A visit to Canada

by Coralie Williams

About a month ago I came back to Sydney after some time in Canada. Similar to Lorenzo, I visited Shinichi at the University of Alberta (UofA) for a few weeks working on my thesis. I had never been to Canada, so I was excited to immerse myself in the land of moose and maple syrup.
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I really enjoyed the summertime in Edmonton and working on the UoA campus. It was great to have been able to visit and to see the new lab take shape, which I am sure will be very successful. The main highlights were having an office with a window (the Sydney office space is called the “dark side” for a reason), indulging in Tim Horton doughnuts every day, and trying poutine for the first time with Ayumi, which we both liked! After some focused work time, I was excited to explore Canada’s wilderness away from the city and set off with my partner for several days of travelling in the Yukon and Alberta.

UofA campus and the city of Edmonton.

​The first stop was the Yukon. It was everything I was waiting for: emptiness, autumn colours, wolves howling in the middle of the night, and beautiful scenery. During a stop in Haines in Alaska, we spotted a mum grizzly with her cubs. It was surreal, but also a bit sad to see how people were stupidly close just to get a picture.

Haines Junction in the Yukon.

Close to Chilkoot Lake in Alaska.
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The second part of the trip was in the Rockies in Alberta. Driving from Edmonton to the Rockies is quite a contrast, from flat plains closer to Edmonton you arrive at massive mountainous rock formations. As Lorenzo mentioned in his blog, every turn on Highway 93 had a breathtaking view. At one corner, a large black bear walked right in front of our car before sitting down to eat berries and flowers by the roadside, with no care for us or the queue of cars building behind us.

Maligne lake and somewhere along AB-93
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Prior to going to Canada, doing my best to prepare like a true tourist, I read up on anything bear related and I read many times the saying "if it's brown lay down, if it's black fight back, if it's white goodnight". But I soon realised that black bears can have very different fur colours, and even grizzly (“brown”) bears can be quite blond. So, I guess that expression isn’t too helpful, and perhaps these common names should be revised. It was also cool to see the bear-safe bins, as I had read about how they were engineered to balance the human-bear trade-off.  
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All in all, it was a special trip, and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit UoA and these places. Saying goodbye to Shinichi and fellow lab members in Edmonton was bittersweet, but it’s a normal part of how things move on. Back in Sydney, there have also been many farewells over the past months, with colleagues wrapping up their contracts and starting new roles. I’ll be the last to finish up in the Sydney branch, so for now I’ll be wrapping up my thesis, appreciating these experiences, and getting ready for the next chapter.