Canada Day/Summer/Texas/Fernie/Car!!Aug 2, 2008
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Zane being patriotic
Canada day tats!
| Hello All! As you can see by our photos July has been an extremely busy month! So I'll work through it section by section. CANADA DAY: They do exactly what we do at home: have BBQ's with the fam and drink beer! Our Canadian mates laughed when they saw our set up near the beach down the road from where we live: we were by far the most patriotic people there! Bloody Aussies! It was a great afternoon though. TEXAS TRIP: Zane left earlier than I did to go to Will's Bucks party - they floated down a river on tubes with lots of beer. I have noticed that beer has crept up a couple of times in this blog, don't be surprised if it continues to feature. It was great to see Matty and Christie, we had a fantastic weekend away. It was good to get some true heat again - temp's were hovering around 40deg all weekend. But it's a dry heat - much easier to manage than NQ heat! The wedding was huge and so cliched, but in a good way! Zane and I danced the night away and had so much fun! All of Will's mates were fantastic guys! And his wife Brittney is lovely!! FERNIE TRIP/CAMPING: When we got back from Texas we had our first week off since we have started working. About bloody time!! We went on a roadie up to Fernie (our next place of residence)and went camping along the way. It's so different having to worry about food scraps etc - at home the biggest thing you'd be concerned about is a goanna rather than a bear/cougar. The first night we were a bit on edge because we were in the middle of no where by ourselves but we got use to it. Although, our mates have said to go with your instincts and we were doing this walk through long grass at dusk and I felt a bit edgy and we came round the corner to this sign pinned on the tree saying: " WARNING: Grizzly bear in area. Leave now or proceed with extreme caution!". That was all it took for us to quickly trot back to our campsite. So we are yet to see a bear! But we have seen marmots (ground hogs), otters, skunks, racoons and does (no deers yet!). I'd love to see an Elk too. Apparently they're all over the ski runs at Fernie! Fernie is a great little community, small but not too small! The pop is 5000ppl which doubles in winter. It is set amongst the most beautiful mountains! I met my boss who is so lovely! Apparently they're moving offices and I will have the best panoramic views in town when treating my patients! We also signed a lease on a 4bdrm fully furnished house in downtown for winter! It's so deceiving from the outside - it's actually 2 levels with a basement! Zane and I will take the master bedroom, my lil sis Laura will have the other room downstairs and we'll rent out the top rooms to a couple and a single person. The real estate agent said we were so smart to get a place now as she had hardly any accommodation for this winter! We're moving in on the 1st of October. For those of you keen to come and visit, it's alot quicker to fly to Calgary and then bus it from there. The highways from Van to Fernie are killers in winter, plus it takes 10+ hours to get there! I PASSED MY PHYSIO EXAMS!!: I had already passed my written exam but found my prac results waiting for me when I got home! I thought I'd passed,but had no idea that I smashed it! I got through every station and my overall mark was 8.9/10. Yiah! Communication was 9.7/10. Thanks to the parents for that one... So now it is less of a hassle to register and I can work anywhere in the province. One year and $5000 well spent..i think?? We'll have to stay here at least 3 years so I can make my money back off the government! WE HAVE A CAR!: Woo! This was a very spontaneous decision. The danger with us at the moment is that we are both working as contractors and are required to put our own tax aside in an account for safe keeping. Unfortunately, we have managed to drain the account for camping gear/travelling and now, buying this car! But it was such a great deal. Car's are so much cheaper in Canada! It's a 99 Chevy venture van, tinted windows 250 thousand k's, really good condition. Needs a wheel alignment, new brake pads and tires but otherwise a fantastic find! The lady was moving to Kansas so we dropped her down from $3000 to $2000. Bargain! We've only had it for 3 days so this is the first weekend to go and play!! I can't wait! It's the sweetest car! We'll take the back seats out (it's a 7 seater) and will be able to fit our boards/bikes/camping gear/backpacks and extra ppl! Maybe some fly fishing gear when we eventually head north! CELEBRATION OF LIGHT: Every year 3 countries compete against eachother over 2 weeks to see who can put on the greatest fireworks festival. This year it was China, Canada and the USA. This event, again, happens at the bay a block from our house! 250 000 people descend on to English Bay to watch the event -it is huge!! We have been so lucky so far, the first 2 nights we watched from the 18th and 22nd floor respectively where we could see the barge where the fireworks came off perfectly! The 3rd night our Canadian friend Jon (who also happens to be a Captain) let us on for free to this massive charter boat where we were wined and dined whilst watching the whole display from the water! It was amazing! Tonight is the finale - a whole hour of fireworks! We figure we should at least have one night with the crouds so we'll probably do that. PRIDE FESTIVAL: For those of you that don't know, Zane and I live in the West End off Davie street - the gay friendly street of Vancouver! It is a fantastic fun-loving neighbourhood where everyone is very open and comfortable with their sexuality, whatever that may be! Once a year they have a Pride festival which happens to be this weekend! Last night they shut down part of the street and had a dance fest with DJ's and rainbow flags everywhere (it's also the 30th anniversary of the rainbow flag this year). It was fantastic! Zane and i missed most of it but managed to catch the end of the beats! We were just about to go out and dance when they finished! All the workers in the bar we were at were dressed in little camp tennis outfits and were dancing away - it was great! There's events happening all weekend topped off by the pride parade (equivalent to Sydney's Mardi Gras although maybe not as big? I'll let you know) which is on Sunday. It's great to get involved in a celebration with our neighbourhood! So we're really looking forward to the rest of this weekend. On a personal note, Zane is (finally!) cutting his work hours down as of this week. He has been working 11 hour days and we never see eachother, plus it's affecting his health. We are on a working HOLIDAY people, not a working.. as I keep telling Zane. Plus, we only have 2mo left in Vancouver and have so far done NOTHING in this city except work. So things should start getting better from now on! We both hope you are all well and that this keeps you up to date with our adventures! Our couch is always free for you all!! love Christie (and Zane) |
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