Shells Travelling Adventures

Photos: Fernie comes to a close

michy — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:05:00 GMT

Fernie - the end of an era

michy — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:40:00 GMT

So the foot got worse and worse until I couldn't really even walk on it. Ended up going to Cranbrook again to see about orthodics. Got them custom made so this should help with all the feet troubles! They were actually only $400 compared to over $1000 in Australia so stoked on that. The doc is going to write in the medical report that it's a new condition so that travel insurance should pay for it, fingers crossed anyway.

Went to Sarah and Dan's for drinks on the 12th March and played guitar hero with the drumbs and singing too. Was so much fun to play and catch up with them cos we haven't seen them much since leaving Extra Foods.

Had St Paddy's day on the 17th. Just had drinks at home and then went to the Brickhouse for open mic night. D'Arcy and Alex played which was fun.

The following weekend we had tea at Andres and his wife place. They have 3 girls, 4, 3 and 4 months. OOoooo they were super cute and fun to play with. The wee girl, Victoria was super happy with lots of smiles!

On Saturday we had an 80's day up the hill. Super fun for dress ups! Took the flask up with fireball, a cinnamon whisky, so tasty. Went over to D'Arcy's for drinks before heading out to a circus cabaret that was pretty average.

Have just been riding each day with no new snow but awesome spring conditions with sun in the arvo and nice soft slushy snow. Been learning shiftys and getting ollies times properly.

Finally got all our tax T4 slips and took them into H&R Block to get them sorted. They quoted $100 each which turned out to be $310 cos it went up with each T4 slips, super pissed off about it. The girl who did our stuff told me one amount and then it got cut in half for a reason she wasn't sure of. Then she forgot to enter one of Marsh's slips which made his return go down by $350! So all in all they were farkin useless and way over priced so i sent them a letter telling them we want our returns looked at again to make sure they are done right and that we want a refund. They are looking into it but have ignored my refund request ha, big companies, it's all about the money!

Went over to Murf and Crystals on the 26th for a burn everything in their house party. Just had drinks and hung over round the fire. They are such fun people, also from the mother land!

Lots of people are leaving now so had a big night out on the 28th. Started at Dale's for drinks, then the Pub and then onto the Red house for a party. Was such a saweeeeet party, they had a DJ and pretty much everyone we knew was there. Was awesome to see everyone before we cruise.

The orthodics haven't been shipped in time even though we paid a $25 rush fee so we can't leave until Thursday now. Very annoying but it is what it is I guess. I really want to get them so my feet can start to get better cos my left foot now is numb on the top which is all related to the bone structure etc.

Fernie - what an amazing wee town, loved everyday we had there! Such a pretty, fun place to live, with awesome people to hung out with! So glad we aren't leaving to go home a work. Can't wait for the next big adventure. It's going to be so nea to be travelling again and seeing different places!

All the time in the world

michy — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:36:00 GMT

Went out to this Ska Reggae band at the Central called the Idlers which was awesome! There was about 7 of them in the band and they played so so many different instrument, was sweet. We got their CD too, only $15 cheap cheap! Anyway that was the budget spent until Wednesday haha. It's funny being broke-ish, having to make the money last.

Sunday went to D'Arcy's for a park session in his back yeard. I'm scared to do the box etc so just watched and had some vinos while all the boys played. Met a chick, Crystal, from NZ which was neat. She had dreads. Made me miss mine lots more. The Idlers were playing a free acoustic set at the Central so we went to that for a bit. Haha Marsh and I didn't take any wallet or going out clothes so we wouldn't go out, but Crystal knew the only person working that night so we got in sweet without ID and took our own alcohol hahahha. Such a cheap night out! Was super fun, hardly anyone there. The band and everyone there was just chilling out on sofas, neat atmosphere!

The rest of the week it turned super super freezing, like -33 plus wind chill overnight! We had so many freakin layers on it was funny and we were still cold. You could only do 3 or so runs and you had to get back inside to warm the hands and feet. I was wearing my down puffer jacket under my snowboarding jacket, CRAZY cold! Friday was too much, we didn't even ride. At that point when it's -25ish it takes the fun out of it cos you just cannot keep warm.

BUT then......on Sunday it got a bit warmer and started snowing and snowing and snowing! WE woke up to 35cm of fresh! The lifts were closed, again, until 10am so massive lines up and tones of peeps everywhere. We got one good run in before it was super tracked but I couldn't even ride it, it was just so deep. On the side of the mountain we were on gets more snow than the other side and i just kept getting stuck haha, was fun still.

The next day, however we woke up to 28cm of fresh and everyone had their powder fix the day before so hardly anyone up and it was so much fun cranking around! Lovin riding the powder and jumping off anything you can!

Wednesday bought us another 18cms and I did my first cliff drop which was ok the first time, but the second time I went way too fast and bailed massively hahaha. Rolled and few times but its in powder so you just can't really hurt yourself at all.

Thurs we got 9cm which wasn't enough to cover the tracks from earlier in the week so just cruised around. Got another 13cm on Friday which was fun. Can't believe how may powder days in one week! Hardly anything was open though cos of too much snow so any way you went in the Whitepass you got stuck and had to skate this flat part, super annoying. I was second down so got stuck massively and wasted my leg on my back binding in my rush. Funny how you can have blood when you are wearing so many layers.

That night it was the first of the Griz days which is pretty much celebrating snow. They had a rail jam, fireworks, bands and a beer garden in town. Went to Bulldogs for a reggae band but they were pretty average so left pretty soon after we arrived.

Had another 5cm up the hill but nothing was open again. Sunday was the dummy down hill where we had to make a dummy that was on skis to push down the hill and hit a big jump. We used Marsh's Oscar costume from halloween for ours. He was the only one to land but then he face planted ha.

Tuesday was mine and Marsh's anniversary so we went out for tea and then to Crystal and Murf's for a bonfire, in the snow, by the river. They have the biggest backyard ever. Met some other kiwis. Was fun to listen to kiwi beats and chill out.

Decided to get the community bus to Cranbrook to get our 80s costumes on Friday 11. Only $5 return, cheap cheap! Got there and got some saweeeeet get ups. Got back to jump on the bus home after waiting 1 1/2 hours and they tell us an avalanche has blocked the road back into Fernie so we won't be leaving for about another hour but to check in at 4pm to see if we cold leave. 4pm came around and our bus had broken down so now we weren't leaving til 8pm but we had to check in every hour to see if things had changed, so we couldnt go anywhere GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!! We actually just hung out in this mall for the whole time. Spent lots of extra money but got a book i've been wanting to read for ages for only $10. Got home safely and found that only one chair up the hill was open cos of avalanches too.

Went riding as always the next day with very marginal conditions. Nothing was open until 11am and then the snow was crazy heavy. Pretty since the massive dump of snow finished it has been raining which the ski hill are claiming as snow. Rained lots and got super wet. Went home for the arvo. Crusied round to Sarah and Dan's for drinks and played guitar hero with the drums and mic too, was so fun! Stayed there til 3am which was actually 4am cos of daylight saving which we had no idea about haha.

Too hung over to ride in the shit rain on Sunday so stayed home and relaxed, ahhhh so so good not having to do anything you don't want to do. Made this awesome pizza with salmon, cream cheese and spinach. Made the base too and it's so much better with everything being fresh, was delicious on my lips!

While in Cranbrook I started to get a sore heel on my problem foot which by Monday 14th was pretty bad. Got worse as the day went on until at night when I could hardly walk on it at all. Found on the net that I think I have a heel spur which is an extra bone growing on the heel bone which then cause the tendon running from the heel to the toes to be strained and painful. The only thing that's going to help this is new othodics so I'm back to Cranbrook tomorrow to see a podiatrist to get this foot sorted. Today I didn't got riding and did some exercises and it seems to be a bit better so fingers crossed it get better and that the travel insurance pays for it........

Photos: Fernie to Whitefish and back

michy — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 11:31:00 GMT

The start of unemployment OH RIGHT!!

michy — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 11:09:00 GMT

So the morning of the 4th we got up super early and headed to Canadian Tire to get the gear stick fixed and they did it within an hour which was so awesome! And it was only $100 so Blue was back in action and ready for the roady south.

Got through the USA border sweet, took about an hour and they asked us heaps of questions but got the 3 month green card and we were in. Headed to Whitefish which was only about an hour away. Just before arriving in Kalispell (where we were staying) the rain started to freeze and we couldn't see out of the windscreen. It got so bad after only a few minitues that we had to stop and scrap the ice off. If our heater inside was working it would have been sweet but it wasn't so we had this mini travel hair dryer trying to heat the windscreen. It did start to work and we drove into Kalispell seeing through a tiny hole about 15cm wide. Pulled into the first carpark we saw, had lunch and by the time we were finished the rain had stopped. Arrived at the hotel and just chilled out. Went to Walmart and got lots of dry foods to take back to Fernie and had dinner.

Got up the next morning ready for Whitefish Mountain. Had the best free breakfast. Ate so much, ws so tasty. Went riding all over the mountain and in the park too. The mountain was really intermediate so wasn't as good as Fernie but still fun cos it was free haha. Stayed in the park and did jumps for most of the arvo, was so fun to hit perfectly formed jumps (we aren't allowed them in Fernie).

That night walked into Kalispell and had Japanese for tea. Went riidng the next day again and had this awesome all-you-can eat Mongolian BBQ for dinner. It was only $12 and you picked you meats, veges and made your own sauce and then they cooked it for you there. Was so so tasty on the lips. Could only eat two plates but worth 12 bucks for sure.

Headed back to the border on Monday 7th through about 10-15cm of snow. Kinda gutted we weren't riding but oh well. Got the the borded and they didn't even look us up on the computer or stamp our passports. They pretty much asked us some questions about what we were doing and how long we were staying in Canada for and let us go. Was CRAZY, they didn't even ask about food or anything. Stoked cos we got to keep our fruit etc that we planned to give them haha, just forgot about it. So we were home safe!

Caro and Bex arrived the next day with a team of peeps from Revelstoked. We all went riding the next day, was super fun to ride with them! All went for 2 for 1 burritos in this place that's a snowboard store, restaurant and has a skateboard ramp, so fun. Went to for a mish round town but all the bars were pretty quiet cos it was Wed, so ended up at the Pub again.

Didn't do too much the next day cos we were hung over. Bex left for her party while me and Caro went out for lunch. Had such a wicked steak! Bex broke down on the way to the party only an hour away from here hahaha. They ended up hiring a car to get there.

Went riding on Friday with Caro and Marsh, super fun! Went out the a hockey game that night and there were so many fights. I was stoked cos i hadn't seen any yet. Kimberly ended up with only about 3 people left in their box, hahahaha. Went out the the Kodiak Lounge and then to Bulldogs for a dance.

Was too hung over for riding the mountain (which was shit cos we had 15cm overnight) the next day so chilled out at home. Me and Caro went ice skating which was neat. Was hard at the start but by the end we were cruising round real sweet. Watched a wee kids hockey game after. They were so cute, real good at skating.

Monday we did two awesome runs through the high Currie traverse and then there was such big lines cos half the mountain was closed, (cos of power trouble cos of real high winds the night before) so we went skiing instead. We hit the Might Moose for a bit then the Deer Chair. Caro had a stack and we couldn't get the ski back on for ages was so funny, i could hardly even help her cos i was laughing so much. Turns out the click in part was not in the right place and that's why it was so hard hahahaha. Me and Marsh graduated to the next learners chair the Elk, wicked fun.

Cruised round the mountain all day on Monday. Caro shouted us to pasta night at Mezzoluna and then we hit up Drum n Bass at the Central. Went back to Brodie's afterwards for dinrks and got home pretty late so we just stayed up til Caro left on her shuttle to Calgary. Such a fun night out! That day we did nothing, was good to just chill out cos we had been super busy. That day was also a powder day up the hill but we were not making it up there at all.

Next day we had another 16cm so we got up for first chair. Decided we would go the old side cos we always go new side. Was bout 8:45am when they came down and said all the lifts were closed except for the learner one, which would have been all groomed so we left and went new side again. The line was massive, so freakin annoying! Got up and Whitepass chair was closed too so got in the line to get freshies up there. Got some fresh in Whitepass and then cruised round the hill all day. RCR are so annoying with the closure, grrrrrrrrr!

Thursday morning they reported only 6cm overnight but it was pissing down when we woke up. Rocked up to the Timber line at 8:40am and got first chair, there was no one there (cos of the report). It was snowing 5cm an hour, amazing!! Currie was closed so we blasted round the Whitepass getting fresh tracks for over an hour. We did about 8 runs in an hour and a half, going as fast as you could, was so so much fun! We rode all day in powder all over the mountain. That was until they started closing everything cos there was just so much snow. Had a avalanche in the Lizzard bowl round midday. By 2:30pm all fun stuff was closed so we cruised home but was the best full day of the season for sheezy!

Got up on Friday 18th to try get fresh tracks in Currie but it was closed straight up so we hit Whitepass which was also closed for a bit so did a run to the bottm and by the time we got back up it was open (super annoying cos they said it would be closed for an hour, grrrrrr for the lies). There was sooooooooo many people just doing laps there waiting for Currie Bowl to open and that's just what we did. Got some nice runs in though and as we came up over the rise they were just dropping the rope into Currie so we strapped in as fast as we could a took off. Got a sweet fresh line down and it was tracked. We hit the groomers for the rest of the day. Was trying out switch 180s and got a few sweet ones. Might head out tonight to see a reggae band at the Central but Marsh is a wee bit sick so maybe not will see.

Lovin the Fernie powder, peeps and par-taying

michy — Fri, 4 Feb 2011 14:09:00 GMT

So Monday 10th Jan 2011 was the funnest powder day I've had yet. Currie Bowl was closed for about 4-5 days and it snowed every one of those days so there was about 50cm of fresh POW in there. They opened it up first up on Monday morning (just in time for all the tourist from Calgary to have gone home haha). The race was on from the top of the Timber Chair to the bottom of Whitepass chair. I got on about the 10th chair and was about the 20th person into Currie, was AWESOME riding that day! Got fresh tracks for about an hour or so, was fun fun. Pete and another buddy were first into the bowl and Marsh was in the top 10 so was a fun time all round!

Wednesday and Thursday I was working at Extra Foods at 12pm so headed up the hill early. Got up Wed morning and they only predicted 5cm over night so there was no one up there. They actually had about 10cm and it was amazing! I picked lines going up on the chair and then cam down, went back up on the chair and my line was the only one still there, so so fun! Thurs morning was super fun too but then it started to rain GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Thurs night Marsh was working up the hill and it ws raining and then everything turned to ice when it cooled down at night. They finished work at about 9pm but they couldn't get down cos the bus couldn't get up the hill to pick them up. They hadn't gritted the road either so no one could get up or down, crazy! By about 11.30pm there had been a 10 car crash cos people were just sliding everywhere on the way down. They then gritted the road and the bus came up and got them, hahaha hopefully they will be more prepared next time. You would think they would be used to this weather.

So it rained for the next 4 days and we didn't ride at all, was so shit! On the 3rd day we got pissed off and bored so called everyone to come on a pub crawl to all the bars in town. Heaps of Extra Foods people came so was good to catch up. A few from the hill to but we only made it to 2 bars cos it was a Sunday and everything closed at midnight. Good to get out and be hung over then next day cos it rained and we couldn't do anything anyways. There pretty much isn't anything to do apart from ride the mountain so if you can't do that it's super boring.

The 18th, 19th and 20th we did the level 1 avalanche course through work up the hill. It was less than half price which was sweet. Was so good, learnt heaps about the back country. How to determine if you think an avalanche might occur and about the snow pack. Leanrt how to buddy rescue and just ride safely in the back country so we will hopefully get to go on some mission but will see. We got rain early on the the season (dec) which created a layer of ice which is high risk for avalanche so we probably won't get to ride real crazy lines in the backcountry but will try and do something.

I can now do front 1s super good and still working on back 1s, can land them sometimes but not totally confident in them yet. Going to Whitefish Mountain in Montana tomorrow and they have a park so will probably try some bigger jumps and maybe doing some ones there.

On the 25th Jan all Tom's crews went to play curling at the local rink. Was kinda mine and Marsh going away thing. Tom told everyone we were leaving. Was only $10 to play and $3.50 wines, so ended up being a interesting night haha. Went out to the Pub afterwards and saw some Extra Foods people there too. Was Aussie day in Australia so they were playing the hottest 100 on Triple J. Stayed there for a bit and then headed to the Central cos it's way better there. Got home pretty late and cooked a pizza that Marsh doesn't remember making hahahaha. Got out of work that night at 6pm so we could all play which was awesome!

Marsh hurt his shoulder on the 28th. Had a crash at full speed and landed on his head and his left shoulder. He's sweet but had to get a new helmet cos the inside part of his was compressed so much. His should is still a bit dodgy but should be ok.

29th we headed up the hill cos we had 10cm fresh snow overnight. Wasn't enough to be wicked but i still get excited when there's anything. We rode for only an hour cos it was super cold. Got fresh tracks and then left ha. Came down the hill and saw a car in the ditch with BCAA pulling them out. Got round the corner to a line of traffic. There was about 8 cars crashed and a bus on the next corner. It was almost raining when we went up the hill at about 8am and within2 hours the temperature had cooled a lot and everything turned to ice so people to slipping off the road everywhere. It was a Saturday too so lots of tourists who don't know how to drive in the snow/ice. Anyway we were stuck in line for about 1 1/2 hours, no on hurt really badly which was good. Got around the next corner though and a pick up was in the ditch, stupid people aye, don't learn from others mistakes.

Next day was Sunday and my best EVER day riding! We had another 25com overnight and it was awesome! Me and Marsh were on 3rd chair up and we were the first down a few runs which is crazy. I have got so much fasten which means i get heaps more fresh tracks! We hit all the runs where others don't really go and got fresh lines for two hours and had the best fun, it was amazing! Can't describe how wicked it was.

WOW so much had happened in the last couple of weeks. Last day of Jan we had a staff dinner and then went out to the Pub with everyone. Didn't get home til 2-3am. Drank my home made wine and didn't get hung over WOO HOO!

Next day hiked Polar Peak, with Signe, which is the highest point on our mountain, was a epic view and a sweeeeeet ride down (wee bit short) but worth the hike for the view for sure. Marsh and 7 other boys from the hill did the lift challenge. Which is finishing a beer on every lift on the hill. You have to finish by th time you get off the lift, no dropping beers and there's 8 lifts. They had a fun as time until the moose came running at them at one of the last lifts hahahahhahahahahahahaha. She's been down there for a few days but no ones been hurt yet which is good.

So now we have finished work which is freakin wicked! All packed and ready to head the Montana tomorrow. Taking everything just in case they don't let us back into Canada but we have everything we need. They can't not let us back in unless there's a rule that you have to be out of Canada for a certain amount of time before you come back as a visitor but we can't find anything on it so should be saweeeeeeeet!

Heading to open mic night at the Brick House tonight. Havne't been there before so should be neat. Riding Whitefish (where we get 2 free days with our staff pass) Saturday and Sunday so hopefully they don't get snow here and get some there ha.

Oh yeah and somewhere in that last couple of weeks Dean gave us tickets to the Central to see a guy play 3 didgeridoo, 4 different types of guitar, bongos and sing, ha he was freakin amazing! His name was Shane Phillips and we ended up buying his CD there cos he was so awesome! PRetty neat to see.

OOOOOOOOOO MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!! Can't f#@cken believe it the gear stick on Blue broke when Marsh left th ski hill. We have to leave the country tomorrow and we can't get the Blue into park or reverse, holy shit! Why did this have to happen less than 12 hours before we have to leave? So just talked to Arthur and he thinks it's just the gear stick part so should be pretty easy to fix. Will take it into Canadain tire in the morning and see what they can do otherwise will just have to drive it and park on flats and use wood blocks to stop it from rolling. F@%K!!!! We have to leave tomorrow cos our visa runs out tomorrow and then we have to be back on Tuesday cos Caro arrives so hopefully it all works out, will see.

Photos: Ski bum life RULZ

michy — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 12:26:00 GMT

Rockin the ski bum lifestyle in Fernie (First month riding)

michy — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 11:21:00 GMT

Well well what can I say, I have had the best fun this last month, it's been nothing short of awesome, wicked, taotally amazing fun!

The first week or two from opening day was wicked, we had so much snow we were having pow days every other day almost. There was no one else on the hill except the locals and you could find some powder in the afternoon even, awesome! We went riding a few times with Pete and he took us on some hikes and tree runs which I'm now real used too. Was a bit freaked out about hitting the trees but all sweet now haha, only in well spaced ones though.

Pretty much just trying to get used to my board and trying to get comfortable with doing jumps. I also started learning how to 50/50 boxes in the rail park which is super scary cos it hurts heaps when you bail. I was getting pretty sweet a doing a couple of easy ones until I went in the park on a real icey day. I went down the box backwards and then landed on my back edge, landed on my ass and then wacked my head real hard on the ice. I just lay there for a bit cos it freakin hurt. Got up and i was sweet but the shock of it made me cry so that was the end of that day. Got down the bottom and my eye felt funny but Marsh said there was nothing there, went to the bathroom to check it out and I had a small black eye ha, first one ever. My goggles must of come off my face and then wacked back on haha. I've only been back in the park once, just to make sure I could still 50/50 that box hahaha, and I could so that's sweet!

I started to learn front and backside 180s and can now do both. I'm still riding switch a bit and can now do black runs and land 180s, which is awesome. I can also do these 270 things that Marsh taught me. Learning and trying new things which is super fun!

Went to work a week after Marsh got the flat tire and went to leave after we finished and the same tire was flat GRRRRRRRR super pissed off! Called roadside assistance once again and they sorted after a while. It was this real young guy and I don't reckon he knew what the hell he was doing aye. He kept jacking Blue up in all these different places and I told him where the other guy did it but he didn't want to know. He did it in the end with this dodgy as piece of wood.

RCR (Resorts of the Canadian Rockies) had a xmas party for all the staff on the 14th Dec and I was rostered on the work which was shit. Our boss Tom was awesome though, we did our usual stuff until we want dinner, then we VIPEd the massive dinner line and Tom let us drink at dinner and then all we had to do was put the tables back, wipe them down and mop the bar - we were out of there and down at the pub 5mins after Marsh etc got there haha and I got paid for it. Went to the Pub and Bulldogs for the rest of the night, got home at like 2.30am and cooked pizza. We were trying so hard to be quiet but we still woke Laura up. Fun as night though.

We finally got paid from RCR for the work we did at the start of Nov. We got over paid by about $200 each haha, awesome! We think Tom lost our hours so he just put in whatever he thought was close or a bit more cos it had been so long since we did the work, so stoked. Every pay since then we have been over paid too. Hahaha we have been signing into work early and then have lunch and I think they've been paying us for that too, saweeeeeeet!

So the silly season was ridiculously busy up the hill, so many big family groups on the hill and making a massive mess for us to clean at night, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

On Christmas we went riding and then Marsh worked while I went around the the Aussie Camp peeps place for dinner and drinks, was very mello though. On Boxing day we all went around the Dan and Sara's for turkey and drinks. Marsh came after work which was neat. The hosts fell asleep on the sofa so we cruised at about 1 or 2am I think.

Then Fraser arrived on the 27th for 10 days. We took him skiing almost every day, showed him the whole mountain. He got about 4 days with new snow which is super lucky cos he hadn't had any new snow for around 2 weeks before he got here. Marsh took him to a hockey game one night.

For new years eve day Marsh and I skiied haha and Fraser got back on a board. Was so so funny! We went up the Mighty Moose and tried to learn how to turn and we got it pretty quick so after 2 turns we went up the Deer Chair and conquered that run without falling by the end YAY! We had fireball in our coffees at lunch which probably didn't help that much hahaha.

We to apres ski drinks in the Griz Bar up the hill and then caught a random free bus back down the hill to Rip and Richards Eatery for dinner. Was surprisingly good, such good food and yummy wine too. Thanks Fraser for dinner, was tasty on the lips!

Went to Dale's for a jibbing session (they have built a rail park in their backyard) but by the time we got there it was over cos Pete had broke a ski hahaha. Took the hobo wine I made for drinks before we headed to the Central where we saw the new year in. Met up with some Aussie girls from the hill a guy we work with. Hahaha they had these giant ballons bouncing around to get people on the dance floor and one hit me in the face when I was drinking from my wine glass, hahaha I had a lump on the top of my nose (between the eyes) and a small cut on my lip. They went to the Royal and home around 3ish I think.

Stayed in bed most of the day on new years day then I went to work which was fine. Some people didnt go to sleep and went straight to work at 730 that morning, stoked that wasn't me.

Fraser left on the 6th Jan and me and Marsh slept for the next two days cos we were so sick. I just felt shit and had a cough but Marsh had a fever and flu. We are feeling better but we missed 37cm of freshies yesterday cos of it, GUTTED! We got up for first chair this morning bt we only had 9cm overnight and it wasn't enough for cover yesterdays tracks. They have kept Currie, Cedar and Lizzard bowls closed with having so much snow so there's over 80cm of fresh snow in there which will be opening up tomorrow! So stoked cos tomorrow is Monday and that means all the weekend tourists are leaving today YUS!!

The head walls that are above the ski field hold so much snow that there's huge risk of people triggering avalanches so they always close currie and high Cedar but when there's heaps of snow they close Lizzard too. Anyways tomorrow is going to be a crazy epic powder day! Will be the most pow I've ever been so super excited!!!

I forgot to say that Blue had an oil leak and was in at Canadain Tire for the last 3 weeks or so. They couldn't get the oil filler part that they needed for ages cos they don't make it anymore cos Blue is so old but then I called one day and they were looking at it again and then a few days later it was done. It only cost $65 all up and so Blue is back in action, stoked!!

Preview of the hill YAYAH!

michy — Sat, 4 Dec 2010 14:03:00 GMT

Went up the hill on Monday 22nd for Supervisor training and they told Tom, our boss, that they were going to open the hill for the weekend of the 27th and 28th and then close again, so stoked! Did training and then worked up there all week cos there was heaps to do before opening on the saturday. On the Wednesday morning we decided we would drive Blue up the hill cos it was annoying having to rely on others to drive us around. It was about -30 when we got up and Blue was not having a bar of it, wouldn't start. Our flattie drove us up so it was sweet but it was so freakin cold!! It stayed really cold for a few more days and then warmed up to -5 or so.

Met some of our crew up the hill and they all seem sweet and willing to work which is awesome.

Either Marsh or I had to work the Saturday morning and it was snowing all day friday but my foot was still not that great so I worked and let Marsh get fresh tracks which he was extremely stoked with! I got off work at 1.30pm and went up the hill and my foot was all good although the bunion bone was really sore. Sunday I went up all day and skiied with some Extra Foods people that I found. Marsh came up for a bit in the arvo but my legs were way too sore from the 6 hours of riding already. Work was so so hard that night but will be getting used to it soon.

On Tuesday the 30th Laura, Michael, Marsh and I all went out and chopped down a Christmas tree which was neat. There's so much snow, we were all jumping in it and making snow angels. Got a sweet tree and went for a ride on Michael's snowmobile - wicked fun. Was snowing so hurt the face a bit but still super awesome.

Went to The Pub again on Tuesday night for wings and drinks cos it was the last night Marsh and I will be able to do anything together until we finish work. Was good to get out too, wasn't too chilly walking around either.

Sarah and Dan have been making wine so I've got all the stuff to do it and going to start making some tomorrow night.

Wednesday 1st Dec, Marsh started work up the hill and got a flat tire. Changed it up the hill with another guy from work and got it fixed but we couldn't work out the jack so had to call roadside assistance today and got them to put the fixed one back on. So all sweet now! Marsh also broke the window wiper when he was getting the ice off the windscreen so had to get another on the those. Got a sweet winter on though, so it doesn't stick at all, handy like andy.

Looking forward to opening day tomorrow. Heading up the New side of the mountain with a Canadian guy we meet up there, who does the snow shoveling - Pete. Old side was open last weekend so want to check out the rest. Hopefully the legs are all good cos on monday they were so freakin sore, walking to Extra Foods was so not sweet. New board was awesome though, took a bit of getting used to. When I first strapped in I couldn't even turn haha, was funny! I started riding switch, reverting, doing small jumps and ollies. Was doing everything pretty sweet except the jumps. Did a couple on good ones so just need to keep trying. We got these DVD's that break down the moves real well so should be able to get it sorted.

Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd we got more snow, abot 20cm each night.

About 2 weeks ago my toes started to get sore when I was walking to work. It felt like a nerve was being pinched every time I put pressure on it. It kept getting worse until one day I could hardly walk at all. Found on the net that i have Metatarsalgia which is when the nerve between the 3rd and 4th toes is inflamed and it's really painful whenever you put pressure on it. It's caused from bunions and high arch feet so that's why I have it. Treatments are wearing my orthodics that i should have been wearing the whole time and RICE. So I got out my orthodics and put them into my snow boots and shoes from work. Each day it started to get better and I can walk normally now, after about a week. I still can't put full pressure on my foot on hard surfaces but it's getting better for sure. I'll be getting the treatment when we are back in Aussie for sure. I should have done it when I was there last and had more money grrrrrrr!

Looking into flights to Hawaaii for next year too. Will probably be able to go if we do this summer camp thing cos we will have more money at the end of that. Hopefully can lock something in soon.

Got our seasons pass the other day too. Got the park pass as well. Gutted, we can't get the refund for our seasons pass cos they will take our staff pass off us when we finish work so we wouldn't be able to go up the hill after that so we just kept the one we paid for and will get a staff benefit card.

Snow has arrived...BRRRRR!

michy — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 11:40:00 GMT

Just been working and not even breaking even with how much money I'm making haha, $8.50 an hour is rediculous! I have no idea how anyone lives and does anything here on that amount of money aye.

Tuesday 23rd went out the peeps from Extra Foods for wings and some drinks at the Pub.

The next day we woke up to snow and lots of it and it just kept on snowing for the next three days. Crazy, crazy amounts of snow fell and it was brrrrr! Freezing cold. Awesome that the snow has arrived in time for the hill to open though.

Wednesday and Thursday I had to walk a hour in the snow to work and back again. Was crazy blizzard on thursday morning and the wind factor made it about 5 degrees colder aye. My face was extremely red and frozen when i get there. Had my gumboots that I thought would be awesome for walking on ice etc but turns out they weren't that good at all. I did wear them all summer so the grip is probably gone by now so had purchase some proper snow boots which were only $40 and they go down to about -40 which is saweeeeeet.

Went to a Ghostriders game on Friday which is the local ice hockey team here. They are a pretty good team and wasted the others 6-2. Was a good game, so freakin fast though. Getting better with the rules though.

Saturday night went to Sarah and Dan's (extra foods people) for a fire and drinks. They have a sweet fire pit on their front lawn. Walked around the river to theirs and it was such a hard trek cos the snow was still pretty deep and it's way way colder now. Was at least -20 there and colder on the way home. Came home at about 130am and it was so so chilly. Thanks mum, made cheese on toast with marmite when we got home, YUMMY! Miss that taste heaps. Their flat mates went to Shambhala which was random. Even more random is that Sarah and Dan were in Exmouth in Jan on Australia day which is when we were there, funny aye.

Pretty hung over today so I'll called in sick for Marsh haha. Pretty much slept all day and didn't venture out into the freezing outside. Had some toffee pop treats too, thanks mum.

Going up the hill tomorrow for some meeting and then Marsh starts on the 1st Dec for his 4 days and then I start on the 5th Dec. The hill opens in the 4th Dec, cannot wait to get up there. We bought these snowborad DVD's to learn jumps, jibbing and buttering so we are waiting for them to arrive. Hopefully they can get through the snow and deliver them to us real soon.

We told Extra Foods that we are leaving the other day too. They are sweet so will just give them our roster up the hill and they will hopefully still gives us 2 shifts at night there but not a big deal if not.

We are thinking of doing the USA summer camp thing. We have met people here that have done it for the last few years and have loved it. We would start working at the start of June so it would still give us time to do our road trip etc. Still looking into but we will probably do it. I might teach horse riding and not sure what Marsh would do yet but will see, will see.

Waiting for the snow to fall

michy — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 12:09:00 GMT

We have just been plodding along, working at extra foods and watching Entourage, pretty much, love that show, so funny!

Marsh and I checked out one of the bars, Bulldogs, last Wedneday and it was pretty lame, real quiet but was good to have a wee looksee.

We ended up deciding to tell Tom (our boss up the hill) that our visa would run out in Feb and he said our job offer still stands as it was, so we are super stoked with that. Started up there on Monday 8th Nov just helping out with the cleaning cos they have a conference up there. Was good to suss out where things were and what we will be doing. Pretty easy, just clean the bathrooms and the floors really. Got saweeeet uniforms too, ski overalls, soft shell (jumper thing) and a ski jacket so we can go riding in our work gears and then just go straight to work, awesome! Still need to suss out if they are going to give us the money back for our seasons pass and let us keep it after we finish working. Don't want to put too much on Tom yet though cos he's just given us the job even though we are leaving.

Met some people at work who all went to the America summer camps together and are now traveling together. They are mostly from Aussie and one from the UK. Went over there for some drinks last saturday which was neat. Good to get out and socialise a bit after being in Calgary for so long. Marsh came over after he finished work and we all went out to The Pub for some drinks and then onto Bulldogs, couple of local bars. Was a fun night out!

Had some fresh snow overnight down in the town, first of the season, YAY!

Got our first payslip from extra foods today and they charge us all these freakin fees, like union (which they said we wouldn't have to pay until our 3 month probation was up), and a few others. It added up to about $25 but which is like 3 hours work, so i'm going to complain when i go back in. I have the next 3 days off and we aren't needed up the hill so i'm going on a mission to look for another job i think. That's bullshit!

Blues still running real sweet, took him up the hill all week and no problems even when it's snowing, so stoked!

Our flattie is sweet. Different from us but a nice lady that has way too much stuff. Anything you can think of she has it here, so good for us cos we don't have to buy any house stuff. She also loves shopping and just went to Calgary to get her car fixed and did our groceries for us ha, crazy aye! She went to Cost Co which a massive wholesale store and got us heaps more meat so we are pretty much stocked for the winter almost, stoked as. Food is super expendy to here, and the lady that owns extra foods is nasty so don't want to spend money there, so lucky we are all stoked with our dry foods and meat.

Photos: WOO HOO we are in Fernie

michy — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 12:43:00 GMT

Can't believe we finally made

Finally Fernie

michy — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 11:45:00 GMT

So we finally finished up at our jobs in Calgary and moved to Fernie. The packing and moving went real well, fitted everything into Blue real well. Marsh cut 5 inches off the side of the mattress so it now fits in Blue perfectly!

Had last drinks with the boys next door on the Thursday night. Was so fun to meet them. They will probably come over and stay and come skiing which will be neat.

Packed the rest of our stuff, stopped at Walmart and got the hell out of Calgary! Such a good feeling to drive out of there and know we are going to have so much more fun now we will be living in a place that we actually like.

Arrived in Fernie and went into the supermartket to chat to the manager but he wasn't there. Found our place and unpacked. Met our flat mates boyfriend Michael who is a back country ski teacher. He has a snowmobile so cross fingers, might get to have a whirl. Just chilled out at home and got settled. Slept in our $2000 bed which is AMAZING! Although there is a train that goes through town like 5 times a night honking its horn.

Saturday went to a few places with resumes and sussed out the hitching spot for heading up the hill. Had our interviews with the mountain. My second went shit but we had our first one together for janitorial. The guy put two and two together with our address and phone being the same. He wants us to be the night supervisors. Marsh would do four on then I would do the next four that he's off. Shifts are 4pm- about 11pm but if you get it done earlier you can finish early. So he offered this to us and was going to send a confirmation email but it's now Wednesday and haven't heard anything. The lady from my second interview may have told him about our visas ending in Feb so might not hear back but still we are hoping cos that would be perfect! We could actually get up the hill every day!

Saturday also bought the first snow on the hill. We have a wicked view from our place of the whole ski field which is awesome. Went into the supermarket to see the manager again and we sorted out a interview at 8am on Monday.

Sunday just chilled out, watched entourage, went for a walk in the rain and got ice cream mmmmmmm!

Went in for the interview at Extra Foods and got the job as a Courtesy Clerk, which means I pretty much pack peoples bags and offer to take them to their car, check the floor is cleam every hour, empty the rubbish and take the baskets back to the front of the store, super easy job! Only $8.50 an hour hahahaha and it's 11am-4pm so I'm still looking for something at night for when the mountain opens. Marsh got a job there too stocking the shevles and he works at night, like 4-8pm or 6-10pm which is awesome for him. Had a couple of shifts already which means we won't even have one week without being paid, stoked! We only had 4 days off before we started the new job.

Monday arvo went into Crankbrook, the closest city from here, to get Marsh a white shirt for work. Went in with our flat mate which ws good bonding time, she's really nice! She has a cute wee cat called Rasta. Got the rest of our work stuff from the thrift store for like $8. Got a bennie, scarf and USA lonely planet for only $3.50 too.

So Fernie has been super good to us, everything is sorted and was so easy compared to when we arrived in Calgary, this is where we are meant to be for sure!

Looking forward to Halloween which is this weekend YAY big blow out!

OOOoooo and i haven't had any new itchy red lumps since we got here. Thank god that's over.

Laura, our flat mate also said we had a bear in our backyard the other night cos it has been in the rubbish so still have to watch out although they will go into hybination very soon. There will still be courgars though ahhhhhh!

So we started work at Extra Foods and it is the easiest job I've ever had! My hours are probably all going to be days cos the two other people that do my job are school kids which kinda sux but Marsh has nights so that's neat for him. I'm still going to go the the town job fair and see if I can get something at night from there. We did get the job up the hill but we decided that we will tell them about our visa running out and see what they say. Haven't got around to sending the email though and got home today to an email from Tom, the boss up there and he wants us to start next week cos he needs pre-season help so not sure what we will do yet, waiting for Marsh to get home.

Got an email from a lady from an interview i couldnt go to cos i was working today too. She was asking what hour etc I wanted so something might come out of that too. Hopefully I get something at night too but will see.

Went out to The Pub on Saturday night for halloween which was fun. Don't remember getting home, having a shower and making a feed haha, not sweet but was fun! Didn't get make-up on the fancy sheets.

On Sunday the 31st (halloween) Marsh had to work so Laura and I craved a pumpkin, made a face and put a wee candle in it the light it up, everyone does it here. I made us pumpkin soup cos Laura had never had it before, was spicy goodness! Watched ghost programs all night and then had a freaky dream that I could hear spirits etc ahhhhhhhhh

More and more rain came too so has washed away lots of the snow. Hopefully it gets cold enough to freeze soon cos today I walked to work without my jacket on even, way too toasty!

Photos: Last weeks in Calgary - YAYAH!!

michy — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 06:32:00 GMT

Last few weeks in Calgary

michy — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 02:56:00 GMT

So these crazy itchy bites kept coming up so i looked online to see what other people thought cos we tried everything for any type of bugs. We got this stuff called Borax to try kill fleas, got a new mattress and clean everything and i was still getting them. A online doctor said he thought it was a mdeical probalem rather than bugs, so i finally paid the $100 to go the the doctor cos I woke up with a fat eye for the second time in a week (had the call in sick twice and figure that if i keep missing work it will cost more in the long run). Thought the swallen eye was something else but in the end it was another lump on the cheek. Anyway went to the this indian doctor (cos it was just down the road) and he didn't listen and pushed me out the door pretty much. I knew what he gave me wouldn't help the bites. So i got the prescription and i stopped getting them for one night and then it all started again. Gave the cream a bit to work but still then kept coming and it was starting to make me feel like shit so i spent 3 hours one morning calling doctors, trying to find one that would take a new person but none would. In the end i went to my bosses doctor who also turned me away and i ended up going to a walk in doctor across the street cos i was sick of looking. This doctor was good and listened to me. He said it was ring worm and a fungal infection and gave me creams for each and a perscription to get in a few days it the cream weren't clearing it up. Well, they didn't clear it up and I've just finished the last of the pills and I still have some and new ones were still coming up yesterday. So with more than $300 spent already I may be going back for more treatment but at least I've had a few good nights sleep without having them come up in the night being crazy ithchy! So there's my complaining done.

We have booked flights to Alasks, YAY!! Only $440 return from Seattle. So we go there on the 5th April, which will be the start of our American road trip. We saw that the aussie dollar was doing awesome against the US so we changed over $6,000 at .94 cents and only lost abotu $300 so bloody stoked on that. So that's half the money we need for the road trip. Also looking at flights home for around august with a stop over in fiji for only $900 but will see how much money we have when we leave Calgary to decide how long we can last in the States before we book those flights.

Have a house and seasons pass sorted for Fernie and only 10 days til we get there!! CANNOT freakin wait for get the hell out of this shit hole. Can't believe we have been here for almost 7 months. From here on it will be fun so all is good! Have job interviews lined up with the mountain for the weekend we arrive. Marsh has to see three places for work when we arrive and I have three as well. I have a two hotels and the supermarket.

One of the Peth girls will be coming to visit in Feb which will be awesome cos we won't have to work YAY! Lethal didn't get another job though so she is planning her trip back home for the start of Nov i think. GUTTED

So what have we been doing? Pretty much nothing! Trying to save as much as possible while paying for flights and season passes ha, which was more than $1500 each. So pretty much just working every day. Today is my first day off since, I can't even remember.

I have started to playing the harmonica. At this stage I can play single notes and I'm learning how the bend notes. I can play the 12 Bar Blues and that's it. I'm going to learn Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely today. It's fun though and something different.

The band next door got us tickets to a Canadain foot ball game so went to that on the 1st October. Was pretty easy to pick up and fun to get out. The reckon people go and watch when it's 40 below, i would be flagging that! Went to this kareoke bar called Ducky's afterwards which was pretty average so came home and drank in their shed with the music gears. Meet some new people, was a good night out.

A few weeks ago my work closed down for the renovations. They told me i would get my 35 hours at different stores ages ago but now that they know im leaving they said i probably wouldn't and that i could get more hours at my other job so they wouldn't worry about me. But at my other job everyone wants more hours too. In the end i got hours at both cos I complained and ended up having no days off which was fine. I got sick with those freakin bites so got two days off. Then they didn't pay me enough hours for that two weeks and were not going to pay me for a sick day cos it as when we were setting up the store. I complained to the District Manager and they are paying it out now. What a bull shit reason to not pay you sick pay. It annoyed me cos I worked for them for six months and didn't call in sick once and then they did that, grrrrrrrrrr! Anyway should get it next week.

Also got our halloween costumes for in Fernie. I going as Morticia from the Addams and Marsh is got this awesome costumes that's Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street ha fun.

Sent all bday and xmas presents home now too so don't need to buy anything while we will be super poor, stoked! Only $22 for send a substantial size package on the boat, it's good to be organised.

It was thanks giving yesterday so I worked and got time and a half and Marsh cooked us a huge turkey for dinner. It was the smallest one we could find but it only just fit in the over and made the tray sag haha. I could only eat the wing and bit bit of the leg. Will be eating it for the rest of the week.

So life has pretty much been working, yoga, trying to get rid of these god dam itchy things, playing the harmonica and getting organised for halloween!

Back to Reality and the Budget

michy — Thu, 9 Sep 2010 02:02:00 GMT

So going back to work wasn't as hard as I expected once I felt like a normal human being again. The fact that we only have weeks left in this shit hole is keeping us going, for now ha.

The week begining 15th August was really smokey in Calgary because they have a few bush fires in British Columbia. Felt like being back in Aussie with all the smoke from fires. It's cleared now and cos we don't have a TV, not sure if the fires are under control but lets assume they are.

On the 21st we went to a reggae music festival for only $30. Inner Circle played which was awesome! It was really different to a music festival back home, was really family orientated but a good experience. It was really jamacian too, where as back home it's usually got a kiwi, aussie feel to it. Anyway, was fun! Got something to eat though and they tried to rip us off, grrrrrr! They gave us the wrong change back but got the right amount back in the end.

Took me a week to get a new roster out of Sunil, my boss at the new Second Cup. He still hasn't paid me for the hours I did before I left for holidays. He's pretty much an idiot trying to run two businesses, while working full time at both. I called him and went in there everyday until he gave me the roster and did the same with the money. In the end he had lost my hours but didn't want to admit it so we both looked at the old roster and worked out that I did 15 hours, ha I knew I'd only done 13 but let him believe I did 15. So I took the cash advance and then he got his ass in gear and paid me the other day. He now has all my details so there shouldn't be a problem but we'll see this Friday when it's the next pay day.

Things Engraved has to close for renovations in Setember which I knew about but they had said I would get my normal hours at other stores while ours is closed. So we are closing on the 12th and won't be re-opening until the 24th and I only have 16 hours on week and 24 the next, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Pissed off with them! Told them yesterday that it was unfair and they are now giving me an extra shift for each week but it's still not my normal hours and I know it's cos I'm leaving that they don't give a shit. Hopefully it doesn't screw up my savings plan to much.

So we worked out that we need 10k each for our road trip around the States and to Alaska, flights home, itravel and car nsurance etc. We have around 4kCAD each and 3.5kAUS each so it's looking pretty good. However, our lives are extremely boring right now and will be until we leave here.

Found a place in Fernie with lady called Laura. She's probably in her early 30s but she likes wine so I'm sure we will be friends. Going to meet her today to sort final details out. Also, we decided we will leave early and get to Fernie on the 22nd Oct in time for the mountain job fair on the 23rd and 24th.

Marsh's boss gave him $50 to take me out, for his good work. So we went to Eat, Pray, Love a book made into a movie that we read a while ago. It was really good, I cried a bit (actually a lot )haha. Went out for a white hot chocolate afterwards and that's 50 bucks gone! Nice wee outing though, thanks Mike!

That brings me to neighbour Mike, he got kicked out at the end of August. He left his place a a crazy massive mess, shit was everywhere! They had to sand the floors and re-paint everything. All done now and we have a new neighbour Amy who we haven't met yet.

Oh yeah, the bloody sink!! So when we got back from holiday the freakin sink was blocked!! Marsh tried to plunge it and made it worse so we were doing our dishes in a bucket and tipping th water down the toilet haha. Very annoying. Then the tap started dripping a lot. We thought that we had to pay for the fixing of it cos it said in the lease (but the words were very confusing). So we got this handy man to fix the sink and the tap. I had to call the landlord to find where to turn the water off and it was in another ladies appartment and she wasn't home so couldn't do that. He couldn't do the sink in the end either but had spent an hour here so we still had to pay him $110 gggrrrrrrrrr!! That afternoon the landlord came over and a quick plunge of the sink and it was fixed! Next day he did the tap and we were sorted once again, doing dishes normally haha. $110 down the drain but the wording in the lease was real weird.

When we got back from holiday I started getting these itchy bites that got inflamed over night. Started putting tea tree oil them and they went away pretty quickly but I was still getting new bites. Thought it was something in Marsh's sleeping bag cos I would only get eaten if we slept with that sleeping bag so we washed it and I didn't get bitten for a while. Stopped putting tea tree oil on the old bites cos they were pretty much gone and within a day or two they were huge again. Back to the tea tree oil and went to the doctor but it was going to be $100 so thought I'd see how they go. Now it's September and I'm still getting new bites and the old ones haven't gone yet. The pharmasist said they are probably infected if they aren't going away so have now stopped putting anything on them and will see what happens in the next few days. GGGRRRRRRR so annoying being allergic to stuff!!!

Stephen taught me how to download movies etc yesterday so now we have something to watch when we are bored cos we don't have a TV ha, blooy stoked, thanks Step-hen!

Oooo and got a mop chop yesterday so now the hair is much shorter and lighter. No pics to go with the story cos there has been nothing to take snaps of.

Another after thought that I forgot was the lazy ass hole down the street who left a note of our van saying that they would tow us if we didn't get a J permit to park there (we were probably parked outside thier house and they didn't want to walk). They didn't leave a name or number we could talk to them on though, just a threat and a thanks. We are allowed to park there before 9am and after 6pm, overnight legally every night if we want. Which is what we do because we didn't want to change our registration over to Alberta when we are going back to BC. You have to have an Alberta registered vehicle to get the permit but we aren't doing anything wrong so they couldn't do anything anyway. However, Marsh found that you can get a 3 month temporary permit while you change your registration over so we now have a permit until the end of Oct which means now one can threaten us anymore muahahahah.

Photos: Jaspar National Park to SHAMBHALA BABY!!

michy — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:53:00 GMT

My 26th birthday trip with the best people I could have asked for in a beatiful national park and onto the crazyest par-tay I've been to yet

26th B'Day trip - Jaspar National Park - SHAMBHALA

michy — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:10:00 GMT

Work ended up giving me an extra day off which meant we could leave on Sunday instead of Tuesday so we cruised off on our adventure on Sunday the 1st August. Headed toward Lake Louise and stopped in a rest area for the night. Woke up to heaps of mozzies ahhhhh!

Monday morning swe tarted to drive up through Jaspar National Park. It's amazingly beautiful! There's so many glaciers and lakes. There's no wind so the mirror of the mountains in the lakes is so neat. Stopped off at the biggest attraction, the Columbian Icefield and the Athabasca Glacier. Drove up on the glacier and had a walk around, was pretty neat and crazy to do in the middle of summer. They reckon it gets down the -60 and -70 over winter. All the workers leave for warmer climates. Stopped off at a few waterfalls on the way too. The Athabasca was the most impressive.

Got to Jaspar and tried to suss out whitewater rafting but we didn't have enough time so we locked in a horse trek for the morning. Went out to a lake for the afternoon, chilled out drinking wine in the sun while Marsh played his guitar. Found a sweet sleeping spot in a residential area and crashed for the night.

Went of the horse trek which had real nice views etc but there wasn't a chance to go for a canter or anything so kinda average. Started the drive south towards Radium Hot Springs. It was super busy when we got there so kept driving to Fairmount Hot Springs. Got there and it was rubbish - was just like a hotel swimming pool. There were kids jumping off driving in shit. So not my idea of relaxing at the hot springs. Got back in Blue and decided to drive to wherever. The lonley planet told us about some hot springs that were a 22km drive on metal road, but sounded awesome cos they were natural and in a river. We got there and stayed in the camp ground for only $16 (cheaper than the Fairmount hot springs). Used the hot springs (for free)as our shower (first one of the trip haha). The hot springs were so neat.

Woke up on my bday and went for a dip in the hotsrings again. They were so neat, made from natural rocks on the side of a river with mountains around you, in the middle of nowhere - awesome!! Although it turned my rings etc weird colours grrrrr.

OUr fridge pilto light kept going out and unfreezing our chicken grrrrrr! So annoying and we could suss out why. In the end it was cos we had our windows down cos it was hot and the wind was blowing it out all the time. After that we have to bake in Blue while we drove otherwise our freezer stuff would unfreeze hahaha, still learning stuff about Blue 6 months after we bought him.

Headed to Fernie that afternoon. Went up the mountain to find the HR lady but she wasn't there so found a free parking area for sleeping. Got a plunger to unblock the sick but didn't work. Marsh took me out for a bday dinner and drinks - Japanese. Was the best japanese food, so so good.

Got up and pluggered the sink again and it worked!! YAY so we could now do dishes again. Went up the mountain again to drop off our CVs. The lady wasn't there again but talked to someone who said she goes through the CVs. It went well and she seemed to think we wouldn't have any trouble getting a job so fingers crossed. This day was off to such a good start! The lady said to start looking for a place to live asap cos the cost goes up heaps just before winter so will be doing that soon too.

On the 5th August we headed West for Salmo, ready for Shambhala, fun fun. Arrived and found a camping area next to a park for only $15 a night. Set up there and had a proper shower!! Meet some others going to the gig and they said we should pay the extra $25 and go in tonight so we don't have to wait in the massive line the next day. So we stopped drinking and waited a few hours before driving in. Got in line about 10pm and didn't go through until 4am. Blue didn't even get searched which was sweet. Set up our home made awning and then headed out for a dance.

Got home after daylight and had a nap around 10am haha. Got up and found all the stages, river, markets, food etc. They don't give you a map so need to go on the mish to find everything.

Chilled out at Blue having drinks and playing hacky with our neighbours. They were all a bit older which i didn't really expect but they had been heaps of times before and loved it. They had a whole tent for dress ups fun as. It's like a ticket to wear and be whatever you want for four days, so awesome cos no one gives a shit.

Went out pretty early that night. Cranking at the house/asian stage for ages and then just crusied around all the other stages til we found something fun. Stayed at the Fractal Forest for the rest of the night, dancing to the Next-men. Got home for sleeps at about 2am.

Woke up to Lethal and Bex banging on Blue at about 6am. They had snuck in and surprised me, so freakin stoked!!!!! Had some yarns and went back to sleep while they did the mish to try and find Kiko again ha.

Hung out with them at the river until someone poured a bright green something in the river so we all had to leave. At the time they said is was anti freeze but it turned out it was just a die grrrrrr ruined our arvo in the sun!! Had drinks at Kiko and meet their Kiwi neighbours who are also crusing around in a van ha, seems like we all have the some saweeeeeet idea.

Saturday night was fun fun, started at the Village and then the Fractal Forest - lovin the fractal forest. Was raining for most of the night but all good. Marsh, Shane, Ant and me went of a crazy bush walk and down to the beach. Chilled out at someones tent on the beach and found Dr. Seuss on the way back at daylight. Crazy things are all around the place, it's so awesome!

Woke up feeling pretty average but used the solor shower which did wonders! Was even a bit warm, stoked. Marsh got a shambhala hoodie, cooked a feed and then back to Kiko for drinks for the final night of par-tay-ing with the Merton Team!

Got on some saweeeeet hippie gears and busted out our smooth moves on the DF until about 8am hahaha. The Fractal Forest was amazing! Wicked lights and awesome break beats all night. Stoked on DJ Pump! He was so amazing!

Shambhala was the crazyest most amazing festival yet. It's pretty much a place where you can go and be and do whatever the hell you want for four days. All security are volunteers so they could get a ticket to the party so they don't care at all. People just don't care and no one judges anyone, people crusie around naked and stuff. Crazy, wicked, awesome place!!!

Monday we felt the pain a bit but headed to Moyie Lake, a provincial park we saw on the way to Salmo. Got a place (like the last one, so full for a Monday night) and crashed out for the night. Was so so quiet compared to the festival. Had super sleeps.

Headed towards home the next day and stopped at Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump. Stayed in a provicial park again (only $11 cos Alberta cheap cheap compared to BC). Got up on tuesday around lunch time cos it was so so so hard haha. Feeling the pain of the party so much. Did the walking around at Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump. Learnt about the aboriginal people hearding the buffalos off cliffs to kill them to feed them for a whole year. Was really interesting but the hung over was way to much for us hahahaha.

We got out of there and started the 1 1/2 hour drive home. Was the longest drive ever!! Did the shopping and that was so hard too. Did the washing and ate and straight to bed. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH felt so bad.

Work for the next few days was horrible!! Pretty much just felt sorry for myself and tried to get through the hours one at a time hahahaha.

It's now Monday the 16th and I'm finally back to being 100% again. Took a while but it was most definately worth it!

HAD AN EPIC TRIP AWAY FOR THE 26th b'day!!!! Lived up to all expectations! Could not have asked for a better time with the best people! Topped the full moon party from last year for sheezy! Looking forward to what this next year shall bring.

Photos: Calgary Stampede

michy — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:05:00 GMT

The new whare

From the Suburbs to the Big Smoke!

michy — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:10:00 GMT

It took a while but we finally found a little one bedroom apartment for only $550 a month. It's in a house with five other apartments and there's four like this next to each other.It's funny cos we are in a pretty nice area and then there's the four 90 year old houses. Our place isn't furnished but it has a fridge and stove so we have been making do with that for a last wee while. We moved in around the 5th July and had pretty much nothing except our clothes a food haha. We slept on the bed from the van for the first week until we found a double mattress for $20. We figure a double will fit in the van and be super comfy for the big trip next year. So we now have the bed from the van, stacked on top of each other for a sofa. We have the table from the van sitting on a box at a table haha, it's so funny!

The stove is about 100 years olf but cranks real well. We have no doors except for the front door and the bathroom one and they have tried to do it up a bit in the kitchen, with lino on the bench bahahahaha. Oh yeah, and our fridge has an actual light bulb in it, one that's for a light on the roof haha. Ironically, all the lights on the roof are different though.

The neighbours are all real nice (mainly piss heads ha, and random as but nice), everyone is pretty hippi which is fun, more fun than the suburbs where we were anyway. We have an artist, a poet, a band next door (who are awesome), a fossil hunter who is amazingly good on the guitar. Althogh did wake up one morning to someone sleeping outside our door which was not that sweet but I guess you get that in this type of place.

Have had some real neat fridays here, having drinks on the front porch with people playing their guitars and singing. Our neighbour plays lefthanded and crazy.

What else? I've changed coffee shop jobs, decided that the other place is too far to travel to cos it took me about 45mins each way. There's a Second Cup 2mins from here so went and asked for a job and started there yesterday. A girl from the old coffee shop used to work at this one and said the owner is real cheap so to count my hours etc. He seems pretty sweet though and there's people who have been there for over a year so I'm sure he pays them. I'll see how it works out anyway. There heaps of bars and restaurants on 4th St, that I can get work at if I need to.

Went to the Stampede parade on the 9th July which was ok. People talked it up too much to me so wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Was pretty much just floats and heaps and heaps of horses. A week later we went to the Stampede grounds, the chuckwagon races and the grandstand show. My boss gave me some tickets to play games etc, so we won a couple of toys, had a few drinks at the races. It's awesome, crazy how fast they go. They start facing to wroung way on the track, then do a figure 8 and take off around the track. They have two jockeys who go round the track too, and have to be within a certain lenght of wagon to win. It's so neat to watch. Neat that they have kept the tradition of it going here.

Works all good, got taken out for lunch by our District Manager for making 20% more than our target the second month I worked there so that was nice. Going to tell the DM tomorrow that I'm going to leave at the end of Oct, ahhhhhh, I hate doing stuff like this. I already told them I wasn't going to renew my visa so they know I'm leaving. I need her to be a reference to my CV for applying for mountain jobs so need to tell them asap.

Heading off on our trip next week, so can't wait to get away for a bit. Heading up to Jaspar National Park and then down the bottom on Britsh Columbia to Salmo for Shambhala for four days of partying and awesome music!

Have been getting the van ready for the trip. We are making a tarp into a awning so have been stiching it today. We have to hooks to screw onto the side of the van, a pole that will sit on them with the tarp wrapped around that. Two 6ft poles to hold it out, will take some pics at the festival. Also making some sweet black as curtains cos we have white ones at the mo.

Got birhtday cards already and your treats package Mum, yay, thanks for all from home xoxo. Can't believe I'm going to be 26 already!!

OOooo annnnnddd I bought a new snowboard the other day too. Went into the store to suss out exactly what I wanted and then went online and found it for $345 Canadain when they wanted $460 plus tax in the store. So freakin stoked, YAY for me!