Although I do enjoy ripping my colleague about how she pronounces words like ‘super’, or ‘soupa’ as she says it, and make wise cracks about throwing another shrimp on the barbie and convicts, I’ve never had a negative Aussie experience. It should be noted that Amy gives as good as she gets when it comes to gibing me about canoes, beavers and our Canadian hockey obsession. Keeping a friendly banter going in the office is always fun.

It seems that every young Canadian wants to visit Australia and every young Australian wants to visit Canada. It also seems that they all somehow end up congregating in Jasper. I guess no matter where you’re from, you always, if given the opportunity, want to go somewhere else, do something different and experience new adventures. 

I’ve had the good fortune of venturing up to the Jasper Tramway quite a few times and the employees there, it seems, almost all hail from the land down under, or down unda, as Amy would say. Happy to work, get some dirt under their fingernails and do it all with a smile - not to mention a knack for coming up with nicknames, I’m ‘Fitzy’ by the way - seems, wherever I meet them, the Aussie way.  

I was lucky to spend many summers guiding canoe trips through northern Ontario and any time I had an Aussie staff member, I was elated. No matter if we were getting poured on - by rain or golf ball-sized hail - I could always count on someone with good humour, a tremendous work ethic and a desire for something new, assisting me.  

It was also incredibly refreshing to get an outsiders perspective on Canada and the world as we’d share a morning coffee before the campers rose. Outsiders, I’ve generally found, almost always have valuable points to make, even if I don’t wholly embrace their belief system. 

Whether it be on something as mundane and ultimately insignificant as snowboarding versus skiing, or eco-consciousness, I always like an outsiders perspective. It just, at least for me, provokes some introspection and generates insights I might otherwise not have had. 

Undoubtedly, not all Aussies are cut from the same positive form, just as everybody else, but my experience has only been one of positivity and fun. And although I’m not a fan of vegemite, I am a fan of Australia.