet managed to see in our time here.

We started off at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel which always looks incredible. We found out that the hotel was actually accidentally built backwards. So the man who designed it could not be there for whatever reason when it was built and the contractors ended up building it facing the complete wrong direction. Therefore rather than the superior suites having stunning views of the mountains, it was actually the chefs and kitchen staff that were treated to such scenery. Pretty funny I think.

We then went up to Surprise corner, up to the Banff centre, tried to find some Elk lurking around but to no avail, and then off to Lake Minnewanka which is so beautiful. Apparently it is one of the best places to see the Aurora Lights so we shall have to venture there next time Twitter alerts me that they are active, but today we just had a walk on the completely frozen river. It always makes me a little nervous but it is just so bloody cool. You could never walk on a frozen river back home, not a chance!

We had a hot chocolate and some maple syrup biscuits, of course, then off to Norquay and Vermillion Lake. There is a little lay by kind of thing on the way to Norquay which has such a cool view of Banff, I'm hoping to get a lovely picture there when it isn't quite so cloudy. Everything is just so beautiful over here you cannot help but take a picture of absolutely every single thing you see! I really want to try and find a good camera on eBay to get some proper shots. My rather outdated Nokia just does not do the trick.

At the end we got presented with the 'Banff Passport' which is basically a little leaflet full of free things to do in Banff. A free gondola ride, a free trip to the hot springs, a free curling lesson and so so so much more. Freebies worth over $500 - not bad for a tour which cost 10 bucks (and that was discounted from $60) - would you look at me being a savvy saver!