7th February – Ocho Rios, Jamaica

We didn’t crawl out of bed until midday today. We obviously needed a very good nights sleep! We went downstairs for brunch via the spew patterned carpet and then the day consisted of exploring the massive hotel with all the pools and facilities. We lazed away for a while in the sun and then Dan went out snorkeling in the water. He said it was weedy and he had been spoilt in some of the places we had been to and therefore it just wasn’t as good as what he was hoping. Oh well, he didn’t let that stop him. He went for a play on the water trampolines and then we went kayaking for a while in the ocean. Great fun. We spent the afternoon soaking up the sun by the beach. Snorkelling wasn’t too flash, but I found an ID tag and whistle. Do you think I could pass as Leon Gray, Pool Attendant?
We walked along the beach (this property has its own private one) and watched the sun set which was okay but the colours were pretty good. I don’t know if you all think our hotel, Sunset Jamaica Grande, is yellow enough. Work it out for yourselves!!

A nice lazy half day in the sun and we topped up out suntans from Central America. Later that night the hotel had a “Pirates and Wenches” Party. Us, like most people, didn’t dress up however we enjoyed a great dinner on the beach with the entertainment. The most bizarre part of the night was an act of two men with one leg, ironically called “One Pair” each who got up and danced to a song. All we could think of was “freak show”.

6th February – Toronto, Canada – Ocho Rios, Jamaica

With the three hour time difference between Toronto and Vancouver we ended up landing in Toronto just after 7.00am. The flight was fairly turbulent and we kept getting lower and lower and then suddenly there was the tarmac. Not that we could see it, because it and the rest of the airport and the whole of Toronto had been covered in a blanket of snow. No wander so many planes had been cancelled or diverted. We hopped off the plane and cleared through immigration to the International Airport. We stopped for possibly the most unappetizing breakfast that included yellow rubber eggs. Not too tasty. I then stocked up on the some duty free as it was one of the few flights that we would not be transiting through the US for, hence unable to bring much onto the plane in the way of liquid. We then had to hang around the airport for around a further two hours to wait for our connection to Montego Bay in Jamaica. We just sat and watched the snow plows in action trying to remove all of the snow and ice around the airport. We saw 19 snowplows at one time (and we could only see a section of the airport) working overtime to enable the flow of planes to occur. We finally boarded for Jamaica and taxied out along the runways when the pilot advised that we would have to stop at the “De-Icing Station” to have all of the snow and ice melted off the plane. These machines lift up high off the ground with long spray machines that spray the aircraft with warm water (coloured green or orange to show where it has been sprayed) and all of the ice and snow slid off and then we were off. Bring on the warm weather!
Lifting off from Toronto we could see that the whole city was under a blanket of snow. We quickly went into the clouds and that was Canada gone. On our approximately 4 hours and 40 minute flight to Jamaica we passed over a lot of the Caribbean. We could see the Bahamas and its’ capital Nassau.Next, we flew over the top of Cuba. Both looked amazing and the water was clear and turquoise from the air. We finally made it to Jamaica and we flew along the coast. Jamaica was so green, hilly and the water was clear. Alarmingly it had its airport right on the water so we were sitting around 20 metres above the water and still could not see the runway! Never mind, we landed safely and it was warm!!! It took us well over an hour to clear customs. We whizzed through immigration and we were off on our two hour trip to Ocho Rios. The bus left, stopping for beer (as Jamaicans do).We just ended up sleeping for part of the journey being so tired from the red eye flight and long day of travel. It was dark by the time we arrived in the hotel. We had dinner and a drink and crashed early, ready to explore Jamaica tomorrow!

4th – 5th February – Vancouver, BC, Canada

A fairly unexciting last couple of days in Vancouver. It mainly consisted of packing everything up, sending home what didn’t fit and also sorting out a bag of cold weather gear to stay in Vancouver for when Dan returns in March. We managed to fit it all in and should be able to make it back to Australia with no excess luggage charges.

We said goodbye to Janine and headed to the airport for our flight which was leaving at 11.50pm. We are flying to Jamaica via Toronto who have just issued warnings for their airport that there are imminent snowstorms and many flights will be cancelled or diverted. We kept checking the status of our flight and all looked good. At the airport, we got a last Vancouver Starbucks in and the flight left on time.
Bye Vancouver.

3rd February – Whistler – Vancouver, BC, Canada

Tan and I woke up first out of the group in the condo. Our check out time was 10am and we woke up at 9:30am. After our shower Tan did the rounds waking everyone up. There were a lot of sore heads after the late night. We cleaned up and when everyone was nearly ready, there was a knock on the door. Four young blokes turned up just we all had finished packing. The give away was that one was carrying a vacuum cleaner. So that was a good cue to call the taxis to go into town.
With our gear dropped off we hit the Irish pub for a quick breakfast. Belly, Mick and I were very keen to hit the slopes. During breakfast Brendo had a wave of nausea which wasn’t much fun. We parked him up outside in the cool air and it didn’t take long for him to feel better.

The three of us hit the lifts with Jaimie following a few gondolas behind. At the top of the gondola the view was magic! Mick was keen to practice by himself on the slopes after a fall the day before. I, on the other hand, was keen to try anything Belly and Jaimie had to throw at me! With only 500m of boarding under my belt for the day, we hit the Peak chairlift. This took us to the top of Whistler. It was a cool -10 C but it was party cloudy and the view was absolutely unbelievable!! A full 360 degree panorama greeted us. We stopped for a few photos and then we were off down the slopes. Our first run was on the icy side of the peak. At one stage I fell and the icy slope was like a big slippery slide. As soon my edge grabbed I slow down and composed myself to board down. Jaimie and Belly were great. They were quicker than me but always stopped to make sure I was alright and could catch up. Back up another two chairlifts and we were on the peak again but we went the other way. We went all over the mountain, hunting out relatively fresh snow. One black run, was a steep slope where I could put my hands out on the slope while going down. Towards the base of it I had to get quite a bit of speed to get through the powdery bowl. I stopped on a ridge and made a video of me snowboarding and after about 30 seconds I crashed. The snow here was really soft and it was more funny than sore to fall.

We hit more slopes and ended up going down a black run full of moguls along a ridge with drop offs. I felt confident and took it easy. Once off the ridge we met a awesome slope full of powder that was sensational. At the base of the chairlift we consulted the run map and realized we could get something similar by hitting the Glacier Bowl. We did and it was that good, we hit again, with 7 minutes left before that lift closed. Such a memorable run, and the best fun I have had in a while (and I have done a lot of fun things too). Belly and Jaimie pushed me hard and I rose to the challenge, very sore and exhausted.
We broke up and boarded into the Whistler Village where everybody was hanging out. Tan, Brendo and Toni spent the best part of the day being pampered in a day spa and drinking hot chocolate.

The limo arrived at 5:30pm and the driver wasn’t concerned about speeding. This guy flew down the mountain and got us into Vancouver in no time. At this stage we didn’t really care as we were all tired after our Whistler Rock Star weekend “Living the dream!!”.

2nd February – Whistler, BC, Canada

Tan and I woke up a bit late, admired the pile of snow on the balcony and then walked down the icy road to the base of Blackcomb Mountain. After a quick breakfast, I geared up and then went up the chairlift then onto another. Here I was ready for my first run, a blue or intermediate run. I was a little risty at the start feeling the edge on this different board and the run was a little icy. I made it successfully to the bottom and then hit the next parallel run and threw in a few jumps. I was feeling good by now! I waited for the group after a few phone calls, six of us met at the bottom of Jersey Cream chairlift. Belly, Jaimie and Toni on skis and Horn, Andrea and I on boards. We cruised down the start of the run I did previous and then decided we would hit a black (or difficult) run. On the way I hit a jump and got about 1m of air but I had a flat landing.

The black run was a little ambitious. It was full of moguls, though at least the top of the moguls was soft and powdery. I took a lot of powder as I graded my way through the piles of snow. I made it to the bottom of the moguls, a first for me, thinking that it wasn’t the best run to try for my third day on the board. It was still lots of fun.

We ended up going up near the peak of Blackcomb and work our way along a mix of blue runs and the occasional green or easy cat track. Following Horn down the hill and seeing what jumps he was hitting gave me confidence to nail a few on the way down. Near the top of the mountain, the snow was more fresh and powdery and just a pleasure to snowboard through. The crashes were more pleasurable as they didn’t hurt at all!
We had a late lunch, chili, of course, and then hit the same area. We went down a steep moguled black run called Heavenly Paradise. We took it easy, as Leo twisted his ankle. After that I went back to the top and boarded all the way down the mountain to the bottom. When I realized I had gone to the wrong spot I went up the slowest chairlift ever on the beginner run to get back and around to the base of the Whistler and Blackcomb gondolas. With one more day under belt on the slopes, I felt quite confident to hit small jumps, link turns and board switch heel side – pretty impressed. Along the way down, I boarded into an awaiting Brendo and Tan, who had spent the day watching Logan’s Run (dreadful 60’s flick) and James Bond. We walked the 500m down the ski slope to Black’s pub to catch up with the rest of the crew. With some indecision, six of us stayed in for booze and food with the idea of cooking a BBQ. All but one of us were Aussies, so a BBQ sounded like a great area. But first the hot tub beckoned us all to come in, so we did, complete with champers and Coronas. The hot water on the aching muscles was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Well, it was way to cold to cook outside, so Belly and I started with the snags in the fry pan. We had no oil and the Canadian snags aren’t like ours which are filled with fat and oil and the occasional bit of meat. We cooked the snags in a mix of water, hommus and beer. Very untraditional but we had limited (no) supplies. It turned out well!

1st February– Vancouver – Whistler, Canada

Sometimes we just have to pinch ourselves to think how lucky we are! Today was one of these days. I put on my best clothes (which in reality isn’t much as I have been living out of a back pack for 7 and a half months) and presented to the Board of Directors as part of a larger technical meeting. Horn, Brendo and I nailed it and it was a successful day.

Living the dream……

After Hornado’s party we all decided a ski trip to Whistler was on the cards and a limo factored in quite heavily. A group of us meet at Leo’s for a 8:30pm pick up.Beers (48 bottles), champagne (five bottles), bags and great company, the nine of us boarded our awaiting stretch SUV limousine. Talk about rock stars (it’s actually just as cheap with a large group to go in style instead of catching the bus). Jaimie and Brendo powered in, with Mick, Tan and I next. Leo and Andrea lay back in style while Belly and Toni took control of the heating, Corona opening and the tunes. We were all like kids in a candy shop, laughing and talking up the trip. The limo was full of gadgets, flashing lights and a mirrored roof. Carlos, our driver did a great job on the slippery and busy roads and put up with our raucous behaviour. Talk about a lot of fun! On departing the limo, it was an absolute disgrace, so as in Canada we gave him a generous tip.
We made it to upper Whistler Village, to our 4 bed room condo complete with hot tub and thick blanket of the white fluffy stuff we have grown to love. Tan did a fantastic job organising the trip with our new best travel agent, Linda Benoit!

After a long successful day and a big chauffeured drive, the hot tub beckoned. I was first in followed by Horn. The 5 foot high pile of snow proved to be a great refrigerator come snow slide into the tub. The finished the night with only 2 beers remaining and lots of empty bottles.