Undeniable photographic proof that no one knows how to party quite like Aussies. All photos courtesy of Dean
Today in Whistler, BC and Banff, Alberta, two of Canada's most picturesque, prominent ski towns, thousands of Australians have collectively taken to the mountains to snowboard, smoke weed, do coke, and drink excessively for Australia Day, their home country's national holiday. Some are waving big dark blue flags, others are wearing kangaroo or koala onesies while shotgunning beers, and still others are half-naked despite the fact that they're surrounded by snow. But Australia Day is not the only time of the year when Aussies are partying in towns like Whistler and Banff; in fact, it's just as common, if not more at times, to find them amongst Canadians and other tourists. But why the fuck are there are so many of them here in the first place?
"It's a big, big part of the culture out here; if you come to Whistler on Australia Day, it's pretty much bigger than Christmas," Amy, a 26-year-old Australian living in Whistler, told VICE.
The explanation for why can, at least in part, be chalked up to the Working Holiday Program that Commonwealth countries take part in. Though the specific regulations depend on your country of origin, if you currently want to go to Canada on this kind of visa, you must be between 18 and 35 years old to be eligible. If you get a visa, you're allowed to work temporarily in Canada for two years—and what you do in your free time while you're not working, well, that's up to you. Though the minimum wage is pretty damn high in Australia—over $17 stupidest outfits, which ended in a three-day bender at my house," he told VICE. "There was also once a random Monday night out where myself, my now ex-girlfriend, and two buddies consumed way too many MDMA caps and couldn't work out how to open any doors." He also mentioned a night in Whistler when he consumed a bunch of Ritalin he had gotten from Central America, forgot how to walk, and had to be carried home by a bouncer.
A Canadian woman who goes by the name Kassa Nova and used to be a go-go dancer at a club in Whistler remembers having a lot of her own interactions with Aussies while at work. She says she's seen Aussies fall down stairs and out of taxis, and has also dealt with some of them trying to get on her dancing podium and pushing them off into the crowd.
"Aussies are fun, they know how to party—I'll give them that," she said. "We're all here to party. Aussies come here to party and bang a bunch of bitches, and then they leave."
She says she once went home with one after her shift and had a "confetti party," wherein they ran around her house shooting confetti guns at each other and blowing bubbles. After they were done, she says she kicked him out. "I don't think I could ever date one, personally I think they're kind of arrogant. I've come to almost not like the accent—it's annoying to me now when I hear it."
Since drugs and drinking, as well as skiing and snowboarding, are a big part of the culture, injuries can be a common occurrence.
Sam, a 27-year-old Aussie who came to Whistler on a working vacation with a group of his friends, says he's seen injuries happen every now and then. "Sometimes people go too hard or snowboard when they're drunk—that's happened to a couple friends of mine," he said. "Another friend of mine was just rolling around on a skateboard in a skate park, fell over, broke his arm, and had to go home. It's pretty common especially during the summer... you get lots of people riding around drunk on their bikes coming home from the pub."
Emergency physicians and nurses who work in Canadian ski towns say Australians make up a big part of their clientele.
"You can say they pay down a significant part of our mortgages," said one ski town doctor, who spoke to VICE on agreement of anonymity. "But we love them. They are awesome, hilarious, and usually super sweet. Mostly." The doctor added that nurses look far ahead in their schedule in hopes of avoiding working the night of Australia Day.
But for all the Aussies who come to Canada to party like Lemmy, there are also those who seem to be here for more wholesome reasons. For Olivia, a 25-year-old Aussie originally from a small town who has lived in both Banff and Whistler, she said her and her Aussie boyfriend "fell in love with mountains, which were just so different from home... we knew this was a great place for snowboarding and adventures."
Sam also mentioned how he loves waking up every morning and being able to hit the slopes, and was able to sum up why exactly the experience of going on working vacation in a Canadian ski town is worth it for him: "I get to snowboard, party all the time, meet great people. I'm going to be 60 years old one day, and I am going to look back and remember this as the best couple of years of my life."
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