So...as you may know I am now back in the UK (it's May 8th)...I've been back about 5 weeks now...but I still haven't finished writing about Canada - so here it is - the final installment of my travels!

The last time I wrote me and Ben were getting ready to leave Whistler on a 17 hour coach journey to Lake Louise...The Greyhound coach took us back to Vancouver, where we had to wait for a while before our overnight coach to Lake Louise. The journey from Whistler to Vancouver is supposed to be one of the most beautiful drives in the world but unfortunately it was a dull, rainy day - we could hardly see a thing, it was so cloudy that the mountains and the sky all blended together in the mist!

After a fairly uneventful overnight coach from Vancouver (we stopped in Kamloops at about 11.50pm and then again at 6.30am for breakfast somewhere...) we arrived in Lake Louise at about 8am. It was freeezing! There was about a metre of snow - it was like stepping off the coach in to a winter wonderland! I had never seen so much snow!

Lake Louise is a tiny place - the village (hamlet!) pretty much consisted of a car park surrounded by a few shops, a cafe and a visitor's centre! The scenery was incredible - we were surrounded by The Rocky Mountains - so beautifully snowcapped and glistening in the early morning sunshine. It was like a dream world!

We walked about 400m from the coach stop to our youth hostel (a beautiful old alpine lodge) - it took a while as it was so snowy! There had been a fresh blanket of snow overnight so the ground was covered!

We checked in and dumped our bags in lockers as our room wasn't ready yet. We sat down, feeling quite weary from the 17 hour coach journey, and decided what to do for the day. Lake Louise is famous for its beautiful big lake (Lake Louise!) - so I really wanted to see the lake. I noticed a sign in the hostel reception for a free guided snow shoeing trip at 10am...by now it was about 9.30am so we quickly got prepared in our warm waterproof clothes and waited for the guide - no point in wasting the day sleeping!!

I think me and Ben were expecting about an hour of snow shoeing but we ended up coming back about 3pm - a good 5 hours of exploring! It was incredible. Our guide took us and 2 friendly German girls for a walk up to Lake Louise, in the deep deep snow! Sometimes our feet sank about 1/2 metre in to the snow! It was really tiring and hard work - my thighs ached - but it was amazing. The scenery was just breath-taking; I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it was. Just imagine Narnia, with a fresh blanket of deep snow, frozen rivers, huge tall trees covered in snow and gorgeous mountains as far as the eye can see - then times that beauty by about a million and you can almost imagine how amazing it was! We were so lucky for such a beautiful day, the weather was clear and dry, it was about -6 degrees and the air was the cleanest I have ever breathed! Our guide was so knowledgeable of the local area, he told us all about the flora and fauna, pointed out birds and told us that the bears were due to be waking up from their hibernation in the next few weeks! As we were tramping through the woods in our snow shoes I said to our guide "How do you know where the bears are hibernating? Could they be anywhere under the snow? Could we be walking on top of their hibernating areas?" he replied "Yep, they could be hibernating anywhere nearby, they usually find a fallen down tree to build a nest under, but as the snow is about a metre deep (at least) they could be anywhere." Woah! So for the next 5 hours I was looking in any snow holes and between trees to try and spot any bears hibernating! I didn't see any, which is probably for the best...but it would have been exciting!

So...we walked up to Lake Louise which was frozen solid! I didn't even realise we were at the lake as it was covered in snow and just looked like all the other areas we had been walking on...apart from there were no trees which I guess is a bit of a giveaway! We snow shoed across the lake to see a frozen waterfall at the other end of the lake to the huge hideous chateau (a massive ugly hotel!). We climbed up a steep bank of snow to see the frozen waterfall a bit closer and then had fun sliding back down! On the way back we stopped to look at some people setting up lots of dog sleds - the dogs were so lovely, they were so friendly and got sooo excited when they knew they were just about to set off for another run with the sleds behind them! There were about 10 or more dogs pulling each sled, which carried 2 people snuggled up in a sleeping bag type sled! It looked like amazing fun; they took off so fast across the snow! I'd love to do that one day.

That night back at the hostel there was a campfire; we all gathered around and listened to various exciting stories about bear encounters! An amazing day in Lake Louise - a great adventure.

The next day we enjoyed wandering around the hamlet of Lake Louise and taking photos of the beautiful mountains, before making a snow man and getting ready for our coach later in the afternoon to Banff to stay with our wonderful friend Ron from university.

The journey to Banff only took about 40 minutes and the scenery all the way was incredible - I couldn't stop smiling the whole way as I couldn't believe what I was seeing - the mountains just didn't look real! (Ben slept the whole way!) It was so good to see Ron (real name Tom - but he looks like Ron in Harry Potter so we gave him that name at uni!!); he has been living in Banff for 2 years working at a ski resort nearby. It is such a beautiful town - it looks a bit like a toy town - very picturesque and touristy but very pretty. We stayed with Ron for 2 nights (thanks for having us Ron!) and we enjoyed exploring the town and the ski resort that Ron works at. The day we arrived was Paddy's day so that night we all dressed up in green and went to a house party and then to the local pub with Ron's housemates and friends from work - they were all really friendly and it was great to see where Ron has been living for the last 2 years!

The next day Ron had the day off and he took us up to the ski resort he has been working at (Sunshine Village). We got the coach up the road and then a cable car up to the resort - the cable car was the longest I have ever been on - it took about 20 minutes to get up to the resort - it was so fun! Ron had arranged for us to borrow all the gear we would need to go snowboarding from his work friends! Neither Ben or I had ever been snowboarding before so we were really excited about having a lesson from Ron! I felt so cool all dressed up in snowboarding gear - it was the best! Ron lent us trousers, boots, goggles and boards and took us to the beginner slope! It was a tiny hill with a moving walkway thing that you slid on to with the snowboard attached to one of your feet to take you to the top of the slope. We then sat down to attach our other foot to the board. Having a go at snowboarding for the first time was awesome - I could have carried on all day! Ron was a really good teacher - helping us learn how to stand and steer and board down the slope with some kind of control! I managed to stay on my feet most of the time, only falling over a few times - it felt like such an achievement when we made it to the bottom of the slope still standing! I'd love to give it another go one day - it's definitely given me the boarding bug!

Ben, Ron and I took some of the ski lifts to the top of various other ski runs so we could have a look from the top - the weather was pretty cloudy so we couldn't see much but it was so fun to get on a moving ski lift for the first time and see what it was like at the top of the ski runs! I felt very out of place at the top of a ski run without any skis or a snowboard! Ben and I took the ski lift back down as we watched Ron boarding down the mountain underneath the ski lift! Very cool! A really fun day trying something new - felt great.

The next day Ben and I went to a photography exhibition at the local museum before saying a fond farewell to Ron and catching a coach to Calgary. Once in Calgary the Rockies had all but disappeared and we arrived in a totally different flat landscape. After dropping our bags off at the Youth Hostel we explored the city and stumbled upon a cinema showing 'Zero Dark Thirty' - it was cheap ticket day so we watched the film and got popcorn for dinner!

The next day we explored Calgary some more and had lunch on the top floor of a shopping centre with trees and water fountains - and huge windows so we could look up at the skyscrapers towering above. We explored Chinatown and walked along the banks of the River Bow - watching huge chunks of ice break up and float down the river. We walked along to Fort Calgary before wandering back to the hostel to make dinner before our late night flight to Toronto.

Our flight left Calgary at 1am and arrived in Toronto about 6.30am (Toronto is 2 hours ahead of Calgary). My Uncle Richard met us at the airport and drove us to my friend Andrea's house on the other side of Toronto. It was great to finally see the city my Uncle has been living in for many years (he actually lives in Mississauga which is outside Toronto but he works in the city!). It was wonderful to see Andrea too - she is so lovely and a wonderful hostess! She was so welcoming and left out blankets, pillows, English tea, Canadian squash (Cool Aid!) and a sweet note telling us to make ourselves at home while she was at work! Andrea lives with her cousin, Jared, and 3 friendly cats, Cooper, Buddy and Lua - a very lovely household. Jared seemed fascinated with our English accents and the funny things we say, one evening he was just standing in the living room and Andrea asked what he was doing and he replied 'I'm just enjoying the English conversation'! We like to entertain!

Our first day in Toronto was very chilled as we were tired from our late flight, while Andrea was at work we just watched films and ate junk food; there was a flurry of snow outside so it was nice to be wrapped up warm inside.

The next day we said goodbye to Andrea for a few days as we were off to stay with my Uncle and Auntie. Ben and I explored Toronto for the day - walking through Chinatown to a market area of the city that felt a bit like Camden, lots of vintage clothes shops and independent arty shops. We stopped for lunch at 'Big Fat Burrito' which, as the name suggests, sells big fat burritos - very yummy! We then stumbled across a record store where there was a band playing called The Kopecky Family Band from the USA, they were really good and it was great to see them in such an intimate setting. That evening we met up with my Uncle and Auntie and went to see my Uncle sing in a choir at a beautiful old church. The concert was really good and the setting was very impressive!

The following day Ben and I had a lazy morning while Pat and Richard were at choir practice. In the afternoon Richard drove us to Niagara Falls - about an hour down the road from where my Uncle lives. I was so excited to be at Niagara Falls, I couldn't believe I was finally there after dreaming about visiting for years and finally seeing it right in front of me. It was mesmerising - much bigger than I had imagined. I thought Niagara Falls was just 1 waterfall but it was actually made up of a number of waterfalls from the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side right round to the American falls, it was so cool looking over in to America! I have to say I think the views from the Canadian side were better than if we'd been looking over from America - we could see all of the falls and get up close to the top of the falls, it was incredible. I had no idea that the falls would be in such a built up area, I imagined them being in a park surrounded by forest but we just drove along a road in a town and we could see them!

The water at the base of the falls was still frozen thick with ice so we couldn't go on The Maid of the Mist - I'll just have to come back in another season! It was incredible to see so much ice; the banks were covered in snow and ice - so beautiful and dramatic. There was a lot of mist coming up from the falls - it looked like the waterfalls were steaming - we got covered in a fine layer of water spray - it was very chilly but a beautiful clear, sunny day. It was so peaceful standing at the top of the falls and hearing the faint roar of water as the millions of gallons of water crashed down to the bottom of the falls. We had a good wander around the town - it was like a toy town/like being in a theme park - it was very touristy but fun to wander round the Hersey's store, Hard Rock Café and the amusement arcade. A wonderful day seeing one of those 'Must See' attractions - it was like a dream come true.

The next few days were spent 'camping' in McGregor Point Provincial Park. My Uncle had said he wanted me to experience one of their favourite past times, camping in the park in Winter - I love camping and am always up for an adventure but I was a little bit nervous about camping in Canada in the Winter - I was cold enough indoors, let alone in a tent! And surely there were bears to worry about?! All my worries subsided as we arrived in the park and drove through the snow to a secluded camp area where I spotted a beautiful big green yurt, which turned out to be our home for the next few days. There was a covered decking area outside the yurt, complete with a big gas bbq for all our cooking needs and I opened the door of the yurt to be greeted by a big gas log burner! A log burner in a tent! Who knew?! It was awesome - so snuggly and cosy. It was more 'glamping' than camping! (Glamorous camping!) The yurt was surrounded by trees so we felt really cut off and surrounded by nature - our nearest neighbour was a caravan a few minutes walk down the track, but I didn't see more than 3 people in 3 days so it really was 'getting away from it all'. It was a 5 minute walk to the toilet block, it was fun putting on my head torch at night and stumbling through the snow to go and brush my teeth - as you can imagine my mind was running wild with what was hiding in the dark silent forest surrounding me! (Much to my disappointment/relief I didn't see any bears during our camping trip in the park!)

Our days in the park were spent walking down to the shores of Lake Huron (which looks like the seas - it is sooo huge!) and rambling round the park searching for birds and various types of wildlife - saw red squirrels, Chickadee birds and Blue Jays. The shore of the lake was covered in snow - it was funny seeing a beach covered in snow!

We also had a lovely day driving North, partly round the Bruce Peninsula, visiting Sauble Beach, Sauble Falls, Wiarton (home to the albino groundhog Wiarton Willie), the Southern end of Georgian Bay to get some great panoramic views over Big Bay (the end of the Niagara escarpment) and Owen Sound. We drove to see a fish ladder and we saw salmon leaping up the ladder, we also saw otters! I was so excited to see otters in the wild - we saw a light brown otter and a slightly darker brown one, they were so beautiful. We also visited Inglis Falls which were incredible - lots of deep snow and dramatic icicles and huge blocks of ice being worn away by the powerful force of the falls.

We saw lots of Mennonite farms and barns where they use traditional farming techniques and dress in traditional clothing - really interesting. I bought some fresh maple syrup from a Mennonite farmer who had been out tapping the trees for maple syrup that morning! The countryside scenery was beautiful - lots of flat land blanketed in snow, saw lots of grain silos and tumbled down barns.

On our last day in the Provincial Park my Auntie Pat gave me a cross country ski-ing lesson! I had really wanted to try it ever since my Dad went cross country ski-ing in Germany, so it was great to finally give it a go! Pat gave me a quick demonstration before I put on the ski-shoes and clipped in to the long thin skies and gave it my best shot! It was really fun - I fell over a few times (much to my Uncle's amusement!) but it was great when I got the hang of gliding along - I imagine it would be pretty tiring for any great length of time but my short stint was really fun!

After our exciting few days camping at McGregor Point we headed back to Toronto to stay with my friend Andrea. We had a lovely chilled evening watching episodes of Hannah Montana and the film Wreak It Ralph - so good!

The next day Andrea was at work so Ben and I made our way in to the centre of the city on the street car (tram!) and walked to Younge and Dundas Square - a busy shopping area of the city. We had lunch at the amazing American diner Johnny Rockets and then continued to wander around the city - taking in the sites of the old and new town halls and Toronto Stock Exchange. We walked past the Blue Jays baseball stadium to the CN Tower. We took the very fast lift to the top of the tower and walked round the observation deck enjoying views of the city and huge lake. I loved walking (and jumping) on the glass floor - looking down at the ground so far below us - Ben didn't enjoy it as much!

That evening was the last night of our travels - the last night of my 7 months away and Ben's 3 months - it felt weird that it was coming to an end, I was so happy to share the last night of my travels with Andrea though - it was really special. She took us to a birthday party of the girlfriend of someone she works with - everyone was so friendly and they enjoyed our British accents and even toasted the Queen! It was a really fun way to spend the last night of my travels - huge thanks to Andrea for making it so awesome and for making us so welcome - I can't wait to visit her again, I just wish we lived closer!

So…the last day of my travels…and it just so happened to be Ed's 27th birthday! (Sorry I wasn't there Ed!)

It was really great as it was Good Friday so Andrea had the day off work so she could hang out with us and take us to one of her favourite places to eat in the city 'Grilled Cheese' - an amazing café that just serves grilled cheese toasties! So yummy! Loads of different varieties of cheese toasties, I had cheese and caramalised apple - delicious! We then had a little wander around the shops before Andrea drove us to the airport and we said our fond farewells L It was so wonderful to visit Andrea and to spend the last days of our adventure with her - thanks for everything Andrea!

Ben and I were on different flights back to the UK but from the same terminal, so we did some last minute shopping - (it's a tradition for me to get lots of chocolate bars from my travels) and I posted some last minute postcards before we went our separate ways. Once I was alone in the airport I thought it was time for my last meal in Canada - the last meal of my travels (I didn't get any food on my flights!) - so I decided that Poutine was the best meal to have! I LOVE Poutine - chips, gravy and cheese curds - delicious (don't knock it until you've tried it!) - it was the best way to finish my travels! (I feel I could probably write a book about my love affair with food all around the world - I'll save that for another day - once I've made a photo book of all the food I ate around the world!)

So I boarded my flight bound for Iceland, it only took about 5 hours before we landed in Reykjavik (the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state!) I really wanted to leave the airport and explore Iceland but I'll leave that for another trip - it looked so beautiful from what I could see out of the plane windows. I only had about 2 hours to wait before my next flight, so in no time I was sitting in the emergency exit lane of the plane waiting for take-off (I'm one of the shortest people on the plane but I've got loads of extra leg room - score!) I was sitting next to members of the Icelandic female ice hockey team who were off to a tournament somewhere in Europe - they were so friendly and asked me lots of questions about my trip - I was fascinated by their language!

So I was finally on the last flight of my adventures after 7 months of seeing so many incredible things and meeting lots of lovely people who I hope to remain friends with for many years to come. I have made thousands of memories I will never forget and taken trillions of photos to help jog those memories and evoke stories to bore you all with!

I couldn't sleep on the flight as I was so excited to arrive and see my beautiful family - I couldn't wait and I was urging the plane to fly that little bit faster! I rushed through immigration and customs and waited very impatiently for my bag to arrive! Once I was ready I piled up the bag trolley with my things and donned my lovely blue wig (from carnival celebrations in Bolivia!) and put on my bright yellow sunglasses and strolled through the arrival gates to be greeted by Mum, Dad and Ed holding a welcome home sign and an amazing globe helium balloon! Ed said he knew it was me as soon as he saw me come through the doors - perhaps my disguise wasn't very good! It was amazing to see everyone and to spend Easter weekend and my birthday on Easter Monday being visited by my brother and Kiera and my best friends, it was the best welcome home I could have imagined. I was sad my trip was over but I was excited to see everyone and share my stories.

Thank you to everyone who made my trip so memorable and so much fun; it wouldn't have been the same without you all. From the start of my trip in Singapore with Uncle Anthony, Auntie Chi, Anita, cousins Sara and Alisha, then on to Vietnam to stay with Chi's family, then travelling with Mark in Vietnam and Cambodia, Mum coming to stay in Cambodia, seeing Sarah in Siem Reap, making amazing friends travelling round New Zealand (especially Holly and Miles, beautiful Marloes, Josh, Joey, Colm and the Great Dane - Ben), Ed coming to visit in Australia, staying with Ed's brother Phil in Sydney, travelling the east coast of Australia and spending Christmas and New Year with Josh, meeting up with Amy and Sam on their Mega Moon and spending New Year with them and the lovely Lorna, staying with my lovely cousin Allan in Melbourne and the beautiful Holly, then being joined in South America by Ben and making lots of great friends on our travels (special thanks to Dee, Tracey, Alistair and John, as well as all our other travel buddies and wonderful tour guides!), visiting wonderful Manders in Mexico - thanks for having us and being the best fun! Staying with Ron in Banff - thanks for letting us stay and giving us a snowboarding lesson! Staying with Uncle Richard and Pat in Mississauga and finishing the trip with Andrea in Toronto - thanks for everything! The trip wouldn't have been half as much fun without you all - sorry if I've missed anyone out - I met some incredible people along the way and they each contributed to the amazing time I had on my adventures - so thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the fun times and memories - it was a blast!

Thank you to everyone back home for the support before the trip and along the way, your encouragement kept me going. Special HUGE thanks to Mum and Dad for making this trip possible and for the support and everything you've done - words cannot express how grateful I am for everything you have done for me. Thanks to Iain, Kiera and Ed for your love, support and encouragement, Jane for all your kind words, encouragement and help before my trip, Liz, Jade, Jenny, Tammy, Bridget, Angie and anyone else who posted comments on my blog - it was great to read your messages and know someone was reading it! Nana, Uncle Peter, Auntie Annie, Chris, Emma and Jamie for your support and for following me every step of the way, Auntie Kate and Uncle Steve for your support and all the rest of my family too, Ethel for your stories and tales of your travels which spurred me on my way, the Hamid, Muller, Collett and Adlington families for your support, Archie, Lizard and Phil for your love and support, and finally to Josh Edmonds and Nana Grace for being with me every step of the way and watching over me on my travels, this trip wouldn't have been possible without you Nana Grace - so thank you for everything. Thanks to anyone who read about my travels and sent me messages along the way, to all my lovely friends - thank you for being there.

So enough of the emotional stuff…thank you again for reading and here's to many more exciting adventures in the future!