Day 2 - CA

Happy Australia Day! I know some people enjoyed it ; )

Anyway, day two and I almost missed it. Steve and Jo let me sleep in and when Steve said that I was about to miss breakfast by 15 mins, I thought he was joking. They let me sleep in till 11:45. Ducked out for breaky into and went to this pretty stylish supermarket. That's right, you don't normally put stylish and supermarket in the same paragraph let alone sentence but check out how they present their fresh produce...

Woolie's could learn a thing or two

Well, todays mission was to buy a bag, bindings and boots and I got a little more than I thought. Scored some gear; Burton Custom Wide board, Burton Cartel bindings and a Dakine bag. Good gear, not cheap but that sorta stuff isn't cheap in AU either.

Jo and Steve were off to a work thing so I met up with the crew I'll be boarding with at this dingy pub under where they're staying and in a dodgy neck of the woods. And I mean dodgy... they got photos of a drug deal down the ally next to the hotel hahaha! Plus the pub had a baseball bat behind the bar!

Mitch and Cam

In the mean time, we had a few beers and turned out it was a bit of a 50's theme night so we got some pics. Had some odd shots too. Can't remeber one but the other had some banana liqueur in it but looked blue!

Corey, Amanda (birthday girl) and Jesse - Locals or yocals at the pub

Now, before I met up with them I left the appartment and asked the concierge to book me a cab because the snow that had started to fall in the arvo had turned to rain. So I'm waiting in the lobby and a couple come around the corner asking about a cab and the desk dude was saying that he was calling me one and they were taking their time (he'd been on hold for 5 mins) and this guy appologises thinking he'd interupted me. I said no probs and by then I'd already done a double take but it was Keanu Reeves! Now I know that some of you won't believe me without photographic proof however I'm not the kinda guy who feels it's okay to invade their privacy so I decided I'd leave it as quite a privilage to have traded glances a few times. I mean, how often does a celebrity get to meet me? Lucky guy!

Blogging this is proof that I managed to survive the hood as there's beggers a plenty around the pub (apparently taxis don't stop if there's just one person hailing) and it's not wise to walk in pluggers down the street due to the number of sharps lying around.

Tomorrow: bus ride to Whistler

Day 1 - CA

'Welcome to sunny San Francisco...' says the first officer followed by muffled laughter from the passengers...

It's nice to know the rain is as miserable here as it is back home

So you thought I was flying to Canada from Sydney... well... so did I. I arrived in the end however the brief stop in San Fran is actually a method that the U.S. uses to include you in their security database including any information attatched to your passport, a photo and fingerprint scans. The first officer should have said 'Welcome to the land of the paranoid'!

That aside, Bris to Syd to San Fran to Van flights were all pretty mundane. Forgetable food, minor turbullance, poor sleep and passable service were the order of the day. And due to the miracle of the international date line, I landed in Vancouver an hour before I took off from Sydney.

It it weren't for gravity, it would be fun playing around out there

After landing and bidding farewell to Jack (a nurse from Geelong who sat next to me from Syd), I caught a taxi (the driver asked if driving on the 'wrong' side of the road was weird and I said 'No, I mastered that years ago in Europe' refer Sarah, Fiona or Mim for further information) to Steve Perrett's place (of Wivenhoe fame) where we caught up and settled in. Jo (Steve's wife) came home and we went for dinner at a pub with some other friends of theirs; Chris, Lisa*, Brian and Tanya. Lisa studied* with Kate (also of Wivenhoe fame) in Sydney before moving to Canada.

Carbo loading for the cold!

Yes... the up photos have begun!

Tomorrows task: buy a snowboard, some bindings and a bag.

Oh, the answer to the big question that you all wanted to hear... yes... water in a toilet really does swirl backwards here.

Canada - Europe '08

Well, what started out as a snowboarding idea has turned into a seven week adventure. I'm looking forward to hitting Whistler with Cam and the crew along with catching up with his sisters whom I haven't seen for several years. Can't wait to see Steve and Jo again, hanging out with Gavin and Sarah, seeing if Kate and Tim are around and find out what Brendon's up to. Last but by no means least, it will have been about 6 months since I have seen Julie.

So it's locked and loaded now bring it on!