Craig & Mel's World Tour: 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