I've been waiting very patiently (well not really truth be told) for the white stuff to start falling and it finally has. On a cold Friday night I attended my first Ice Hockey game and upon leaving the arena found to my delight and those around me it was snowing in downtown Vancouver!
After a sleepless night I arose from bed like a kid on Christmas morning bubbling with anticipation to see what lay outside. It didn't disappoint. Over the course of 7 hours it had dumped down. The entire North Shore was covered in a 10 inch layer of white, fluffy snow. After taking a few snaps of the beautiful sight, I woke the boys and we strapped on our boards to have a little fun in the backyard.
From the way I carried on anyone would think I'd never seen snow before but there is something special about seeing the first snowfall of the season and the way it makes everything look so different and new.
At the start of Movember I took up the challenge of the Grouse Grind. The trail is a 2.9km trek up the face of Grouse Mountain and commonly referred to by Vancouverites as "Mother Nature's Stairmaster". On average it takes up to 1.5 hours to climb the 2,830 stairs and gain 853m in elevation. I was chugging along, panting and sweating and thought I'd completed about 3/4 of the climb so you can imagine my shock when I came to a sign that said I was only 1/4 of the way up!!! The elevation is steep that you can feel the temperature dropping with every 100 or so metres you climb. I have been on some beautiful and challenging hikes here in Vancouver, but let me make this clear, there is nothing nice about the Grouse Grind. Just a good way to burn off all that Halloween candy.
Ice Hockey to Vancouverites is what AFL is to Victorians - but doubled. They cram in 87 games in the span of a couple months. Between the NHL and CHL, you're pretty much guaranteed to catch a game on TV every night. My knowledge and understanding of the game is quite good now thanks to many nights spent watching with Roger and him patiently answering all of my questions. I'm yet to see the Canucks play but I've been fortunate enough to go to a few Giants games. CHL games are very family friendly and provide lots of break time entertainment. With my Whitespot triple-o burger in one hand, and Canadian beer in the other, I had a blast watching the puck and fists flying all over the ice. It was a great game and the Giants won in overtime.
Outnumbered 2:1 by boys in this house, some friends and I decided it was time for a girls weekend away so we loaded the car up on Friday morning and headed south towards the States. With a Canadian, Kiwi, German and myself in the car I knew we were in for a treat once we reached the inevitable border crossing. All was going well as we answered the routine questions "where do you live? how do you know each other? where are you staying? Things got interesting though when the officer asked "what do you do for work? When it came to Evy's turn she replied "I am here to travel" but in her thick German accent it came across as "I am here to trouble". A phrase you don't want to mutter when attempting to enter America and was acknowledged by the officer with a reply of "please park your car and step inside ladies"
Once we came to an agreement with the officers that we were not in fact here to cause trouble but just holiday we were granted entry. We spent a couple of lovely days at the cabin and a day in Seattle, a city I hope to explore more while I'm over here. Given our limited amount of time in Seattle we decided a good way to get a snapshot of it would be to Ride the Ducks. The amphibious World War II vehicles show you Seattle on wheels while you explore the waterfront, downtown Seattle shopping district, Pike Place Market and historic Pioneer Square. Then, splash into Lake Union for a breath-taking view of the Seattle skyline, a truly great way to get around the city.
Canadians, like their southerly neighbours, tend to get quite enthusiastic with holidays such as Thanksgiving, Halloween and now Christmas. Not only do folks here decorate the interiors of their homes, they go all out with colourful lights and Christmas paraphernalia on the exterior and it's an exception to see a house that isn't all kitted out. A great way to get in the spirit of the Holidays is to take a train ride through Stanley Park as part of the annual Bright Lights event, where the forest is transformed with two million twinkling lights, animated displays and holiday sounds while you enjoy hot chocolate, fresh popcorn and roasted chestnuts. It had snowed the previous night before I went and traveling through the snow covered park only made it the more special and I think it finally sunk in that I'm now living here in Canada.
