More Vancouver Pics

Hey I thought I would just update my Vancouver pics. To show you some more pictures of Vancouver on a lovely sunny winter's day. (Also note that this is a 5% chance of a day like this most of them a grey and rainy and you can't see in front of you).

(North Vancouver and beyond)

(Photo from Kitsilano beach near our house)

(Downtown)

(Downtown mountain and park at the end of our street)

My New Home

Well I have been in Canada for nearly a month now.

After going to Toronto for Christmas, I have started to settle-down in Vancouver. New Years was a quiet affair but I had a nice time. During the day Carolyn's friend Jason drove us up to Cypres which is a mountain resort in North Vancouver, we went snow-shoeing. you go along set trails and it was very beautiful with all the trees covered in snow. It was great to be out-side. It's like bush-walking but with snow instead.

(Carolyn and Jason walk ahead on the path)

(Rocking out in Snow-Shoes)

That evening I went out to dinner with Carolyn and Bucky and we had a great meal topped off with lots of wine and champagne.

I now have an apartment which is in a great area and close to my friend Carolyn's. I've had my first week of work which was mainly computer training. But everyone I work with seems really nice and I think I will enjoy it there. It is a temporary job for 9 months to cover a maternity leave.

While Vancouver lacks the excitement of London in ways and the warmth and fun of Australia. It is a great city and I am happy to be here, it has a great outdoorsy feel to it as well as being a big city. It is just so nice to have clean air, a great vibe and lovely scenery.

(a picture of north Vancouver)

(Downtown and mountains from Kitsilano)

The rain gets you down and it feels like I have forgotten what the sun looks like, but I can't wait to be able to go snowboarding at Whistler on the weekends!

Ontario For Christmas

After flying from Australia I spent two days in Vancouver trying to recover.

I then flew to Toronto where I met Will at the airport. I spent a week at his mother's house. I met lots of his family who were all lovely to me and despite Will's worries none of them managed to scare me off him ;)

Will took me to Niagra Falls which was great, it was freezing and raining but that meant there were not crowds at least. I thought it was just falls but it turns out there is a huge tacky side to it, with the major street of Clifton Hill (funny for those from my home neighborhood in Australia) being full of fun parks, celebrity museums and themed restaurants. It's like Vegas but more pathetic. Sounds bad but the falls are cool.





We went into Toronto for a day on Christmas eve and it was very quiet in town and we went up the CN Tower and I got to sit on the glass floor.

(look out below)

I didn't get to have a white Christmas on the day but there was still snow on the ground so that counts for something.(Willy shoveling snow)

I got some lovely gifts and Will's family were very generous to us giving us stuff to take to set up our home together.

After a week it was another sad goodbye to Will as he headed back to Saskatoon and me to Vancouver.

Visiting Home

In mid-November I headed home for the first time in nearly two years! My had the time gone quickly and a lot of people were shocked themselves to know that I had been away for two years.

After a long flight, I managed to stave off bad jet-lag and had a lovely few quiet days with my family going out to lunch and having lovely dinners with them. On the Saturday after my return, I had a great party with all my friends which was a load of fun and it was great to see everyone again and get rather drunk and have lots of laughs and it was great to remind me why I miss them all.

(Bye-Bye Johnny)

To top it off, it was election night and after 11 years we have finally got rid of our right wing government so there was much celebrating in my household, which was capped off by our smashing of John Howard pinatas.

I then headed to the Central Coast to visit my aunt and her partner in a small beach side town of Sawtell. It was the relaxing holiday I needed. Even though I was up at the crack of dawn with the birds I would go for a long beach walk every morning, which would start me of my day of good coffee, lunch a swim and then a relaxing dinner and early to bed. It was perfect to recharge my batteries and get some lovely sunshine. It's such a beautiful area which is tropical with lovely beaches and a gorgeous estuary. After being such a big city dweller for such a long time I love the whole feel of it there, with all kinds of Australia animals to be found, including the now famous green tree frog that lives in my Aunts toilet. Yes I know that would freak some out you out. Occasionally visits to the garden were required when he was floating in the bowl, but he spends most of his time hiding in under the rim.

(Froggie chillin' in the toilet)

It was great to see my aunt and her partner again and also to play with their new puppy Patch who greatly annoyed their more senior dog Bobbie.

After my visit I headed back to Melbourne and spent another two weeks there. I spent every night catching up with friends and family and I still feel like I didn't get to spend enough time with everyone. It was so nice to see friends of old and new. I had a nice time bike riding with my dad, I went to the soccer with my brother and had some lovely dinners cooked for my by friends. (nice dinner with my family)

It felt a little strange being back nothing had really changed but I guess it had in relation to me. Melbourne was still the great city I remember it being, possibly even busier. Not much had changed except for the docklands and the area there is definitely expanding.

(Melbourne by the river)

My time went by so quickly I was a bit sad to leave but also excited about starting a new life in Vancouver.