Canada, the first 40 days!

Reality set in as we flew over the stunning Rockies! We were going to be landing in Vancouver soon… our new home! On our arrival we were greeted at the airport by Randal and Rachelle only to be whisked away to Randal’s apartment (now ours) and onwards to his friend’s boat where we watched the festival of light, an extravaganza of fireworks out in English Bay. Barely staying awake for the fireworks we managed to get back home and proceeded to sleep away the jet lag.

Vancouver is a beautiful city and I can see why it is rated as one of the most livable cities in the world. Walks on the sea walls, immaculate parks, luxury condos and a buzzing atmosphere surrounds the city. Vancouverites are friendly people and its not strange to get into conversations with someone in the same lift as you especially if you make a pleasant comment about their dogs. Yaletown is the yuppie area of Vancouver where everyone seems to be really successful and own several businesses although small dogs seem to have replaced children with many of the people that live here.

After our european binge Helen and I decided to get back into shape, the city was full of athletic fit people who are all body beautiful and this provided us with extra motivation to join the masses that cycle, run and rollerblade along the sea wall. On a trip down to Seattle we were surprised to notice that Americans are generally larger than people here in Vancouver, although that didn’t stop us from chowing down good ole doughnuts at the famous Pike Fish Markets.

With Helen getting a job within a couple of weeks I was left to plan our trip to Whistler. Whistler blew our minds, the weather was horrible but there was no shortage of activities that we could participate in. When we first arrived we checked in to our hotel and immediately started looking for activities. I managed to convince Helen to go white water rafting on the Green River. Helen mastered the rapids and only may have held on to the side of the boat once… me, I may have fallen out on to a rock but I blame the beautiful scenery of alpine mountains distracting me as we raced down the river. That night we relaxed in a hot tub and were entertained by an Irish Pub Band before spotting a black bear on the mountain side. The next day was booked with mountain biking and canoeing down the River of Golden Dreams. We are now amongst a select few who know this river as the River of Frozen Screams as we found out after capsizing our canoe after a beaver dam got in the way! Damn beavers! Damn Beaver Dam! Damn cold water!  The water was probably around 6 degrees. Apparently I was going too fast… thankfully our guide overturned our boat and got the water removed from it so we could continue.  He definitely earned his money with us! I slowed down after that.

Randal and Rachelle offered us a trip to Penticton last weekend and we gladly took it.  After a 4 hour drive we made it to the lakeside resort town and quickly went to the pub, which was the roughest I’ve been too since the Hutt; with leopard skin outfits and a solo guitarist playing Metallica I felt right at home. The next day we went to the Burrowing Owl vineyard where we proceeded to eat and drink gorgeous food and wine to a spectacular view of the Okanagan Valley, it was amazingly relaxing and we were prepped for a big night out with plenty of beers, strawberry margaritas and perhaps a little gambling at the casino.

Its been a blast so far and we are looking forward to what’s to come! Huge thanks to Randal and Rachelle for looking after us on our arrival and getting us out all the time!!!

D