A pretty eventful week this week. Golden turned out to be quite restful. We managed to get up to Kicking Horse ski resort and although i thought it was a little small and over priced for what it was, i thoroughly enjoyed it. We got chatting to a few locals on the gondola and talked about our travels and all the skifields we'd visited. They asked what i thought of their resort but I'm not sure they liked my response and gave us the silent treatment for the rest of the stupidly slow gondola ride. I was just honest when i said i thought it was small and overpriced. I took Kate down a few quite steep black runs which she did not enjoy one bit. She can ski steep stuff but hates it when they get mogully (not like the jungle book character of the same name). These were easily the steepest runs i had taken her on. She was too tentative and took a couple of spills which ended in long slides on her arse down most of the run. It knocked her confidence a bit and seemed to drain what little energy she usually runs on causing her to want to call it a day pretty early. I got a few more runs out of her and found a sweet little jump over some trees which i nailed and was stoked about.
We also explored the small town and had a little walk along the kicking horse river. We drove out of town to reflection lake but the wind got up which made any reflection impossible. I think Golden would be a nice place to visit in the summer as apart from the skiing, there isn't a great deal else to do. In summer you can paraglide, kayak and go tramping, if you don't mind all the bears. So apart from skiing all we did was relax and play a little online poker. I had a right result as i got my first ever royal flush. Basically it is the highest ranked hand and is unbeatable. The odds of getting a royal flush are 1 in 649,000 so as you can imagine, i was pretty happy. What made it even better was that i had position and just sat back and watched as people kept raising and raising. One guy pushed all in and i gleefully called and won a huge pot. Bahahahahaha - evil cackle. I'm not doing too bad online either. They say a good return is about 12% after 200 games. I'm still about 15 bucks up so not doing too bad.
So we left Golden and i was quite keen to get back to Banff which was our next stop. I spent a month there a few years back and met some really cool people and had an amazing time. I was looking forward to getting back there especially since this time it'll will be under better circumstances and with far less stress and strain. As soon as i got into town i was in awe of all the amazing dramatic mountains that over look it. Banff is in the Banff national park, which is the oldest in Canada, so they aren't allowed to cut many trees down. It means the town is stunning. The Bow river cuts through the it, it's so fresh and clean because it's illegal to drop litter yet the town is modern and dynamic. It's a total tourist trap with millions of hotels and souvenir shops but it's still such a cool place. What made it that much cooler was that as soon as we got into town it started snowing. Like dumping down! Banff has a proper long winter but just like the rest of Canada it has not snowed as much as previous years. It is so much colder here and i was hopeful we would see some fresh white stuff and mother nature did not disappoint. Sunshine Village which is the local resort got 14cm followed by another 17cm. The last time i was in Banff it was a few weeks later in the year yet it was still crazy cold. One day it was -30 degrees, the snot froze in my nose and then it dumped 60cm of snow in the space of about 10 hours! So, i told Kate to wrap up warm, which turned out to be very good advice. The windchill easily dropped the temperature down to about -15 degrees and the gusts blew so much snow off the trees it made visibility a problem. Sunshine is a big resort and after a few hours in the deep snow, we were knackered. Kate has started to get used to skiing in deeper snow and i have started just trying to jump off everything i can when the snow is that deep. It was a really good day once we got over just how cold and windy it was.
Banff is the first real mountain town we have stayed in. Fernie was a mountain town but is no where near as picturesque as Banff. The great thing about it is that even though it's a small place, it has a throbbing social scene. It reminds me a lot of Qtown in that it has a lot of bars and restaurants. Not as many as Qtown but enough to keep you interested. We earned a few beers so decided to go to an Irish bar for happy hour. What a rip!! It was the most pointless happy hour ever! 2 beers cost $11 during happy hour and $12.50 after!? In my books that's not a happy hour. Still, the beer slid down nicely and after some awesome ribs at Tony Romas we stumbled home through the snow to our hotel.
Another thing we have looked at doing whilst we have been in Canada is dog sledding. There have been a few places that have done it but there has just not been enough snow to warrant it. It's pretty pricey but after all the snow we have had here, we decided to go for it. We drove out to Canmore which is the nearest big town to Banff and signed up for some dog sledding that afternoon. We spent the morning in Canmore, had a nice lunch then explored. The town is just outside the national park so is more developed. It had some amazing houses and little communities on the outskirts of the town. As we explored we came across a huge herd of massive elk which made Kates morning. She is still constantly on bear watch but is always psyched to see any wildlife. So far we have seen elk, deer, mountain goats and sheep, eagles and loads of squirrels. No bears though. Our dog sled guide drove us high up into the mountains for our tour. We stopped by Spray lakes which used to be a collection of lots of small lakes which were all excavated into one huge lake which supplies water for the town. We were the only people on our tour so helped our guide harness the dogs and attach them to the sled. I was all ready to get my "mush" on but instead the command was "up up up up up!" The dogs were so cute and were a husky/greyhound cross bred for speed. They flew as well, even with my fat ass in the sled. We rode about 5k before stopping at the lake for some hot chocolate and a snow ball fight. Well, i threw Kate in the knee deep snow and hit her with some snow balls while she moaned at me. On the way back we both got to be mushers and guide the sled. The dogs were relentless and even pee'd and pooped on the run! They were so cute and if they got tired they just chomped at the snow for a little drink on the run and carried on. One dog in particular, called Dawson took our fancy as he was obviously a bit slow. Not physically but in the mind. He looked like he had some hound in him and spent most of the time running forward but looking back at us in the sled and barking. Our guide reckoned he had an IQ of 30. Bless him. When we got back we fed the dogs and said our goodbyes. It was so cool. Yes, at first i thought it was a little cruel but these dogs are bred to pull sleds and they seem to really enjoy it. Whenever we slowed or stopped they barked and tugged at the reigns to get going again. Kate and I are both dog people too so we were always gonna love it. I highly recommend it as it allows you to see some truly stunning scenery and meet some amazing animals.
We are coming down to it now and it's only a week until we come home. We still have a few hundred more miles to travel and at least one more day of skiing so still a lot to look forward to. I'm looking forward to coming home and seeing my family. Just such a shame i have to go back to work in a couple of weeks. Sigh. I guess I'll just have to think of the money.
Peace
D
XXXX
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Golden showers and the Cockhouse
All i have to say about Montana is WOW! I decided long ago (never to walk in anyones shadow!?!) that living in the USA was completely out of the question. I mean, for one Americans can be pretty dumb and xenophobic but i was more worried about all the guns. So many Americans stockpile weapons, for what i'm not sure, and you can walk into any hunting shop, fill out a form and in a few weeks you are entrusted with a lethal weapon. I know the UK was having a lot of problems with knife crime in London before we left but here it's all about shootings. I watched a programme about teenage gun crime where kids as young as 13 were taking guns to school and going mental. So as i said, America was always gonna be a place high on the visit list but was never going to be considered as a place to settle. Well, that was until we hit Montana. It was such a beautiful place with a real laid back cowboy feel. The town of Whitefish was awesome! I doubt it has changed much a lot in the last 50 years. The walk down main street reminded me of a town from the old west with it's saloon style bars and shops. My nan would absolutely love it too as every other shop sold cowboy hats and native American artifacts. She loves all that crap. It was crazy cheap too. Food, skiing and lodging all way cheaper than the rest of north America. We looked at the local real estate as well and that was also super cheap. Saw a nice 3 bedroom house on a few acres for next to nothing. It's pretty remote though and is still a long way from any large city.
The ski resort of Whitefish was probably the friendliest hill i have ever been to. All but one person on the chairlifts spoke to us. The snow was awesome too which turned the day into a monumental one. It hadn't snowed there for a while and was quite hard and crusty in the morning but as the spring sunshine warmed the hill the snow softened and it was epic! The hill is surprisingly big with lots of small runs which allowed us to settle in before hitting the main longer runs. All for only $60 too which is well cheap. I don't quite understand just why skiing in the USA is so much cheaper than in Canada. The resorts in Canada have been a little bigger than the average American resorts but I'm not sure that justifies them being around $15 more per day! It was certainly a welcome break to the wallet which is continuously being strained while we are away. Still, we have the money and this is a once in a life time type deal so I'm not too bothered. I'd like to have a little bit left though for when i get home.
Montana also seemed to have way more wildlife. Since we left Vancouver we had seen a grand total of 4 crows on the roads on Canada. As soon as we crossed the border, which was amazingly smooth considering the border patrol had never seen the type of visa we had to get into the USA, we were surrounded by elk, deer and golden and bald eagles. Like proper surrounded too. I had to stop the car to allow a family of elk to cross the road whilst 2 massive eagles sat by the side of the road eating some unfortunate road kill. This will change though as we head north and east through Canada. Last time i was in that part of the world i saw bears and shared a bus stop with a very tame elk. Kate is permanently on bear watch when we drive. It is the perfect time of year for them to be coming out of hibernation and due to the unusually warm weather, i imagine they are already "oot and aboot" as they say in these parts.
From Whitefish we headed back up to Canada and settled in Cranbrook. A pretty dull town which we just used to break up the long drive and also to go to the small resort of Kimberley. We drove there but when we got to the bottom of the hill it looked pretty bare with not much snow. The website called it "Spring conditions" which looks like translates as "No snow." There were a few runs open and some people skiing but we both decided it wasn't going to be worth the price of a lift ticket. Especially since the next few ski fields are the most expensive we will visit. So we decided to save our pennies and head back to Cranbrook.
I was quite glad to leave Cranbrook as it was a pretty boring place but I really enjoyed the drive to our next stop, Golden. I have been to Golden a few times but only as a stop on road trips from Banff to Revelstoke. Last time i was here i found it hilarious as there was a RV park which had this huge billboard by the freeway advertising its showers. The way it was worded though made it look like it was advertising Golden showers, eww!! I also noticed a place called the Grizzly Grill cookhouse but the sign had faded so it looked like the Grizzly Grill cockhouse! I ate there but there was no penis on the menu.
Golden is a really pretty place with the Kicking horse river cutting through the town and the ski resort, of the same name, overlooking us from the mountain. We plan to head up to Kicking Horse tomorrow for a bit of a ski. Usually we would come back and have a nice long soak in the tub but our hotel is the first one we have had without a bath. Looks like I'll be having a Golden shower after all eh?
We are here for a few days before heading back to my favourite place in Canada, Banff. I am so looking forward to getting back to the quiet little mountain town but also because as most ski resorts are getting ready to close up for the season, Sunshine Village in Banff is still getting good snow and will still be open for another 6 weeks!! I can't wait.
Peace
D
XXXX
The ski resort of Whitefish was probably the friendliest hill i have ever been to. All but one person on the chairlifts spoke to us. The snow was awesome too which turned the day into a monumental one. It hadn't snowed there for a while and was quite hard and crusty in the morning but as the spring sunshine warmed the hill the snow softened and it was epic! The hill is surprisingly big with lots of small runs which allowed us to settle in before hitting the main longer runs. All for only $60 too which is well cheap. I don't quite understand just why skiing in the USA is so much cheaper than in Canada. The resorts in Canada have been a little bigger than the average American resorts but I'm not sure that justifies them being around $15 more per day! It was certainly a welcome break to the wallet which is continuously being strained while we are away. Still, we have the money and this is a once in a life time type deal so I'm not too bothered. I'd like to have a little bit left though for when i get home.
Montana also seemed to have way more wildlife. Since we left Vancouver we had seen a grand total of 4 crows on the roads on Canada. As soon as we crossed the border, which was amazingly smooth considering the border patrol had never seen the type of visa we had to get into the USA, we were surrounded by elk, deer and golden and bald eagles. Like proper surrounded too. I had to stop the car to allow a family of elk to cross the road whilst 2 massive eagles sat by the side of the road eating some unfortunate road kill. This will change though as we head north and east through Canada. Last time i was in that part of the world i saw bears and shared a bus stop with a very tame elk. Kate is permanently on bear watch when we drive. It is the perfect time of year for them to be coming out of hibernation and due to the unusually warm weather, i imagine they are already "oot and aboot" as they say in these parts.
From Whitefish we headed back up to Canada and settled in Cranbrook. A pretty dull town which we just used to break up the long drive and also to go to the small resort of Kimberley. We drove there but when we got to the bottom of the hill it looked pretty bare with not much snow. The website called it "Spring conditions" which looks like translates as "No snow." There were a few runs open and some people skiing but we both decided it wasn't going to be worth the price of a lift ticket. Especially since the next few ski fields are the most expensive we will visit. So we decided to save our pennies and head back to Cranbrook.
I was quite glad to leave Cranbrook as it was a pretty boring place but I really enjoyed the drive to our next stop, Golden. I have been to Golden a few times but only as a stop on road trips from Banff to Revelstoke. Last time i was here i found it hilarious as there was a RV park which had this huge billboard by the freeway advertising its showers. The way it was worded though made it look like it was advertising Golden showers, eww!! I also noticed a place called the Grizzly Grill cookhouse but the sign had faded so it looked like the Grizzly Grill cockhouse! I ate there but there was no penis on the menu.
Golden is a really pretty place with the Kicking horse river cutting through the town and the ski resort, of the same name, overlooking us from the mountain. We plan to head up to Kicking Horse tomorrow for a bit of a ski. Usually we would come back and have a nice long soak in the tub but our hotel is the first one we have had without a bath. Looks like I'll be having a Golden shower after all eh?
We are here for a few days before heading back to my favourite place in Canada, Banff. I am so looking forward to getting back to the quiet little mountain town but also because as most ski resorts are getting ready to close up for the season, Sunshine Village in Banff is still getting good snow and will still be open for another 6 weeks!! I can't wait.
Peace
D
XXXX
Friday, 19 March 2010
Weekend in the USA
All the talk of global warming has got a bit tedious but i am certainly seeing the effects here. I know we have come to Canada in spring but i expected much colder harsher conditions than we have been experiencing. There are pros and cons to this other than the imminent rising of the seas and the dilution of the gulf stream which will plunge the UK into a permanent winter. Here it has meant that snow levels are even lower than last years disastrous levels. That said we are still enjoying our skiing. It isn't as nearly as epic as i had hoped but compared to NZ it is still pretty special. The lack of snow though has produced a massive advantage. That being that the roads are so clear. As we drove out of Vancouver with our little nissan laden with skis and suitcases we had to drive quite a way until we saw the inevitable "carry chains or have good winter tires" road sign. We don't have either and i was obviously a little concerned as we have planned to head off into the Rockies. We have been lucky though and the only icy/snowy roads we have encountered were on our way up to Big White. Luckily they had just had an 18cm dump of fresh okanagan powder. The drive up was a little slick but we made it up no problem. The resorts here are so much more money than the hills we skied in Utah but when people offer you tickets in the parking lot and save you $50, it really helps! So with our scalped tickets we headed off into the fresh powder. I skied like a man possessed with the fear off falling or hurting myself pushed right to the back of my mind. Such soft fresh snow is like skiing while wrapped in cotton wool. I flung myself off anything that resembled a jump or ledge and shit myself on a huge jump which i thought was a lot smaller. I nailed the landing though and rode off whooping and hollering with delight. Kate had never skied in such new snow and was way too tentative. In deeper snow you have to let yourself go and trust your technique. The fresh grippy snow slows you down but you have to work harder to turn. She struggled on our first run and said she didn't like it. I laughed and told her to just go for it. Kate tends to almost hockey stop each turn to control her speed which is near impossible in deep snow but once i got her carving a bit more she was away! We had such a good day and even my crash into a tree couldn't dampen my spirits. It was pure comedy as i flew over this ridge and landed on a steep which shot me forward at, quite literally, break neck speed. I tried to slow myself but knew a hockey stop in the deep snow would just shot my head first down the hill, so i traversed the slope pointing my skis more uphill. Gravity wasn't my friend in this instance though as i ran out of piste and clattered into the branches of a pine tree by the side of the slope. I collapsed into the deep snow which cushioned me nicely. As Kate cleared the ledge a woman who had seen my spectacular stack asked her if we were together and that she should check up on me but when i emerged from the tree pissing myself laughing, she knew i was OK. Her concern was further extinguished when she skied up to me and noticed a piece of tree sticking out of my goggles like some sort of pine mono brow.
Big White was amazing. Great snow but a bit crowded by Canadian standards. It is spring break here though so that explains it (screams "SPRING BREAK!!" and throws an egg from my car at a passer by - just like what happened to my mother in law in Florida. It left a nasty bruise!). Brighton is still our number one place with Big White now a very close second.
The icy conditions on the roads continued as we left Big White and headed straight over to Rossland. It is a tiny little town sunk down in a snow filled valley just north of the USA border. Not exactly Kelowna in its glamour but still pretty quaint. They have a ski field there called Red Mountain which is famous for it's gladed tree runs. We suffered the next few days though from our exploits at Big White and although the lift passes were free, we never made it up the hill. We had only planned to stay a day there before heading off to Fernie but ended up spending that day in our room aching, popping pain killers and muscle relaxants. In a quiet moment in Kelowna i had joined an internet poker site so Kate also joined and we spent the whole day playing poker. I managed to double my $30 bankroll in about 20 minutes in a cash game so was well pleased but have since lost most of it and decided to just stick to sit and go tournaments. You can win a lot of money playing cash games but you an also lose a lot. Having not played online, other than Facebook (where i have over $6 million in fake chips), i need a bit more practice i think. I came second in a sit and go and won $16 but other than that i have only had a few cashes. Kate has started to do well and has also had a few cashes. We are sticking to very small stakes at the moment so anything we win isn't exactly gonna allow us to run out and buy a new porsche!
So we headed to Fernie and settled into our last hostel of this trip. It's all hotels after that. Now i'm not a snob, i lived in van for a year for Christs sake, but the hostel we stayed in in Fernie was a bit rough. No, it was actually OK but i think our room was above the sauna! Man it was baking in our room all the time. I opened the window one night but had to close it when it started snowing on our gear. The heat was a problem at night but what was worst was the constant stench of ganja! I know that Canada has quite relaxed laws and opinions on marijuanna use but it was relentless. I'm sure it had an effect on my eating habits too as every night i lay in bed craving brownies.
Fernie was our first real mountain town and the ski resort is was only a few miles from the town centre. It was a pretty little town with the usual ski and snowboard shops. I took the opportunity to demo some skis i have had my eye on for a while. Back when i bought my skis in Canada a few years ago i looked at some Volkl Gotamas. They were out of my price range but since then they have been redisgned. Skis are actually cheaper in the UK than in Canada but back home we have a distinct lack of ski resorts so i thought I'd give them a try. We headed up the hill after 4cm of new snow but the conditions were terrible. The lower half of the mountain was an ice rink but once we kept above the mid mountain it was pretty good. The demo skis worked well but I'm not sure i want to part with the money just yet. Plus I'd wait til i was home anyway as they're cheaper but they would just sit in the shed til next winter. No point.
We were woken this morning by a knock on our room door informing us we hadn't checked out of our room yet. We looked at each other both thinking we still had another night. After a quick check of our trip planner on the laptop though we discovered that we should already be on the road to Montana. Oops. We hastily got dressed and packed and left. To be honest i was pretty glad to leave our hostel, especially since it smelt like a Amsterdam coffee shop.
So we have now arrived in Whitefish in Montana. The drive here was the most stunning scenery we have passed through yet since leaving Aoteroa (NZ). Huge glacial lakes, big pine forests and the odd deer crossing the road. Pretty sweet. We are just here for the weekend before heading back up to Canada to Cranbrook. Hopefully there will be a few end of season dumps of snow over our last few weeks here. Well, if the snow does start to thaw we can always play online poker. It's a win win situation either way.
Peace
D
XXXX
Big White was amazing. Great snow but a bit crowded by Canadian standards. It is spring break here though so that explains it (screams "SPRING BREAK!!" and throws an egg from my car at a passer by - just like what happened to my mother in law in Florida. It left a nasty bruise!). Brighton is still our number one place with Big White now a very close second.
The icy conditions on the roads continued as we left Big White and headed straight over to Rossland. It is a tiny little town sunk down in a snow filled valley just north of the USA border. Not exactly Kelowna in its glamour but still pretty quaint. They have a ski field there called Red Mountain which is famous for it's gladed tree runs. We suffered the next few days though from our exploits at Big White and although the lift passes were free, we never made it up the hill. We had only planned to stay a day there before heading off to Fernie but ended up spending that day in our room aching, popping pain killers and muscle relaxants. In a quiet moment in Kelowna i had joined an internet poker site so Kate also joined and we spent the whole day playing poker. I managed to double my $30 bankroll in about 20 minutes in a cash game so was well pleased but have since lost most of it and decided to just stick to sit and go tournaments. You can win a lot of money playing cash games but you an also lose a lot. Having not played online, other than Facebook (where i have over $6 million in fake chips), i need a bit more practice i think. I came second in a sit and go and won $16 but other than that i have only had a few cashes. Kate has started to do well and has also had a few cashes. We are sticking to very small stakes at the moment so anything we win isn't exactly gonna allow us to run out and buy a new porsche!
So we headed to Fernie and settled into our last hostel of this trip. It's all hotels after that. Now i'm not a snob, i lived in van for a year for Christs sake, but the hostel we stayed in in Fernie was a bit rough. No, it was actually OK but i think our room was above the sauna! Man it was baking in our room all the time. I opened the window one night but had to close it when it started snowing on our gear. The heat was a problem at night but what was worst was the constant stench of ganja! I know that Canada has quite relaxed laws and opinions on marijuanna use but it was relentless. I'm sure it had an effect on my eating habits too as every night i lay in bed craving brownies.
Fernie was our first real mountain town and the ski resort is was only a few miles from the town centre. It was a pretty little town with the usual ski and snowboard shops. I took the opportunity to demo some skis i have had my eye on for a while. Back when i bought my skis in Canada a few years ago i looked at some Volkl Gotamas. They were out of my price range but since then they have been redisgned. Skis are actually cheaper in the UK than in Canada but back home we have a distinct lack of ski resorts so i thought I'd give them a try. We headed up the hill after 4cm of new snow but the conditions were terrible. The lower half of the mountain was an ice rink but once we kept above the mid mountain it was pretty good. The demo skis worked well but I'm not sure i want to part with the money just yet. Plus I'd wait til i was home anyway as they're cheaper but they would just sit in the shed til next winter. No point.
We were woken this morning by a knock on our room door informing us we hadn't checked out of our room yet. We looked at each other both thinking we still had another night. After a quick check of our trip planner on the laptop though we discovered that we should already be on the road to Montana. Oops. We hastily got dressed and packed and left. To be honest i was pretty glad to leave our hostel, especially since it smelt like a Amsterdam coffee shop.
So we have now arrived in Whitefish in Montana. The drive here was the most stunning scenery we have passed through yet since leaving Aoteroa (NZ). Huge glacial lakes, big pine forests and the odd deer crossing the road. Pretty sweet. We are just here for the weekend before heading back up to Canada to Cranbrook. Hopefully there will be a few end of season dumps of snow over our last few weeks here. Well, if the snow does start to thaw we can always play online poker. It's a win win situation either way.
Peace
D
XXXX
Thursday, 11 March 2010
March at 'leventh
Today is my sisters birthday. It is the second birthday of hers i have missed while i have been away. I feel bad as out of my vast family, she is the one person i miss the most. I doubt any brother has the same sort of relationship with their sister as i do with mine. You could say i am a protective big brother but not in the traditional sense. I don't lord it over her and shield her from harm but i would gladly give my life if it meant she never felt an ounce of pain. We have been through so much together and there is no bigger sanctuary for me then in my sisters arms. She supports me without even realising. Yes she has her flaws, as does everyone but other than her addiction to catalogue shopping, pinot grigio and a penchant for rough sex (i saw that bruise on your bum!!), in my eyes she is truly amazing. When i think back to the things that i miss whilst i am on this huge adventure it's amazing to me just how many of them involve my little sister in some sort of way. It's simple things like just chatting in her kitchen, or watching her kids play football in the rain, or the numerous meals my soon to be brother in law cooks for us. Whether it's barbeque's in the sunshine with a cold beer or just rushed cups of tea, i love just being around my sister and her family. Since i moved to Northolt when Jodie lived near Charville, we have not really been more than a few miles apart. Considering that between the ages of 8 - 15 i hardly ever saw her. Those first few years though cemented a bond between us that is difficult to explain. All i know is that i am not afraid to say that i love my sister so much and i miss her all the time. I am so sorry sis that i have missed another birthday but i am sending you tons of love from the other side of the world and soon I'll be living in Harry Jacks room and you won't be able to get rid of me! XXXX
Right well, back to the issue of this blog thing. Vancouver produced some very unseasonable weather for us and it felt good to stroll around without a coat on. I met up with a friend from Queenstown too called Rob. He worked with me at Coronet Peak and we were on the same dodgeball team. I remember making him feel really bad when he accidentally hurled a dodgeball into the face of one of our female opponents. I knew he didn't mean it but i enjoyed winding him up. He left Qtown before the end of the season to get a jump start on his Canada trip and has been here for the last 5 months. As he missed the end of the season i had loads of gossip for him. I think Rob had only intended a quick drink and a catch up but we ended up getting quite a bit drunk. After he left me and Kate got down to the proper drinking back in our hotel bar. I woke the next day with a crushing headache! I had forgotten just how strong Canadian beer is. I have become accustomed to NZs smoother less powerful beers, which i prefer. We spent most of the day in bed but when we did eventually venture out to get some food we randomly bumped into Rob in our hotel lobby! He was there cashing a cheque as he had been working in the bar next door for the Olympics. He invited us out for another beer but we gracefully declined. He was quite interested in our travels across Canada as he is keen to get out on his snowboard. I emailed where we will be and when and left it up to him if he wants to meet anywhere. It was good seeing him again as he is a really nice guy.
We spent one of our last days there by going shopping. We travelled out to the Metrotown Mall on the train were i encountered a peculiar sign about pick pockets. I stated that you should beware as Vancouver has the best pick pockets in the world. A bold claim i thought. What, did they have some sort of college? The Artful dodger school of dipping? Or the Fagan institute? Have they not seen Oliver? London practically invented dipping!!
Oh another thing i have learnt to my peril - Never trust google! That website fucked me over so much in Vancouver. Lets say i fancied a burger king. I'd google it to find the nearest shop, get directions by google map, commit it to memory, walk miles to get there to find no frickin burger king! It fucked me over at least twice! Either that or Vancouver keeps changing and relocating stuff to keep one step ahead of them. Annoying.
So we left Vancouver and it's vast sprawl. It is such an amazing place. The downtown area is quite compact and some of the neighbouring districts are stunning. We drove through west and north vancouver on the other side of the harbour and those places have an amazing view and sunset out across the bay. From Vancouver we picked up our car for the next month and headed to Kamloops. Kamloops, according to numerous travel guides, has nowhere of any interest except the ski resort Sun Peaks. They are not lying! What a strange place. Driving from Vancouver you pass through valleys and mountains and huge pine forests which are beautiful before you get to the browny grey hole in the ground that is Kamloops. The hills and mountains would ordinarily be pretty impressive if you hadn't just drove through some stunning scenery. It's quite a small industrial town too so chimneys pop out all over the place and spew smoke up into the clean mountain air. The only reason we stopped there was for Sun Peaks and it didn't disappoint. The resort was huge, the second biggest in British Columbia to Whistler. It had just had a light dusting of snow and our first few runs of the day on the middle mountain were awesome. We then ventured over to the bigger mountain which had a bit more steeper terrain and had seemed to have missed the new snow. It was much icier too so we went back to the middle mountain before checking out the third mountain they have there. Yes, three mountains. The third mountain was good because no one was there and the fresh snow lay pretty much untouched. We had a really good day but it wasn't as good as the day we had back in Brighton in Utah. A close second.
We were quite keen to leave the grey brown Kamloops and head to our next stop, Kelowna. On the way we stopped for an afternoon at Silver Star which is another ski resort. We were a bit sketchy about the fact they hadn't had snow for over a week but this is Canada and they still had over 2 metres to ski on. It was a much smaller resort and we pretty much covered it all in just a few hours. It was surprisingly good considering the lack of fresh snow and was our first taste of Okanagan powder. The Okanagan Valley has world famous snow called champagne powder. It's some of the driest, lightest, fluffiest snow in the world and i have been waiting to get here for years. The snow was good but without fresh stuff it just felt like normal snow. The other resort in the Okanagen valley is Big White, which is just down the road from our Kelowna hotel. As i look out of my hotel window up to the hills it is dumping snow up there and I can't wait til tomorrow when we'll get up there.
Kelowna is called Canadas California. I can kind of see why. It sits low in the Okanagen valley and straddles both side of the long thin Okanagan Lake. The lake has beaches and the town has an active winter and summer season. There are beach volley ball and basketball courts dotted along the lake front. The town is over looked by snow capped hills and mountains and is the closest looking place we have seen to Qtown. Not as dramatic but close. It is one of the largest growing communities in Canada and with the gorgeous scenery, lake and ski resorts, it's easy to see why. It might help that Lake Okanagan has a loch ness type monster too, apparently. Don't know many facts and other than the loch ness monster statue down by the lakefront, it's not exactly a massively publicised thing. Not a souvenir shop in sight. I always imagine Loch Ness to have "Nessy" based souvenir shops and tourist havens everywhere. But hey, this is Canada after all. They are so modest here it's ridiculous. I guess when your nearest neighbours are brash, loud, smug Americans it's not difficult to see why though.
So far i have really liked Kelowna. I knew i would just because of it's similarities to Qtown but i am really looking forward to some okanagen powder tomorrow. Wow, that sounds a bit like a drug reference eh? We've only planned to stay a few days before heading southeast down to Rossland but i really wish we had planned a longer stay. I'll let you know how we get on.
Happy Birthday sis. I love and miss you millions. I hope you have an awesome birthday.
Peace
D
XXXX
Right well, back to the issue of this blog thing. Vancouver produced some very unseasonable weather for us and it felt good to stroll around without a coat on. I met up with a friend from Queenstown too called Rob. He worked with me at Coronet Peak and we were on the same dodgeball team. I remember making him feel really bad when he accidentally hurled a dodgeball into the face of one of our female opponents. I knew he didn't mean it but i enjoyed winding him up. He left Qtown before the end of the season to get a jump start on his Canada trip and has been here for the last 5 months. As he missed the end of the season i had loads of gossip for him. I think Rob had only intended a quick drink and a catch up but we ended up getting quite a bit drunk. After he left me and Kate got down to the proper drinking back in our hotel bar. I woke the next day with a crushing headache! I had forgotten just how strong Canadian beer is. I have become accustomed to NZs smoother less powerful beers, which i prefer. We spent most of the day in bed but when we did eventually venture out to get some food we randomly bumped into Rob in our hotel lobby! He was there cashing a cheque as he had been working in the bar next door for the Olympics. He invited us out for another beer but we gracefully declined. He was quite interested in our travels across Canada as he is keen to get out on his snowboard. I emailed where we will be and when and left it up to him if he wants to meet anywhere. It was good seeing him again as he is a really nice guy.
We spent one of our last days there by going shopping. We travelled out to the Metrotown Mall on the train were i encountered a peculiar sign about pick pockets. I stated that you should beware as Vancouver has the best pick pockets in the world. A bold claim i thought. What, did they have some sort of college? The Artful dodger school of dipping? Or the Fagan institute? Have they not seen Oliver? London practically invented dipping!!
Oh another thing i have learnt to my peril - Never trust google! That website fucked me over so much in Vancouver. Lets say i fancied a burger king. I'd google it to find the nearest shop, get directions by google map, commit it to memory, walk miles to get there to find no frickin burger king! It fucked me over at least twice! Either that or Vancouver keeps changing and relocating stuff to keep one step ahead of them. Annoying.
So we left Vancouver and it's vast sprawl. It is such an amazing place. The downtown area is quite compact and some of the neighbouring districts are stunning. We drove through west and north vancouver on the other side of the harbour and those places have an amazing view and sunset out across the bay. From Vancouver we picked up our car for the next month and headed to Kamloops. Kamloops, according to numerous travel guides, has nowhere of any interest except the ski resort Sun Peaks. They are not lying! What a strange place. Driving from Vancouver you pass through valleys and mountains and huge pine forests which are beautiful before you get to the browny grey hole in the ground that is Kamloops. The hills and mountains would ordinarily be pretty impressive if you hadn't just drove through some stunning scenery. It's quite a small industrial town too so chimneys pop out all over the place and spew smoke up into the clean mountain air. The only reason we stopped there was for Sun Peaks and it didn't disappoint. The resort was huge, the second biggest in British Columbia to Whistler. It had just had a light dusting of snow and our first few runs of the day on the middle mountain were awesome. We then ventured over to the bigger mountain which had a bit more steeper terrain and had seemed to have missed the new snow. It was much icier too so we went back to the middle mountain before checking out the third mountain they have there. Yes, three mountains. The third mountain was good because no one was there and the fresh snow lay pretty much untouched. We had a really good day but it wasn't as good as the day we had back in Brighton in Utah. A close second.
We were quite keen to leave the grey brown Kamloops and head to our next stop, Kelowna. On the way we stopped for an afternoon at Silver Star which is another ski resort. We were a bit sketchy about the fact they hadn't had snow for over a week but this is Canada and they still had over 2 metres to ski on. It was a much smaller resort and we pretty much covered it all in just a few hours. It was surprisingly good considering the lack of fresh snow and was our first taste of Okanagan powder. The Okanagan Valley has world famous snow called champagne powder. It's some of the driest, lightest, fluffiest snow in the world and i have been waiting to get here for years. The snow was good but without fresh stuff it just felt like normal snow. The other resort in the Okanagen valley is Big White, which is just down the road from our Kelowna hotel. As i look out of my hotel window up to the hills it is dumping snow up there and I can't wait til tomorrow when we'll get up there.
Kelowna is called Canadas California. I can kind of see why. It sits low in the Okanagen valley and straddles both side of the long thin Okanagan Lake. The lake has beaches and the town has an active winter and summer season. There are beach volley ball and basketball courts dotted along the lake front. The town is over looked by snow capped hills and mountains and is the closest looking place we have seen to Qtown. Not as dramatic but close. It is one of the largest growing communities in Canada and with the gorgeous scenery, lake and ski resorts, it's easy to see why. It might help that Lake Okanagan has a loch ness type monster too, apparently. Don't know many facts and other than the loch ness monster statue down by the lakefront, it's not exactly a massively publicised thing. Not a souvenir shop in sight. I always imagine Loch Ness to have "Nessy" based souvenir shops and tourist havens everywhere. But hey, this is Canada after all. They are so modest here it's ridiculous. I guess when your nearest neighbours are brash, loud, smug Americans it's not difficult to see why though.
So far i have really liked Kelowna. I knew i would just because of it's similarities to Qtown but i am really looking forward to some okanagen powder tomorrow. Wow, that sounds a bit like a drug reference eh? We've only planned to stay a few days before heading southeast down to Rossland but i really wish we had planned a longer stay. I'll let you know how we get on.
Happy Birthday sis. I love and miss you millions. I hope you have an awesome birthday.
Peace
D
XXXX
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Wood watching
Just a quickie today guys. Wow, it seems I'm on a roll when it comes to this embarrassing myself in public malarkey. We drove back from Torfino all ready to drop off the car and get the bus but decided to see if we could extend the hire car for a few more days. The hire car company were closed for lunch so we decided to go to the rental place next door instead and see if they could do us some sort of deal. Now the crappy rent-a-wreck car we had was an oldsmobile alero which is quite a low sleek sporty looking car, which for someone who is 6 foot 3 inches like myself, is a slight problem when getting in and out of the damn thing. It almost looks like one of those clown cars when you see a giant clown unfold himself out of a tiny car. Well, i guess i must've caught my baggy jeans on something as i was getting out of the car because when i was in the Budget rental shop next door i suddenly realised my ass felt a bit cold. We agreed to just rent from them and decided to drop our piece of shit oldsmobile back. When they brought our new hire car out we went outside to check it over for dings and stuff and my ass suddenly went very cold! I reached back to feel what the deal was and realised the whole left side of my butt cheek was hanging out! My jeans were totally shredded. Being pretty used to embarrassing myself in public by now i pointed it out to Kate and the dude showing us the car. What i had forgot though was that it's been a while since we have done any laundry and I'm down to my emergency boxers. Emergency boxers are the tatty ones you save until you are desperate. The ones in question were pretty much crotchless! So not only did i have a huge rip in my ass, it revealed probably the most tattiest pair of bangers i possess. Kate had to sit down from laughing so much and the other guy just sort of ran off screaming.
Jeez, when will this end? I like to make people laugh but maybe not when it comes to over exposing myself. Says the guy who once painted himself blue and danced naked on national TV. Thank god though that tape seems to have been lost for now. Well, unless my partner in crime Lewy still has a copy.
Anyway, we dropped off the old car and drove the new swish hire car down to Victoria, which is the provincial capital of British Columbia. Victoria is quite a big place considering everything else on Vancouver Island is pretty small. We got into town just as the Canadian Mens hockey team won gold against the Americans and the place was going crazy! People running around dressed in hockey uniforms, cars tooting their horns and just general anarchy! It was insane. I knew that Canada was passionate about ice hockey but DAMN! These guys were going nuts. It was the closest i have ever been to a riot. A joyful riot though. We wondered the streets just soaking in all the crazy canucks running around in red face paint.
Apart from all the commotion with the ice hockey fans, we just checked out the downtown area. Victoria has quite a lot of old historic buildings. Well, old by Canadian standards. The country isn't exactly what you would call old. It was pretty though. I guess any city would look pretty special with huge pine forests and snow capped mountains on the horizon. I was still a little peeved that i missed the Orca in Tofino so we decided to go on a whale watching trip. Victoria has the most consistent viewings of Orca in Canada, apparently. So we checked the weather and decided to go out for an afternoon trip. We checked in and put on our Mustangs. A Mustang is a PFD (personal flotation device) that you wear. Not like a life jacket, more like a life suit! It's like a cross between a wet suit and a one piece ski suit and makes you look a lot like a teletubby.
We also went on a zodiac which is a really fast dinghy style boat. We headed out of the harbour into open sea where our skipper really opened the taps! We were flying along on some of the calmest seas i have seen, yet we were still managing to air completely out of the water! I loved it. It was like jet boating on a more grander, more dangerous scale. Although we are here out of whale watching season, our skipper told us they had seen whales in the area just a few days before. It filled us with optimism but after a few hours of seeing just seals, sea lions and bald eagles we realised the chances of seeing any whales were waining. In fact the only thing i saw resembling a whale was a huge log! We saw plenty of logs and bits of wood floating past as this area is a huge logging area. I joked that they should call it wood watching instead. So, we were a little disappointed but it was still cool getting out on the open water and exploring the water ways around the area.
We left Vancouver Island yesterday and got the ferry over to Vancouver. I liked Vancouver Island a lot. It was very laid back and very organic looking. Just so lush and green. The big cities of Victoria and Nanaimo were quite industrial but Courtenay and especially Torfino were really quaint and pretty. I would love to go back in summer and really explore the woods and beaches.
Today we spent the morning at the Vancouver Aquarium at Stanley Park in the city. It was cool being back there and was one of the city highlights last time i was here. Mainly cos it was raining the whole time i was here and i appreciated an attraction that was dry but also cos of the super cool sea otters they have. They are the cutest animals. They are way bigger than you think too. We walked there from our hotel in the heart of the city in a popular vibrant area called Granville. It's a long bar lined street with some nice looking restaurants. One of which i hope to go fill my belly up in right now. Better go as Kate is starving! We're in the city until the weekend when we head off to the ski fields of Kamloops. Chat soon.
Peace
D
XXXX
Jeez, when will this end? I like to make people laugh but maybe not when it comes to over exposing myself. Says the guy who once painted himself blue and danced naked on national TV. Thank god though that tape seems to have been lost for now. Well, unless my partner in crime Lewy still has a copy.
Anyway, we dropped off the old car and drove the new swish hire car down to Victoria, which is the provincial capital of British Columbia. Victoria is quite a big place considering everything else on Vancouver Island is pretty small. We got into town just as the Canadian Mens hockey team won gold against the Americans and the place was going crazy! People running around dressed in hockey uniforms, cars tooting their horns and just general anarchy! It was insane. I knew that Canada was passionate about ice hockey but DAMN! These guys were going nuts. It was the closest i have ever been to a riot. A joyful riot though. We wondered the streets just soaking in all the crazy canucks running around in red face paint.
Apart from all the commotion with the ice hockey fans, we just checked out the downtown area. Victoria has quite a lot of old historic buildings. Well, old by Canadian standards. The country isn't exactly what you would call old. It was pretty though. I guess any city would look pretty special with huge pine forests and snow capped mountains on the horizon. I was still a little peeved that i missed the Orca in Tofino so we decided to go on a whale watching trip. Victoria has the most consistent viewings of Orca in Canada, apparently. So we checked the weather and decided to go out for an afternoon trip. We checked in and put on our Mustangs. A Mustang is a PFD (personal flotation device) that you wear. Not like a life jacket, more like a life suit! It's like a cross between a wet suit and a one piece ski suit and makes you look a lot like a teletubby.
We also went on a zodiac which is a really fast dinghy style boat. We headed out of the harbour into open sea where our skipper really opened the taps! We were flying along on some of the calmest seas i have seen, yet we were still managing to air completely out of the water! I loved it. It was like jet boating on a more grander, more dangerous scale. Although we are here out of whale watching season, our skipper told us they had seen whales in the area just a few days before. It filled us with optimism but after a few hours of seeing just seals, sea lions and bald eagles we realised the chances of seeing any whales were waining. In fact the only thing i saw resembling a whale was a huge log! We saw plenty of logs and bits of wood floating past as this area is a huge logging area. I joked that they should call it wood watching instead. So, we were a little disappointed but it was still cool getting out on the open water and exploring the water ways around the area.
We left Vancouver Island yesterday and got the ferry over to Vancouver. I liked Vancouver Island a lot. It was very laid back and very organic looking. Just so lush and green. The big cities of Victoria and Nanaimo were quite industrial but Courtenay and especially Torfino were really quaint and pretty. I would love to go back in summer and really explore the woods and beaches.
Today we spent the morning at the Vancouver Aquarium at Stanley Park in the city. It was cool being back there and was one of the city highlights last time i was here. Mainly cos it was raining the whole time i was here and i appreciated an attraction that was dry but also cos of the super cool sea otters they have. They are the cutest animals. They are way bigger than you think too. We walked there from our hotel in the heart of the city in a popular vibrant area called Granville. It's a long bar lined street with some nice looking restaurants. One of which i hope to go fill my belly up in right now. Better go as Kate is starving! We're in the city until the weekend when we head off to the ski fields of Kamloops. Chat soon.
Peace
D
XXXX
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