Mountain pics

Auuuusssiiieee Daayyyy times two!

Well we couldnt have felt more at home on Aussie Day in Canada. They surely put on a sweet show playing the jjj countdown live at one of the pubs. They also had sausage rolls, coopers pale ale and bundy rum selling to raise money for the qld floods....unreal. The night started out fairly early...bout 6 where jared, lehan, stu (our temp roomie) and myself preparing in our aussie gear (thanks to mum and adam and ben from work) with temp tatts on faces and flags wrapped around our bodies. We walked into town since it has been unfortunately warm the last few days (not good for snow) to join the rest of the aussies and all others that wanted to get in on the good tunes and dancing. Well my legs danced for hours and hours until number 1 of the countdown played at 3 in the morning!!! Everyone out was in awesome spirits and my giant blow up hand was a mega hit with hi 5s flying left right and centre from any happy random! Wednesday was an absolute recovery day with all of us feeling sorry for ourselves (especially Jared who was nursing some bruises after attempting to push bike home in snow... and maybe from all his breakdancing during the night). The actual 26th here was also another celebration with live bands and pies being sold...however Jared and I could only stomach a few drinks before retiring back to our beds. Was great to experience the day here, however Australia Days will always feel right with a bar-b, some sun, the surf and all my mates back home, in Australia. Thanks for all the gear mother, it was appreciated by all xoxo

Whiteswan hot springs

The snow gods still have the shits with us so the conditions on the hill have been icy slack with many runs being closed due to ava danger. ahhhhh. So today myself and a few other aussies in Fernie and one Canadian dude headed on a mini road trip to whiteswan hot springs...bout 2 hours North. Was amazing!!! Not like the other hot springs where they have been built from man made materials but just sweet little spas set up on the side of a rocky mountain, allowing the steaming water to trickle into them and make its way into the freezing flowing icey river below. The pools were super hot and my numb frozen feet took along time to adjust but finally i slipped my albino body into the sulfury hot bath! delight. Few photos to follow..one of my frozen icicle hair

More happenings

Today was a fun filled day driving to Calgary and back...NOT! Apparently British Columbia roads do not believe in having visible lanes, lighting or effective signage. We didn't go via Banff (one positive( this time) however managed to end up going 40km in the wrong direction before we realised something seemed odd, so we asked a truckie attaching chains to point us back on track (pretty much back the way we came). Atleast the diversion enabled us to see Elkwood...a town made up of a sign saying Elkwood and a petrol station. Well back on track we finally made it to Calgary where we dropped Stephen off to his hotel (he heads back tomorrow morning). Knowing the crappy conditions we thought we better head back so we get back before dark....our 3.5hr trip was then extended to a 5 hr trip as another scenic route was taken west instead of east...WHHHAAATTT??? so confusing its a straight road!!! Lesson learnt, always have a map, ipod (canadian radio is at a zero rating), and Lehan to reassure you that you are doing a great job a driving. Other news...Lehan is babysitting privately a couple of times a week, Jared landed a ski instructing position and I am still doing what I do best...being awesome haha. Also we have a Keith a UK dude crashing at ours for the week and a new house mate to replace Steve, Harmin a dutch dude that Jared kept feeding hot sauce too. The boys all had a big night last night and I woke to a group of giggly men hookin into any food in the kitchen that could be found which was followed by setting a couple of fire works off in the street which was followed by a neighbour being very unimpressed....we have apologised since. Also went trout fishing with Dennis and Oskar and Iszac however no such luck this time. Hopefully this rain stops so we can get some decent time on the mountain...fingers crossed. It's late, I won't be proofreading this.

snow day

Well this morning i was very very excited to get up early as it had been snowing all yesterday and through the night and it was a warm day on the mountain for once -1!!!! my sorta temperature. Anyway up early and dressed, took about 20 minutes to get the car ready as it was like an iced cake with snow frosting all over. Another 20 minutes to shovel the driveway and finally was off!!! Approximately 5 seconds later, the old van decided to refuse to push through the powder and stuck on the road we were. ahhhhh devastation. The friendly neighbour helped to lay sand down but for some strange reason Mr Plough feels no need to plough our driveway after the snow!!!! Dammit. After 10 minutes of more shovelling we were defeated so pulled back into the driveway...not impressed. ahhhhh well, could hitch but probably should start job hunting as that was the plan after boarding today. Atleast its a nice day to walk into town :)

powder day and the new addition to our fernie family..our van

A Cunningcrispmas in banff

So finally back in fernie after a couple of weeks in Banff for Christmas and New Year. Had an absolute ball. Unreal mix of people at the house which made it pretty special. The orphan Christmas was spent with lunch at Earls followed by a few hundred drinks back at the house which carried on for some well into Boxing Day. There was no evidence of any homesickness simply because the company was so freaking fun!!! Got up to the mountain a few times (Sunshine) and attempted a day at \lake Louise which was cut super short as it was -30 and icy and im pretty sure the skin cells on my toes were starting to blacken. Went on a day trip with Binnie, Drew and Scotti to a frozen waterfall which was a pretty awesome sight, and people were ice pickin their way up the punk!! crazy. New Years was at our house with the theme of dress to your wig... So you buy a wig and dress to it. I Thought ahead with the knowledge of my eyes in photos and decided to match my wig to me eyeballs (red as) and then go from there. Once again an amazing night with DJ Phil Noda on the decks till 9.30am pretty much and most of the population of Banff was in the house. I however took advantage of Rhys' king mattress and snuggled in there while he partied on. Scotti and I raced to the bridge to watch teh fireworks for the countown and Binnie impressed people (and nearly killed himself) by stripping down to a leotard in -20 degree temps to run home...anything for a laugh and an applause eh. All in all was a wicked night. The last few nights in Banff scotti and I had a hotel room for some time before the boys left (and to avoid the snoring rendition by drew and binnie). Bought a $650 plymoth voyager to bring back for a sweet van to get us to the mountain and back. Drove the boys to calgary last night and said our goodbyes for now...definately not a highlight of my trip at all. The van got me back home to fernie safely even though i chose the scenic route, but 5 hours, 1 tank of petrol, a few mountain goats, a hitchhicker, and a thousand tears later i am home with Lehan relieved that she didn't ahve to call the accident line to see if something had happened to me. :)