Hi guys!
Merry Christmas to everyone and a very Happy New Year. Well we completely missed December for updates, but honestly who is surprised? December started with a bang in Vancouver with snow falling on the 1st. What a way to kick things off! I must admit that looking out the window and seeing snow falling everywhere sent me a little giddy. With the winter season on us, and Grouse finally opened, we headed up the mountain to check out the conditions and get set for the ski season. Once we got to the top, Rebecca and I where not to pleased with the visibility. Being the rookie skiers that we were, not being able to see more than 20 metres in front of your face, coupled with the fact that we did not know what the ski runs were like since we had never been here, made the scenario a little off putting. We decided to give it a go anyway but, since neither of us had our gear yet we would have to hire everything, including clothes. After checking it all out, and noticing that the only "hire pants" left were all XL, we decided it was all too much and headed to the Bistro for lunch instead. After a good meal, back down the mountain to the clothing sale on Lonsdale where I got a $250 jacket for $50! Being that we turned up with 30 minutes to go there was not a lot on offer so this was all we walked out with. I know that Bec was annoyed that I was the only one that got anything. Now since I ordered my pants from the Grouse gear-up before everything else I thought at least one of us would have clothes for Whistler. More on that to come.
Anyway, so the Orage gear came in and no Burton pants. Positive – Bec was all set. Negative – I now have two jackets, no pants. The next weekend comes around and with clothes in hand, we head to Grouse to try again. Bec had hired me some pants only to realize at home they were XL. Let's just say that I fit in with the Homie snowboarding crowd!!! So we joined Lukas, Aggie and Alice and headed to the peak of Vancouver. We had a good first day at Grouse, deciding to hire our skis and stocks for the season up there since Bec gets a staff discount. Visibility was not much better (in fact I think it was worse) but it was still great to get out. After meeting the pro boarders (Lukas, Aggie and Alice) for a late lunch, Bec and I decided to call it a day as conditions had got somewhat worse and Bec was worried about blowing out a knee. When we got home we realized that the camera had not returned with us. Let me just say that with all the pockets in a ski jacket, it is a task to remember to do them all up. Unfortunately, Bec was the one most to suffer from this situation. The good thing was there where no pictures still on it as I had cleaned it out the night before. Also we had planned on getting a new one on the way out anyway as the old Canon S50 was showing its age, and its size. We did not plan to do this now however, and with Christmas rapidly approaching and our booked week at Whistler we would have to get a camera pronto.
After spending a day seeing what Future Shop (think JB Hi-Fi Canada style, without pages of their catalogue posted everywhere) had to offer, and a night of research, we decided to get another Canon, but drastically smaller, better quality and about a quarter of the price I paid for the original. I also used some shrewd bargaining, noticing that Office Depot (think Office Works Canada style) next door had it cheaper and secured a price beat from Future Shop. My experience with JB and Rebel Sport had served me well. So with the new Camera on board, and Christmas 3 days away, we were at least ready to document the events.
Christmas for Nine
So Christmas day had arrived and the Alice and Bec were set to work. With Sam and Lee arriving from their whirlwind honeymoon in the afternoon, and Lukas and Aggie spending the morning with Aggie's mum, Chris and I where the designated cooks. I must say that I was very skeptical of the baked Ham and Turkey in the same oven working out but Chris did a marvelous job. Sammi and Lee arrived at 3 just in time to see the snow falling in Vancouver. We would have a white Christmas!!! Lee decided to turn up in true Aussie fashion, arriving in a singlet, board shorts and thongs. Who said it was below 0 degrees? With the two meats, salad, boiled veggies, gravy, cranberry sauce and enough egg-nog to drown someone, everything went wonderfully well. The working girls (that sounds bad) arrived in time and everyone sat down to a wonderful Christmas dinner. After that, Secret Santa gifts where passed around and everyone seemed wrapped (no pun intended) with their gifts. Bec was so happy that she spent the evening in her pj's (they were a present). I didn't know it was that kind of party. With an early morning bus trip facing 6 of us, and Sam and Lee beginning to think they where humming birds (Simpson's reference) due to lack of sleep, we called it a night. It was sad to be away from family but we all had a wonderful time with good friends.
I was going to include our trip to whistler in this but having typed the start of it, it’s a little long and I will post separately. Note this will happen very soon!!!
Till then, hope all are well.
Love Mike and Bec.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Friday, November 23, 2007
Random additions from Mike
Hello all!
An update on the frosty mornings: there is a temperature display near the bus exchange and for the last 3 mornings (at about 8:15am) it has read 0, 1 and -1. On the way home at night (at about 6:00pm) it has been between 2 and 4. Add to this the footpath is quite slippery and it doesn't make for pleasant trips to and from work. This is not the kind of weather a Queensland kid expects in November! Mum, I hope that box full of warm gear gets here soon....
Also, I have modified the Rockies Trip blog entry to correct historical inaccuracies and add some comments. Don't bother re-reading if you have already seen it once. Nothing to see here people, move along.
Finally, check out the new title image!
P.S. Have fun at the election, all you Aussies still at home.
An update on the frosty mornings: there is a temperature display near the bus exchange and for the last 3 mornings (at about 8:15am) it has read 0, 1 and -1. On the way home at night (at about 6:00pm) it has been between 2 and 4. Add to this the footpath is quite slippery and it doesn't make for pleasant trips to and from work. This is not the kind of weather a Queensland kid expects in November! Mum, I hope that box full of warm gear gets here soon....
Also, I have modified the Rockies Trip blog entry to correct historical inaccuracies and add some comments. Don't bother re-reading if you have already seen it once. Nothing to see here people, move along.
Finally, check out the new title image!
P.S. Have fun at the election, all you Aussies still at home.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Seattle, Hockey, Work and Photos
Hi everyone
Hope you are all well. Can you believe it? Two blogs in a few weeks!
A quick update - since the last blog we've been to Seattle and it's getting really cold here. The last two mornings has been frosty! At the moment it is fine, but not looking forward to the rain coming back.
The Seattle trip was over the long weekend, to go and see an NFL game. Get this, it took us 3 HOURS to get through the border!!! And then another 30 minutes to get out of the car and line up inside, to get a new entry pass, get photo'd and fingerprinted. However, on the way back it took 30 seconds. He asked us where we lived and what we bought and that was it. Didn't even look at our passports. Although it was a long weekend, because of the strong Canadian dollar, there's been long lines each weekend. Seattle was nice, but we didn't see much. It was also wet, cold and windy. The game itself was amazing - marching bands, the crowd cheering for the entire 3.5 hours, cheerleaders. Amazing atmosphere. So now we have done NFL, baseball, basketball, hockey, and Canadian football.
Speaking of hockey, we went to the vancouver giants (under 19s) the other night. it was awesome - there was a fight in the first few minutes! we were in the first row (for only $20) and had pucks and people slammed up against the wall in front of us. anway, hopefully we'll get there again soon.
In terms of work, Mike has been renewed until the end of December and moved onto a new game (top secret). So now there is a much better chance of going through until when we leave. I have gone from being bored out of my brain, so juggling almost 3 jobs. I've been temping in an office for the last 3/4 weeks, I am about to start at Grouse (this Friday) and then Harbour Cruises have another quick season over Christmas. I'll be quitting the temp job once Grouse starts and the Harbour Cruises season is only for 3 weeks.
In terms of our trip home - we are leaving around 16 Feb, arriving in London around the 24 March - and have already come up against a few issues for our trip to London. But I'm sure we'll figure it out and I can't wait to travel again!
Ok, well the main reason I posted this blog is to tell you about the photos. I'm going to put up two more albums - my birthday and halloween. All I'll say about Halloween is it's massive over here, i want to start having halloween parties when we get home (dressing up is sooo much fun!) and that you should NEVER EVER have 7or 8 baileys and creme de meth (spelling) shots, spiked with vodka, along with a couple of bicardi and pineapples, all in the space of a few hours!
Love you all
xoxo
p.s. sorry to everyone I haven't replied to - there are a few of you. I'm really bad at the whole email correspondence thing, but I promise I'm always thinking about you all and am slowly getting to everyone!
take care of each other
Hope you are all well. Can you believe it? Two blogs in a few weeks!
A quick update - since the last blog we've been to Seattle and it's getting really cold here. The last two mornings has been frosty! At the moment it is fine, but not looking forward to the rain coming back.
The Seattle trip was over the long weekend, to go and see an NFL game. Get this, it took us 3 HOURS to get through the border!!! And then another 30 minutes to get out of the car and line up inside, to get a new entry pass, get photo'd and fingerprinted. However, on the way back it took 30 seconds. He asked us where we lived and what we bought and that was it. Didn't even look at our passports. Although it was a long weekend, because of the strong Canadian dollar, there's been long lines each weekend. Seattle was nice, but we didn't see much. It was also wet, cold and windy. The game itself was amazing - marching bands, the crowd cheering for the entire 3.5 hours, cheerleaders. Amazing atmosphere. So now we have done NFL, baseball, basketball, hockey, and Canadian football.
Speaking of hockey, we went to the vancouver giants (under 19s) the other night. it was awesome - there was a fight in the first few minutes! we were in the first row (for only $20) and had pucks and people slammed up against the wall in front of us. anway, hopefully we'll get there again soon.
In terms of work, Mike has been renewed until the end of December and moved onto a new game (top secret). So now there is a much better chance of going through until when we leave. I have gone from being bored out of my brain, so juggling almost 3 jobs. I've been temping in an office for the last 3/4 weeks, I am about to start at Grouse (this Friday) and then Harbour Cruises have another quick season over Christmas. I'll be quitting the temp job once Grouse starts and the Harbour Cruises season is only for 3 weeks.
In terms of our trip home - we are leaving around 16 Feb, arriving in London around the 24 March - and have already come up against a few issues for our trip to London. But I'm sure we'll figure it out and I can't wait to travel again!
Ok, well the main reason I posted this blog is to tell you about the photos. I'm going to put up two more albums - my birthday and halloween. All I'll say about Halloween is it's massive over here, i want to start having halloween parties when we get home (dressing up is sooo much fun!) and that you should NEVER EVER have 7or 8 baileys and creme de meth (spelling) shots, spiked with vodka, along with a couple of bicardi and pineapples, all in the space of a few hours!
Love you all
xoxo
p.s. sorry to everyone I haven't replied to - there are a few of you. I'm really bad at the whole email correspondence thing, but I promise I'm always thinking about you all and am slowly getting to everyone!
take care of each other
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
It's been sooooo long....
Hey all you wonderful, warm, beautiful, dry people in Auz!
Ok, well today is Tuesday, it’s 10.55am and I’m bored out of my mind!!! I’m not really working and although now I have a job (see below) no one has contacted me and so I have no idea when I start…..and to be honest, I haven’t exactly been doing a lot – it’s so cold and wet outside most days I usually just sit around and watch TV. Or go out and spend money – which is bad!
Anyway, yesterday Mike had a day off (after working 7 days straight) so we did the Grouse Grind – a walk up the local ski mountain (where I supposedly have a job). Wait, did I say walk, I meant a goddam HIKE and a half! Now apparently it’s supposed to take the average person 1.5 hours, it took us 1.75 hours. Our excuse is that Mike is getting over a cold so we were stopping a fair bit. We also haven’t really done any serious exercise in about 7 months. Still, I’m feeling a little unfit. However, on the plus side, neither of us are sore today so that’s gotta count for something right? I’m clutching at straws I know. Ok, well I’ll put you back to the original blog I started about 2 weeks ago……enjoy!
Some time a few weeks ago……
Today the sun has come out for the first time in about a week. The last 3 days it has pretty much been raining non-stop – not just drizzle, but rain. Oh joy!
We’ve really settled in these last few months – well it’s been about 2 since we wrote a blog and the time is just flying by! We have done heaps of stuff and only have just under 4 months to enjoy Vancouver before we leave. This blog is going to focus solely on Van – no US trip stuff. We will get there eventually, but it’s just soooo long ago and we still have so much to tell you all. So for the sake of my memory, and so that you actually hear from us relatively soon, here is a quick update about our life in Vancouver. So what’s been happening you may ask?
Well of course it was my birthday on Thursday! Thanks for everyone’s well wishes – I had a good day. I got a few CDs, a voucher for a massage and a cashmere scarf. Met Mike for lunch and then we had dinner together at one of our local North Van restaurants. I then headed out with the guys from work for some drinks and dancing. I got home at 4am so I reckon that’s a good job for an old 27 year old!
The other thing that has been dominating our lives is a mixture of job search (me) and overtime (mike). Harbour Cruises’ season is pretty much over in terms of regular cruises, so I had to start looking for a job to get me though to Feb when we leave. I spent the weekend at the three local mountain’s job fairs and now have a choice of jobs, but think I’ll go with Grouse – the most touristy, but closest, mountain. Mike’s EA Games job was extended from Sept to Oct. They then started them doing two nights a week overtime (until 9pm), then they introduced an 8am start every day, and now he’s doing overtime to 8pm every night, with the odd Saturday thrown in. We’re hoping they will renew his contract until Nov at least, but the pressure is now off that I’ve found a job. (Update - ok, well he was renewed to the end of Nov, but the pressure isn’t off cause I still haven’t started working!).
We’ve had a few visitors at our place these last few months. At the moment we have a couple from Auz crashing here for 5 days until their flight tomorrow arvo (they’re going home to Tazzy) and prior to that we had Chris and Alice crash for a month while they settle into Vancouver. It was nice to have roomies! But they have now been gone for a month – found a place and jobs so they’re all set. While they were here we finally cycled around Stanley Park – it was awesome!
What else….ah we went to the first Canucks game of the season. They lost but it was still pretty fun. Friggin expensive! I don’t know if any of you have tried to watch a hockey game at home on TV, but I struggle – I can’t see the puck and don’t know the rules and it all just goes downhill from there! However, being there is great and the atmosphere is pretty impressive. We are going to try and get to a Giants game, which is younger hockey team but still just as good, however, lots more fights (this is good for hockey right?) and most importantly, cheaper! Last Saturday we also went to a BC Lions game – Canadian Football. Like American football but different somehow (don’t ask me how). At first I kept looking away and missing everything, but by the second quarter I’d got the knack of actually paying attention for about 20 seconds and then doing whatever for the next minute while they stuffed around.
I almost forgot, we also went to Victoria, BC’s capital, on Vancouver Island. Wasn’t this a bloody adventure! We took public transport to this place and I think it took about 5 hours to get there, we stayed one night, and then it took about 4 hours to get home! It involved a bus from Nth Van (very early Sat morn), another bus to the airport, another bus to the ferry terminal, a ferry trip, another bus into Victoria. It’s a very cute, quaint, pretty little town. We had dinner at the best Italian restaurant I’ve ever been too! Great food, wine and terrific atmosphere! Apparently it had a very New York feel to it, according to the 2 ladies from Seattle that we waited in line with and sat about 2 mm away from – yeah, it was a little cramped, but that’s kinda what added to it’s charm. While in Victoria we also checked out the government building (daggy, but it was a free tour), went to a dodgy-as aquarium (daggy, but we had to pay for it!), went to a “castle”, which isn’t really a castle, more a mansion of this rich dude and they’ve restored it – pretty cool. Oh, and the main reason we went was for the Titanic display at the Museum of BC. It was great – lots of relics they had found and restored from around the wreckage of the Titanic site, as well as a whole bunch of quirky little stories.
Now, I’ve left the best til last. A few weeks ago we came back from a four day stint in the Rockies! It was soooooo beautiful. We saw big horned sheep, mountain sheep, elk, bears, and a few other unidentifiable fluffy things!
Back to today.....
Ok…..so this is where my last attempt at the blog finished, so I guess it’s back to the Rockies. We left Vancouver in the morning (after one massive domestic, but what's new when we're on the road), heading north east and drove for around 7/8 hours and stayed the night at Valemount. The next morning we drove into Jasper and spent an hour or two there. Lovely little town and it had the best fudge/bakery place – no idea what they were called (probably bear claws or something) but I had this chocolate, caramel, pecan thing……mmm. Then we headed up the gondola and played in the snow – it was sooo exciting! Then we headed from Jasper, south east for 6 or so hours, to Banff along the Icefields Parkway – amazing, this was the middle of the rockies, we were surrounded by snow capped mountains! Banff was great, would have loved to stay there a while. I know now why so many Aussies end up there and why it’s such a big tourist destination. This is where we also tried a some of the local wild animals – a Bison burger and an Elk burger. Not bad.
The next morning we backtracked along the Icefields Parkway to about half way so we could check out the Glacier. Because it was so early in the morning, the parkway was covered in a light dusting of snow – it was sooo pretty! The glacier was pretty funky as well – we got this massive bus/truck thing that drove us up to the glacier and then we played around for 30 minutes or so. We then drove back to Banff (Mike – a lot of dead drives on this trip Dad!) and checked out their Gondola as well – pretty cool, but not as much snow. Oh, and I managed to pay $20 for a cocktail – it was in the really fancy hotel right on the water in Banff (I can’t remember it’s name) (Mike – It was The Fairmont Banff Springs, I will never forget that because of the price of the cocktail) where we went for a drink and some food. Oops! After this we headed to Golden to stay over night.
Day four (Mike - more dead drives) and we drove back to visit Lake Louise. This place is amazing. The lake is actually quite small – about 1-2km long and 500m-1km wide. But it’s absolutely amazing! We went for a walk along the lake to the end and then for lunch we had a meat pie at a bakery just outside Lake Louise. A MEAT PIE!!!! Yum! Ok, so then we drove about 8/9 hours home. All along the way we also saw heaps of waterfalls, lakes, mountains and views…..needless to say we have a million photos! If I don’t get them up today, I will put them up soon - does anyone believe me??? hehe (I promise!!!).
Ok, now I can’t really think of anything else. Oh, except Halloween!!!! This was about a week ago. That night we got dressed up – I was a witch and Mike was a homie (Spelling??) – and met up with Chris and Alice at another couple’s place – Aggie and Lukas. We had big plans to have a few drinks and then go out. Well, thanks to Lukas’ shots (baileys and crème de meth, later to be mixed with vodka) the three girls weren’t well. I was throwing up in their sink, then in the taxi (don’t worry I had a plastic bag) and then again in the morning. I couldn’t make work the next day (my only shift that week!). Seeing the photos still makes me feel ill. I can honestly say this is the sickest I have ever been! However, despite that, the whole dressing up was fun and I look forward to experiencing it in the UK – this time going out! Also, Mike and I plan to have Halloween parties when we get home! It’s soooo much fun dressing up and there were some really inventive costumes (I worked the Sat night before - when there were lots of parties - on the boats at a uni Halloween party and some of the costumes were amazing, in parituclar the guy that went as a Facebook profile).
Ok, so that will do for now…..i’m sure you’re all bored out of your brains. Take care and we miss you all!!!
p.s a big hug to all of you celebrating over the next few weeks – mum’s b’day, anna’s 30th, craig D’s 30th, Sam and Lee’s wedding, and little Luke’s 1st Birthday! Sorry we couldn’t be there, but we will get something to you in the mail – better late than never!
p.p.s we will be leaving Vancouver mid Feb, not sure what date, but it’ll possibly be the 15.
Xoxo
Bec & Mike
Ok, well today is Tuesday, it’s 10.55am and I’m bored out of my mind!!! I’m not really working and although now I have a job (see below) no one has contacted me and so I have no idea when I start…..and to be honest, I haven’t exactly been doing a lot – it’s so cold and wet outside most days I usually just sit around and watch TV. Or go out and spend money – which is bad!
Anyway, yesterday Mike had a day off (after working 7 days straight) so we did the Grouse Grind – a walk up the local ski mountain (where I supposedly have a job). Wait, did I say walk, I meant a goddam HIKE and a half! Now apparently it’s supposed to take the average person 1.5 hours, it took us 1.75 hours. Our excuse is that Mike is getting over a cold so we were stopping a fair bit. We also haven’t really done any serious exercise in about 7 months. Still, I’m feeling a little unfit. However, on the plus side, neither of us are sore today so that’s gotta count for something right? I’m clutching at straws I know. Ok, well I’ll put you back to the original blog I started about 2 weeks ago……enjoy!
Some time a few weeks ago……
Today the sun has come out for the first time in about a week. The last 3 days it has pretty much been raining non-stop – not just drizzle, but rain. Oh joy!
We’ve really settled in these last few months – well it’s been about 2 since we wrote a blog and the time is just flying by! We have done heaps of stuff and only have just under 4 months to enjoy Vancouver before we leave. This blog is going to focus solely on Van – no US trip stuff. We will get there eventually, but it’s just soooo long ago and we still have so much to tell you all. So for the sake of my memory, and so that you actually hear from us relatively soon, here is a quick update about our life in Vancouver. So what’s been happening you may ask?
Well of course it was my birthday on Thursday! Thanks for everyone’s well wishes – I had a good day. I got a few CDs, a voucher for a massage and a cashmere scarf. Met Mike for lunch and then we had dinner together at one of our local North Van restaurants. I then headed out with the guys from work for some drinks and dancing. I got home at 4am so I reckon that’s a good job for an old 27 year old!
The other thing that has been dominating our lives is a mixture of job search (me) and overtime (mike). Harbour Cruises’ season is pretty much over in terms of regular cruises, so I had to start looking for a job to get me though to Feb when we leave. I spent the weekend at the three local mountain’s job fairs and now have a choice of jobs, but think I’ll go with Grouse – the most touristy, but closest, mountain. Mike’s EA Games job was extended from Sept to Oct. They then started them doing two nights a week overtime (until 9pm), then they introduced an 8am start every day, and now he’s doing overtime to 8pm every night, with the odd Saturday thrown in. We’re hoping they will renew his contract until Nov at least, but the pressure is now off that I’ve found a job. (Update - ok, well he was renewed to the end of Nov, but the pressure isn’t off cause I still haven’t started working!).
We’ve had a few visitors at our place these last few months. At the moment we have a couple from Auz crashing here for 5 days until their flight tomorrow arvo (they’re going home to Tazzy) and prior to that we had Chris and Alice crash for a month while they settle into Vancouver. It was nice to have roomies! But they have now been gone for a month – found a place and jobs so they’re all set. While they were here we finally cycled around Stanley Park – it was awesome!
What else….ah we went to the first Canucks game of the season. They lost but it was still pretty fun. Friggin expensive! I don’t know if any of you have tried to watch a hockey game at home on TV, but I struggle – I can’t see the puck and don’t know the rules and it all just goes downhill from there! However, being there is great and the atmosphere is pretty impressive. We are going to try and get to a Giants game, which is younger hockey team but still just as good, however, lots more fights (this is good for hockey right?) and most importantly, cheaper! Last Saturday we also went to a BC Lions game – Canadian Football. Like American football but different somehow (don’t ask me how). At first I kept looking away and missing everything, but by the second quarter I’d got the knack of actually paying attention for about 20 seconds and then doing whatever for the next minute while they stuffed around.
I almost forgot, we also went to Victoria, BC’s capital, on Vancouver Island. Wasn’t this a bloody adventure! We took public transport to this place and I think it took about 5 hours to get there, we stayed one night, and then it took about 4 hours to get home! It involved a bus from Nth Van (very early Sat morn), another bus to the airport, another bus to the ferry terminal, a ferry trip, another bus into Victoria. It’s a very cute, quaint, pretty little town. We had dinner at the best Italian restaurant I’ve ever been too! Great food, wine and terrific atmosphere! Apparently it had a very New York feel to it, according to the 2 ladies from Seattle that we waited in line with and sat about 2 mm away from – yeah, it was a little cramped, but that’s kinda what added to it’s charm. While in Victoria we also checked out the government building (daggy, but it was a free tour), went to a dodgy-as aquarium (daggy, but we had to pay for it!), went to a “castle”, which isn’t really a castle, more a mansion of this rich dude and they’ve restored it – pretty cool. Oh, and the main reason we went was for the Titanic display at the Museum of BC. It was great – lots of relics they had found and restored from around the wreckage of the Titanic site, as well as a whole bunch of quirky little stories.
Now, I’ve left the best til last. A few weeks ago we came back from a four day stint in the Rockies! It was soooooo beautiful. We saw big horned sheep, mountain sheep, elk, bears, and a few other unidentifiable fluffy things!
Back to today.....
Ok…..so this is where my last attempt at the blog finished, so I guess it’s back to the Rockies. We left Vancouver in the morning (after one massive domestic, but what's new when we're on the road), heading north east and drove for around 7/8 hours and stayed the night at Valemount. The next morning we drove into Jasper and spent an hour or two there. Lovely little town and it had the best fudge/bakery place – no idea what they were called (probably bear claws or something) but I had this chocolate, caramel, pecan thing……mmm. Then we headed up the gondola and played in the snow – it was sooo exciting! Then we headed from Jasper, south east for 6 or so hours, to Banff along the Icefields Parkway – amazing, this was the middle of the rockies, we were surrounded by snow capped mountains! Banff was great, would have loved to stay there a while. I know now why so many Aussies end up there and why it’s such a big tourist destination. This is where we also tried a some of the local wild animals – a Bison burger and an Elk burger. Not bad.
The next morning we backtracked along the Icefields Parkway to about half way so we could check out the Glacier. Because it was so early in the morning, the parkway was covered in a light dusting of snow – it was sooo pretty! The glacier was pretty funky as well – we got this massive bus/truck thing that drove us up to the glacier and then we played around for 30 minutes or so. We then drove back to Banff (Mike – a lot of dead drives on this trip Dad!) and checked out their Gondola as well – pretty cool, but not as much snow. Oh, and I managed to pay $20 for a cocktail – it was in the really fancy hotel right on the water in Banff (I can’t remember it’s name) (Mike – It was The Fairmont Banff Springs, I will never forget that because of the price of the cocktail) where we went for a drink and some food. Oops! After this we headed to Golden to stay over night.
Day four (Mike - more dead drives) and we drove back to visit Lake Louise. This place is amazing. The lake is actually quite small – about 1-2km long and 500m-1km wide. But it’s absolutely amazing! We went for a walk along the lake to the end and then for lunch we had a meat pie at a bakery just outside Lake Louise. A MEAT PIE!!!! Yum! Ok, so then we drove about 8/9 hours home. All along the way we also saw heaps of waterfalls, lakes, mountains and views…..needless to say we have a million photos! If I don’t get them up today, I will put them up soon - does anyone believe me??? hehe (I promise!!!).
Ok, now I can’t really think of anything else. Oh, except Halloween!!!! This was about a week ago. That night we got dressed up – I was a witch and Mike was a homie (Spelling??) – and met up with Chris and Alice at another couple’s place – Aggie and Lukas. We had big plans to have a few drinks and then go out. Well, thanks to Lukas’ shots (baileys and crème de meth, later to be mixed with vodka) the three girls weren’t well. I was throwing up in their sink, then in the taxi (don’t worry I had a plastic bag) and then again in the morning. I couldn’t make work the next day (my only shift that week!). Seeing the photos still makes me feel ill. I can honestly say this is the sickest I have ever been! However, despite that, the whole dressing up was fun and I look forward to experiencing it in the UK – this time going out! Also, Mike and I plan to have Halloween parties when we get home! It’s soooo much fun dressing up and there were some really inventive costumes (I worked the Sat night before - when there were lots of parties - on the boats at a uni Halloween party and some of the costumes were amazing, in parituclar the guy that went as a Facebook profile).
Ok, so that will do for now…..i’m sure you’re all bored out of your brains. Take care and we miss you all!!!
p.s a big hug to all of you celebrating over the next few weeks – mum’s b’day, anna’s 30th, craig D’s 30th, Sam and Lee’s wedding, and little Luke’s 1st Birthday! Sorry we couldn’t be there, but we will get something to you in the mail – better late than never!
p.p.s we will be leaving Vancouver mid Feb, not sure what date, but it’ll possibly be the 15.
Xoxo
Bec & Mike
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
I know, we are slack....but here is what we've been up to
Hello fellow Australians!
Time for the next blog. Today is the 15 August – needless to say we have been slackers!!!
As per our previous entries, I’ll give you a run down on Vancouver and then get back to our trip. I like talking about the trip – brings back lots of happy memories – we really miss Vegas – the place is addictive (Anna/Troy – if you ever end up going again, and want company, we’ll be right there with you!!!).
I have to say I’m feeling a little home sick – besides missing you all so much, I also miss Brissy and Aus. Places, weather, food…..and just being familiar with everything. But by no means am I ready to come back! We have so much to do yet!
Vancouver
I think most of you have probably heard already, but we both have jobs. I’m waitressing on a sightseeing boat that does brunch, lunch and dinner cruises, as well as private charters. A few things about the job – it’s fun but friggin hard work because you spend the first 1-2 hours unloading the food and everything you need from the van and setting up the tables etc. Then, because it’s a buffet, you spend the cruise refreshing the buffet / serving meat, then clearing plates, serving coffee and then more clearing. Once you dock, you pack everything up and load the truck – needless to say, late nights. However, although at the same time it’s a pretty fun job because of the people. It’s mostly kids on summer jobs so the atmosphere is pretty laidback and the supervisors are all great.
As for Mike, he’s game testing - a full time 8-5 job. He’s actually working for EA Games, so he’s been testing basketball games, which was a nice surprise. There were a good percentage of freaks…..but he’s found a few more normal people to hang out with. Mike – I’ll take over. Further to the EA thing, I am actually testing games that I would normally play so getting paid to do something you normally pay for can’t be frowned upon. We are on a contract that can be terminated at anytime so there is a lot of people looking over their shoulders! But it is a really fun place to be.
Bec - We have moved into our unit as well – it’s sooooo good! The place had been repainted, new carpets and new kitchen/bathroom lino so it was really fresh. We slept on the floor for the first few days (borrowed some camping stuff from Bodhi) but have since been to IKEA and we now have a mattress, table, 2 chairs, kitchen stuff and sheets, pillows etc. We also bought a Sofa from the Salvo’s and found a coffee table and a single chair downstairs in the free furniture area. We also joined the local video store! I know it’s lame but it’s so nice doing some normal stuff again. Mike – Then we got the essentials such as TV, DVD and VCR plus Cable TV for a pretty good price second hand. No more watching movies on the laptop! Bec - Anyway, the unit is great so we’ll put some photos on the blog soon.
So far, in terms of touristy stuff, we have:
Got free tickets to see The Fray, featuring a terrific acoustic rendition of Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie.
San Diego
Alright, well back to the US trip. After Disneyland we headed to San Diego. This was a place I instantly liked….it just had a smaller, more personal feel to it than LA. We had a massive domestic arriving – we found the hostel ok, but then he proceeds to tell us there is no parking, but there is a car park “around the corner”. One word of advice re: americans and directions – they are hopeless!!! You have to ask for specifics, and then they are great. Anyway, after parking it and spending a fortune, and then moving it a few hours later to the right spot we were all sorted.
Anyway, we did heaps here – we went to Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Sea World was fun – a lot of dolphins, seals, otters and other water creatures, most of them in different shows….the best probably being Shamu – the big killer whale. These guys were awesome….and pretty much wet the entire crowd. Sea World also had some fun rides and stuff, but it was mostly about the animals. The Zoo was good, not all that much different to Taronga, but a few extra exhibits and shows. We discovered the Okapi – weird horse/zebra/deer looking things with a stripey ass and back legs – there should be a picture. There were also pandas, koalas (boring!) and really great reptile display – the snakes scared the living crap out of me because you think there is only one and then all of a sudden you see a second one. Urgh!!!! In hindsight the wild animal park probably wasn’t worth it, but they had a great lion and elephant display. This place is massive – it’s almost like a reserve.
We also spent a day at Balboa Park – it’s awesome! It’s got about 13 museums, gardens, an IMAX Theatre, a ScienceCentre, mini live performances, coffee shops, outdoor stages – a cool place. Most of the buildings in the park were originally built for a World Fair: The 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition. However, since then most of them have been rebuilt – they weren’t meant to last for more than a few years. Anyway, we went to the Museum of Anthropology – which had stuff about the Mya and also evolution and stuff like that, and another art museum.
Now, our only really stupid story is the science centre. They had a display for kids about the body and body functions etc. There was one with four things to smell – feet, armpits and mouth…..any guesses what the fourth was??? ANUS! OH MY GOD….it was like the real friggin thing! It made me feel soooo ill…..i feel sick just thinking about it now. We both thought this was so gross! It sounds harmless, but just the smell was soooo wrong! Anyway, that is probably one of our most memorable events in san diego – sad hey?
We also visited Coronado Island which you have to drive along a curved bridge to get to (see photos). All we really did here was visit the massive old hotel called Hotel de Coronado, and then catch the ferry to San Diego downtown and back again. We also had a great dinner at a small restaurant on the water at Coronado. The same day we also drove to Point Loma & Cabrilla. At Point Loma there is one of the oldest Lighthouses on the west coast. Cabrilla had old gun turrets that were to protect the west coast from an invasion that never came (it got beefed up after Pearl Harbour).
Mike - After San Diego we headed back towards LA and went to Six Flags Magic Mountain. This is an awesome park filled with nothing but varying types of Roller coasters. Without going into detail about every single one… the first ride (Tatsu) had you sitting with the rail above your head and then before it starts, swings you up so that the rail is behind your back. Then the whole thing is basically like you are flying. A great start. About 5 rides in, back-to-back, vertigo hit me hard. Rebecca thinks it was the wus gene kicking in, but I’m sticking with my story. I decided to have a little spell while Rebecca took on Scream and had to sit with some fat guy with bad B.O. No it wasn’t me, I already said I wasn’t on it.
Ok, you guys are probably bored out of your brains now, so we’ll leave it at that for a while. We will endeavour to get a whole bunch of photos up soon – of the US trip as well as our Vancouver photos.
The next instalment will be more updates and our drive from San Diego to San Fran (our favourite place!!!). Photos will be up soon (ish). We will also aim to get some Vancouver photos up – including our unit.
Hope you are all well – we miss you all!
Love always
Bec & mike
Monday, May 28, 2007
Photos!
Hi guys
We have put our piccies on as a link on the right hand side ---->
Just click on the link to view the album. The best way to view them is probably by selecting "slideshow" once you get to the website.
Bec
We have put our piccies on as a link on the right hand side ---->
Just click on the link to view the album. The best way to view them is probably by selecting "slideshow" once you get to the website.
Bec
Friday, May 25, 2007
Go you Queenslanders!!!!
As a tribute to the Maroons remarkable come from behind win in State of Origin I, I have changed the colours of our blog to honour them.
Go the Maroons!!! (Sorry Sammy)
Go the Maroons!!! (Sorry Sammy)
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North America - Trip 2
Vancouver and Around