Dec 27 - 29 - Calgary

Hi all! Well currently we are sitting in the lounge/bar at the hotel in Calgary waiting for our shuttle to take us to the airport... well its currently 4pm and we do have to wait till 10:30pm but hey, it saves us money and we need all we can get for Montreal.

So here is what happened since Banff so far. We waited at the bus depot in Banff for a few hours till the buses came... unfortunately the bus was too full (after we put on our luggage) so we had to wait for the next one that was running just a bit late... Anyway, we finally made it, and found our luggage, and met another Aussie couple on the bus. They lived in Calgary and so they offered to help us get to our hotel. We walked a few blocks with all our gear and caught a train. We also made plans to meet the next day for dinner.

On the next day we got up late-ish, then went up to the Calgary Zoo. It is pretty nice but not as nice as Perth. The enclosures are smaller and no where near as nice for the animals, but you do get to see them up close. Anyway, there will be a gallery up soon (or maybe actually up by the time you're reading this) so you can see for yourself. Anyhoo, after a bit of relaxation back at the hotel we went out for a nice meal at a restaurant near the hotel. Great food and great company, they are quite like me and Gem actually... he's even a web programmer :)

This morning we packed up our bags ready for Toronto and Montreal. We have all we need in just 1 backpack so we can leave 1 bag and the snowboard bags with one of Becky's friends when we land in Toronto and not have to try and juggle them all in Montreal. Can't wait!

Anyway people, have a good new year if we don't write before! We'll be living it up on the streets Montreal... Sack re bleu! Bagget! Bonjour! Merci! Adieu!!!

Dec 27

We have put up a few more posts to read and there are also 5 new galleries that we have finally managed to upload.

Apologies for the delay

:)

Dec 23-27 Banff for Christmas

Well we finally made it! It was a long and packed bus trip but the Chalet at Douglas Fir Resort (DFR) was spectacular and damn saucy for Christmas (that was Duncan's adjective use).

Dec 23: Got in, unpacked, walked down Tunnel Mountain and bought some snacks, and hitched back up to DFR with two Candadian ladies. Matt and Maggie got in about 10:30.

Dec 24: Got up early-ish and went downtown so Matt and Mags could hire some snowboard stuff. We got our lift passes and headed up to Sunshine Mountain. It was packed!! (But not as packed as NZ) From the carpark where the shuttle bus drops you, to the chairlift you have to spend about 15minutes in a gondola. The views were fantabulous.

Hit the bunny hill to give Mags a quick lesson, and refresh Matt's snowboard legs, as he has tried it once before.

Did some green runs, but we weren't impressed with them, visibility was poor and it was so crowded. Maggie decided snowboarding wasn't really her thing. She waited for us to finish up and we headed back to Banff.

Went to dinner at a pub, ran into an American who about 10 years ago was the coach of the Geelong Supercats (bball) and then went to TonyRomas for desert (which we got for free coz the waitress liked us). Before we went back to DFR we went to midnight mass at the local Presbyterian church. Being a minister in a church of a tourist town, he was very used to a multinational and multi-denominational congregation, it was a lovely service.

Dec 25: Christmas started with a small sleep in and a big cooked breakfast. mm mmm! We had decided as a group not to go boarding today, but thought we would still catch the shuttle from Banff to the ski slope at Lake Louise and then another shuttle from there to Chateau Lake Louise (http://www.fairmont.com/lakelouise/), one of the most beautiful and famous places of the Canadian Rockies, that always appears on postcards. It is just a picturesque in winter white and frozen. We looked at the ice sculptures and intended to do some iceskating on the lake, but got sidetracked. We made a 7 foot snowman called Simon. What was so amazing, was the amount of toursits from all over who wanted a photo with Simon. At one point there would have been at least 50 people standing around getting photos. We tried to make money out of it, but there were no takers. We walked from the Chateau towards town a little bit to Deer Lodge where we had the most scrumptious lunch, with the most amazing service, and not for many $$$ all things considered. Daddy can we please go here for christmas 2006? :)

Once back at DFR we exchanged gifts before going out for Turkey Dinner at a local resturaunt. It was good. Damn good (that adjective also belongs to Duncan). We went to bed soooooo full.

Dec 26: Matt, Duncan and Gemma went snowboarding at Lake Louise slopes very early in the morning. The runs were much better and less crowded, but there wasn't as much snow so it was a little bit more icy. This means it is a bit faster, you have a little less control, and it hurts more when you stack it. Fortunately we are getting much better and did not have any major stacks. Yay :)

Maggie slept in (lucky duck) went to the gym and broke the oven (not really just the knob). All in all everyone had a good day. Upon our return we went to the pool and the indoor waterslides at DFR for some recreation. The boys then headed downtown to a pub to watch a hockey game that they thought started at 7, but actually finished at 7, so we met them down there and went to dinner instead.

Dec 27: Matt and Maggie left early this morning back to Vancouver, they had packed last night. We are currently sitting in the lobby of DFR trying to catch up on all of our personal administration. We are catching a bus to Calgary this afternoon.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Hopefully we will update this again before the New Year.

Love D&G

Dec 23: Musings on the Bus to Banff

Goodbye Quesnel

Well our last week was exhausting.

We received the tragic news that my Aunty Claire was killed in a car accident on Tuesday 20th December.

So our week was filled with goodbyes. Saying goodbye to people in Quesnel who are like family to both Duncan and myself; and saying goodbye to family….. my Aunty Claire was a wonderful lady…… being at this distance it is so hard to come to terms with the harsh reality….. it is so hard for Duncan and I to imagine our family without her. Our thoughts and prayers are with Uncle Alan and his family during this time, as well as Richard, Ruth and Dennis.

So amongst this sadness, we try to embrace the festive season, re-examining why Christmas is important to us as a celebration of life, love and family.

I am writing this on the bus to Banff (Alberta) in view of uploading it once we find an internet connection. So far we have been on the bus for 16hours. The winter roads are always fraught with hazards, and we have been held up by two accidents.

The windows are very dirty because the weather has been warm and the roads are slushy, but for the last few hours the scenery has become more oppressive as the harsh jagged yet beautiful mountains have got bigger as we have got further into the Rocky Mountains. In some areas as you look out the window you cannot see the sky. It is certainly a big difference to the Nullabor Plain ;)

We are looking forward to exploring sites and experiences of this new place in the morning, and we are sure it will make a lovely setting for our white Christmas. Matt and Maggie should be joining us in our little condo tonight.

To Everyone around the world Duncan and I wish you a very merry Christmas. And if we don’t speak to you a fabulous New Year

Ciao
G xx

Dec 17/18: Yellowhead Trail and Waverly Cabin

Well the last that you heard from us was we were off to go camping, and it was a great weekend :)

Well Becky was supposed to be at Alice’s to pick us up at 8:00 but she called to say that she was going to be a little late expect her at 9am. It was close to 10 when she still hadn’t come and we were starting to get a little worried so after calling we agreed to meet her at her mum and dads to save a little bit of time.

We went to the grocery store to pick up some food to take with us. Becky’s dad Doug met us in the car park. Knowing the potential for us to get lost (with Becky as our guide he he – just jokes Bex), and the fact that there may not be much of a trail, he had driven out to the mill to borrow a GPS for us. He had Soleil, the family Golden Retreiver with him and suggested that we take her so entered the fourth member of our party. He also brought some ski poles with us to help with the walking….. while we were in the car park a lady came to ask us where we got our “Nordic Walking Sticks” which are essentially ski poles for urban all year use with little feet for asphalt instead of snow. Picture it people walking down the Swan River with ski poles in their hands…….So after planning to leave at 10am, we hit the road at 11:20am.

We got there a lot quicker than we thought it would take, which was good as we were running later and really didn’t want to arrive in the dark. We had put most of our food and drink in plastic in the car so it was a matter of packing it into our packs and getting ready to go. The bottom of the Yellowhead trail which we were taking to Mt Waverly and the Waverly Cabin, looked pretty packed so we decided to strap our snow shoes onto our packs and hike (with the aide of our Nordic Walking Sticks of course ;). We put on our avalanche transceivers, had a quick lesson in how they work, and how to find someone if they were caught in an avalanche. An avalanche kit consist of a transceiver a shovel and a probe, which are apparently not to probe for air and dig yourself out, but in fact to probe for victims and dig them out (how would I know I am an aussie J)

We were all pretty delirious with fatigue and excitement and there was lots of laughter and conversation. The conversation however did not last very long, once we got started and started climbing the work got hard, even with my Nordic Walking Sticks, and we fell silent. The scenery was beautiful though. It was kinda funny the trail was packed but it your foot fell merely an inch to either side you would sink up to your knees and the momentum of the backpack would inevitable carry you forward so ended up falling in the snow. This happened several times, and as we to closer to the cabin and our muscles got tired, our balance got worse and it happened more frequently.

It was around 5ish when we got to the Cabin, we had been walking mainly uphill for around 4hrs. It was pretty dark when we got there, and we were very very pleased to see it. It was a small A frame cabin loft. There was plenty of firewood stacked underneath the cabin. To get into the cabin we had to clime a ladder onto the veranda and then to get into the cabin. This posed a problem because Solei was not the kind of dog who climbed ladders, this is not usually an issue as there is more snow. So while Becky started the fire Duncan and I tried to rig up a way for Solei to get up into the cabin. We found some long planks and made a ramp up to the veranda, it was steep and slippery and Soleil would only climb it if we were helping her. But it was a lot easier than lifting her up and down which is how we got her up the first place.

We got into the cabin and huddled around the fire. Duncan and I set to getting the lamp alight and Becky got started on boiling water for dinner. We had Indian eggplant and Naan bread, and pasta for main course with mars bars for desert. Drinks were Whisky, Kaluha and baileys, Duncan bless his cotton socks did not want to drink straight whisky so had hauled coke up as well. He carried 6L up the mountain. There was a small cassette player and speakers up there – battery operated of course and some jazz music, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsett and Glen Miller, it was a great night. With only a little hiccup: the lamp ran out of oil so we cooled it down and started to refill it. I spilt a little bit on the table and as I was trying to get the lid back on the fuel container the table cloth (plastic) caught alight. We are still not sure whether it was from the heat of the cabin or the candle flames that we had on the table (even though they were not close proximity).

So I set my leg on fire (thank goodness my ski pants did not burn or melt) and burnt part of the table cloth filling the cabin with fumes. Solei was so frightened that for the only time while we were there she got herself down the ramp, slipping and sliding down on her bottom it was so funny. Alls well that ends well however, we got the fire out and there were no injuries, instead just a good story to tell.

The view from the Cabin window was beautiful. The moon was almost full and the night was so clear. The snow sparkled in the moonlight. Some very clever person had brought a squidgee up so you could scrape the condensation of the inside of the window to maximize the view.

We slept in the loft on foam mattresses that had been supplied to the cabin

We got up around 8 and watched the snow covered mountain tops glow pink in the sunrise. It was beautiful and pictures never do it justice. After breakfast we made good time getting down in just under 2 hours. The trip down was quite uneventful, there was less falling over, but we did see a ghost dog…….

Friday 16 Dec: Dunkley Mill

I know that this was a while ago. The Friday before we went camping Becky's dad Doug took us to his work at Dunkley Mill. We went for a ride in the company helicopter seeing some of the logging that was going on by what looked like a variety of Tonka trucks. It was a fun ride, especially when he went really really fast. We also saw a herd of elk from the air so that was pretty cool as well.

We then walked through one of the mills and saw how timber for building is produced. It was very interesting

I wont write much more but we will put photos up :)

i said brrr its cold in here

Well it is not cold in here in Alices house, but tonight may be a different story.

We are going camping! Yes you read correctly. It will be -16 tonight and we will be camping :)

Truth be told, we will be staying in a cabin (if we ever find it) we are already late leaving... (Becky!!)...... Don't worry we will be taking our avalanche kits (shovel, probe and transceiver) with us.

So if you haven't heard from us in three days send in the St Bernards and the whiskey.

The next bit

So where were we. Right. Well this week has been interesting. We went and watched Sal's school Christmas performance, which was pretty funny. Not sure if it was meant to be but watching teachers trying to get a whole bunch of year 1 and 2's to do as their told is always funny :)

Yesterday was a saga in itself. Alice "lost" 6 of her horses. She got up in the morning to feed them and only 5 of the 11 where there. We walked the boundary fences with her and the dogs and could find no trace of them and no place where the fence was damaged or broken at all! It was also quite suspicious that the 6 that were missing just happened to be the 6 that are the prettiest and will be the easiest to sell in the spring. So Alice called all the neighbours (well most of Quesnel actually) and the police, and the horse vets and chiropractors, the auction places, the branding offices and anyone who might possible see them if they turn up somewhere.... even in Prince George and even Alberta!

Anyway, this morning while Alice was out ready to put an ad in the local paper we got a call from one of the neighbours who had finally seen them in one of his hay paddocks when he went out to drive his boundarys to check for them. The had crossed the frozen lake and wandered to his property, but we still couldn't find where they got through to his paddock as all the fences are stable and all gates locked! Anyway, Me and Gem wandered down there and finally manage to catch 4 of them (they are not broken yet except one old horse). We had to bust down one gate so we could get the hosres home and we led our 4 back with the other two following. Took a few hours in the end as its not a short walk, and walking 6 horses across a frozen lake was interesting, but we have them home. Yay for us :)

Its been a while...

Right, sorry thats its been a while between drinks here people but I'll try and fill you in on the last week.

Sun Peaks was awesome. So much better than NZ as the snow was deeper and softer and the hills where so empty. So Tuesday you know about, we drove there and looked around. Wednesday we gathered our gear and headed to the mountain, which you could walk to from the hostel, but having a car meant you could drive up in 5 minutes rather than lug your gear for 30. Anyway, we booked a group lesson for 9am that morning. We met our instructor at 9 and found out we were the only people in the "group". Nice. A 2 hour private lesson for less than $100 and that included a lift pass! Alyn, our Welsh instructor with a plethora of dirty jokes, put us through our paces for 2 hours. Being in a group on your own means you get a real full-on and in-depth session, but damn you have to work hard! No breaks to watch others fall over! Anyway, after that we headed up the chairlifts and took a nice long green run (beginner run) called the 5 mile down. Took us ages and we where completely cream-crackered after it but we did good.

Thursday we slept in a bit to give our weary bones a bit of a rest as the season has just openbed so the hills are almost empty of people and you don't really have to rush. We did some more snowboarding for a few hours, headed back to the hostel for lunch then another session in the arvo. All in all we actually started to feel like snowboarders by the end of it rather than people who fall down a mountain with a plank of wood nailed to their feet.

Friday we packed our stuff and headed home back to Quesnel.

I'll fill you in on the rest in the next post...

ROAD TRIP!!!

(curling was excellent by the way - those stones are surprisingly heavier than they look).

Well yesterday Holly and Doug leant us their Jeep and suggested that we head down to Sunpeaks, which is a ski resort just north of Kamloops in BC. Not needing a lot of arm twisting we agreed and made the 5 hour drive down.

We are now sitting in our adorable little hostel room. The Sunpeaks International Hostel is truly an A frame building it is small and clean and seems to be run and occupied by a lot of Aussies.

I imagine that our bedroom is like what it would have been to have had a loft room in olden times, with sloping roof that.

We have been up to the day lodge and checked out where we need to by our lift passes and lessons tomorrow so we can get a nice early start.

There will probably be a lot of spelling mistakes in our next post as we will be too tired and sore to type properly.... yay!

Hope you are all well :)

Wells (Date: not really sure as we are on holidays)

We went to Wells today, a small rustic town about 1.5hrs from Quesnel. It is quite an arts and crafty place in summer, in winter it is much much quieter :) They have so many different coloured houses (pictures to follow)

The scenery there was breathtaking, especially since we had a fresh snowfall last night. Unfortunately the spots that we wanted to stop for photos were avalanche zones and no stopping was allowed.

We had lunch at the only place that was open for lunch. It was quite scary looking, and thoughts of food poisoning ran through my mind as i thought about the long drive back to Quesnel with no toilet stops. Fortuntaely the food was very fresh and yummy.

On the way back we stopped off at the grave site of an important character in local history. The snow was deep and it was cold so we didn't stay long. Blessing was the name of the murdered guy.

We also happened upon a candy store mmm mmm, need i say more. Duncan just ducked into the post office so i connected to whatever random unsecured service was available to post this.

Tonight we are going curling (well to watch anyway :)

Will write again soon.
Gem

Cats

There are more photos up.

The best thing about winter is that horsepoo freezes so is easier to pick up.

Why is it that cats always adopt the people that don't like them, or are allergic. Do you think that Tigger sleeps on Duncan's side of the bed..... oh no, just mine!

There are more photos coming.

It has been a frustrating day!

Christmas Pagent

Tonight we are going into the town centre to watch a Christmas pagent. I have no idea whats going to happen but I know there are floats and horsies and then fireworks at the end. I hope they don't freeze mid-air as its going o be -22c tonight. Thats goingg to be pretty damn cold to be standing around in. And yes even I will feel the cold at that temperature :) I'll have on thermal pants and jeans, 2 pairs of socks, a thermal top, a t-shirt, a jumper, and at leats my inner shell of my ski-jacket.... and possibly the outer too.

On another note, I have started to earn my keep a little around Alice's farm. I sort of help with the chores in the evening, which is stabling and feeding the horses, minature horses, donkeys, ducks and other odd jobs. The thing that has become my job however is cutting wood. The wood they have is in big logs and are basically frozen solid, so Alice and Kim haven't been able to break them very well. But I sort of have at least 9 inches of height and 40 odd kilos of weight behind me to help. So I'm starting to fit into "country" life a bit :) Now, if I could just get used to this dialup internet....