Hi all
Firstly I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year.
Christmas was an uneventful time, didnt do a lot with my 2 days off. Visited Andy and his family for Christmas Dinner got tipsy and thats about it. I was thinking Alison was going to go home for Christmas, as she likes to be near her family over the festive period; however she decided to stay here and spend her first Chrimbo away from home, this was about my 8th away from home; I really dont like Christmas (bar-humbug).
Work New Years Eve until about 5am then off 1st & 2nd. Dinner round at my friends house on the 2. And that is really just about all I did.
Works died down so I have had a nice couple of long weekends off in a row, but just wasted them really, maybe we should have gone out somewhere.
The snow has almost gone :-(, but I am sure we'll get some more soon.
Sorry its not a lot to tell you this month, until next time.
Al
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Friday, 18 December 2009
13th December
13 December
After my dad left for home I didn't do a lot so just put my head into work, I even volunteered for overtime, which is rare.
Then the best news ever, Alisons LMO application had been accepted and she was coming back :-), although she wasn't rushing. Whilst waiting for her return I took the oppertunity to find somewhere closer to work for us both to live, it turned out my colleague was leaving his rented house and it was perfect for us. Only 7km from work for me and roughly 10min walk for Alison, so I moved out of my lovely 1 bed flat into a 4 bed house for roughly the same money, in the town of High River, which was the filmset for the original Superman movies (his home town)
Alison arrived back into Calgary airport on Tuesday 17th November, without the all important medical certificate, this could have been a major problem as she shouldn't have been able to get her work visa witout it, however it turned out great. Customs kept her passport for 24hrs and the following morning we rushed her around various medical centres for various tests, and with a little note from the Doctor to say she had been for the tests we went back to customs at the airport where they happily gave her the work permit; it was that simple. She started at the daycare on the Thursday.
Sunshine village ski hill opened it's doors to the public a week early, the 11th November, so as it was remberance day we had the day off; needless to say I rembered those we'd lost by hitting the overwhelmingly crowded ski slopes, it was a bank holiday, they'd recieved a big dump of snow and it was the only ski hill open, so I knew it'd be busy; still I had fun. Been a couple of times now, can't wait for my nephew and mates to get here in Feb.
We went to a friends house in Turner Valley for dinner which was an enjoyable evening and they have been to ours for a return meal, again it was a good evening.
Tempertures had dropped dramatically over the past couple of weeks, to a whopping -41c with the wind chill, it's not nice working in it, especially when you have to get underneath your truck to whack at the breaks with a hammer to release them. We've had a couple of feet of snow, so this meant more hard work; clearing the driveway. Not really done a lot else, due to working so hard.
Not many photos this month
Bye
After my dad left for home I didn't do a lot so just put my head into work, I even volunteered for overtime, which is rare.
Then the best news ever, Alisons LMO application had been accepted and she was coming back :-), although she wasn't rushing. Whilst waiting for her return I took the oppertunity to find somewhere closer to work for us both to live, it turned out my colleague was leaving his rented house and it was perfect for us. Only 7km from work for me and roughly 10min walk for Alison, so I moved out of my lovely 1 bed flat into a 4 bed house for roughly the same money, in the town of High River, which was the filmset for the original Superman movies (his home town)
Alison arrived back into Calgary airport on Tuesday 17th November, without the all important medical certificate, this could have been a major problem as she shouldn't have been able to get her work visa witout it, however it turned out great. Customs kept her passport for 24hrs and the following morning we rushed her around various medical centres for various tests, and with a little note from the Doctor to say she had been for the tests we went back to customs at the airport where they happily gave her the work permit; it was that simple. She started at the daycare on the Thursday.
Sunshine village ski hill opened it's doors to the public a week early, the 11th November, so as it was remberance day we had the day off; needless to say I rembered those we'd lost by hitting the overwhelmingly crowded ski slopes, it was a bank holiday, they'd recieved a big dump of snow and it was the only ski hill open, so I knew it'd be busy; still I had fun. Been a couple of times now, can't wait for my nephew and mates to get here in Feb.
We went to a friends house in Turner Valley for dinner which was an enjoyable evening and they have been to ours for a return meal, again it was a good evening.
Tempertures had dropped dramatically over the past couple of weeks, to a whopping -41c with the wind chill, it's not nice working in it, especially when you have to get underneath your truck to whack at the breaks with a hammer to release them. We've had a couple of feet of snow, so this meant more hard work; clearing the driveway. Not really done a lot else, due to working so hard.
Not many photos this month
Bye
Monday, 26 October 2009
21st October
Alison decided that she’d had enough of waiting about twiddling her thumbs over her LMO application; so she decided to bugger of back to dreary old England and wait it out in Yorkshire, I think the thought of my dad coming here for a month pushed her towards the UK. Anyway, she went home and has been working since she’s been back.
My dad arrived on the 20th September, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to his stay as we’ve always argued and got on each others nerves. His stay started off quite well, I took him round Calgary, the tower, High River, Black Diamond and into K-Country; he was impressed with endless scenery and couldn’t believe how hot it was, it was still in the late 20’s and it didn’t look like the summer was ever going to end. He complained about bringing his warm clothes and not enough summer clothes, he was soon thankful of his jumpers. The fall is a great time to visit here, you get the different colours in the trees, a little bit of snow in the mountains and it is still quite warm.
The first weekend of his visit we spent in Banff, apart from his CC being refused it was a great weekend. All the usual stuff, Banff Gondola, Lake Minnewanka ETC, but the climate to this weekend was him treating me to a helicopter flight with Alpine tours, over the Three Sisters Mountain Range and the town of Canmore, not long enough though; next year we will have a longer trip.
Me being at work during the evenings means we couldn’t really do a lot in the week, we did visit my local a few times but that’s about it.
Waterton Lakes National Park the following weekend, but this wasn’t planned and it wasn’t exactly a great start. We decided to hit Buffalo Jump on route, only to get there as they were getting ready to close, as it was almost time to close they didn’t charge us to get; we had just about enough time to walk around. As we drove towards the park, the sky got darker by the mile; snow clouds. By the time we reached Waterton visibility had reached the end of my nose; still we tried to make the most of it. Checked in at the hotel, had dinner in the last remaining restaurant (Waterton is a seasonal place), and then walked for a bit, before hitting the sack. We woke the following morning to several inches of snow on the ground that had caught the Canadians by surprise, having nothing to do this morning we decided to hit the blizzard covered roads and head off to Fernie (my fave place in the entire world). The Further from Waterton we got the better the weather, until at Fernie it was glorious sunshine, though chilly.
It was the first time I had visited Fernie outside of winter and I
wasn't disappointed; it was just the same only green not white. Fernie
is a very quiet place so those expecting a lot to do, forget it.
Skiing/boarding during the winter and hiking/biking during the summer.
Dad enjoyed his short visit there, time for home up the old cowboy
trail.
Again not much to do during the week, then for dads final full weekend
we hit Jasper and the beautiful Banff/Jasper highway. We stopped of at
Melissa's in Banff for breakfast, it was as busy as ever with people
queuing up to the door. Then off to Lake Louise, it was a bit chilly
and there was a spooky mist gliding gently across the lake, it looked
like something from a horror movie. We got some nice photos and walked
around then hit the road again. Dads turn to drive which was amusing
to me, he couldn't keep his eyes of the scenery and countless times I
had to remind which side of the road we drive on as he kept drifting
across the road. Met an English family at Peyto Lake and me dad
couldn't wait to use the "I'm visiting my son, he lives here” line. I
think he's proud of me (for once). We stopped at a few other sites
along the way until we reached the Columbia Icefield. We'd left it to
late to go on the icefield tour so we had a hot drink and continued on
our way. Our destination was the Sunwapta Falls Resort, 50km south of
Jasper. We checked in, but not until they had told us that they were
struggling go keep the water pipes from freezing, and the heating had
packed up. Jaspers a nice little town and you get great views from the
top of Whistlers Mountain. We visited Sunwapta Falls, Athabasca Falls,
Buck Lake, Osprey Lake, Weeping Wall, and Panther Falls which is a
huge waterfall down a rough narrow rarely trodden (by tourists) path
below Bridal Falls. The tour buses stop at Bridal Falls but the best
Falls is about 100 feet below in the gorge. All the Falls were frozen,
which makes for nice pictures. On the way home we were abject to hit
the Columbia Icefield Tour, $50, but worth it; it's not every day you
get to walk on a glacier. Banff for dinner then the drive home.
Dads last few days went without much to talk about.
He left on the Sunday with a tear in his eye. He did enjoy himself and
is looking forward to coming back.
Till next time
My dad arrived on the 20th September, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to his stay as we’ve always argued and got on each others nerves. His stay started off quite well, I took him round Calgary, the tower, High River, Black Diamond and into K-Country; he was impressed with endless scenery and couldn’t believe how hot it was, it was still in the late 20’s and it didn’t look like the summer was ever going to end. He complained about bringing his warm clothes and not enough summer clothes, he was soon thankful of his jumpers. The fall is a great time to visit here, you get the different colours in the trees, a little bit of snow in the mountains and it is still quite warm.
The first weekend of his visit we spent in Banff, apart from his CC being refused it was a great weekend. All the usual stuff, Banff Gondola, Lake Minnewanka ETC, but the climate to this weekend was him treating me to a helicopter flight with Alpine tours, over the Three Sisters Mountain Range and the town of Canmore, not long enough though; next year we will have a longer trip.
Me being at work during the evenings means we couldn’t really do a lot in the week, we did visit my local a few times but that’s about it.
Waterton Lakes National Park the following weekend, but this wasn’t planned and it wasn’t exactly a great start. We decided to hit Buffalo Jump on route, only to get there as they were getting ready to close, as it was almost time to close they didn’t charge us to get; we had just about enough time to walk around. As we drove towards the park, the sky got darker by the mile; snow clouds. By the time we reached Waterton visibility had reached the end of my nose; still we tried to make the most of it. Checked in at the hotel, had dinner in the last remaining restaurant (Waterton is a seasonal place), and then walked for a bit, before hitting the sack. We woke the following morning to several inches of snow on the ground that had caught the Canadians by surprise, having nothing to do this morning we decided to hit the blizzard covered roads and head off to Fernie (my fave place in the entire world). The Further from Waterton we got the better the weather, until at Fernie it was glorious sunshine, though chilly.
It was the first time I had visited Fernie outside of winter and I
wasn't disappointed; it was just the same only green not white. Fernie
is a very quiet place so those expecting a lot to do, forget it.
Skiing/boarding during the winter and hiking/biking during the summer.
Dad enjoyed his short visit there, time for home up the old cowboy
trail.
Again not much to do during the week, then for dads final full weekend
we hit Jasper and the beautiful Banff/Jasper highway. We stopped of at
Melissa's in Banff for breakfast, it was as busy as ever with people
queuing up to the door. Then off to Lake Louise, it was a bit chilly
and there was a spooky mist gliding gently across the lake, it looked
like something from a horror movie. We got some nice photos and walked
around then hit the road again. Dads turn to drive which was amusing
to me, he couldn't keep his eyes of the scenery and countless times I
had to remind which side of the road we drive on as he kept drifting
across the road. Met an English family at Peyto Lake and me dad
couldn't wait to use the "I'm visiting my son, he lives here” line. I
think he's proud of me (for once). We stopped at a few other sites
along the way until we reached the Columbia Icefield. We'd left it to
late to go on the icefield tour so we had a hot drink and continued on
our way. Our destination was the Sunwapta Falls Resort, 50km south of
Jasper. We checked in, but not until they had told us that they were
struggling go keep the water pipes from freezing, and the heating had
packed up. Jaspers a nice little town and you get great views from the
top of Whistlers Mountain. We visited Sunwapta Falls, Athabasca Falls,
Buck Lake, Osprey Lake, Weeping Wall, and Panther Falls which is a
huge waterfall down a rough narrow rarely trodden (by tourists) path
below Bridal Falls. The tour buses stop at Bridal Falls but the best
Falls is about 100 feet below in the gorge. All the Falls were frozen,
which makes for nice pictures. On the way home we were abject to hit
the Columbia Icefield Tour, $50, but worth it; it's not every day you
get to walk on a glacier. Banff for dinner then the drive home.
Dads last few days went without much to talk about.
He left on the Sunday with a tear in his eye. He did enjoy himself and
is looking forward to coming back.
Till next time
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
September 7th
September 9th
A friend at work gave me a little 2-man dome tent, so on family day weekend we decided to go camping. I tried for 2 days to find a campsite with a vacant spot for a small tent but due to family day they were all booked up. Alison wanted Waterton park but we were told "sorry we're full" by all the campsites within 30km of Waterton. I worked the Saturday night so on the Sunday lunchtime when I finally got up, we packed the truck and buggered of into K-Country. After admiring the endless beauty of the Kananaskis countryside, we turned up at Peter Lougheed National Park Tourist Info who told us of a site with a few vacant pitches. It was back to basics - no showers, drinking water, flushing toilets etc.
We ended up only staying 1 night due to the terrantial rain and galeforce winds, it was so bad I couldn't get the fire going. It was worth the 1 night though as we got to see some great scenery, though the 18km hike was a bit much.
My work mate had given us another tent, 4-man frame tent so
We also did 2 days camping in waterton National park down on the Montana border, again great scenery. The town of Waterton is tiny, 5 minutes and you've circumnavigated the town, the campsite was more to Alison's liking as we had electric for the heater and airbed and more importantly flushing toilets. We were told that the Lake at Waterton is the windiest in North America, not sure if it's true but it would explain why I was struggling to put up my tent. Deer roam free throughout the town and campsite, it's nice to see but not so nice when step out of your tent into deer shit. My weekend was made special when travelling home, we'd only got 10 minutes down the road when we spotted a Black Bear with 2 cubs, then just a few moments later we came across a Grizzly at the side of the road. There were quite a few cars pulled over with their drivers and passengers stood outside taking photos; that is until the Griz decided he wanted to cross to the other side, no sooner had he stepped into the road everybody jumped back into their cars, it was funny to watch. No sooner had we got back on the road we came across another Griz with the papperazzi taking the photos.
My Mum and her partner Malcom came to visit for a couple of weeks, so we did all the usual tourist stuff with them; Calgary Tower, Heritage Park, Calgary etc. Spent a weekend in Banff, did the Gondala; Malcolm petrified of heights still managed to get the guts to come on the ride to the top of Sulpher Mountain, he did try to bust the gondala doors down though when we reached the top. We took the compulsory drive upto the Columbia Icefield stopping off at Lake Louise and Peyto Lake.
A day trip down to Waterton Park; where we jumped onboard the Lake cruise boat and cruised across the boarder into the USA; we were able to get off and walk about for a wee while in Montana but that's all we could do as the border gaurds wouldn't let us go any further without the appropriate paperwork in our passports. Still, we were in America.
My Ma went home happy.
Last weekend I had my mate stay with us in Okotoks, so we did the usual drinking and BBQ. On the Sunday just gone we experienced the Okotoks Rodeo; having been here seven months now I thought I'd best see what all the fuss is about, bucking broncos, bull riding, barrel racing along with the crowning of miss okotoks rodeo, can't say I'll go again.
Work's going ok for me at the moment, though I still am not sleeping well. Working 6 days a week most weeks, but still earning more than in the UK for same hours. I'm enjoying myself out here and I wouldn't want to change it, just hope I can somehow get my PR status.
Alison is still happy here but is still waiting on her Visa.
That's it for now
A friend at work gave me a little 2-man dome tent, so on family day weekend we decided to go camping. I tried for 2 days to find a campsite with a vacant spot for a small tent but due to family day they were all booked up. Alison wanted Waterton park but we were told "sorry we're full" by all the campsites within 30km of Waterton. I worked the Saturday night so on the Sunday lunchtime when I finally got up, we packed the truck and buggered of into K-Country. After admiring the endless beauty of the Kananaskis countryside, we turned up at Peter Lougheed National Park Tourist Info who told us of a site with a few vacant pitches. It was back to basics - no showers, drinking water, flushing toilets etc.
We ended up only staying 1 night due to the terrantial rain and galeforce winds, it was so bad I couldn't get the fire going. It was worth the 1 night though as we got to see some great scenery, though the 18km hike was a bit much.
My work mate had given us another tent, 4-man frame tent so
We also did 2 days camping in waterton National park down on the Montana border, again great scenery. The town of Waterton is tiny, 5 minutes and you've circumnavigated the town, the campsite was more to Alison's liking as we had electric for the heater and airbed and more importantly flushing toilets. We were told that the Lake at Waterton is the windiest in North America, not sure if it's true but it would explain why I was struggling to put up my tent. Deer roam free throughout the town and campsite, it's nice to see but not so nice when step out of your tent into deer shit. My weekend was made special when travelling home, we'd only got 10 minutes down the road when we spotted a Black Bear with 2 cubs, then just a few moments later we came across a Grizzly at the side of the road. There were quite a few cars pulled over with their drivers and passengers stood outside taking photos; that is until the Griz decided he wanted to cross to the other side, no sooner had he stepped into the road everybody jumped back into their cars, it was funny to watch. No sooner had we got back on the road we came across another Griz with the papperazzi taking the photos.
My Mum and her partner Malcom came to visit for a couple of weeks, so we did all the usual tourist stuff with them; Calgary Tower, Heritage Park, Calgary etc. Spent a weekend in Banff, did the Gondala; Malcolm petrified of heights still managed to get the guts to come on the ride to the top of Sulpher Mountain, he did try to bust the gondala doors down though when we reached the top. We took the compulsory drive upto the Columbia Icefield stopping off at Lake Louise and Peyto Lake.
A day trip down to Waterton Park; where we jumped onboard the Lake cruise boat and cruised across the boarder into the USA; we were able to get off and walk about for a wee while in Montana but that's all we could do as the border gaurds wouldn't let us go any further without the appropriate paperwork in our passports. Still, we were in America.
My Ma went home happy.
Last weekend I had my mate stay with us in Okotoks, so we did the usual drinking and BBQ. On the Sunday just gone we experienced the Okotoks Rodeo; having been here seven months now I thought I'd best see what all the fuss is about, bucking broncos, bull riding, barrel racing along with the crowning of miss okotoks rodeo, can't say I'll go again.
Work's going ok for me at the moment, though I still am not sleeping well. Working 6 days a week most weeks, but still earning more than in the UK for same hours. I'm enjoying myself out here and I wouldn't want to change it, just hope I can somehow get my PR status.
Alison is still happy here but is still waiting on her Visa.
That's it for now
Monday, 6 July 2009
July 6th
Not a lot to tell you this time, but I will give it a go to make it sound inresting.
I have had the in-laws here for three weeks (arrrgh),, joking aside it was nice for Alison to have her parents here and I must admit, I enjoyed having visitors. They started the holiday with a few days in Okotoks, staying at our pad; then with Alison they buggered of to Vancouver for five days leaving me all onmy own. This isnt always a good thing as I have a habbit of getting into mischief when left to my own devices, saying this I was on my best behavouir whilst they were away and took the oppertunity of being on my own to catch up on some sleep, I only average 4-5 hrs of sleep each night (probably 3hrs undisturbed) so sleeping for nearly 10hrs a day was great.
They all had a good time in Vancouver and agreed with me that BC stood for Bring Cash not British Columbia. A few more days in Okotoks (there is only so much you can do here), then we were all off for a weekend staying in the Banff Springs Hotel. Father-in-Law hired a car and apart from the usual tourist driving on the wrong side of the road antics, he did ok. We were all looking forward to staying in the Hotel, if you dont know the hotel I am talking about, look it up online www.fairmont.com/banffsprings. This is when the first shock hit us, The average room cost is between $300-500 per night, so when you arrive in your car, having already paid $20 per day to enter Banff National park, you are told "it's $25 per day to park your car, or £33 for valet parking", you can get rather ****ed off. The Concierge said that "all the hotels charge for parking", and yet when I was there roughly 2 months ago, I got free parking with the $100 per night hotel I stayed in. We were told by a nice lady who belonged to the Park wardens that we could park at this little car park, where trail users and back country campers park, only to be told when we parked, by a PARK WARDEN we would geta ticket if we stayed there. make your mind up guys.
Anyway, just so those who want to know, there is a multilevel car park in town, you can park overnight for a maximum 12hrs for FREE on the top 2 levels. All the other parks are maximum 3 hrs and no overnight.
We did plenty of walking around Banff, I did the Gondala (worth the $29), walked tunnel mountain and took loads of pics. We then did the Icefields Parkway up to the Columbia Icefields, stopping off at all the tourist spots, Peyto Lake etc. Got to the Icefields, thought about going on the bus onto the ice (about 5 seconds), nope, I can walk on a glacier most years when I strap on my snowboard.
On the way back to Banff I nearly crashed the Suzuki Swift, when Mother-in-law screamed BEEEEEEEAR at top of her voice in my ear. I pulled over, she explained she'd seen two bears so I spun the car round hit a little back road (with another driver) and there he was, eating the berries at the side of the road. A beautiful Black Bear, got out and walked to the back of the car and took a few pics before my battery died on me. (pics are on the slide show). That made my day.
In-Laws went home on Friday having ad a good time.
Alison and I decided to hit the Calgary Stamped on 5th July, we got there far too early to look round the place, 30mins is sufficient to look at the indoor stalls demonstrating Kitchen appliances/selling hats belts and boots, and 5 mins to look round the outside food stalls (probably an hour to decide which crap burger you want from which crap stall), and 5 mins to walk round the gypsies fairground. We had tickets to watch the Chuckwagon Racing and the Grandstand show, we did enjoy both, so it was worth the rest of the crap. If this is the highlight of the year for thousands of people (apparently worldwide) they must leave very boring lives.
Work is the same as always.
Next weekend (18th), Steve, Andy an myself hit the Kicking Horse River near Golden for 27 miles of white water rafting, cant wait.
Until next time.
I have had the in-laws here for three weeks (arrrgh),, joking aside it was nice for Alison to have her parents here and I must admit, I enjoyed having visitors. They started the holiday with a few days in Okotoks, staying at our pad; then with Alison they buggered of to Vancouver for five days leaving me all onmy own. This isnt always a good thing as I have a habbit of getting into mischief when left to my own devices, saying this I was on my best behavouir whilst they were away and took the oppertunity of being on my own to catch up on some sleep, I only average 4-5 hrs of sleep each night (probably 3hrs undisturbed) so sleeping for nearly 10hrs a day was great.
They all had a good time in Vancouver and agreed with me that BC stood for Bring Cash not British Columbia. A few more days in Okotoks (there is only so much you can do here), then we were all off for a weekend staying in the Banff Springs Hotel. Father-in-Law hired a car and apart from the usual tourist driving on the wrong side of the road antics, he did ok. We were all looking forward to staying in the Hotel, if you dont know the hotel I am talking about, look it up online www.fairmont.com/banffsprings. This is when the first shock hit us, The average room cost is between $300-500 per night, so when you arrive in your car, having already paid $20 per day to enter Banff National park, you are told "it's $25 per day to park your car, or £33 for valet parking", you can get rather ****ed off. The Concierge said that "all the hotels charge for parking", and yet when I was there roughly 2 months ago, I got free parking with the $100 per night hotel I stayed in. We were told by a nice lady who belonged to the Park wardens that we could park at this little car park, where trail users and back country campers park, only to be told when we parked, by a PARK WARDEN we would geta ticket if we stayed there. make your mind up guys.
Anyway, just so those who want to know, there is a multilevel car park in town, you can park overnight for a maximum 12hrs for FREE on the top 2 levels. All the other parks are maximum 3 hrs and no overnight.
We did plenty of walking around Banff, I did the Gondala (worth the $29), walked tunnel mountain and took loads of pics. We then did the Icefields Parkway up to the Columbia Icefields, stopping off at all the tourist spots, Peyto Lake etc. Got to the Icefields, thought about going on the bus onto the ice (about 5 seconds), nope, I can walk on a glacier most years when I strap on my snowboard.
On the way back to Banff I nearly crashed the Suzuki Swift, when Mother-in-law screamed BEEEEEEEAR at top of her voice in my ear. I pulled over, she explained she'd seen two bears so I spun the car round hit a little back road (with another driver) and there he was, eating the berries at the side of the road. A beautiful Black Bear, got out and walked to the back of the car and took a few pics before my battery died on me. (pics are on the slide show). That made my day.
In-Laws went home on Friday having ad a good time.
Alison and I decided to hit the Calgary Stamped on 5th July, we got there far too early to look round the place, 30mins is sufficient to look at the indoor stalls demonstrating Kitchen appliances/selling hats belts and boots, and 5 mins to look round the outside food stalls (probably an hour to decide which crap burger you want from which crap stall), and 5 mins to walk round the gypsies fairground. We had tickets to watch the Chuckwagon Racing and the Grandstand show, we did enjoy both, so it was worth the rest of the crap. If this is the highlight of the year for thousands of people (apparently worldwide) they must leave very boring lives.
Work is the same as always.
Next weekend (18th), Steve, Andy an myself hit the Kicking Horse River near Golden for 27 miles of white water rafting, cant wait.
Until next time.
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
June 10th
June 10th
Not a lot has happened in the last few weeks, so not much to talk about.
\
Visited Alberta’s capital Edmonton, for the weekend and experienced the so called Worlds biggest Shopping Mall, I don’t know what the biggest disappointment was? The Mall or Edmonton?
The Mall, I said as I walked around that it was no bigger than Sheffield’s Meadow Hall in the UK, inside there was a live Seal show, which you had to pay about $8 to watch, but heres the thing, you could just stand on the upper level of the Mall you could watch the show for free, that would’ve have really got my goat if I’d paid. Then there was the Worlds Largest Indoor Lake, with a Submarine ride, the lake was drained for maintenance. There is also an indoor theme park which just reminded of a tacky fair ground back in the UK. I did Google the square feet of both Meadow Hall and Edmonton Mall (sad I know), and it turns out West Ed Mall is roughly 35000sq metres bigger than Sheffield, however I am not sure if this included the theme park and water park, it is after all one big building.
We stayed near the Mall, and walked to it the second day to experience the Worlds Biggest Indoor Water Park, it was OK; nothing special; the cost to get in certainly wasn’t special, $40 each including a locker. Inside it housed the Worlds Largest Indoor Wave Pool, the Worlds Largest Permanent Fixed Bungee Jump (is there a theme here?) and a number of slides. It took up a couple of hours from my boring day.
Edmonton
Visit Sir Winston Churchill Square, “a hub of activity” the guidebook said, yeah right; DEAD, just a few homeless sitting on the benches and a free stress test table. Needless to say I don’t need a test to tell me that I’m stressed.
I almost drove right through Old Strathcona before realising, that’s how interesting this area of Edmonton is. No different to anywhere else in Alberta, old mixed with new.
I wont be travelling that way again, but at least I can say I have done it.
Not a lot has happened in the last few weeks, so not much to talk about.
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Visited Alberta’s capital Edmonton, for the weekend and experienced the so called Worlds biggest Shopping Mall, I don’t know what the biggest disappointment was? The Mall or Edmonton?
The Mall, I said as I walked around that it was no bigger than Sheffield’s Meadow Hall in the UK, inside there was a live Seal show, which you had to pay about $8 to watch, but heres the thing, you could just stand on the upper level of the Mall you could watch the show for free, that would’ve have really got my goat if I’d paid. Then there was the Worlds Largest Indoor Lake, with a Submarine ride, the lake was drained for maintenance. There is also an indoor theme park which just reminded of a tacky fair ground back in the UK. I did Google the square feet of both Meadow Hall and Edmonton Mall (sad I know), and it turns out West Ed Mall is roughly 35000sq metres bigger than Sheffield, however I am not sure if this included the theme park and water park, it is after all one big building.
We stayed near the Mall, and walked to it the second day to experience the Worlds Biggest Indoor Water Park, it was OK; nothing special; the cost to get in certainly wasn’t special, $40 each including a locker. Inside it housed the Worlds Largest Indoor Wave Pool, the Worlds Largest Permanent Fixed Bungee Jump (is there a theme here?) and a number of slides. It took up a couple of hours from my boring day.
Edmonton
Visit Sir Winston Churchill Square, “a hub of activity” the guidebook said, yeah right; DEAD, just a few homeless sitting on the benches and a free stress test table. Needless to say I don’t need a test to tell me that I’m stressed.
I almost drove right through Old Strathcona before realising, that’s how interesting this area of Edmonton is. No different to anywhere else in Alberta, old mixed with new.
I wont be travelling that way again, but at least I can say I have done it.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Tuesday 5th May
Tuesday 5th May
Another month has past, I have now been here in Canada for 13 weeks although it does seem a lot longer. Been working up here in High River for 9 weeks and its still going ok, it does have its moments; but I am no worse off (money/job wise) than I was in England, in fact I am working 13 hours a week less for the same money, so I think I am much better off. Its great to be able to go home at the end of my shift, I am definitely not regretting not being on the road. I am still in touch with the mates I made during my first month here, they are all on the road driving all over the US and Canada, working countless hours and having all the crap that comes with job, on the plus side for them; their earning potential is far greater than my own, but listening to the stories they tell, I am happy doing my job.
I visited Tom in Coaldale last weekend, he helped me fix my car, he lives in a static caravan in someones garden, but when you see the views and what happily strolls through his garden (wild deer), you will love his place. Look at the slideshow.
The weather has picked up and it is looking very nice as I type, I am looking forward to the summer, from what I have been told it can get very hot and humid here; I’ll just have to wait and see.
I am now the proud owner of a nice 42 inch LCD TV and cable television, which is nice, I have signed up to Setanta so I have been able to catch up on the premier league. Arsenal - Man Utd Champions League, as we speak.
Alison had a night out with the WAGS of other expats, she enjoyed herself.
Haven’t really got a great deal to tell you this time, hopefully my next blog will be better.
Al & Alison
Another month has past, I have now been here in Canada for 13 weeks although it does seem a lot longer. Been working up here in High River for 9 weeks and its still going ok, it does have its moments; but I am no worse off (money/job wise) than I was in England, in fact I am working 13 hours a week less for the same money, so I think I am much better off. Its great to be able to go home at the end of my shift, I am definitely not regretting not being on the road. I am still in touch with the mates I made during my first month here, they are all on the road driving all over the US and Canada, working countless hours and having all the crap that comes with job, on the plus side for them; their earning potential is far greater than my own, but listening to the stories they tell, I am happy doing my job.
I visited Tom in Coaldale last weekend, he helped me fix my car, he lives in a static caravan in someones garden, but when you see the views and what happily strolls through his garden (wild deer), you will love his place. Look at the slideshow.
The weather has picked up and it is looking very nice as I type, I am looking forward to the summer, from what I have been told it can get very hot and humid here; I’ll just have to wait and see.
I am now the proud owner of a nice 42 inch LCD TV and cable television, which is nice, I have signed up to Setanta so I have been able to catch up on the premier league. Arsenal - Man Utd Champions League, as we speak.
Alison had a night out with the WAGS of other expats, she enjoyed herself.
Haven’t really got a great deal to tell you this time, hopefully my next blog will be better.
Al & Alison
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