The past few months.....

Well, where to start! The last couple of months have been a rollercoaster for us in so many ways - emotionally, physically and mentally! Last blog I said that September didn’t have much going for us, well boy oh boy was I wrong!

The weekend of September 16^th Craig and I went to Portland, Oregon USA for the weekend. Our first trip into the USA since arriving in Canada and my first trip into the USA ever! It is about a 6 hour drive including the boarder crossing where you have to first line up in your car, then park your car, go inside and stand in a line (while your car is being searched) and then be asked a million questions about why you are going into the states, where will you be staying, how long will you be there blah blah blah… Oh and also get your photo and fingerprints taken! Once that ordeal is over, it is into the USA! We arrived in Portland in the early afternoon and went out for late lunch early dinner which was really nice. We decided to go back to our room to freshen up before we were heading out for the night. To my surprise, Craig proposed in our room!

Now I know it has been known for a long time that Craig and I are getting married in Vegas on New years anyway but I still needed a ring on my finger to make it official! I was not expecting it to happen there and then and so it was still a great surprise and enough to bring some tears to my eyes. The ring too is just so beautiful and more perfect than I ever thought it could possibly be and I wear it very proud now!

As everyone probably knows by now, Craig has quite bad accident while we were in Portland also. It was quite an ordeal and really, the biggest and worst thing that has ever happened to us. Adding that to our engagement that weekend, it is safe to say that Portland will forever be remembered! Originally when it happened we thought that we would have to come home but thankfully from the support of our family, we have decided to stay and are so glad that we have. The thought of going home was truly heart breaking to both of us because we have really only just got settled here and beginning our new little life. Not to mention that going home on such horrible terms didn’t make it any easier! After emergency surgery in Portland and then another surgery 10 days later here in Vancouver he is doing much better now. It has now been about 3 months since his accident and he is doing great. He has been cleared to go back to work, snowboarding and pretty much whatever he is able to do. We were originally told that he would be wearing a wrist/hand brace for around 6 months but he has already been told that he doesn’t need to wear it anymore, which is really positive. The main problem is the movement in his fingers which could take up to 6 months to return but he seems to be making strides in his recovery and so, we are very optimistic and hope that the hard road is over now!

Now, we get to look to the future and also have a much better out look on our time here in Canada. We know now that it could end at any time and so we don’t want to waste it. We have been much more well behaved and spend lots more time now walking around Vancouver, going out for breakfast, lunch and dinner and just generally enjoying the fact that we are here in Canada and the fact that we love living here in Vancouver so much.

During this time we had Craig’s birthday which was probably the quietest birthday he has had in a long time. It was a Sunday so we went and had a late lunch with a couple of friends and had a great time! It was Craig’s first outing since his injury and so it was just nice for him to get out of the house and catch up with people.

While Craig was off work recovering we had a visitor from home. Bec works with Maree who I went to school with and I know her from their salon. When Craig and I were just heading to Canada Bec started organizing her visa too. She was meant to stay here indefinitely like us but unfortunately, certain circumstances meant she had to return home. We did however, manage to convince her to stay a little while longer and she, like many others have, enjoyed our couch for a week or so! It was great having here there and plus, it was extra company for Craig which was awesome too. They had breakfast dates and Tim’s and many many car rides to good old Hastings Street (Bec’s favourite place haha). We loved having her there and hope that she can save her pennies and come back to us one day. Our little house misses her!!! While she stayed with us we also had a fiend Marty leave us. Marty worked with Craig at the landscaping job and well what can we say, it was horrible to see him go! We went out on a Saturday night for drinks to say goodbye and Bec came along too. It was great fun, but at the same time sad. It sucks saying goodbye to people and Marty and his girlfriend Georgia are greatly missed!!!! They are off to bigger and better things but they don’t live far from us at home so I am sure that we will see them in the future when we get back home!!!

I also had my birthday, which was great fun being that it is on Halloween and all. On the Saturday night before my birthday we went to a fancy dress party at the Hostel, which was great fun. Some people’s costumes were just amazing. People go to so much trouble but they were definitely worth it. I went as a Vampire and Craig was a doctor. Relatively boring and easy costumes but we had fun anyway! On my actual birthday we were invited to Craig’s boss’s house. His boss has the 2 twin 4 year old girls and so they go all out for Halloween. They had a big street party and had popcorn, hotdogs, chocolates, hot chocolate and other little gifts to hand out to all the kids trick or treating. It was so much fun to spend Halloween with a Canadian family and watching all their traditions. It is also legal on the night of Halloween here to let off fire works so Craig’s boss let off about $300 worth on the street, which was heaps of fun to see too!!!

It started to snow on the mountains early this year (like start of November) around Vancouver city. We have a season pass to Mt Seymour which is about a 40 minute drive from our house and where we plan to spend lots of the winter! We were so excited when we first heard that it had snowed, we went for a drive up there and it was truly beautiful. Since the mountain has opened we have been trying to go as much as we can. Although the snow started early, it really hasn’t snowed that much. Craig is much better on the board than me but I am getting there slowly. I did however surprised myself when I went the first time and did exceptionally well on my first day back on the board. I have not been snowboarding since Craig and I went to Perisher in 2006 and so I was a little nervous. I have been proud that I haven’t really hurt myself and been managing to get off the chairlift multiple times without injury!!!! Lol We have managed to get some really beautiful days up there and taken some lovely pictures too. Craig and I can see ourselves spending the next 6 months snowboarding with our iPods in our ears! It is just so much fun!!

On the snow note – it also snowed at our house a few weeks ago which was just awesome! As I said, the snow came early this year and especially early to be snowing in downtown Vancouver! We were ecstatic, taking photos and generally just being an Australian about it! The next morning we woke up and there was snow all outside our house, over our car and on the streets! It was simply beautiful! Given how early the snow has started, it is going to be a cold and snowy winter which is fine by us! It seems that we have started to acclimatize to the weather because -2 really doesn’t seem ‘that cold’ to us anymore! In saying that, we went to Whistler in the middle of November to see Hilltop Hoods. It was -15 the night we went out to see them and walking through the village was simply crazy cold! -15 definitely hurts! Hilltop Hoods were awesome and we had a great crew that went which made it even more fun. Altogether there were about 10-15 people that we knew, or were friends of friends! They played in a little night club and so, we were literally about 15m from the stage! It was so up close and personal and just a great show all round! Plus, it only cost $25 to go which is simply a bargain! We will definitely be heading back to Whistler over the snow season to snowboard there as well. They have had endless amounts of snow fall there and it is going to be awesome to ride there! 

Just last week Craig got a new job which is really exciting. His new job is working for a HVAC (refrigeration) supply company. It is a different side to his trade which will be a great change and definitely great experience for him. He really enjoyed landscaping but this is just such a great opportunity and in keeping with his trade – think it will definitely benefit him in the future. He works Mon – Fri 8-5 and gets all benefits like medical, dental, holidays, sick pay etc which is really good over here. Plus, he snagged himself a pay rise which is awesome. He started there Monday this week and is only working this week then has the couple of weeks off for the wedding before going back in the New Year. They were really understanding about his pre-booked holiday which was awesome.

Other than that, the most exciting news goes back to our engagement and our wedding in Vegas. It seems like we have talked about it for so many years but it is finally actually happening! We are flying into LA on December 27^th and meeting my parents, grandma, Craig’s sister (Nicole) and Josh. We are all then driving to Vegas on December 30^th and the wedding is booked at 1pm on December 31^st at a place on the strip called The Little Chapel of the West. Following that we have dinner booked at the MGM Grand (where we are staying) and then we will let the New Years Celebrations begin! On New Years in Vegas they shut down the strip and have live music, performances, fireworks and pretty much one big street party! It is going to be amazing!

Well that pretty much sums up things here at the moment. Our next blog will be exciting because we will have had Christmas and the Wedding!!!!!

I have attached some pictures too so I hope you like them.

We wish everyone at home a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year!!! We love you all very much and miss u just the same!!!

Mel and Craig xoxoxox

Craig, Mel and Marty

Mel, Craig and Bec

Halloween Dress Ups

The Kiddies on Halloween

Our Trick or Treat Set Up

Snow at Our House

Hilltop Hoods in Whistler

Our view snowboarding at Mount Seymour - Mount Baker USA in the distance

Vancouver Island, John Butler Trio, Green Lake - Lake House

I was looking at the calendar today and realized that we are approaching the 6 month mark since we left Australia. Not only that but it is only a few days later that it is 1 Year since we sold our house on Dorset Drive. I can’t believe how quickly this time has passed. It has been a huge year for us and definitely one that we will never forget… and the best part… it is only the beginning!

The weekend of August 19th we went to Victoria, Vancouver Island for the weekend to see John Butler Trio. There were 7 of us – Me, Craig, Mick (our house mate) Midnight (Joel – from Australia) Lisa (who you know of), Ali (Canadian) and Gary (Irishman)! The island is about a 40 minute drive from Vancouver and then a 1 and a half hour ferry ride which is really quite beautiful. It weaves in and around some of the islands that are off the coast of Vancouver. We arrived on the island mid afternoon and went to a local pub over looking the water for lunch. I had the most amazing fish and chips and then off to John Butler Trio that night. John Butler Trio was an unbelievably amazing show and they played for over 2 and a half hours which was awesome! Made us remember how great live music really is and that we definitely need to see more while we are here. The show finished at about 11pm and we were staying at a hostel only about 5 blocks away. We got home and were all settling in for the night when I realized that my wallet was gone. Could not find it anywhere! I started to freak out and instantly Craig and I headed back to the theatre where the show was. It was around 12.15pm and as we approached we could see that it was all dark and locked up. Then across the road I could see someone dressed in a uniform for the theatre. I ran up to the guy and explained that I had lost my wallet, he asked me to describe it which I did and then he said ‘oh I know just the one – someone handed that in’. I couldn’t believe it and so so lucky too…. It had about $450 in it as well as my pay cheques! We waited outside while he went in to get it for me and I thought that I was the luckiest person in the world until……. Craig could see around the side of the theatre and he points and says to me….. That’s John Butler over there! He was leaving to get on his super cool silver big arse tour bus! We ran up to him and shook his hand and told him how amazing his show was. Truthfully, it was all a little overwhelming, we were drunk, I lost my wallet, found my wallet then there was John Butler!!!! Craig and I both agree that we must have looked and sounded like the biggest losers ever but either way, it was exciting and definitely a fun story to tell everyone when we got back to our room. As my luck does show though, we didn’t have our camera with us and so, no photo evidence but I have my photographic memory and that’s all I need! Lol

We spent the wrest of the weekend exploring Vancouver Island. On the Saturday we went to Sooke Potholes which is a great place for swimming and cliff diving. Thankfully for us it was actually quite warm in Victoria and so the boys went swimming most of the time we were there….. still WAY too cold for me to get in though! It was a really beautiful place and so we went back on Sunday too on our way home. Saturday afternoon we found this really great roof top pub and had lunch and drinks there all afternoon. The sun and drinking was all a little too much for Craig and I so we were back in bed around 10pm but the others spent the night out and arrived home sometime around 3am! Clearly they had a great time! Sunday when we left we were meant to be at the ferry by 5.15pm for the 6pm ferry but unfortunately, we were a little late and had to wait 2 hours until the 8pm ferry. Not the greatest way to end the weekend, bored at the ferry terminal for 2 hours but we had fun anyway!

Since Victoria we have had pretty quite weekends. Victoria was Lisa’s last weekend in Canada and the following Tuesday she left to head home! It was a sucky goodbye and definitely my saddest yet! At the moment Midnight is staying on our couch while he is between houses. I am overwhelmed with boys now days but it is definitely something that I am used too! I have told the boys that they all need to start getting girlfriends so that I have some friends too! Unfortunately, I think they are actually trying so all the power to them I say!!! Haha

We also had to say goodbye to Damo (Irishman) who we have become very close with. He lives at the hostel and Craig worked with him when he was there. He moved to Banff last week. Although, in saying that he has only moved to Banff and so, I am sure that we will either see him again when we visit Banff or he will be back here in Vancouver some day. Ash (the guy who came on the road trip to Calgary with us) also left to go home about 2 weeks ago. He lives in WA and we have promised that when we get back to Australia we will go and visit him. He lives in country WA and has promised us an awesome camping trip when we finally get there.

The weekend just gone was Labor Day long weekend here in Vancouver and we were meant to go camping on another island off Vancouver. Unfortunately, it was all a little last minute and we felt entirely unorganized so we pulled the pin at the last minute. Another contributor was the fact that Nance (the van) needed some general maintenance that cost us $278 – 2 new tires! They had been going flat over a week or so and we had pumped them up 3 times so it was time to get them fixed. It was really disappointing to miss out on camping because we know it would have been a blast. However, we did end up having a wonderful weekend anyway. Craig’s boss Mike (or they call him Tupper which is his last name and the name of the business – Tupper Landscaping) invited us to their Lake House for the weekend on Green Lake in 70 Mile which was about 6 hours drive from Vancouver. Well so we were told but it took us a little longer. We left Vancouver on Saturday around 3.30pm after we got the tires fixed and arrived there at like 10.30pm. It was a long long drive but totally worth it. When we woke up in the morning the place was just beautiful. I honestly felt like we were in a movie….. just at the lake house for the weekend……. Lol Tupper and his wife Brooke have twin 4 year old girls too which were super fun to play with. There was also another guy that Craig works with, Spencer and his girlfriend, as well as Tupper’s parents who live on the lake about 100 houses down (a mansion for their house is an understatement). There was also another couple Todd and Sara that also have twin 4 year old boys and a 2 year old. They live in Bellingham which is just over the USA boarder around a 1 hour drive from Vancouver. They ere really excited to meet us because they actually lived in Brisbane (on Vulture Street) for 14 months many many years ago. Todd is a gastroenterologist and was there doing his fellow ship. They loved Brisbane and had nothing but great things to say about it. They couldn’t understand why we would we leave Brisbane to live in Vancouver? Lol They were very nice and offered that we could stay at their house when ever we would like,  and if we wanted to get flights from Bellingham (flights into the US are much cheaper from here) we could leave our car there etc which was really kind of them.

 We spent Sunday relaxing and in the afternoon we went out on Tupper’s Fathers ‘barge’ which can seat about 15 people or so. It was great to go around the whole late and see all the beautiful houses. It water is just crystal clear and you can see straight to the bottom but as expected for good old Canadian water… it is bloody cold! Craig jumped in once and was straight back out with in seconds. I as usual, did not even touch the water! Lol We came home Monday and again, it took us hours to get home. It was the end of a long weekend and the end of the Canadian summer. Back to school for the kids here now and so traffic was terrible to say the least. It was definitely worth the drive though and it was so great to spend the weekend with a bunch of Canadian’s doing what they do on their holidays. It was a great experience and we definitely want to go there again. Tupper was telling us that in the winter the lake freezes solid and you can drive your car on there. It is a bloody huge lake and so to hear that, it is just amazing and something we will have to see with our own eyes.  Obviously, in the summer people at the lake are doing fun water sports like jet skiing, boating, water skiing etc but then in the winter when the lake freezes over, they do snowmobiling so we are really interested in getting involved in that. It sounds like heaps of fun!

It is starting to cool down at night here in Vancouver and we have been told that our beautiful summer days are limited. Usually by the end of September/early October it will start to really cool down and wintery weather will start (rain). Then around early November will be when the snow hits. It is not common to snow in Vancouver but all the ski fields will be full of it. We are buying a season pass (lift pass) to Mt Seymour this month (early bird special for $379). Mt Seymour is only about a 40 minute drive from our house and is a little less busy than Whistler, so we will be able to spend lots of weekends in winter skiing there. Plus we will spend some at Whistler when we feel like it too. I have already got a snowboard which I bought off my friend Lisa before she went back to Australia so Craig just needs to get his now and we will be all set! Craig is so excited; he talks about it every day. He has also started applying for some positions on the mountain that he might do part time, while he still works for Tupper Landscaping. Obviously during the winter they don’t do much landscaping but he has a snow plowing side to his business so if he gets enough work, Craig might be able to get involved in that too. I am still enjoying my job with Steve, working 4 days a week is an absolute dream and he is great to work for too so no complaints here! Craig however has been working long long hours lately, usually leaving at like 6.30am and not getting home before 7.30pm each night. That won’t be for too much longer though because it is starting to get darker earlier and I am sure that Craig is happy about that. He is over the hours and so am I for that matter – didn’t come here to work, we came here to have fun. He is going to suck it up for a little longer and when winter hits, lots of fun will be had!!!!

We have been collecting stuffed animals since we left Australia. Before we left we found this random dog at our house and decided to take him with us so that we had something to put on our bed when we travelled. His name is Stevie. Then when we were in China we got a little panda and called him Pedro. While we were in Calgary we got a horse and asked our friend Ash to name him, which he did and randomly called him Darryl. Then on the weekend while we were at the Lake House, I went to the local shop and seen a squirrel. I took it back to the house and asked one of the Twins, Sophie to name our Squirrel. She decided to call her Sophie Lui (Brooke later told me that this is the name of their local new presenter in Vancouver) but still, it is very original and it now has a story behind it. 

September doesn’t really have much going on but October is going to be a blast. We have Craig’s birthday, Thanksgiving (which I am going to cook my first Turkey) and then my birthday which is HALLOWEEN!!!!! Everyone here tells us that they celebrate Halloween like Christmas and so I am SO SO excited! Unfortunately, it is a Monday but I don’t care, I am going to celebrate it hard either way!!! I have posted some pictures of the stuffed toy family and also from Victoria and Green Lake. 

Love Mel and Craig xoxo

Craig and Mel - Vancouver Island 

John Butler Trio 

John Butler 

The Crew - Midnight, Lisa, Mick, Gary, Mel and Craig 

Sooke Potholes 

The Lake House 

The Lake House 

Sunset on Green Lake

Mel and the Twins - Ava and Sophie

The Animals - Sophie Lui, Darryl, Pedro and Stevie

Nance (the van), Road Trip, Calgary Stampede, Banff and the Canadian Rockies……. This is the life!

We marked our 3 month anniversary in Vancouver with a road trip through the Canadian Rockies to Calgary for the Stampede.

So we finally got ourselves a car, or should I say a van! We called her Nance!!! A Canadian guy Steve who was friends with one of our old house mates is a mechanic and he was nice enough to drive us around and look at cars to be sure that we picked a good one. After the a whole Saturday of looking at cars we ended up getting a 1992 Nissan Quest 7 seat van and she is a beauty for only $1100. Power steering, elextric windows, air-conditioning and quite clean and tidy inside and out! Cars are so cheap here in Canada! I am sure that the same car in Australia would have cost closer to $3-4000 so we are really happy with our purchase. We got the car on the Saturday and left for Calgary on the Wednesday morning around 3.30am. On the way there we had 6 people in the car. Me, Craig, Lisa, Ash (a guy that we met through Lisa – He is from WA), Benny (works at the hostel in the kitchen – He is from NSW) and Ryan (our token Englishman who we have met from the hostel as well). 6 people and 6 back packs were a tight squeeze but it was more than comfortable and we had a great run the whole way there. Driving through the Canadian Rockies was just breathtaking. It is the most beautiful landscape we have ever seen. Craig, as you know has been to Grand Canyon and in his words ‘the Canadian Rockies trumps it’! The weather on the way was not the best and so sometimes we were not able to see very well because of heavy rain. All in all it took us around 12 hours with a few fuel and pee stops on the way. We met Luke and Andrew there and stayed in a Travelodge close to the Stampede stadium.

Our first night there we definitely didn’t hold back. We just had drinks at our room and didn’t really manage to get much sleep. The next day we got up and went to day 1 of Stampede. Lisa and I dressed up in our finest cowgirl gear (the boys were not so enthusiastic) and went for a look around. We had a few drinks there as well and then went to meet Megan (a girl that both Craig and I went to school with who now lives in Calgary). She works at a local bar and so we met her there and partied ALL night! It was so great to see her and we had a great time. Friday, we had a bit of a lazy day. Calgary was having awesome weather. It was really sunny and quite warm and so we took the opportunity and spent the day in the pool! Definitely not something that we can do here in Vancouver! Saturday was our planned big Stampede day and we went to the Rodeo! All in all the Stampede was nothing too exciting. For us it was much the same as the Ekka in Brisbane but had a Rodeo to go with it oh and with a whole lot more cowboys floating around. We had a great time but it just wasn’t as special as we had expected! People from around the world come to Stampede (us included) but for something with such a big hype, it was kind of a let down! I have been to Rodeos at home before and they were bigger and better than the one that we watched. All in all though it was definitely an experience and one that we will remember forever! We have now been to Calgary and experience the cowboy country itself, so it is something that we can mark off the list!

Saturday night we met up with a guy that Andrew had known from his previous travels who also lives in Calgary, Rob. He met us at our hotel to have a few pre drinks before heading out. Luke and Benny (the children of our trip – just kidding J lol) had been stirring each other up all afternoon and play fighting. As what is always said, it is all fun and games until someone looses an eye..... Well Benny didn’t loose an eye but he did end up with 3 stitches in his head. Luke pushed him over and had planned for him to land on the bed but instead smashed the back of his head against the coffee table. He reached for the back of his head when he landed and instantly, blood everywhere. We controlled the blood a little and then off to Emergency for him. Luke went along for the ride since he was the one that pushed him. Apparently it was a cheap trip, only $750!!!!! (Thanks travel insurance!!) The wrest of us went out and had an awesome night dancing and seeing the Calgary night life at its best. It was a huge night and luckily in our drunken state one of us managed to set an alarm and work up at 10.30am the next morning to pack and be out of our room by 11.00am!!!! We hit the road again in the afternoon and headed to Banff!

Banff was about a 1 and a half hour drive from Calgary. It is a small little town that is right in the heart of the Canadian Rockies. We stayed at the Samesun Hostel there and met up with a few people that we knew from Vancouver Samesun. After 4 days of nothing but partying in Calgary we all pretty much crashed and burned early that night! Monday we hiked Tunnel Mountain which gives an awesome view of Banff village and the surrounding mountains and steams. It is only about a 40 minute hike but I still managed to nearly die. I have decided that I don’t like hiking very much lol but the view was definitely worth it! After that we spent the afternoon canoeing around the streams around the mountains which is just beautiful. The water is so clear and COLD and the views that you get are just unbelievable! Craig has been dying to see a bear in the wild and we had been told that there had been sightings of a mother and 3 cubs in the Banff area of Sunshine recently. After canoeing, we drove about 15 minutes to Sunshine to see if we could spot the bears – unfortunately, no luckL! That night we went to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner which was super yummy. You get garlic bread, salad/soup, main pasta meal and ice cream for around $15. Definitely, somewhere that I want to go to again (lucky they is one here in Vancouver as well!).

Tuesday we woke up early and hit the road again to go home. Thankfully the weather was a little better this time and we had planned to take a little longer to go home so that we could make some stops on the way and see more of what we had missed on the way there. We stopped at a place called Lake Louise which is one of the most photographed scenes in the Canadian Rockies. Pictures of Lake Louise are featured on the front cover of most Canadian Rockies travel books and guides and I can understand why! It is absolutely breathtaking. It almost looks fake, it is so beautiful. We managed to take some beautiful photos and just stood there and admired the view! We spent the wrest of the drive home stopping at random places along the highway just to take photos of the mountains. Each one in the distances is just as spectacular as the last. You could spend days and days taking photos and still feel like you haven’t taken enough. It is almost disappointing because the photos just don’t give it justice. It is currently the middle of summer here in Canada but there is still snow on the tops of most of the mountains. It is just incredible. We definitely want to do another trip through the Rockies when it is winder because I know that it will be just as breathtaking but looking so totally different!

Nothing much has been happening since we arrived back from our little adventure. Last weekend we had to say goodbye to Andrew – he left for his road trip around the USA before he returns home to Australia. This month is full of goodbyes because Luke is leaving on Friday to go back to Australia too. Thursday is his birthday though, so we will take him out for dinner for one last hurrah before he leaves! Happy Birthday Luke! Lisa my best girl friend here is leaving me too. She is heading home in late August. All of these goodbyes make us so sad. It is weird that we have only known these people for such short times but we are going to be heart broken when each of them leave! The positive though is that we are meeting all these people from all around Australia and the world which equals cheap holidays in the future. Well, one can hope haha but at least it means that we have reasons to visit different places when we return home. Andrew, Luke and Lisa are 3 people that we will definitely see again. Luke hopes to return to Vancouver over Christmas time which would be awesome!!!

Right now I am trying to plan a weekend trip to Las Vegas. From Vancouver you can take about an hour drive just over the USA boarder to a place called Bellingham. Flights are so much cheaper from there and they have pretty good 3 night stay deals at the moment. Hopefully we can go late September early October and have a long weekend there. We are also hoping to do a camping trip on another long weekend coming up. Since we have the van we are able to take the back seats out and then we can put a mattress in the back and we can sleep in the van. We have had a few suggestions of places to go but I am sure that we will fine somewhere nice no matter where we go.

The next big thing already booked is a weekend trip to Victoria on Vancouver Island. We are going there the weekend of the 19^th August and seeing John Butler Trio. Tickets were only $50 which was a total bargain and then we are staying at the hostel there for the weekend. We have been told how beautiful Victoria is so it was the perfect opportunity to visit there.

Hope is well at home. We miss and love you all! I have attached some photos so you can see what we have been up to. 

Love Mel and Craig xoxo

Mel and Lisa - All Cowgirled up for the Stamede

The Road Trip Crew at Stamped

In order from left to right: Benny, Craig, Luke, Lisa, Ryan, Andrew, Ash, Mel

Nance, Craig and Mel in Banff

The Crew at the top of Tunnel Mountain - Banff

The view from Tunnel Mountain - Banff 

Canoeing in Banff 

Lake Louise

Squirrel Squirreling

Vancouver has us for a year..... At least!!!!!!

I know I start every blog with how long we have been gone but it still amazes me each time how time is flying. Each day just seems to roll into another here and before you know it, another week has passed. We are coming up to our 3 month anniversary in Vancouver next week which means we have been out of Australia for closer to 4 months! It is certainly a long time and we know we are only at the beginning. One thing we definitely missed though was the birth of Luke and Jessie’s little boy Braith! A HUGE congratulations goes out to them! Braith is a beautiful name and he sure is a beautiful little boy! It is definitely hard being so far away and missing out on things that are so special and significant in the lives of people that we love. I am sure that many things like this are going to go by while we are away but just know that we are thinking of you all, all the time and although we are not there, it doesn’t mean we don’t care or love u just the same!

We finally found an apartment which is about a 5 minute bus ride from the city centre but we could still walk if we wanted. We have moved in with Mick and got a 2 bedroom place. For the location and to get 2 bedrooms it is really well priced. It is not super fancy but it is a beautiful area and the unit is really spacious. It is definitely in raccoon, squirrel and skunk territory and the other morning we were just sitting in our lounge room watching a family of squirrels playing in the trees out the front of our unit. It was so fun and awesome to watch – definitely beats the sound of crows in your trees. I can’t wait to see a raccoon though! lol We have managed to get the place furnished and set up for really cheap. We got heaps of cheap/give away things off Craigslist and other than that just went to Walmart and other cheap places to get things that we needed. Plus, almost all rental properties in Vancouver come with essential things like fridge, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer and we even got a fireplace J Once we are fully set up it will be costing us around the same, if not less than the share house each month and it is our own place, so we are really happy about that!

Craig has been working at Samesun for a while now but has known the whole time that it was only temporary work! Mick works for a landscaping company and has managed to put in the good word for Craig and get him a laboring job with the same company. So he starts there on Monday! We are super excited because it is more permanent type work and much better pay. With Craig’s new job, my job and now that we have settled into our new apartment life here is becoming pretty real and temporarily permanent and we are loving every minute of it.

Last time we spoke about the Canucks playing in the finals of the Stanley Cup and at that time it was an exciting thing. I am sure that you all seen it all over the news about the riots that broke out following their loss – which we happened to be stuck right in the middle of!!! Craig and I finished work at about 12 that day (Wednesday, June 15, 2011) and met a heap of friends at a Bar across from the Samesun Hostel. There was about 10 of us altogether. We were there from about 12 until 5 when the game started and then watched the Canucks loose 4-0 to the Boston Bruins! It was a clear win by the Bruins and in reality they had played better over the 7 games anyway. Usually after the Canucks games the streets are loud and busy. When we left the bar, it was definitely busy but just dull! We hung around the front of the Samesun for a while talking to some of our other friends and people about the game etc All of a sudden a merge of what felt like a million people went pouring towards a street off Granville (Nelson Street) near Samesun. We could hear cheering and screaming and all different sounds but we couldn’t really see anything, well except for Craig. Being the tall one – he could see that they were flipping a undercover cop car. We heard the smash and bang once they got it over and also some local shop windows smashing too. There is a pizza place on the corner of Nelson and Granville Streets and all their windows were being smashed while the workers were inside. We were clearing back closer to the hostel by this time but the streets were so busy and it was instantly kind of scary that we didn’t want to be walking too far because we didn’t know what we would encounter!

All this went on for about 15 minutes or so until the police started to storm in! They were letting off teargas and at first, because it was so far away, it wasn’t really affecting us but it didn’t take long!!! Before we knew it, we were overwhelmed with teargas, instantly our eyes and throats were burning. Let me tell you – teargas is no fun…. No fun at all! It was so lucky that we were outside the Samesun (and that Craig works there!) because they were just like ‘get inside – get inside’ They were really only letting people in who had keys and people like us that were well known to them! We bundled up inside and Samesun already had their front windows barricaded up with wood to be sure that they didn’t suffer any, or too much damage! We could just peer out the top of the windows to see the police taking over Granville Street. People had cleared in all directions and there were just lines of police walking down the street with their shields and rubber bullet guns… oh and more teargas! It was so surreal and like out of a movie. It was hard to believe that it was actually real! By the time we were in the hostel it was about 8.45pm. Once we kind of settled into the hostel we were watching the TV and could just see the devastation across the city! It was unbelievable – again like something out of a movie. What we had seen was only the start of it and we thought that was bad. Around West Georgia Street was the worst hit in the city and probably where it all started because they had big screens showing the game and the streets were closed and FULL of people (I think it was estimated that there was something like 250,000 people downtown the day of the riots!). Apparently, after the game was over (and lost) people starting throwing bottles in the crowd etc and things just escalated from there! We stayed at the hostel until around 11.30pm (when things had cooled down –slightly) and walked to our house. As we walked home up Nelson Street, I was just in shock about the damage that had been done and the fact that it was real life, walking through turned over cop cars, broken windows etc Some people we knew couldn’t even get home because all the bridges out of the city and public transport was cancelled. I think Samesun might have given out a few free beds that night somehow!

In the coming days we heard all the reports of the terrible things that went on. Looters in all the stores that windows had been smashed (mind you, they didn’t care about taking photos of themselves stealing and are now all going to be caught – with photographic evidence) and bruins fans being beaten – severely! At St Paul’s Hospital where I work they had a Code Orange which is ‘Mass Casualties’. They had to set up bays outside the hospital to deal with the influx of patients! Following the clean up, all shop windows have been boarded up until they can all be fixed. Thousands of people have written all over them with messages of love for Vancouver and how ashamed they are of what happened. Although it was a huge number that participated, it was still a minority and most people, us included, were extremely disappointed in the whole situation. The storm has cleared now though and hockey is finished for the season. Fingers crossed it never happens again but hey, it did already happen back in 1994 so who knows!!!

We watched State of Origin game 3 on Wednesday night (3am our time on Tuesday night) WOOHOO Maroons take it out for another year – 6 in a row! I knew that we could do it. Now that we have our internet hooked up at our house we are able to live stream 2 NRL games a week to watch which is just awesome. We are definitely missing our footy and now that the hockey is over too, there is just no sport to get excited about here. Although, hockey never really compared to NRL anyway!

We were originally going to plan a trip Seattle but we got an offer from some friends who are going to Calgary Stampede to meet them there. We are in the process of trying to buy a car at the moment and so, on July 13^th we are hitting the road and driving to Calgary - approximately 12 hours drive away! It will be Craig, me and our friend Lisa (from Sydney). Lisa and I have become very close, she is my Friday, lady of leisure partner! lol Lisa was meant to go home at the start of June but didn’t want to and I am so glad that she didn’t. She is here until September now! I am sure that Craig counts himself very lucky to be taking a road trip for 12 hours with 2 girls!!! lol We are then going to stay in Calgary for Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat night and then head to Banff on the Sun and stay there for 2 nights. Then home by late Tues night! Back to work Wed! We will be meeting Andrew and Luke in Calgary after they go to a Blues Fest in Ottowa and they will be travelling back with us. Luke I have mentioned previously, he is from Brisbane too and Andrew is also from Sydney. Andrew and Luke are heading around USA after Calgary and then off home. We are super sad that they are going because we have all become very close but at least we get to have a great week with them before they leave and they live close to home, so when we get home I am sure that there will be many trips between Sydney and Brisbane! Or, they might just come back here first J

We are also looking at going to a music festival in August for the weekend in Squamish. It is only about an hour drive from Vancouver and it is Saturday and Sunday. John Butler Trio and Girl Talk are playing along with a whole heap more! Other than that, I am sure that a Seattle Trip will come soon and plenty more trips as soon as we get a car. We also really want to do some camping, especially before the summer finishes. We have been having beautiful weather and we are hearing about all these great places for camping so we don’t wanna miss our chance. It is all based around getting a car so we hope that we find one soon!

A few Saturdays ago we went to THE MOST AMAZING Gelato Shop we have EVER been to – it has 218 flavours in store to choose from!!! We walked in and our jaws just dropped. Andrew, Craig, Lisa and I couldn’t believe what we were seeing. The hardest thing was, we had to choose 2 flavours out of the 218 to eat!!! They let you taste test and so we made the most of that before we chose. They have flavours like apple pie, baileys (yes, I did choose this one J) then weird flavours like vinegar, chilli….. pretty much anything you can imagine! I am sure that we are going to pay many visits to this place – luckly it is a bus ride and a walk away so we have to plan to go there! lol

The last few weekends have been full on and we have literally just not stopped! I think they have possibly been the biggest weekends we have had in Vancouver. We have been going to parties, gatherings, bon fires on the beach and all round just partying way too hard! Not that I am complaining, cos we are having so much fun and meeting so many great people. Two Saturday’s ago we went to a bon fire at 3^rd Beach in Stanley Park for a going away gathering for an Irish guy Cash. Craig worked with him and once again, we know him from the hostel (the hostel really is like a little family – which we just love!) It was awesome weather and we just had a few drinks and sat around the fire. It was quite sad to say goodbye to Cash. He was the first person that we have had to properly say goodbye to since we have been here and it was hard. Especially for Craig, as they have grown quite close! Cash however, did give Craig his skateboard – which you can imagine, Craig just LOVES! Cash has certainly left it in good hands. Then on the Sunday afternoon we went to Jericho Beach for the Samesun Staff party. We had a free BBQ and drinks and played footy, cricket and just lazed around all afternoon. Well it was meant to be an afternoon thing but after such a good weekend, we just didn’t want it to end! We didn’t get to bed until 3.30am – ON A SUNDAY NIGHT! Haha it was the worst I have ever gone to work but well well worth it.

Everyone at Samesun are such good people and we always have such a great time. The friends we have made and are making are definitely friends for life and we wouldn’t change it for anything! It is sad that we are already having to say goodbye to people that we have grown to love – its amazing that in such a short time you can grow so close but I guess it is because we are all here doing the same thing, away from our family and friends and so, we have each other here to get us through! Next big goodbyes will be for Andrew and Luke and I can’t say that we are looking forward to that at all!!! We have lots to look forward to in the coming weeks – especially our road trip to Calgary and going to the Stampede!

Love Mel and Craig xoxoxo

Our New Apartment Building 

View from our Balcony

Our Street

 

Riots - Teargas

More Teargas

Mick, Cash and Craig at the Samesun Staff BBQ

Cash, Craig, Mel, Lisa and Andrew - Bon Fire 3rd Beach

Craig, Luke, Andrew and Mel 

Lisa, Mel and Andrew

Mel and her Lady of Leisure Partner - Lisa!!

Luke, Andrew and Mel 

Our Vancouver Life

So we are now 7 weeks into Vancouver and we have been gone from Australia for like 2 ½ months!!!! We are settling in to Vancouver very nicely and really loving life here. I finally cracked a job shortly after our last blog and have just finished my 4th week there. Lucky me – I only work 4 days a week now which is super awesome and I am getting paid pretty much the same money as I was at home, so no complaints here!!!! I am working for an Orthopaedic Surgeon at St Paul’s Hospital, which is only about 300m from our house. I really could not have cracked a better job so I am super happy about that. Dr Pinney is very nice and easy to work for. It is certainly no where near as busy as my job in Australia but I think that is a good thing for me because it means I have time to learn the Canadian health system (which I might add is completely confusing and stupid!!!). So far everyone that I work with are nice and I am constantly getting the ‘are you from Australia or New Zealand’ by all of our patients. I of course reply ‘Australia!’ with an insulted look on my face and they always say ‘oh I always get Australians and New Zealanders confused’. My reply to that is ‘Yer, its just like us getting Canadians confused with American’s’ – I think they are equally insulted when I say that!!!! Lol

Craig is still working at the hostel and he is also starting some shifts back at IGA. He thinks that the work at the hostel will only last for another 4-6 weeks and so, if he keeps his foot in the door at IGA, he will still have work if worst comes to worst. I think the lady at IGA is in love with Craig because she could not be more accommodating for him. He must have made a good impression…….. lol His plan is to try and find a job with a air-con/refrigeration company here in Vancouver although, his qualifications from Australia don’t completely count here. It would be great if he could crack at job just as a TA or Laborer with one of those companies and go from there. So fingers crossed he can get something, which I am sure that he will, it just might take time.

A few weeks ago we went out to a Geeks and Freaks Party for Elaine, a girl that we met at the hostel. She was moving to Banff and so, we dressed up and went out. It was a great, long Friday night into Saturday morning and we had an awesome time. We have met so many people here already and because Craig is working at the hostel, he is constantly meeting more people too. Mick has been at our house nearly every night and we have dinner together. He is still at the hostel and hates it there so he comes here to get away. We are looking at getting our own apartment here in Vancouver with Mick and another guy Joel that we have met. We don’t mind living in the share house but we would also like our own place so that we can basically do what we want and not have to consider other people all the time. We have a great group of friends now and so if we have our own place, we can invite them over and not have to worry about our ‘roommates’ all the time. Mick and Joel are good fun and we all get along really well, plus, it won’t cost much more, if any to have our own place so fingers crossed we find something soon.

The weather here in Vancouver has been completely miserable!!! Nothing but rain all the time. Its like Brisbane, oh and Koh Samui!!! It’s like we cannot escape it! We did finally have a sunny Sunday last weekend and so we went to Grouse Mountain with a guy Craig met working at the hostel Luke (who is from Brisbane – Mt Cotton/Cleveland to be exact) and his house mate and finally seen snow for our first time here in Vancouver. On the weekends here in Vancouver all the trains, buses and ferry tickets are a flat rate of $2.50 to go anywhere and so, Grouse Mountain is about 45 minutes from where we live and it only cost us $2.50 to catch the seabus (ferry) and then the bus up to the mountain. When you get there, you have 2 options to get to the top of the mountain. You can either catch the gondola or walk up the mountain. (ha, walk – I should say hike!) It is about a 2.5 km walk and it is steep and hard!!!! I made it 500m up there and gave up and took the gondola. I wasn’t prepared for such a walk on a Sunday morning!!! Lol Craig and the other boys trekked on and did it in close to 2 hours. Apparently someone has done the whole thing in 26 minutes but that just sounds too good to be true!!!! Craig looked like he was minutes off dead when he made it to the top but still managed to make the smart remark of ‘Grouse Grind – you mean Grouse Fairy Walk’ lol Anyway, when we finally all got to the top and finally got to see some snow and some Grizzly Bears!!!! They have 2 in a closure up on top of the mountain and they were so cool to see! They were sleeping though, which was a little boring but it was still just amazing to see a real bear!!!!

Money has been a bit of a problem here since we arrived because of the stupid banking systems here in Vancouver. As I have said previously, they are so behind the times here and another thing to support that is that you get paid by cheque! Not only is that stupid and ancient but because we are new to Canada and have new accounts – it takes over 5 business days for our cheques to clear into our account. I have also had problems with my pay and so, for a while there money was VERY tight!!! Lol It was also because we were refusing to use our Australian cash because we get changed so much to withdraw money. Finally on Monday though I got paid and Craig’s cheque cleared from his work (just in time to pay rent – YAY lol) and so, we are back on track and things should run smoothly in the money department from here on in. This weekend is going to be huge because we have been looking forward to going out after our alcohol free weekend last weekend and I am going shopping tomorrow on my ‘lady of leisure’ day off!!!! Haha Plus the weekend is meant to be fine weather and so, Sunday will be another adventure somewhere!!!!

Hockey season is going off here in Vancouver. Last Tuesday night we watched the Canucks win against Tampa Bay to get into the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 17 years. Granville Street and pretty much the whole city went crazy because of the win…. They close Granville Street down after every game and so, we walked down there just to see the commotion – it was like a festival in the street. It is amazing that so many people are out and about at 10.30pm on a Tuesday night all because their hockey team won – they are serious fans here in Vancouver!!! Lol We got back to bed by about 11.30pm and then we woke ourselves up at 2.30am to watch the Origin game live. We live streamed it on the Internet and it was worth only getting 4 hours sleep that night to see it!!!! It was such a good game and so good to finally see some football. We can’t wait for the next game – GO MAROONS!!!!! Canucks have never won the Stanley Cup and so the next week or 2 of games are going to be huge. They are playing the Boston Bruins and it is best out of 7 games and they play every second night. We watched the first game of the finals last night and it was scoreless until  the last 20 seconds when Canucks got a goal and a bloody good goal at that!!!! Again, it didn’t take long for the streets to get crazy and I am sure it is only going to get worse as each game is played. Game 2 is Saturday night – GO CANUCKS GO!!!!

We are also looking at getting a car (maybe a little van) so that we can start doing some weekend trips. Originally we were thinking that we would stay in Vancouver for the Summer and then head to a ski field to do a snow season for the winter but now that I have got the job that I do and if Craig can get a pretty well paying job, we are thinking of staying in Vancouver for longer and then we can just drive to the ski fields on the weekends. It seems more realistic because we can still live in the city and have a home etc but still have fun skiing and playing at the ski fields on the weekends. We would only get paid minimal wage if we worked at the ski fields and if we get a car and a season pass, it won’t cost us much each weekend to go there from the city instead. We might still do a snow season next year or something but at the moment, that seems like the plan. Hopefully we get a car soon but either way we are planning on going to Seattle in a couple of weekends time even if we don’t have a car yet. Its only about $50 each return on the bus to get to Seattle and its only about a 4 hour trip. So we can go down on Friday and home last Sunday afternoon/evening. YAY my first trip to America!!!! Also, plane tickets to other places in America like Vegas are really cheap and so, I can’t imagine it being too long until we start doing more trips into USA!!! Might be a good idea for us to see some more of Vancouver/Canada first though.

Its been so good to catch up with people on Skype and hopefully we will talk to you all again soon. Hope you are all well at home and we will blog again soon J

Love Mel and Craig xoxoxox

Mel and Mick 

Geeks or Freaks?

Craig and Elaine

The Grouse Grind

Grizzly Bear!!!!!

Us in the Snow!!!

Granville Street after the Canucks win