Dicko's Travel Journal

Photos: Whistler

sdicko101 — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 07:15:00 GMT

Whistler - changing of seasons

Whistler - the beginning

sdicko101 — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 07:30:00 GMT

Whistler

15th October 2010

It was a cold crisp morning in Vancouver as I jumped on the Greyhound for the 2hr 45min journey up to Whistler, the bus was virtually empty besides a couple of other making the religious journey up to the mountain at this time of the year. The bus ride takes you along the sea to sky highway (HWY 99) and I can see why it has that name as it traverses the steep mountain rising on your right while there are beautiful inlets and coves to your left. Quite a spectacular view and luckily the weather was on my side, not a cloud in the sky. I arrived on schedule in the Whistler Village at noon, now at this stage I was assuming my hostel was located in the "The Village" as it is commonly referred to, as this is where the action is and hostels generally tend to be situated close to the action. This was my first mistake. The hostel was actually a 15-20min bus ride back the way I just came quite a ways out of the Village and no where near the action. So I again jumped on a bus and made my way to where it was. From the bust stop it was another 20min hike uphill to where it was, no easy feat wearing a big winter jacket and carrying three bags. Lets just say I was a bit on the smelly side by the time I arrived. It was at this point a really took in the beauty of the valley and surrounding snow capped peaks and it really is awe inspiring view to say the least.After checking in and a quick tidy up I was straight on the hunt for a permanent place to live for the season, this I thought to be the most important thing to get sorted as I was eve's dropping on quite a few other people staying in the hostel and every conversation seemed to be about how hard it is to find decent accommodation close to the action and relatively affordable. So I contacted the first add I viewed,a bit more than I wanted to pay but seemed in a good location, and to my luck it was still available. So I made the bus ride back to the Village to meet the guy, a German named Oliver, we had a conversation to get to know each other and find more about the room (note the room is a shared room not a private room I really don't know how anyone could afford a private room). Oliver had been working in the Austrian Alps for the past four years and is now in Whistler for his first season, quite a laid back character. He took me to the house, which was only a two minute walk from the Village center and the lifts up the mountain, it is a four bedroom house that I would be sharing with 7 others (two per room) and they were three Germans and four Australians. Nice and cozy with fire place and hot tub. It was only the first place i had seen but instantly wanted to move in, so I went back to the hostel so I could think about it and compare prices with other adds in the area. It took my only 1 hour to decide that I would take it, so I called Oliver hoping it was still available and luckily it was!! Done deal, I am to move in on the 1st November. Next on my list is to find a job and this may be a couple weeks in the works as the next rush on hiring is mid November. Guess I will be living the dream until then.

16th October 2010

I got three new roommates in my dorm room at the HI Hostel, three Aussies of course, and these guys are the some of the loosest guys I have ever met!! There is Jarron from Bunbury, Jono from Perth and Cameron from Perth but he is studying at a University on Vancouver Island at Victoria. Awesome blokes and always keen for a good time, especially Jono and Cameron as they were only here for a few days Jarron is here for the season like me. Anyway so after dinner we all commandeer the pool table for an all night drinking session and shenanigans, unfortunately there is no bar at the hostel so a trip to the liquor store (not Bottle-o) is in order. We came back with a couple of twelve packs and the guys had some captain morgan rum, good night ahead haha. During the night I met so other Australians, Camo & Raquel from the Gold Coast and had been traveling for the last four months through Europe and then there was the token Canadian, Matt who was here from Ontario here to work and board for the season. Its funny in Whistler it seams that Canadians are the foreigners and not the everyone else. Tonnes of Aussies, Poms and Germans running around the place. Anyway the night was pretty big and was up drinking, shooting pool and making new friends until 4am.

17th October 2010

Woke up at 10am a bit dusty from the previous nights antics but feeling pretty good overall, especially after some Vegemite toast yuummmm!! As it was Sunday there wasn't much point on job hunting so I declared it a rest day and the job hunting was going to have to wait until Monday and more like the rest of the next week or two. Spent majority of the day lounging around the hostel and looking up potential places to inquire about jobs so I had a plan of attack the next day, that was until this pommie guy called Dan and a Canadian chick called Ruby started doing tequila shots and playing pool...it didn't take long for my rubber elbow to be convinced to join them for a few shots and games of pool. We polished of the bottle of tequila, Dan and Ruby were plastered and pretty much were passed out by 4 in the arvo. At this point I met a bunch of lads from UK who had just rocked up at the hostel, Harvey, Matt and Luke. These boys told me about a facebook group to join "Whistler Seasonaires", this guy called Andy runs a bunch of social events for anyone new to whistler so you can meet new people and network for houses, jobs ect. The first of these events was tonight at the Longhorn Pub for locals night. So that was the plan for the night. We rocked up around 9pm, pretty sweet cowboy looking pub that reminds you of an old saloon. The majority of the people that turned up for the event were from the hostel, it was looking to be a big night as the free coronas and food starting coming out. Pretty sweet deal join a group on facebook and get free coronas I wasn't going to complain haha. With the coronas flowing, fireball shots (cinnamon rye) and rye and cokes going down easily you can say I was getting wasted and results in me lighting a fire on the dancte floor....Great night out, new friends, lots of free drinks, gorgeous women, dangerous moves on the dance floor and to cap it off a slice of pizza at 1am for the trip back to the hostel.

18th and 19th October 2010

These two days was spent getting resume's and cover letters ready and visiting hotels/resorts in Whistler to inquire about jobs, quite productive two days....

20th October 2010

I awoke early and made my way into the village as I wanted to get some more job hunting done before 2pm as the Whistler Seasonaire's was holding a cricket match in the afternoon and then onto to Buffalo Bills pub for more drinks and socialising. Very proactive day on the job hunt so I was quite satisfied with myself, 12 beers in hand and off to play cricket against those stinking poms. They took the first test match which I missed now it was time for redemption, the match was being played at Whistler Creek near Alta Lake, a beautiful piece of green grass for a cricket match. However, it wasn't looking good for the Aussies as only three of us turned up compared to about 10 poms. So we had some of the poms on the Aussie side and as you can imagine we weren't going to win with those odds. The poms are a bunch of cheating, no good ball chuckers haha...nah jokes aside it was a fair match but the poms wiped the floor with the Aussies. My form with the bat and ball were both appalling. Poms up 2-0 in the test series, shit! Guess only one thing to do was to drown my sorrows at Buffalo Bills tonight....and that I did. Had a good night drinking with the Whistler Seasonaire crew, coronas and fireball shots again, ended up busting dangerous moves on the dance floor and dancing in a cage with a hot Canadian chick...goooood times! Ended up heading home around 1am and to my surprise a bunch of people were still awake at the hostel, Matt the Canadian had the guitar out and the inevitable good old sing-a-long was on the cards. As everyone returned from the night out they joined in so it ended up around 20 people in the hostel common room singing tunes. Bedtime 3am....

21st October 2010

Today was spent getting resume's and cover letters ready and visiting hotels/resorts in Whistler to inquire about jobs, quite productive day and took some landscape photos of the views from the hostel. Great view of the mountain peaks and fresh snow on its peaks....then a quite night back at the hostel.

22nd October 2010

Woke up early and headed for the bus stop into the village to do the job thing again..sitting at the bus stop headphones in and daydreaming of snowboarding through fresh snow..I was waken from this daydream by a Canadian dude sitting next to me. He pointed across the road to a bear that had just popped out of the forest, I was like ohhhh how cool, that thought quickly turned to concern as the bear sprinted across the road directly towards the bus shelter where me and three others were sitting. Now the bus stops in Whistler are all enclosed in glass to protect from the elements and with only one entry/exit, and the bear was running directly for that opening. I was thinking shit there is going to be trouble if I get cornered in this bus shelter with a bear...luckily as the first two people began fleeing from the bus shelter the bear realised there was people inside the shelter and it wasn't a good place to get out of the weather. The bear swiftly changed direction and ran around the bus shelter and disappeared into the forest behind. Exciting and concerning at the same time, but awesome I got to see a bear before they head for hibernation in a few weeks. Anyway, made my way into town to do the job hunt thing again, had a great day lined up a couple of job interviews one at Whistler Blackcomb mountain as a Guest Service Agent (hope I get that one as you get a season ski pass), Fairmont Chateau Hotel front desk position and Roots clothing store as a sales assistant. Also more good news I sold my car back in OZ, more money in the bank. Thank you parents for help with that one. Good day over and it was time to head back to the hostel for dinner and a few beers. Had a quite night playing pool and fooseball (played against these two welsh sisters and they were unbelievable at it) and talking shit. Bring on the weekend....

23rd October 2010

The day began fairly late as I enjoyed a nice sleep in and a very quite day was on the cards. Washing, eating, a bit of light reading and I decided to hike around the area and take some photos of the view from the hostel towards the snow capped mountains. A spectacular sunset view!! The evening consisted of a couple of beers, watching the Toronto Maple Leafs loose in ice hockey. No going out tonight as I decided three times in one week is plenty and the regular Sunday session at the Longhorns will be a huge event.

24th October 2010

Today only one thing is going to happen....Sunday Session at the Longhorn Pub!! This is a great locals night and we get free food and free Coronas at the start of the night!! Its going to get messy haha. Not a very productive day just updated my resume and printed more out for the job hunt next week. I started getting on the gas around 2ish in the hostel common room, nothing crazy just a few warm up beers before heading to Longhorns. We headed on in at 8pm for the fun to begin. Once again the Whistler Seasonaire group has arranged free entry for everyone and the food this time is Mexican wraps, nachos and good old chicken wings. Being on a budget this is now my dinner haha. Surely enough the free coronas start coming out the same as last week but this time we got twice as many...6 quick beers later I'm on my way to being smashed. Can't beat getting hammered for free every Sunday, I think this is going to become a regular event....well until the snow starts. In the end great night out with my new friends and really cheap one at that..

25th October 2010

Ouch...head is hurting from the night before, Ive decided that those three fireball shots followed by a jager bomb at the end night was a bad choice. Oh well it was a great night!! Up early today on the job hunt this week, I really need to get myself sorted in that area before the hordes of people arrive next week and snap up the jobs on offer. Got into the village fairly early so I could drop of as many as possible and I had an interview with the Roots store that afternoon. The resume dropping wasn't too successful the standard response is "we are not hiring just yet but you can fill out an application and we will keep your CV on file", I'm thinking that is just the polite way of saying that your CV is going straight to the incinerator thanks for your interest though!! Haha. Anyway my interview at the Roots store went super well and got on with the store manager (JM) really easily. This is the most positive response to a job that I have got so far and I actually wouldn't mind working there even if its minimum wage. The manager is so chilled out and relaxed, the sell awesome clothes, its a Canadian owned company and best of all hot girls work there. Cha ching!! We just have to see though as he will give me a call back if he is interested...no drinking tonight need an early night to catch up on much needed sleep. Zzzzz's

26th October 2010

Photos: Vancouver

sdicko101 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 05:18:00 GMT

Around Vancouver on my first few days in Canada...

Arriving in Canada

sdicko101 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 03:17:00 GMT

Vancouver

11th October 2010

After enduring three weeks of almost constant rain on the Gold Coast and only a couple of days with sunshine (I know tough life right) I could not help but think it was just a prelude to the weather I would be experiencing once in Canada. On the day of my departure I was half thinking that my flight would not even get of the ground as it was bucketing down with rain and there was huge winds threatening to put a brief hold on my departure but my concerns were soon eased and the departure screen had my flight as an on time take off...now at this point it hit me that I was actually heading overseas and it was full steam ahead. The flight was uneventful and after four movies and a couple hours of sleep we were landing in Vancouver..."ladies and gentleman thank you for flying with Air Canada the current weather in Vancouver is 6 degrees (I had to convert from Fahrenheit) and showers", this is the sort of weather I am to expect until I arrive in Whistler and the snow starts falling. As I was going through customs all the Australians had to go through immigration and get there work visas approved, I had no problems but I had to have a bit of a laugh as a young guy next to me was being asked by the immigration officials about his long criminal record and why he should be let in the country and the kid couldn't understand how Canada would know about his history in Australia, not sure if he got let in but he was questioned for a long period. It was 8am Monday morning and as it happens it was a public Holiday...Canada's version of Thanksgiving which to my surprise it is a different day to America, I jumped on the subway and headed for downtown and to my hostel, "The Cambie". I had to trek 10 or so blocks to the hostel and during that walk I encountered roughly 10 or 12 homeless men begging for money most were harmless and would leave you alone if you said "sorry I ave no change" but there were a couple I'm sure were out of there minds on some sort of illegal substance that I did my best to steer clear of. I made it to my hostel with no hassle and was able to check in early and as it was a public holiday and pretty much nothing was open I decided to catch a few zzz's that I had missed out on in the last 24hrs. I woke around lunch and decided to do some exploring, I hit Granville Street which is the main road through downtown Vancouver and where all the action would be on a non-public holiday day. After a few hours of wandering the streets I headed back to the Cambie around late afternoon, just in time too as was Monday Night football (big event) and also the Vancouver Canucks were playing a home hockey match. So for my first night I settled myself into the downstairs bar for pints of Canadian beer (kokanne, Moosehead) and a plate of buffalo chicken wings and hung out with two German guys, a Czech guy and two pommie girls. The bar got fairly rowdy as the Canucks won and I got a bit on the intoxicated side....oops.

12th October 2010

I woke up the next day a bit hazy but nothing I hadn't experience before haha, the day ahead I spent trying to organise a SIN number, bank accounts and finding a cheap phone nothing too exciting but the the weather at least was not raining and only overcast. I made it back to the hostel for a free pasta dinner at 5pm which was surprisingly quite tasty for a free meal, after the meal me and one of the Germans (Frederick) went around the corner to the Amsterdam Cafe (you can guess what happens in there) haha. We were sitting next to this older guy who was explaining to us how to roll a master spliff and then demonstrated how to smoke it properly...quite a lesson in smoking the herb if your into that sort of stuff. He then was telling us how he was a lawyer for a big law firm in Vancouver and he was explaining the hard-ball negotiating skills he employs when dealing with clients... I think he had smoked a bit too much of BC's finest!! He was a bit of a nut. We then headed back to the hostel for a few quite beers nothing too big.

13th October 2010

I woke up early the next day as I had planned to do a bit of sightseeing, I ate my complementary "Cambie Breakfast" (eggs, bacon, grits, sausage) and headed out. The day was magnificent, blue skies with not a cloud in sight, and my first destination was Granville Island where there are all these interesting markets to forage through. Spent the morning there wandering the isles for any cool trinkets to buy and had a pulled pork sandwich for lunch, yummmmmy! After the lunch I headed to Stanley Park for some open air natural beauty. I spent the afternoon walking around this magnificent park (its definitely a must do in Vancouver)admiring the great views over the ocean and the oddly shaped totem poles scattered around the place. It was getting late by the time I had done a fair bit of exploring, if I had more time I would of liked to visit the Vancouver Aquarium to see the belugas as it is also in Stanley Park, maybe next time!I made if back to the hostel and picked up a sixer of Pacific Pilsner beer (it was the cheapest) on the way. I sat in the common room eating my Vegemite sandwich and drinking my beer with an American guy from Kansas City (Sam), we polished of 6 beers, talked shit and pondered what to do with the night ahead. He suggested we go to this Karaoke bar as he new a bunch of Canadians that were going and it should be a good night. We decided to walk it as we thought it was fairly close, but as it turns out it wasn't we took a short cut through Chinatown where we came across several crack-heads shooting up in an alleyway and a block away police and ERT helping some guy who had obviously overdosed on something and needed help. A bit shocking but apparently quite common in that part of town, anyway we hiked about 20 or so blocks and 45mins later we finally made it to the bar. It was packed and some girl was on stage nailing Whitney Houston's bodyguard song, very impressive for a karaoke bar, it was at the point me and the American agreed we were i no way going to sing with that much singing talent to compare to haha. Anyway we met up with his Canadian friends, four guys in some sort of band they had the token Asian keyboard player and the lead singer was a Kings of Leon look-a-like, also three Canadian girls who turns out were absolutely wild. The American and I got stuck into $3.20 Molson pints and I tell you what the next day I would find out why it was so cheap (my head was thumping!!), the night was heaps of fun but from what I remember I didn't get on stage and sing but one of the Canadian girls did and she wasn't too shabby. The bar closed at midnight so we decided to move on to a club on Granville Street called Roxys, on the way one of the girls just wiped out a massive joint. God knows where she was hiding it, apparently almost everyone in Canada likes the BC grass everyone seems so casual and liberal about it. I'm not sure if it is legal or not but there are cafe's where you can take your own stuff, roll it and smoke it but you can't buy it. Anyway, we jumped into a taxi and headed to the club when we got there a live band was playing so as you can imagine the dance floor was calling. 3 or four jager shots and a couple of rye and cokes later it was time to head home. Don't remember the walk home but I made it back to the hostel in one piece, what a good night!!