I love canada!

Since my last post not too much has changed. It's my last night here and I am feeling a little sad, I don't want to go back to the UK.

My friends Matt and Suzanne came to stay in Lake Louise for 2 days as part of their Canadian snowboarding holiday. It was so nice to see them. They snowboard quite a bit better than me so I didn't get to see them much on the mountain but we had a lovely time. We visited Lake Louise itself and also wandered around Banff (mostly looking at snowboard shops) .

(Alicia, Matt and Suzanne at lake Louise)

It feels a little sad to have Kate gone. I know she is having fun wherever she is. I have been hanging out with her friends who are lovely and soooo much fun. It's like being a teenager again. Drinking games and bad dance nights at the local bar. We all invented this awsome drinking game titled "kniffy spinny" I shall have to teach it to all that I know. It involves a ring of beer cans a knife and a box for the aptly named box head.

(a game of kniffy spinny in action - note the box head)

I have had so much fun here I don't want to leave. Canadians are so lovely and friendly. All of Kate's friends (mostly mountain staff) have been lovely a big thanks to Mark and Jaqui who have been gorgeously helpful and fun, sorry I never got to say goodbye! Thanks to my snowboarding companions Stina and Seb !Huck the Gnar! Man and rock some sweet moves in the park! Next time I might go out of bounds with you!

(Hucking the Gnar with Sebastian and Stina)

My boarding is improving with every step. Thanks to Trev my most awsome snowboard technical instructor extraordinaire! Today was my last day on the board so I went a bit stupid, I did my first black run, and went in the park. I landed a slide on a box (only to be taken out by a bamboo marker pole I didn't see further down the hill, caught of film, hilariously funny!) but also stacked on a jump and hurt my butt!

(Trevor - Snowboarding instructor extraordinaire)

(picture perfect weather)

(Me with board)

I could not have asked for a better holiday. The weather was perfect. Snow some days, bright clear sunshine with postcard views from the mountain. My boarding is improving, I had great fun and met lots of fantastic people. I know I have said how friendly everyone is, but people here are so friendly, lovely and open. Something I think you miss in the UK. I had a 5 hrs wait in Calgary airport before my flight which I spent in a bar :) I met some lovely people who were also waiting for their flights who just started chatting to me about life and travels. I got all sad when I got on the plane. It's off to grey old London town and work :(

Oh Canada! - Lake Louise

Well, I have been in Canada now for a week and a half so I feel a little lazy for not writing sooner. I arrived here after an awful flight. Full of kids kicking my chair and sitting next to a guy who snored. I'm in Lake Louise which is a large ski resort in the Canadian Rockies. It's so pretty here an you get spectacular views from the mountain.

(Lake Louise in the night snow)

My friend Kate was going to pick me up for the airport. I knew she would be a little late but 4 hours later she picked me up in a van full of drunken friends. Then I was whisked away to a party. It was good fun but after over 24 hours of not sleeping a 4am arrival was not what I needed. The couple of days I felt like crap and it took a while for the jet lag to go.

My first day out boarding I managed to score some free rentals. However I was taken on a rather not snowboard friendly run with narrow paths and lots of flat bits eckk! That evening was spent with a drunken party in the hostel and then moving on to the local "dance night" at one of the hotels. The night life here is sparse there is only 2 bars which are both kind of lame. But I was drunk and it was fun to have a bit of a dance. The Canadian flag sticky tape I managed to swipe from the party made for bit of fun too! Lake louise is only a tiny village which is located near well a huge ski field and believe it or not a lake!

(Kate and Alicia on the gondola)

(the only way to silence the Australian girls)

The next day I went into Banff the nearest town, with some of Kate's friends Jim a snowboard instructor and Guy from rentals. I got myself all kitted up with a new board, boots, bindings and a bag. For a good price compaired to the UK.

The next day I got a free lesson with Jim which was good! Since then I have had 2 more lessons one with a great English instructor Trevor and am improving and feeling a little more confident. I have started doing blue runs. I have my good and bad days. It is funny some days you regress and others you do well. I am yet to understand why this may be.

(Jim + Mountains)

It was so great to see Kate again. I forgot how much of a party animal she is! It is beyond me how someone can drink everynight. Then get up early for work, work all day then snowboard for 2 hours then to it all over again with out a rest in between! But we had a lot of fun. Her friends are lovely and have really looked after me with lots of help and they are all very sweet! Mark and Jaqui are a lovely couple here. Jim is lovely and he and Guy are always chasing tail which provides much amusement to us all.

the snow has been good and it is cold at times I am covered in bruises from all my falls off the snowboard, but I am really enjoying myself.

A highlight was getting to make my first snowman. Sure he was kind of lame but we made him in a hurry in about 5 minutes. We missed the last bus because we were drinking in a bar. So Jim in his tiny car shuttled us back to the hostel. While we were waiting, we made our snowman.


There were some guys working on the road clearing snow and digging with excavators. We asked one of them for a ride so Jaqui, Kate and I hoped in the cabin and went around pusing snow digging up the road. It was soooo much fun. But the driver thought it would be funny to smash our snowman. We watched in horror as he was flattened in less than a second. Quite tragic considering we lost some toonies and loonies which were used for his eyes and mouth. We then tried to threatened to smash Jims car. Ha ha

So What's Up With Me!

Hey all,

Well you are probably wondering what the hell I've been doing. So here is a quick update.

I'm still living in London I've been here since November now. I was working at a hospital near Wembly Stadium (Northwick Park). Lovely people to work with but a rather chaotic department.

I've got a new job now where I have been for 2 weeks, it is still a locum position but they have me as long - term/ongoing. I'm a paediatric audiologist doing both diagnostic and rehabilitation. For the UK it is a super uptight department soooo much paperwork. But the standard of equipment and audiology is far better and it is organised and I get my own desk! It is mostly staffed by Aussies and South Africans. It is at Guy's St Thomas Hospital which is one of the major hospitals in Central London so that is cool.

I've been enjoying my time here lately. I've been out and about a lot doing a bit of the English thing of drinking too much but always having fun and taking forever to go home on the night buses (Night buses are a thing on their own they can be fun - lots of drunk happy people on the one bus or sometimes a bit scary as sometimes the people aren't so happy and a fist-fight breaks out). But also going nice things like going out for coffee and dinners. This is a photo of me in central London with the Gherkin in the background. It always makes me laugh a rather suggestive building.



Also been having fun with my housemates (see below) discovering new parts of London, lovely french cafes and playing tennis (where one of my housemates Tim (who is normally so placid and easy going) managed to reveal his dark competitive side by deliberately serving into my head after I made a mistake, he was my team mate!



It is reasonably cold here but not as bad as I thought. It was quite warm for winter then we had a week of cold snap where it snowed. This photos is our backyard. Right now it is back up to being not so cold again.









Speaking of cold I am off to Canada in 5 days. For two weeks of fun in the snow! Canada is having their best season in 9 years while Europe is struggling for snow! My friend Kate (who I met in Europe) is working at Lake Louise and I am going to visit for a while. Also my housemate Becky and my Friends Matt and Suzanne are going to be there for a while.

So keep and eye out for more blog posts

Former Tennis Star Found in Lowther Road

Check out the uncanny resemblance between my housemate Rob and Pat Cash. We discovered this in a limoncello fueled night of "Monday Madness" at my house.

Housemate Profile

Name: Robert O'Neill

Nicknames: Robbo!

Age: 31

Profession: Animation modeler (currently working on Harry Potter)

Nationality: Kiwi (who wishes he was an Aussie)

Catch phrases: "Right-O", "Hey skippy"

Likes: Chilli, taking romantic baths.

Dislikes: Chavs, England, Ginger Haired People.

Favourite Rants:
Global warming conspiracy theories
Chavs and the state of UK securities and immigration
UK Washing machines