Im Baaaaack!The heart of the Canadian Rockies in the summer....the wait is finally over.

Ive left the hot shores of Mexico for the cool mountains of Canada, which to most people makes no sence but to me it makes plenty sence.

After arriving at Calgary airport i found the first shuttle bus on its way to Banff (Canada's Jewel) and hopped on for 2.5 hour ride arrive at my Hostel at around midnight and crashed my bed, knowing exactly what the next day would bring.

The next morning, full of energy i jumped from the bed and slid open the curtain to see if i could get a view of the famous Rockies for my first time...and what do you know, it was right there outside my window waiting for me the whole night

.Anxious to get out there, i hoovered down my breakfast and went out for a hike along the Bow river which runs through the heart of Banff, hoping to bring to life the vision of the rockies ive had plastered in my head for decades. Lets just say i wasnt dissapointed.After leaving my mark at the riverbank (literally), i moved on to explore the town to see what it had to offer.As i walked the streets i could not help thinking just how perfect this town was, and by perfect i mean organised and fault free. The streets were super clean, all kinds of bear proof bins lined the kerbs, every surface was freshly painted or varnished, all the people were smiling and walking the same pace, all lawns were mowed, all cars were clean, traffic signals were on time and .....what else, everyone walking their dog cleaned up after it, therefore carrying a bag of crap in their left hand. The place was alomst too perfect it seemed like i was on the set of a fictional movie.

That afternoon i collected some maps and brochures to plan out the next few days, then hiked to the top of a nearby mountain that would give me an overall view of the town in all its glory...well worth the hike

.You should know that the weather on this day was again...perfect, around 25 degrees, no wind and no clouds in sight.

The following day i woke up in a new bed, reason is i realised that when i booked this place 5 months ago for some reason i booked a private room complete with queen size bed and all the trimmings...well at this stage of my travels as i seem to be running low on funds it only made sence downgrade to a shared dorm (which in the end turned out better as i got to meet more people this way).Again i was blessed with perfect weather today, so i wasted no time to head down to the local kayaking depot and set out upstream along the Bow river northbound. What an awesome day. Once i was out there there wasnt a sound for miles except the swooshing of my paddles in the 4 degree water...ill leave the rest of the description up to the pics and vids.

Three hours later after cruising the sublime river and lakes i thought i would hike the opposite side of town up through the forest along and old trail which ended up leading me to another little perfect neighbourhood nestled high in the mountains which was obviously limited to residents wealthy enough to afford this kind of postcode

. Moving on i headed back into the woods to see if i could get lost, and i did but nothing i couldnt work out of with my handy dandy map and compass.

Day 3 in Banff, weather seems to have turned on me after 2 days of flawless blue skies. After asking the locals it turns out that the weather has been pretty drowsy the last couple of weeks and only the last 2 days have been unbelievably awesome. Figures.... so i check out the local weather posting on the wall chart and realise that the bad weather was on going to get worse.....unless.......

So i have an idea, but first its time to go rafting along Kicking horse river which is about 3 hours drive north into the town of Golden.Once we arrive and were done with our safety briefing im soon roaring down the rapids with a bunch of people i just met who happened to be from all over the world.Now these rapids are said to be the best in Canada, and after slicing through the Ecuador jungle in a two manned inflatable raft, i guess this one just didnt compare. Not to say it wasnt good, it was but it felt more like a tour ride than an active paddle through whitewater. Lucky lunch was included because the buffalow burger made up for it just that little extra

That night as we head back to the southern town of Banff we found ourselves driving through the rain as we hit the town, rain that was here to stay for the next few days.....and i decided i wasnt going to have that so i put my plan into action.

It was time to head north along the Rockies, it was time to chase the sun.